Updegrove 1

Zoe Updegrove

Mrs. Cramer

College Comp I Pd. 6

5 December 2019

Energy Drinks, Are They Safe?

Energy drinks are something that everyone now is familiar with. They are placed in key

sections of the store to increase purchase, and now are as common as a regular soda. People

debate on if energy drinks are safe and when drinking them becomes too much. The ingredients

of energy drinks are common but have high amounts of them, causing the ingredients to be

wondered about. The risks of consuming these famous energy drinks are something to not be

taken lightly. As they become more popular, as does the industry causing competitors to increase

factors to meet demands making energy drinks last longer in the body system or increase the

energy gained from them. With the drinks being awfully popular, it increases experimentation

with them as well. Students, or even those older, are now making concoctions of energy drinks

and alcohol. This increases the concerns on energy drinks and provides debates on the topic.

After analyzing multiple pieces of scholarly texts on energy drinks, common factors in the

debate between all of them are the ingredient usage, risks and concerns that come with the

consumption of energy drinks, and the safety of people continuing to mix these drinks with

alcohol.

Further, some of the common topics that are discussed throughout all the texts are the

ingredients included in the energy drinks. Most of those ingredients listed are common, but with

the dosage in each drink, the side effects become worrisome. One ingredient that is listed
 Updegrove 2

throughout nearly all of the texts is caffeine. Caffeine is the main active ingredient in energy

drinks, and excessive consumption may cause caffeine related illnesses (Wolk). Caffeine is a

central nervous system stimulant and is widely consumed as a psychoactive drug that is

completely legal, but unregulated around the world (Paddok). “As much as 80 to 300mg of

caffeine and 35 grams of processed sugar per 8-ounce serving are commonly present in energy

drinks...” (Clauson). Clauson believed with this amount of caffeine and sugar in these energy

drinks, it could cause a variety of adverse health effects. Adding to the caffeine consumption,

guarana is a natural plant product that contains concentrated caffeine. This accelerates the

caffeine intake but can also provide medicinal properties that come through as a burst of energy

(Paddock). Although another natural ingredient, taurine is another worrisome ingredient in

energy drinks. Taurine is an amino acid that is naturally prevalent in a typical person's health

system with about 60mgs per day. Energy drinks like Red Bull increase the intake of taurine by

1,000 mg per 8-ounce serving, and even more in other drinks such as Monster or Rockstar with

anywhere from 2,000-3,000mgs of taurine (Paddock). On the contrary, some good things are in

these energy drinks. B vitamins are prevalent in most, if not all the drinks, along with some

nutritional herbal supplements (Gianoulis). These facts provide debate on whether the

ingredients of the common energy drinks are healthy or not as, on the good side, they contain

natural plant products, but is easily countered with an excess of caffeine and sugar that overloads

the drink.

Consequently, after analyzing the texts further, one can conclude that all energy drinks,

like most man-made substances comes with a risk, but is this risk to great? With caffeine

quantities in the thousands, there's bound to be side effects, one of which being tachycardia

which is when the heart beats much faster than it is supposed to. Hypertension also goes hand in

hand with this along with heart damage, cardiac arrhythmias and palpitations. With all these
 Updegrove 3

things affecting th heart just because of the excess of caffeine, most would consider it to not be

healthy to drink these substances. Those with these conditions already preexisting should avoid

energy drinks if they would like to lower their chances of it getting worse (Paddock). Seizures

are also an important health risk that comes with drinking energy drinks. There have been four

cases where seizures have been associated with the consumption of energy drinks, as of 2007 to

2008 (Clauson). One last physical ailment that cannot be forgotten is the addiction to these

drinks. Energy drinks contain caffeine, as stated previously, and caffeine is labeled as a drug

because it is addictive and can easily lead to dependency and possibly even overdose. There have

been four documented cases of caffeine-associated deaths, which is an abundant amount to just

believe that the energy drinks are completely safe. Especially when it comes to children and

adolescents, who are not habitual caffeine users, these side effects can be detrimental (Reissig).

With the physical health related risks, there also comes mental health concerns with the

utilization of energy drinks. Hallucinations are some of the more important parts of this topic.

Around 128 known people have had adverse hallucinations that required hospitalization (Gunja).

Nervousness and agitation are also common factors that are found with energy drink

consumption. For adolescents, sleep patterns and psychological dependence are also a factor as

well (Wolk). The only way to solve an addiction is to get rid of the addictive in the first place,

but that can cause withdraw, which is sometimes even more deadly than if the subject of

addiction was still being used. “Emergency room visits arising from energy drink consumption

are becoming commonplace...In one such tragedy, a healthy 18-year-old Irish basketball player

experienced cardiac arrest after consuming four cans of Red Bull prior to a game (Laquale,

2007)” (Paddock). Among the cosmetic side effects, weight gain and tooth damage are common

with those who drink energy drinks regularly. The only possible good side effect of energy
 Updegrove 4

drinks is the burst of energy that one may or may not get from it. Otherwise, the texts all agree

that the risks of energy drinks easily outweigh the slight chance of the good effect.

