Have you ever drank a strong cup of coffee and experienced the shaky sensation? As an example, the same caffeine effects are to be found in the Red Bull energy drink. The trendy can contains a large amount of caffeine. As most of us know, caffeine has an addictive effect; when you try to break with your habits ‘cold turkey’, you might suffer from headaches due to caffeine withdrawal.

These drinks are very popular with the high school and college students. It seems to be their boost to kick off the day – the caffeine effects the body significantly. Many stop off at the local convenience store to purchase them before or in between classes. Now most energy drinks like Red Bull, Rock Star, AMP or Full Throttle contain 80 milligrams of caffeine, which is supposed to be equivalent to one cup of coffee. As for soft drinks such as Coca-Cola or Pepsi, studies have shown that a 12 ounce soda can contain about 18-48 milligrams of caffeine, depending on the product. I think we should ask ourselves (because our kids won’t): what are the health effects of this?

Photo by: Mark Hillary

Caffeine Effects

As for the health effects of caffeine – well, it speeds up the heart rate. So for one, if you happen to have an undetected heart condition, this could be deadly. There have been various incidents happening with seizure and heart attacks that have been questioned as to whether or not the consumption of the caffeine in coffee or an energy drink was linked to it.

Now these drinks claim to only have the same amount of caffeine as one cup of coffee, but why is there so much fuss about the drinks, and why are students relying on it before their classes? I really don’t feel it is ‘just’ a trendy drink.

Caffeine In Coffee = Caffeine In Power Drinks

On top of this, the slim blue and silver can is being sold in some vending machines in high schools, as this newspaper article about Red Bull being sold on school grounds points out. There is a reference to the Republican Bruce Long of Middletown (Rhode Island) who is moving to ban the popular drinks from high schools. I say, shouldn’t schools be selling/promoting juices, healthy drinks and bottled water, instead of drinks with stimulants and caffeine in them?

How Caffeine Effects Your Body: A Case

Certain states in the U.S. are trying to get a law passed that restricts the sale of Red Bull and other high-caffeine energy drinks to people over the age of 18. In the meantime, other countries have chosen to ban the product completely. France legally banned the product after an eighteen year old Irish female basketball athlete had drank four cans during a match – and passed away in the process. Since then, Denmark and Norway have joined France. Some countries, such as Canada, have added a warning label for children and pregnant women to be aware of the dangers of how the contained caffeine effects the body. Even after the controversy over the amount of caffeine in these drinks not exceeding a ‘normal’ amount, France stayed firm on their decision, and Red Bull is not sold there since the year 2000.

Energy Drinks With Alcohol

Then again, the popularity of energy drinks mixed with alcohol is a huge concern because of the “high” you get – after all, it is a power drink. Why young adults are doing it amazes me. Is it the rapid need to relax or feel the buzz? Either way, it is very dangerous mixing the two. Some kids are even mixing it with Coke, another high caffeinated soft drink. That’s Red Bull and Coke, you got me right. So they must be on to something here, and in no way does it sound like anything healthy. It’s like a coffee addiction for us adults.

Too much caffeine effects kids to have a false sense of security, and feeling that they are indestructible. And since alcohol is a depressant, it has one hell of an effect as you realize just how drunk you have become very quickly. Power boosters and depressants shouldn’t be mixed, but they are; and they have become extremely popular all over the world.

So have the negative effects of caffeine on children been overlooked by the FDA, or is it just a coincidence that after drinking these high caffeine drinks, people have experienced rapid heart beat and other symptoms? Could it be a mixture of the other Red Bull ingredients with the caffeine?

Caffeine & Coffee Facts

Caffeine is addicting, possibly this is what is happening here. Just like with coffee addiction, people are becoming addicted to these drinks, and as long as there is an interest and money to be made with the sales of them, they will remain on the store shelves and in our schools’ vending machines.

What do you think of this?

Disclaimer: This article is about caffeine effects in general, not about the brands named above in particular. Any mention of the effects of energy drinks refers to the negative effects of the caffeine they contain and not to any of the mentioned brands as a whole, as a connection hasn’t been proven yet. Thank you.