Young Girl Dies From Caffeine Overdose

Just last December, Anais Fournier, a 14-year-old girl from Maryland, died after drinking only two Monster energy drinks over the course of 24 hours. This incident has parents and researchers questioning whether energy drinks are safe for children.

Anais Fournier had a heart condition called mitral valve prolapse. In other words, one of her heart valves was malfunctioning. The National Institutes of Health reports that the condition is usually harmless under normal conditions. However, Anais went into cardiac arrest only a day after consuming two Monster energy drinks containing about 480 mg of caffeine. She died that same day from cardiac arrhythmia due to caffeine toxicity.

Fournier’s mother, Wendy Crossland, told the Record Herald “She was at the mall with her friends the night before and had a 24-ounce energy drink . . . She drank another one less than 24 hours later, even though she knew I do not allow them because I know they are bad for you. She went into cardiac arrest three hours later at home.”

According to The Huffington Post, the amount of caffeine that Fournier drank is equivalent to that found in 14 cans of Coca Cola and is almost five times the recommended caffeine limit announced by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Caffeine poisoning is not uncommon here in the United States. TODAY reported that cases of caffeine poisoning have increased over the last few years, from 1,128 in 2005 to 13,114 in 2009.

A recent study in the journal Pediatrics showed that anywhere from 30 percent to 50 percent of teens and young adults consume energy drinks daily. Nearly half of the 5,448 reported caffeine overdoses in 2007 were in people younger than 19.

Does Citicoline Provide Energy?

Energy drink companies all promise the same thing: increased focus and vitality, but what is really the main provider of energy in these drinks? Energy drink manufacturers have revealed citicoline, a stimulant added to popular drinks on the market today, including 5-Hour Energy Shots. The Washington Post reported that citocoline is now being added to more energy drinks and supplements.

One of the latest drinks to come to market, Nawgen (pronounced “noggin”), promises that one can a day can “sharpen your mind.” The site even urges users to track their mental performance using an online memory and focus test.

“It helps with alertness and concentration by providing nutrients the brain needs for alertness,” said Jim von der Hoyt, CEO of Nawgen, which is based in St. Louis, MO.

According to a study on Nawgen’s website, the stimulant citicoline has been proven to increase focus and mental energy, as well as manage symptoms of ADD. However, many experts warn consumers to watch out for such claims. In fact, several studies regarding citicoline, better known as Cognizin, present overwhelming evidence that suggest that the stimulant is no more than a placebo. “If you need energy, you might need more sleep, not a drink,” said Keith Avoob, associate clinical professor of pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Ayoob suggests that more research is needed before citocoline should be considered the go-to solution for focus or energy. “One study is never enough to build a drink on or change your entire diet,” he said.

According to the Council for Responsible Nutrition, Americans spent about $9 billion on energy drinks just last year. Drinks containing citocoline make up only a fraction of all energy drink sales. The main provider of “energy” is most likely high levels of caffeine and sugar.

Beverage manufacturers and supplement makers in the U.S. are not required to prove certain health claims. But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does require companies to ensure their products are safe before going to market. And once on shelves, the agency can review any product for safety.

Varying Caffeine Levels May Endanger Pregnant Women

A study by Glasgow University, led senior researcher Alan Crozier, showed espressos bought from different coffee shops contain vastly different amounts of caffeine. The discrepancy in caffeine levels could pose a risk to pregnant women and others who need to monitor their caffeine intake.

Analysis of espresso coffee from 20 different coffee houses indicates that one was six times stronger than the others. Imagine if one consumed six times more coffee than anticipated.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) reports that too much caffeine during pregnancy may result in miscarriage or a low birth weight. As a result, the FSA advises that pregnant women limit their caffeine intake to no more than 200 mg a day, based on the assumption that an espresso contains about 50 mg of caffeine. The average caffeine intake for a healthy person is 300 mg per day.

The FSA currently advises pregnant women to consume no more than 200mg of caffeine a day, based on an assumption that an espresso contains about 50mg of caffeine. The guideline for an average healthy person is 300mg a day.

Crozier says “You metabolize caffeine much more slowly when you're pregnant.” Additionally, people with liver diseases do not have the enzymes to process caffeine. These people need to be careful how much caffeine they are consuming, which can be hard to do when coffee houses vary.

"The analysis that we did showed the amount of caffeine ranged from 50 mg per cup from Starbucks, up to over 300mg per cup from another coffee house, Patisserie Francoise," he said. "I was very surprised by this."

Drinking just one of the strongest cups of coffee would more than exceed the "safe" level for pregnant women.

"If you go to different coffee houses you can tell that some are much stronger than others," Crozier said. "The problem comes with people who should have a limited caffeine intake.”

