Kristina D’Arcangelo D’Arcangelo 1

Professor David DiSarro

English 101

04 February 2012

The Truth About Energy Drinks

Americans are known for expressing themselves, enjoying their freedom, showing off

their livelihood, and living in a fast-paced world. Everyday, people are stressed out, rushing

between school, work, sports, and their social lives, causing them to overwork and exhaust

themselves. All of this hustle-bustle can lead to fatigue and a feeling of crashing or burning out,

which in turn leads them to turn to a boost of caffeine. For the past 100 years, the number one

jolt of caffeine came from a cup of coffee; however energy drinks are now increasingly popular.

Almost half of the youth in America have said they drink energy drinks regularly or have tried an

energy drink more than once, looking for a hefty dose of caffeine (Medline Plus). This increase

in the consumption of energy drinks has many side effects on teenagers, most of which are

negative. Kids think they are helping themselves stay awake and can accomplish much more

after drinking an energy drink, but what they don’t know is that these drinks can lead to many

health problems such as dizziness, high blood pressure, obesity, heart attacks, and even death.

Studies found in 2010 alone, energy drinks represented a $6.7 billion industry in the

United States. The majority of these consumers were under the age of 35. Most young adults

are unaware that the manufactures of these drinks market their products as dietary supplements.

In doing this, these drinks are not manufactured by the Food and Drug Administration. The

negative effect of this is that manufactures are not limited to amount of caffeine they use in the

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making of these drinks and they do not even have to disclose this information or other harmful

ingredients (McLellan and Lieberman). The majority of these “miracle” drinks actually have

extremely high amounts of dangerous and damaging ingredients such as caffeine, ginseng,

glucose, guarana, taurine. Most energy drinks contain about 140-170 milligrams of caffeine in a

14-16oz can. This is double the amount of caffeine in and 8oz cup of coffee. Caffeine

stimulates the nervous system and in excessive amounts can cause dizziness, headaches, make

you jittery and unable to fall asleep. Energy drinks also contain about 50-60 grams of glucose or

sugar. This level of sugar in the blood can cause insulin to go through the ceiling, which leads to

the inability to burn fat, in turn causing obesity. This is misleading because most energy drinks

are marketed to increase productivity and weight lost from the high increase of energy, but they

actually contain too much sugar to burn off. Guarana is also an ingredient commonly found in

these drinks. Guarana comes from a South American shrub and is also loaded with caffeine. In

comparison to a coffee bean, a seed from guarana has 4-5% caffeine, where as a coffee bean only

has 1-2% caffeine. The combination of these ingredients in high dosages can be extremely

harmful to person’s health and can even cause death. (Loeb pgs 2-6).

Another dangerous fascination with energy drinks in mixing them with alcohol.

According to a survey, as many as 56% of college students reported they had mixed alcohol

with an energy drink. This is extremely dangerous because of the high level of stimulants such

as taurine, ginseng, and caffeine in energy drinks. Alcohol is a depressant, so when the two

opposites are mixed together, it sends mixed signals to the central nervous system and also

causes cardio problems. (JAMA pg 245). Also, alcohol severely dehydrates people, causing

intoxication. The high levels of caffeine and glucose in the energy drinks also causes

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dehydration, and when the two are mixed together the combination causes the person to be

increasingly intoxicated. This high level of caffeine also adds to a person’s impaired judgment.

Typically a person drinking alcohol mixed with an energy drink is perceived to be “more drunk”

then a person just drinking alcohol, however it does depend on the persons height and weight.

This combination of alcohol and high levels of caffeine and other harmful ingredients can be

deadly. A British Website concurs, advising, “Redbull should not be drunk with alcohol, or after

exercising.” They also reported 3 cases of death from these situations. The same website also

states that Norway, Denmark, and France have banned energy drinks from all stores except for

pharmacies. The reason for this is because they consider energy drinks as medicine or a drug

due to its high caffeine content (Smith pg.1).

