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Energy drinks are now a common staple among most Americans. They are found everywhere, and there are no limits on who can purchase them. People drink them like water, mix them with alcohol, or use them as a quick pick-me-up.

When I was working 10 hour days at the pool and taking care of my 6-month old son, keeping my energy up was difficult. I decided, one Friday, to drink half a can of Monster to keep my energy up. What followed was the scariest experience of my life. My pulse raced, and I became oddly OCD. I found a butter knife in the lifeguard office and proceeded to scrape all the old gum and other sticky stuff off of the pool deck. It took me a half an hour, and the pool deck looked fantastic. I, however, felt like crap.

It is this experience that leads me to believe that energy drinks are extremely dangerous, and I am not surprised that excessive energy drink consumption has been linked to the sudden death of a 16-year-old girl.

In June of 2014, Lanna Hamman of Arizona was on vacation in Mexico. She was spending some time with her friends on the beach and drinking her favorite beverage, Red Bull. According to her friends, she drank no water. As the day progressed, she started to feel strange and then suffered a sudden heart attack. It is believed that the high amounts of caffeine she consumed and dehydration are what caused the heart attack.

According to Caffeine Informer, overconsumption of energy drinks can lead to:

  • Cardiac Arrest
  • Headaches and Migraines
  • Increased Anxiety
  • Insomnia
  • Type 2 Diabetes
  • Drug Interaction
  • Addiction
  • Risky Behavior
  • Jitters and Nervousness
  • Vomiting
  • Allergic Reactions
  • High Blood Pressure
  • Stress Hormone Release

It is easy to see how energy drinks affect the heart. Cardiologist Jack Wolfson stated to Arizona news station KSAZ Fox 10 that “There is medical evidence that these things do harm, they can cause changes in the heart rhythm, and impact blood pressure.”

Lanna’s case may be an extreme example, but many people experience mild but similar reactions. Hospitalizations due to energy drink consumption are not uncommon, and the majority of those treated for excessive energy drink consumption were 18 to 25 years of age. (Source)

These drinks are targeted to young people, but no one should be drinking them. I have not touched one since that single experience.

To learn more, take a look at the video below!

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katherinecrofton

Katherine Crofton is a mother and lead writer for the David Wolfe website. Her interests include overall family health, nature & animals, environmental issues, and culture. She worked as an English teacher in South Korea for four years and has spent time in Tanzania, South Africa, and Mexico.

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12 Responses

  1. Kelvin

    Just because you had a reaction to the drink, doesn’t mean everyone (or the majority, or even a significant minority) will.
    Your anecdote of pool cleaning may have scared you, but it’s hardly a common reaction to but a single drink (I’d wager it is an extremely uncommon reaction).
    Everything in moderation. Common sense – something sadly lacking nowadays (which is, perversely, fortunate for folks who sell and profit on fear and misinformation).
    Excessive consumption of anything can be dangerous. One has to make informed choices, and balance risks, lest we live in a nanny-state, or line the pockets of those whom would profit from keeping people scared.

    • Slav Zurawski

      Thank you Kelvin. People constantly forget about common sense. All these stories are sad. Some more than others. But should we ban driving automobiles because some of us had accidents or lost a loved one. I think there are more health issues caused by fast food…lets close MacDonalds!!! We can’t safe proof the world for everyone. Its up to common sense and parental guidance. Don’t make choices for others and (this is a my tender spot) DON’T EMPOWER THE GOVERNMENT TO MAKE MORE AND MORE CHOICES FOR US.

  2. Barbara Seim

    After working late one night, my 17 year old son and his friend bought energy drinks and proceeded to stay up all night. In the morning, they decided to climb down a rock cliff – once to see the beauty of the the river in the canyon below, then they climbed up and once again decended with fishing gear to fish for a little while. And finally they climbed back up and realized they accidentally left car keys at the river bank. So on the third decent, my son fell from the cliff and died from crushing the back of his skull. Energy drink manufacturers can go #@&¥ themselves.

