For as long as I’ve been in school, drinking energy drinks, or not, has always been a debate among students and teachers. They’re good for focus, but do the problems outweigh the benefits? Most others like me agree that they are far too unhealthy.
First of all, let’s talk about what qualifies as an energy drink. There are the obvious big brand names like Redbull and Monster Energy, but what makes these drinks so energized? Well, while one may assume that the high amount of caffeine is all that qualifies an energy drink, there are plenty of other factors that contribute towards the classification as well. The main ingredients in a lot of energy drinks are taurine and guarana. Taurine is an amino acid that gives more alertness and attention, and guarana is a plant that naturally contains caffeine. These products are important because of their use in energy drinks. Most energy drinks only use one or the other in their drinks because having both can lead to an incredibly high energy intake. However, the two prior examples–Redbull and Monster Energy–are examples of companies that put both products in their drinks.
Energy drinks also have a negative effect on the body. Energy drinks can cause health issues, with most of these health issues coming from the previously mentioned products taurine and guarana. These products often cause a faster heart rate, higher blood pressure, and more anxiety. Depending on the individual drinking said energy drinks, heart complications or anything of the sort could have a horrible end result, possibly even leading them to the hospital. The other issue with these complications is the buildup they cause. Even though these kinds of issues typically hurt older people, the more energy drinks a person drinks, the worse his or her body becomes because of the energy drink intake, resulting in a slowly deteriorating body.
Adocates of energy drinks say that while energy drinks can be dangerous, the base products in energy drinks aren’t bad because as long as they’re used in moderation, all the drinks do is provide energy. While yes, this can be true to certain degrees, how is a person supposed to differentiate between what’s healthy and what’s not for them? If people started moderating the amount of Redbull that is acceptable to drink, it would become treated the same way as alcohol with its shot limits and its overuse. At that point, energy drinks would be on the same level as alcohol, and if alcohol isn’t socially accepted in places like school or public, why would energy drinks?
Overall, with the heart complications and addiction caused by energy drinks, nobody should be drinking energy drinks. The drinks, just by themselves, are far too dangerous for anybody to drink.