The New York Times reported in 2011, that there were 20,783 reported emergency room

visits in which an energy drink was cited as the primary cause of or a contributing factor to a

health problem.  In 2007, 10,068 people reported emergency room visits again citing energy

drinks as the cause.  They also stated that there were no numbers submitted for 2012.  "Such

problems, which are typically linked to excessive caffeine consumption, can include anxiety,

headaches, irregular heartbeats and heart attacks," (Meier pg. 1).  These statistics demonstrate

that the number of cases of emergency room visits in the United States double between 2007 and

2011.  The New York Times stating that there were no results posted for 2012, suggests that

there is something to hide.  The reason for no statistics posted for 2012 could be that the number

drastically increased since 2011, therefore they did not release the information.

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Energy drinks are extremely dangerous whether mixed with alcohol or consumed by

itself. Atleast 20 cases have been noted over the past 5 years in which the situation was deadly.

In one particular case, a 14-year-old girl, Anais Fournier, from Hagerstown, Maryland died in

December, 2011. One thing to consider is Fournier did have a heart condition known as mitral

valve prolapse. The affects of this condition includes one of the heart valves to malfunction.

Fournier, was shopping at a local mall the night of December 16, 2011, when she purchased a

24-ounce can of “Monster” energy drink. On December 17, 2011 she drank a second 24-ounce

can of the same energy drink. Apparently she consumed two 24-ounce cans of this energy drink

within 24 hours. Later that night on December 17, 2011, she was allegedly at home watching

TV with her boyfriend when she unexpectedly went into cardiac arrest. Her parents immediately

brought her to Meritus Medical Center and was later med flighted to John Hopkins Hospital.

Doctors at the John Hopkins Hospital for forced to place her in an induced coma to keep her

brain from swelling, however regained consciousness. On December 23, 2011, she was declared

brain dead and her parents had to make an unfortunate decision to pull her off life support. The

parent of Anais Fournier are now filing a wrongful death law suit against the Monster Beverage

Corporation. Perhaps her mother, Wendy Crossman, stated it best, “I was shocked to learn the

FDA can regulate caffeine in a can of soda, but not these huge energy drinks. With their bright

colors and names like Monster, Redbull, and Full Throttle, these drinks are targeting teenagers

with no oversight or accountability.” This is true because the energy drinks certainly target

young adolescents with their color schemes and advertisement, suggesting that kids can boost

their energy and productivity with one can. Her mother also stated, “These drinks are death traps

for young, developing girls and boys, like my daughter, Anais,” (Bonura pg. 1).

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Obviously, the Monster corporation is fighting the allegations, claiming that the

allegations of the product were not responsible for the death of Anais Fournier. However, one

study from a medical journal states, “Caffeine can be lethal in doses ranging from 200 to 400

milligrams.” The two cans of Monster energy drink that Anais consumed contained 480

milligrams of caffeine which is equal to fourteen 12-ounce cans of soda. In addition to the

caffeine, Monster also contains guarana which contains caffeine, and taurine. Taurine is said to

have similar effects on cardiac mussels, (Bonura pg. 2).

In conclusion, the use of energy drinks should be banned for the sale to adolescences, or

atleast regulated. The high levels of caffeine and other harmful ingredients should be reduced or

controlled. It is proven that these drinks can negatively affect a person’s heart rate, blood

pressure, cholesterol, motor activity including speech rate, alertness and body temperature. The

false advertisement aiming to adolescents is harmful and misleading. If nothing is done to

regulate these products, the rate of emergency room visits and death will unfortunately increase

and become a reoccurring event.

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Works Cited

McLellan, TM; Lieberman, Hr , “Do Energy Drinks Contain Active Components other than

Caffeine?” Nutrition Reviews 2012 Dec; Vol. 70 (12), pp. 730-44. Date of Electronic

Publication: 2012 Nov 09.

Barry Meier, “More Emergency Visits Linked to Energy Drinks,” The New York Times

Business Day article January 11, 2013

Jonathan Howland, PhD, MPH; Damaris J. Rohsenow, PhD, “ Risks of Energy Drinks when

Mixed with Alcohol” The Journal of American Medical Association

http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1487124 January 16, 2013. Retrieved

Feburary, 03, 2013.

Geraint Smith, “Three deaths linked to energy drink,” Mail Online

www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article59862 Retrieved Februray, 5,2013

Denise Bonura, “Anais Fournier’s parents file wrongful death lawsuit against Monster Beverage

Corp.” The Record Herald.com www.therecordherald.com/article/201221022 Retrieved

Februrary 5, 2012