Everyone loves Energy Drinks!!! They are now a 7 billion dollar industry and still growing. They taste good, they wake you up and they even give some athletes confidence on the playing field,... but there are also a lot of side effects and health risks. If you’re drinking a Red Bull a day, you need to know the 411 on Energy Drinks.
The Name Game
The biggest problem with Energy Drinks is right in the name. It is kind of a deceptive name. The name makes you think, “Energy Drinks… hmm… energy is good… energy is healthy… energy is what we need to survive.” But that is dangerous thinking because some Energy Drinks have high levels of caffeine which ultimately leads to a burn out and hangover.
Here are some facts about caffeine:
- Caffeine is a stimulant with no nutritional value, causing you to crash. (In other words, the stimulation ultimately leads to exhaustion)
- Caffeine is addictive with withdrawal symptoms (that means that if you have been drinking caffeine regularly and all of a sudden you stop, your body gets sick with weird symptoms)
- Caffeine causes jitters (Photographers Beware!!!)
- There is a myth that caffeine stunts the growth of children
Red Bull Banned!!!
Did you know that France banned Red Bull after Ross Cooney, an Irish basketball player drank 4 cans of it right before a game and died on the court from dehydration. Of course there was lots of controversy over the reason why Ross had died, but many facts pointed to Energy Drinks causing dehydration. France had banned Red Bull for 12 years. In 2008 the ban was lifted and Red Bull is back on the shelves.
Another ban on Red Bull took place only a couple of years ago when German scientists found traces of cocaine in the ingredients. Here's a news report about it...
Energy Drink Dosage
It’s not going to kill you to drink an Energy Drink once in a while. Energy drinks are fun… just like candy. They’re probably even more fun than candy because they totally make you wake up. Great! If you like that, make them a treat you can have once in a while.
