Energy drinks have been receiving intense criticism as the FDA reported last month that the death toll linked to the consumption of energy drinks is increasing.
The FDA has received 13 reports of death potentially linked to the consumption of 5-Hour Energy shots over the last four years. Five deaths have been linked to Monster Energy Drink since 2004, according to the New York Times.
Toxicologists told ABC News that it generally takes between 5 and 10 grams of caffeine to kill a person, though how much is lethal depends on several factors, including weight, medications, and underlying health conditions.
Energy drink companies, such as Red Bull, promote their products by listing health benefits on the cans. Above the nutrition facts, the packaging boasts that the drink “improves performance, especially during times of increased stress or strain, increases endurance, increases concentration and improves reaction speed and stimulates the metabolism.”
Health care officials are beginning to take a stand against what they call misleading messages.
“In my opinion, some of the marketing messages go overboard about the health benefits of these drinks. The term ‘energy drink’ is misleading. Energy should come from calories -- this is more about stimulation,” Amelia M. Arria, an epidemiologist who serves as director of the Center of Young Adult Health and Development at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, told The New York Times.
The risks behind consuming energy drinks are many. One of the most prominent reasons behind the consumption of energy drinks, particularly shots, is to get a boost before exercising, according to market research firm, Mintel. Going into a work out already having high blood pressure and a fast heart rate can trigger a heart attack, stroke or an episode of extremely high blood pressure, particularly when other underlying health problems are present.
“It’s very difficult to predict one’s response to caffeine. Some people are more sensitive to it than others,” Bruce Goldberger, the director of toxicology at the University of Florida College of Medicine, told ABC News, “Therein lies the problem. If someone has an undiagnosed medical condition, they may ingest caffeine not knowing it may have a deleterious effect, such as cardiac arrhythmia, hypertension or anxiety.”
Energy drinks may also have some dangerous long term side effects. Some of the most common are palpitations, tremor, agitation, gastrointestinal upset and chest pain, according to the Australian Poisons Center. Dizziness, insomnia and headaches are also listed.
What may be even more harmful than the side effects, though, is the dependence on energy drinks that many college students have started to build.
“You do kind of become dependent on it,” said Kavya Nagarajan, a junior at Boston University. “If I don’t have caffeine, my day feels different.”
Studies have shown almost 30 percent of college students consume energy drinks regularly, Arria said. Fifty-one percent of college students consume more than one energy drink each month in an average month, according to a 2007 survey of college students and energy drink consumption by the Nutrition Journal.
View Energy Drink Retailers in a larger map
The Above Map lists popular retail locations for Boston University Students to purchase energy drinks.
Another health danger that college students seem to be particularly susceptible to is mixing energy drinks with alcohol. Because alcohol is a depressant, it slows the heart rate. Contrastingly, the caffeine present in energy drinks does the opposite by rapidly increasing the heart rate. With this combination, people can drink more alcohol for longer periods of time without realizing their level of intoxication.
After a highly publicized episode in the fall of 2010, Four Loko, a caffeinated malt liquor, was taken off the market temporarily. Nine Central Washington University freshmen were hospitalized after drinking it at an off-campus party. Officers found students so highly intoxicated from the drinks that they mistakenly thought they had overdosed on drugs. The caffeine in Four Loko has since been removed as a result of the incident, proving the dangerous combination of alcohol and caffeine.
There was a tenfold increase in emergency room visits linked to energy drinks from 2005 to 2008, according to a November 2011 report by the Drug Abuse Warning Network. About half of the emergency room trips were made by patients 18 to 25 who had also consumed alcohol or used other drugs
Concerns increased as Living Essentials began the energy shot craze with 5-Hour Energy in 2004. Red Bull, Monster Energy and Coca-Cola soon followed suit by creating their own energy shots. Each of these shots contain about as much caffeine as a regular sized energy drink along with B vitamins and taurine, which is an amino acid from animal sources.
The appeal is clear. Energy shots are a quick, portable and low calorie way to get a boost of energy any time of day. The caffeine in the drinks is what provides the jolt of energy, and many nutritionists warn that when these are mixed with other caffeinated drinks (coffee, green tea, soda, etc.) problems may arise.
What is particularly nerve-wracking is that the makers of energy shots are not required to list the amount of caffeine in their product on the label because the FDA doesn’t consider caffeine as a nutrient. Also, since energy shots are sold as dietary supplements, they do not fall under the regulations of the FDA. If energy shots had to follow the agency’s guidelines, they would greatly exceed the caffeine levels deemed safe by the FDA. The agency allows soda to contain 71 milligrams of caffeine per 12 ounces while energy drinks can contain anywhere from 160 to 500 milligrams.
Despite the dangers behind energy drinks, sales have not slowed. Energy drink sales in the US increased 16% last year to $8.9 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. This account for 12% of the carbonated soft-drink category. Energy shots sales grew 8.5 percent with nearly $1.1 billion, according to market research firm SymphonyIRI Group.
If this has all put you off of energy drinks for good, here are some ways to produce energy naturally:
· Eat several small meals throughout the day
· Avoid large amount of fat and sugar in your diet
· Do not skip meals, particularly breakfast
· Take breaks to exercise quickly (a short walk will do)
· Exercise regularly
· Reduce stress
· Get enough sleep
Content produced by Arden Bronstein, Zack Correia, Alayna Eberhart, Lisa Braun, Becca Hildreth, and Lauren Ciuba.
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