I just put up a Green blog about natural energy drinks. My husband is an energy drink junkie, but I’ve never seen the appeal. Plus, if I have too much caffeine, my heart flutters and that’s no fun.
But, can energy drinks be harmful to you? The Food and Drug Administration did an investigation into Monster energy drinks after five deaths were believed to be linked to them. The investigation comes on the heels of a lawsuit filed by the mother of a 14-year-old girl who died after drinking two Monster drinks within 24 hours. Her autopsy showed a caffeine toxicity that led to cardiac arrhythmia. But, the girl also had an inherited disorder that could have weakened her blood vessels. Still, the parents felt Monster was responsible because there was no warning on the label.
Of course, I can understand parents being upset by their daughter’s death and wanting to find someone to blame, but is it really Monster’s fault? I doubt it. One Monster drink contains about the same amount of caffeine as an eight ounce cup of coffee. To reach the point of toxicity, an adult would have to drink the equivalent of 25 cups of coffee – 5 grams of caffeine. When you drink so much caffeine that it starts getting toxic, you start seeing symptoms like being light headed and sick.
But, it takes less caffeine to harm youngsters and the elderly. Death by caffeine is not that common, but there are more reports of it within the last 8 years. One of the problems is that some people mix energy drinks with alcohol and end up in the ER.
The main thing to worry about is genetic disorders that might cause problems, such as with the 14-year-old. Because of her blood vessel disorder, she may have been more sensitive to caffeine.
So while energy drinks in and of themselves don’t appear to be harmful, keep them away from the kids anyhow.