Therefore, a prevalent topic that is mentioned in nearly all the texts is the fact that people,

teens and adults alike, are mixing the energy drinks, which have enough bad side effects on their

own, with alcohol. The combined use of caffeine and alcohol is increasing rapidly, and studies

suggest that such combined use can increase the rate of alcohol-related injury (Reissig). Young

users are often drawn to the caffeine rush and the mood-altering experience that they get when

drinking the mixture (Gianoulis). With brands knowing of the consequences when mixing these

products, they often recommended against doing it, but some brands like Four Loko decided to

pre-mix the energy drink with alcohol and sell them by the case. When mixed with caffeine (a

stimulant), the effects of alcohol (a depressant) are often masked causing the users to binge drink

and overdose which then led to hospitalization or even death. This obviously raised concerns as

the median age for energy drink consumers was seventeen, and in a study with one hundred

recreational users it was found that they often co-ingested the drink with other substances,

mostly alcohol (50) or other caffeinated products (44) (Gunja). This raises obvious concerns, as

there is no age limit on buying energy drinks in most parts of the world. However, these warning

signs upon the cans or in the media does little to stop people from mixing them, as there are even

websites with a hoard of different recipes for mixings, and even some energy drinks like Red

Bull have their website telling visitors that the drink can be used for more than nonstop partying

(Paddock). This kind of advice is hazardous, with around 5,000 people under the age of 21 dying

each year due to alcohol related injuries. The texts mostly agree upon the same conclusion,

energy drinks should not be mixed with alcohol due to the side effects and the multitude of

related injuries that come from drinking too much of the beverage.
 Updegrove 5

This research is more than enough for people to debate on today. More and more studies

are popping up with new information on the effects of energy drinks and both good and bad

findings are relevant. Energy drinks, like most things, are fine in moderation. If they are used

safely then no harm should be done to said user, but people tend to either ignore the directions or

toss them aside completely to get the result they want from the products. People overdose on

caffeine because they ingest too much of it in one day or even in a single serving. Others drink in

slight moderation but ignore the health issues that may come from drinking too much of an

energy drink and will develop a heart condition later in life. On the other hand, some are totally

conscious of what they are doing to their body and know that moderation is key if they don't

want to risk their health just for a slight energy boost. Regardless of how safe people can be if

they are smart in their consumption of energy drinks, there are still any tests that need to be

concluded before the debate on whether the drinks are truly safe in the long-term effects, or not,

is answered.
 Updegrove 6

Works Cited

Clauson, Kevin A. "Saftey Issues Associated with Commercially Available Energy

Drinks." Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, vol. 48, no. 3, June

2008, pp. 55-67,

www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1544319115312097. Accessed 20

Nov. 2019.

Gianoulis, Tina. "Energy Drinks." St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture Online,

2013,

go.gale.com/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=Reference&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&s

earchResultsType=MultiTab&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=2

&docId=GALE%7CEDQDAX558662760&docType=Topic+overview&sort=Rel

evance&contentSegment=ZXBK-

MOD1&prodId=SUIC&contentSet=GALE%7CEDQDAX558662760&searchId=

R2&userGroupName=pl1949&inPS=true. Accessed 20 Nov. 2019.

Gunja, Naren, and Jared A. Brown. "Energy Drinks: Health Risks and Toxicity." Medical

Journal of Australia, vol. 196, no. 1, 16 Jan. 2012,

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.5694/mja11.10838. Accessed 20 Nov. 2019.

Paddock, Russ. "Energy Drinks' Effects on Student-Athletes and Implications for Athletic

Departments." The Sport Journal, vol. 11, no. 4, 22 Sept. 2008,

go.gale.com/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=Journals&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&sea

rchResultsType=SingleTab&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=6&

docId=GALE%7CA210521304&docType=Article&sort=Relevance&contentSeg

ment=ZXBK-
 Updegrove 7

MOD1&prodId=SUIC&contentSet=GALE%7CA210521304&searchId=R3&user

GroupName=pl1949&inPS=true. Accessed 20 Nov. 2019.

Reissig, Chad J. "Caffeinated Energy Drinks—A Growing Problem." Drug and Alcohol

Dependence, vol. 99, nos. 1-3, Jan. 2009, pp. 1-10,

www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0376871608002858. Accessed 20

Nov. 2019.

Wolk, Brian J., et al. "Toxicity of Energy Drinks." Current Opinion in Pediatrics, vol.

24, no. 2, 2012, pp. 243-51, journals.lww.com/co-

pediatrics/Abstract/2012/04000/Toxicity_of_energy_drinks.18.aspx. Accessed 20

Nov. 2019.