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Are energy drinks OK for your teens?


cave canem
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Mine are almost 13, but they will not (my rule). We watched a news segment on the dangers of them and they are like NO WAY we will do that. They are really bad for you. One of mine will ask for a small cup of coffee on occasion and the occasional soda out. The other doesn't like how caffiene makes him feel.

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My kids don't drink them. 

 

One child might have, but once on a road trip he got a big iced coffee/mocha sort of drink from a rest stop.  It wasn't labeled an energy drink but I'm sure it was high sugar and caffeine.  Anyway, he got really wired and felt (and acted) off for a few hours afterward.  He avoids caffeine except in tea or chocolate.  He has ADHD, and is medicated for it, but I do wish sometimes he'd take a small cup of coffee to see if that helped his energy level and cognitive abilities.  

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Mine are almost 13, but they will not (my rule). We watched a news segment on the dangers of them and they are like NO WAY we will do that. They are really bad for you. One of mine will ask for a small cup of coffee on occasion and the occasional soda out. The other doesn't like how caffiene makes him feel.

 

Ok besides the sugar, what is so bad about them?  I'm curious!

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I have always thought they were really bad for anyone.  I didn't let ds have caffeine until he was 12 or so and even then rarely.  Once he was 16, and driving, and buying his own snacks I stopped trying to police it but I do offer my very strong opinion.  He still drinks them, but I am not sure how much.  Maybe 4 or 5 a week.  And most mornings he has a small cup of coffee.  

 

I have had exactly one Monster in my life.  I was on a road trip and sooooooooo sleepy I didn't think I could make it.  It affected me very badly and I will never drink one again.  After that I also found out I have AFib and so I am careful anyway about what I drink.  

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Ok besides the sugar, what is so bad about them? I'm curious!

Anecdotally, I know a few frequent consumers (at least 1 a day, usually more) and their experiences match up with what I’ve read about- chest pains, etc. They refuse to believe it is correlated, but a healthy 22 year old shouldn’t have frequent chest pains and feel short of breath often.
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WHY would a teen need an energy drink?  They'll never have more energy in their life.  In some countries, teens are too young to buy them! At that age, coffee is as strong as I would go.

 

Oh I don't know about that.  Teens also stay up late and are required to get up quite early (some of them) and juggle a lot of different things (school, possibly work, extra curriculars, sports, etc.).

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WHY would a teen need an energy drink?  They'll never have more energy in their life.  In some countries, teens are too young to buy them! At that age, coffee is as strong as I would go.

Starbucks Frappucino bottle (14oz) has 130 mg of caffeine

Red Bull (8 oz) 80 mg of caffeine

Diet Coke (20 oz) 76 mg of caffeine

 

Personally, I don't like energy drinks, but caffeine can be consumed in larger amounts drinking a "standard" serving of coffee or soda

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I doubt they are good for anyone, teens or adults, and I don't think it is a good idea to eat or drink something when you don't know what is in it.  If I want a pick me up, and it is available, it would be a Coke, Coffee, Ice Cream or Chocolate.  Caffeine and Sugar but at least you know what it is.

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Starbucks Frappucino bottle (14oz) has 130 mg of caffeine

Red Bull (8 oz) 80 mg of caffeine

Diet Coke (20 oz) 76 mg of caffeine

 

Personally, I don't like energy drinks, but caffeine can be consumed in larger amounts drinking a "standard" serving of coffee or soda

 

Some Red Bull have more.  Some of the energy drinks are small number of oz. for the amount of caffeine than say an 8 oz. cup of coffee.  Here is a site I found that was interesting.

 

https://www.caffeineinformer.com/the-caffeine-database

 

From what I've read, there are other ingredients in these energy drinks that may not be bad for you in smaller amounts (vitamins and minerals), but are included in higher amounts in these drinks that might not be healthy.  There might also be unknown effects of these ingredients when mixed with the caffeine.

 

Anyway, I think quite a few of the people drinking these things (i.e. cramming for tests, etc) are not having just one.  

 

It is not worth the risk for me.

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It’s not just Red Bull. There’s also Monster and Rockstar and a bunch of others. And some may be sold in a can that is like 24oz and may have over 300 mg of caffeine in that can.

A Starbucks blonde roast venti (20 oz) has 475 mg of caffeine

Starbucks Pike Place roast grande (16 oz) has 310 mg of caffeine.

