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Energy Drinks - A Concern! YOU Never Need Them!
Kids might be more vulnerable to the contents of energy drinks than grownups.
"Children never need energy drinks," said Dr. Holly Benjamin, of the American Academy of Pediatrics, who worked on the new report. "They contain caffeine and other stimulant substances that aren't nutritional, so you don't need them."
And kids might be more vulnerable to the contents of energy drinks than grownups.
"If you drink them on a regular basis, it stresses the body," Benjamin told Reuters Health. "You don't really want to stress the body of a person that's growing."
For the new recommendations, published in the journal Pediatrics, researchers went through earlier studies and reports on both energy drinks and sports drinks, which don't contain any stimulants.
They note that energy drinks contain a jumble of ingredients -- including vitamins and herbal extracts -- with possible side effects that aren't always well understood.
While there aren't many documented cases of harm directly linked to the beverages, stimulants can disturb the heart's rhythm and may lead to seizures in very rare cases, Benjamin said.
Recently, she saw a 15-year-old boy with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder who came into the hospital with a seizure after having drunk two 24-ounce bottles of Mountain Dew, a soft drink that contains caffeine.
The boy was already taking stimulant ADHD medication, and the extra caffeine in principle might have pushed him over the edge, according to Benjamin.
"You just never know," she said. "It's definitely a concern."
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Energy Drinks and Energy Shots - Hundreds of them!
There are new products entering the market every month!
People are consuming these Energy Drinks and Energy Shots at an alarming rate! According to Beverage Marketing, the growth rate of this industry had been doubling every year since the late 90s. The current U.S. domestic market is expected to grow to an estimated US $10 billion by 2010!
How scary is this trend towards these quick fix, "buzz" drinks? There is actually an "Energy Drink" on the market that has 1800 mg of caffeine in a 4oz. bottle, this product is meant to be added to various drinks but you know there are people that will be just drinking it straight out of the bottle as well.