    • Your1Friend

      I am so sorry to hear of this, Barbara.

      Corporate food, fake food, fake food additives are simply no good. We need to return to real food.

      Peace.

    • Daniel Miller

      What’s that got to do with energy drinks? Maybe it was an accident? I have the worst luck ever but I still win on a scratch off on the rare occasion…. wait were you trying to be sarcastic and funny? Is so ignore this

      • Quinn Harbin

        Would you ever say such a thing to a grieving mother to her face? Unless you are a sociopath, you simply wouldn’t. So don’t say such hurtful things on the internet- she WILL read them and feel the same smack in her face and she doesn’t NEED that. Maybe you can doubt her logic, but feelings aren’t about logic. She likely doesn’t feel the same way about that beautiful rock cliff either. Just keep those doubts inside your head and try to express compassion. Unless of course you are a sociopath. In which case, just go away.

  3. cbkeryn

    I once was hauling a HAZMAT load to California. Come to find out it was the additives that go into these power drinks…Had to have HAZMAT and CORROSIVE placards on the truck. A corrosive substance is one that will destroy and damage other
    substances with which it comes into contact. It may attack a great
    variety of materials, including metals and various organic compounds, but people are mostly concerned with its effects on living tissue: it causes chemical burns. That was enough to make me never touch the products….

    • Daniel Miller

      Paint will kill you to but that’s BEFORE it’s dried…just because ingredients of something is hazardous ALONE don’t mean they are afterwards in the final product. ..people don’t freak out when you are sitting on a painted park bench do they?

  4. Alan Kurschinski

    I drink Monster every day, and I’ve never had a bad reaction to it. Sometimes I drink 2 or 3 in my 12 hour shift. What you wrote is nonsense.

  5. Chloe Moff

    I know from experience that red bull is so dangerous to drink! I worked a full time job that was extremely stressful and included working over 45 hours a week running around on my feet. I needed a pick me up. So of course I would grab a red bull, not knowing what it could do to me. I drank at least 4 red bulls a week for probably around a year. One night I was getting out of the shower after drinking a red bull and I felt this sick feeling rush over me. I had a HUGE panic attack and had to be rushed to the emergency room. I couldn’t breath, I was dizzy, vomiting, diarrhea, slurred speech, chest pains… It was the worst experience in my life. I had actually had one two weeks prior to this but thought it was from drinking alcohol until I remembered that I had drank a red bull a little bit before consuming the alcohol which of course only makes it SO much worse. It has now been almost a year since my two panic attacks and to this day I still have anxiety. I can’t have caffeine or alcohol and even sugary drinks make me sick and make me feel really anxious. I completely fried my adrenal glands with the high amounts of caffeine, taurine and of course sugar. I am also now borderline diabetic as well. This is no self diagnosis as I have seen many doctors and had tests done as well. If you’re drinking this stuff just DON’T. JUST STOP. ITS NOT WORTH IT!!. It has seriously made my life a living hell and everyday is a battle. I wish I could go back and never had taken the first sip. But all you can do is move forward and do the best you can. Everyday I am healing and I hope to spread this message to more stressed out young adults like me! Get 8 hours of sleep, drink lots of water and listen to your mom when she tells you to quit drinking that crap! I wish I would have…

    • Becca H

      Chloe, if you still have issues with fatigue, I’d love to help you have improvement naturally. I’m very sensitive to stimulants so energy drinks and high caffeine could never be an answer for me. I have found a solution and drink the Plexus Pink Drink each morning. It is 100% plant ingredients with no artificial sugar or caffeine. It was created for diabetics to help stabilize blood sugar so that it doesn’t dip up and down all day, allowing your body to have sustained energy. If you would like more information, I’d be glad to help you.

  6. jw

    Don’t forget the aspartame in some versions of these drinks, that is the real killer. There is no group of people that look less healthy than regular users of aspartame. Toxic crap people pour down their throats.

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