 

Yes, some of the energy drinks are sold in large containers and drinking a large quantity will be a large amount of caffeine, but coffee is also served in these large sizes with comparable amounts of caffeine.

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There are also energy shots which are smaller, less calorie but can contain more caffeine in that small container.  And because they are not required to list how much caffeine is actually in the energy shots, you don't know exactly how much you are getting.  Some of the deaths have come from mixing the energy shots with alcohol. 

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It’s not just Red Bull. There’s also Monster and Rockstar and a bunch of others. And some may be sold in a can that is like 24oz and may have over 300 mg of caffeine in that can.

 

Really!   Who drinks one 8oz can of Red Bull?   It is always the big cans I see.   

 

My 12oz can of Diet Coke with Splenda has 46mg of caffeine.   

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I doubt they are good for anyone, teens or adults, and I don't think it is a good idea to eat or drink something when you don't know what is in it.  If I want a pick me up, and it is available, it would be a Coke, Coffee, Ice Cream or Chocolate.  Caffeine and Sugar but at least you know what it is.

I don't know exactly what is in a Coke.  

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I have no problems with my kids occasionally wanting a frappuccino or Mountain Dew as a pick me up. But energy drinks are full of all kinds of questionable ingredients in addition to the insane amount of caffeine.  

 

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/127/3/511

 

Ah! I found the article I originally went searching for.  It popped up in my newsfeed some time ago.  Three parents in the UK purposely gave their kids energy drinks and monitored their health.  You kind of have to scroll down past the ads to get to the actual article.  I have no idea if the Mirror is reputable or not, but Jamie Oliver is.  :) 

 

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/jamie-oliver-claims-energy-drinks-11820385

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They seem like a complete waste of money to me, but so does all soda, juice and sugary drinks. By "energy" drink, I assume a liquid with some form of sugar, otherwise it's not actual energy, though it could be a stimulant because of the caffeine. 

 

I try to limit the amount of sugary liquids my dc and I consume as they are terrible for our teeth, primarily. Ditto with candy for the same reasons. 

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They seem like a complete waste of money to me, but so does all soda, juice and sugary drinks. By "energy" drink, I assume a liquid with some form of sugar, otherwise it's not actual energy, though it could be a stimulant because of the caffeine. 

 

I try to limit the amount of sugary liquids my dc and I consume as they are terrible for our teeth, primarily. Ditto with candy for the same reasons. 

 

Yeah they are ridiculously expensive!

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The question was "are energy drinks ok for your teens?"  (bolding mine).  I don't get the caffeine evangelists here.  If they are ok for your teens, then fine.  No one is going to snatch them out of their hands.  But why are you seeming to argue that they should be ok for mine? 

 

I have a daughter who has spent numerous hours at the cardiologist's office.  High doses of caffeine aren't ok for her heart rate.  We also have a lot of family with diabetes.  Sugar doesn't cause diabetes but subjecting your pancreas to high amounts of sugar that it has to deal with, isn't good for that.  (She does have coffee on occasion with her doctor's blessing but we aren't ok with energy drinks.)  (There are some studies that show that heart and diabetes can be hidden problems for a lot of people so it isn't a stretch to say that I don't think that they are healthy in general.  But I won't look down on those who decide to drink them.) 

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The question was "are energy drinks ok for your teens?"  (bolding mine).  I don't get the caffeine evangelists here.  If they are ok for your teens, then fine.  No one is going to snatch them out of their hands.  But why are you seeming to argue that they should be ok for mine? 

 

I have a daughter who has spent numerous hours at the cardiologist's office.  High doses of caffeine aren't ok for her heart rate.  We also have a lot of family with diabetes.  Sugar doesn't cause diabetes but subjecting your pancreas to high amounts of sugar that it has to deal with, isn't good for that.  (She does have coffee on occasion with her doctor's blessing but we aren't ok with energy drinks.)  (There are some studies that show that heart and diabetes can be hidden problems for a lot of people so it isn't a stretch to say that I don't think that they are healthy in general.  But I won't look down on those who decide to drink them.) 

 

I'm not trying to talk anyone into caffeine.  I'm just a little confused by the (incorrect) claim that in general energy drinks have more caffeine than coffee.  That's just not true.

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The question was "are energy drinks ok for your teens?"  (bolding mine).  I don't get the caffeine evangelists here.  If they are ok for your teens, then fine.  No one is going to snatch them out of their hands.  But why are you seeming to argue that they should be ok for mine? 

