Caffeine High

So apparently caffeine is bad for you. I'm not talking bad like, you can't find your wallet, I'm talking like some one scuffed your new sneakers bad; so go put down those Monsters & Redbulls ASAP (not really but think it through). Yes... sadly research has "proof" that energy drinks are the reason for teenage misbehavior; what is this nonsense they speak of ? as if hormones don't play a role in this or something.

When i read that more than $3 billion alone in anual sales were thanks to energy drinks, I was like DAMMN! But that was only in the United States, lord knows the rest of the world is on that ish. But this is the story not in my words but straight from the New York Times (yes when i have some free time i do read articles that interest me, therefore I bought this to you, the consumers, the fans, the people). It's just some information to keeo you guys informed and up-to-date; we wouldn't want our readers dying off into caffeine comas or anything ridiculous like that now would we!?.

-- "Health researchers have identified a surprising new predictor for risky behavior among teenagers and young adults: the energy drink.







Super-caffeinated energy drinks, with names like Red Bull, Monster, Full Throttle and Amp, have surged in popularity in the past decade. About a third of 12-to 24-year-olds say they regularly down energy drinks, which account for more than $3 billion in annual sales in the United States.

[BLAH BLAH BLAH I TOOK THIS POINTLESS PART OUT]

In Colorado Springs, several high school students last year became ill after drinking Spike Shooter, a high-caffeine drink, prompting the principal to ban the beverages. In March, four middle school students in Broward County, Fla., went to the emergency room with heart palpitations and sweating after drinking the energy beverage Redline. In Tigard, Ore., teachers this month sent parents e-mail alerting them that students who brought energy drinks to school were “literally drunk on a caffeine buzz or falling off a caffeine crash.”

The drinks include a variety of ingredients in different combinations: plant-based stimulants like guarana, herbs like ginkgo and ginseng, sugar, amino acids including taurine as well as vitamins. But the main active ingredient is caffeine. [DUH!]

Caffeine content varies. A 12-ounce serving of Amp contains 107 milligrams of caffeine, compared with 34 to 38 milligrams for the same amount of Coca-Cola or Pepsi. Monster has 120 milligrams and Red Bull has 116. Even higher on the spectrum, Spike Shooter contains 428 milligrams of caffeine in 12 ounces, and Wired X344 contains 258.

Mr. Stevens points out that “mainstream” energy drinks often have less caffeine than a cup of coffee. At Starbucks, the caffeine content varies depending on the drink, from 75 milligrams in a 12-ounce cappuccino or latte to as much as 250 milligrams in a 12-ounce brewed coffee.

One concern about the drinks is that because they are served cold, they may be consumed in larger amounts and more quickly than hot coffee drinks, which are sipped. Another worry is the increasing popularity of mixing energy drinks with alcohol. The addition of caffeine can make alcohol users feel less drunk, but motor coordination and visual reaction time are just as impaired as when they drink alcohol by itself, according to an April 2006 study in the medical journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

“You’re every bit as drunk, you’re just an awake drunk,” said Dr. Mary Claire O’Brien, associate professor in the departments of emergency medicine and public health services at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Dr. O’Brien surveyed energy drink and alcohol use among college students at 10 universities in North Carolina. The study, published this month in Academic Emergency Medicine, showed that students who mixed energy drinks with alcohol got drunk twice as often as those who consumed alcohol by itself and were far more likely to be injured or require medical treatment while drinking. Energy drink mixers were more likely to be victims or perpetrators of aggressive sexual behavior. The effect remained even after researchers controlled for the amount of alcohol consumed."

... in short teens apparently get more drunk than adults who consume regular amounts of straight alcohol do because teens mix their drinks, and drink so many energy drinks that they could end up in the hospital, GREAT! I say we keep it down to about 1 energy drink a day, but that's just advice you can take it or leave it.

This won't even keep me from drinking my Red Bulls every once in a while.