 

I have not seen anybody here argue that another user's kids should use energy drinks.

The debate has been about whether they are actually more harmful than other sweet and/or caffeinated drinks.

I prefer to base my decision on the actual content of the beverage, rather than the label. That's why I have asked what exactly makes an energy drink more dangerous than coffee (if the concern is caffeine) or soda(if the concern is sugar).

 

So, can anybody enlighten me?

 

ETA: I am talking about a person with normal health. Of course somebody with an underlying heart condition or diabetes would need to avoid these beverages, but I assume they would not consume coffee or soda either.

Edited by regentrude
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I have not seen anybody here argue that another user's kids should use energy drinks.

The debate has been about whether they are actually more harmful than other sweet and/or caffeinated drinks.

I prefer to base my decision on the actual content of the beverage, rather than the label. That's why I have asked what exactly makes an energy drink more dangerous than coffee (if the concern is caffeine) or soda(if the concern is sugar).

 

So, can anybody enlighten me?

For me, it’s the concentration. And the fact that many don’t just have one. And if you mix it with alcohol as can happen for some college students, it masks the effects of the alcohol so you are “wide awake drunkâ€. I just view them with caution. And I don’t really see redeeming qualities there to make it worth it for me personally. Edited by Jean in Newcastle
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I don't buy them but what my kids do with their allowance is their choice.  However, I have two coffee drinkers, one drinks tea and #4 sticks to water  and cold fruit and herbal teas.  They very rarely drink a soda and none of them drink energy drinks.  Hubby and I drink coffee and tea.

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For me, it’s the concentration. And the fact that many don’t just have one. And if you mix it with alcohol as can happen for some college students, it masks the effects of the alcohol so you are “wide awake drunkâ€. I just view them with caution. And I don’t really see redeeming qualities there to make it worth it fir me personally.

 

The concentration of what? There is not a higher caffeine concentration in many energy drinks than in coffee. This is precisely my question. 

People also may have not just one coffee.

The debate about concurrent alcohol consumption has nothing to do with energy drinks per se.

ETA: And I should clarify: I have no skin in the game since I don't drink energy drinks.But I would like to know the science behind it before deciding something is bad. Yes, I have seen reports of studies, but I cannot take a study with 20 subjects seriously.

Edited by regentrude
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The concentration of what? There is not a higher caffeine concentration in many energy drinks than in coffee. This is precisely my question. 

People also may have not just one coffee.

The debate about concurrent alcohol consumption has nothing to do with energy drinks per se.

ETA: And I should clarify: I have no skin in the game since I don't drink energy drinks.But I would like to know the science behind it before deciding something is bad. Yes, I have seen reports of studies, but I cannot take a study with 20 subjects seriously.

 

If you read my previous post you would have seen that I was specifically concerned with energy shots, which indeed have a higher concentration of caffeine in a small "shot sized" bottle. 

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This is an excerpt from the first article posted above https://www.cnn.com/2017/04/26/health/energy-drinks-health-concerns-explainer/index.html .  

 

"Most energy drinks typically contain large amounts of caffeine; added sugars; vitamins, such as B vitamins; and legal stimulants, such as guarana, a plant that grows in the Amazon; taurine, an amino acid that's naturally found in meat and fish; and L-carnitine, a substance in our bodies that helps turn fat into energy.

"Overall, the concern is that these vitamins, amino acids and herbals are often in higher concentrations than naturally in food or plants, and the effects when combined especially with caffeine may be enhanced," said Katherine Zeratsky, a clinical dietitian at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

 

Higgins, who has led multiple studies on energy drinks and health impacts, agreed.
With the caffeine, sugar and stimulants, Higgins said that more research is needed to determine how those ingredients could interact to cause negative health effects."

 

Just too many unknowns for me and my family.  We drink some coffee here (1/2 caf 1/2 decaf).  If we have a Starbucks, we order decaf.  Sodas are usually decaf, but one son sometimes has a Coke.  No Mountain Dew.  We are working on eating less sugar overall too.  

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I think it's hooey.  I tried a SF Red Bull once.  I had no more energy and it tasted gross. 

 

Once tried one of those Five Hour Energy shots they sell (got a free sample in the mail).  I drank it before bed and fell asleep no problem.  LOL

 

Except for the caffeine, I don't think any of the other ingredients qualify as a stimulant (not counting sugar because I'd never drink the ones with sugar anyway). 

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