FDA Issues Warning to AeroShot Manufacturers

According to an article by in the Huffington Post, the FDA announced today that it had issued a warning letter to Breathable Foods, the manufacturers of the caffeine inhaler known as Aeroshot, for "false or misleading statements" in the advertising for its controversial new product.
The FDA took questioned several of AeroShot's claims, especially the idea that the caffeine inhaler delivers "breathable energy" but is "intended to be ingested by swallowing." The FDA's press release notes that, "A product cannot be intended for both inhalation and ingestion.” These are two separate bodily functions.

The FDA was also worried about the possibility that AeroShot was marketing its product to teens as a fun complement to alcoholic beverages.  Due to prior incidents, the FDA has little patience for dangerous caffeine-alcohol mash-ups.
Breathable Foods indicated that it would cooperate with the terms of the FDA's warning letter. “We plan to work closely with the FDA to meet their requests for information and labeling changes to ensure compliance with dietary supplement requirements," Breathable Foods CEO Tom Hadfield said in a statement. "AeroShot delivers a mix of B vitamins and caffeine to the mouth for ingestion and is not 'inhaled' into the lungs. AeroShot is not recommended or marketed to persons under 18 or for use with alcohol."

So far, all this controversy seems to have actually boosted sales of AeroShot. Breathable Foods says that AeroShots remain available on store shelves in Boston and New York but are completely sold out on the company's website.

Caffeine vs Amphetamines

A recent study shows that stimulants, such as caffeine and amphetamines, can affect different people in different ways, especially regarding work ethic. There are two kinds of people: self-motivated hard workers and those who do just enough to get by. Hard workers focus on the reward that awaits at the end of a task while others focus only on the effort required to accomplish something.

However, the research, which was conducted on rats, reveals a twist: stimulants like caffeine seem to flip those approaches. "The workers are choosing fewer of the hard trials, and the slackers are choosing more of the hard trials," said study researcher Jay Hosking, a graduate student at the University of British Columbia.

Hosking and his colleagues trained and tested how motivated 20  different rats were. They were put in boxes with two levers and five holes. During the task, one of the holes lit up. By sticking its nose in that hole, the rat received a treat of sugar pellets. Using the levers, the rats could then choose between a hard task, in which the hole lit up for a fifth of a second — about how long it takes to blink — and an easier one, where the hole lit for a whole second.

"Even the rats have extreme slackers and extreme workers," Hosking told LiveScience. "Just like with human beings, there is a continuum of activity levels." As in humans, some rats frequently chose the bare-minimum task, and others went with the hard ones for the bigger payoff.

When the rats were given stimulants like caffeine or amphetamines, they were more impulsive and responded quicker, but they were just as accurate at nosing the lit-up hole. However, the two personalities of rat had opposite reactions when made to choose between tasks. On either of the drugs, the hardworking rats became lazy, preferring the easy tasks in trials.

Meanwhile, when the lazy rats were given amphetamines, they became hard workers. Oddly, the same effect was not seen for the caffeine.

"The good news is that caffeine doesn't make the lazy rats any worse, but it definitely decreases the workers' willingness to put in the work," Hosking said.

Why the difference between the two stimulants? "Both end up stimulating, both create arousal, but they have different specific effects on the brain," he said.

The results may explain why amphetamine-based stimulants such as Adderall can help calm someone who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Perhaps the drug works to turn those distracted people into focused workers.

Adderall has lots of "off-label" uses, too, Hosking noted. Everyone from overworked college students to long-haul truck drivers may take amphetamines.

"One treatment doesn't fit all individuals," Hosking said.

"In truck drivers, amphetamine is a common stimulant which helps keep drivers alert … but a quarter of truck accidents are related to that amphetamine use as well," he said. "Some people might do really well on the amphetamines, and some might be taking it and thinking it's helping and actually harming themselves."

AeroShot: To Be Reviewed

Invented by Harvard biomedical engineering professor David Edwards, AeroShot is already increasing in popularity among young people. AeroShot went on the market late last month in Massachusetts and New York, and it's also available in France. Consumers put one end of the canister in their mouths and breathe in, releasing a fine powder that dissolves almost instantly.

AeroShot, otherwise known as the caffeine inhaler, is a small lipstick-sized canister that allows one to pump caffeine into the body through the mouth. Each grey-and-yellow plastic canister contains B vitamins, plus 100 milligrams of caffeine powder, about the equivalent of the caffeine in a large cup of coffee.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration plans to investigate whether or not inhalable caffeine is safe for consumers and if it is right to sell it as a dietary supplement. Because it was sold as a dietary supplement before it hit the U.S. market, AeroShot did not require an FDA review. However, New York Senator Charles Schumer met with FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg to discuss its safety and legality. She agreed to conduct a review of the product.

In the Associated Press article “FDA To Review Inhalable Caffeine,” Schumer said "I am worried about how a product like this impacts kids and teens, who are particularly vulnerable to overusing a product that allows one to take hit after hit after hit, in rapid succession.”

Tom Hadfield, chief executive of Breathable Foods, which manufactures AeroShot in France, said in a statement that the company will cooperate fully with the FDA’s review to address the issues raised by Schumer. He expressed confident that the review will conclude AeroShot to be a safe, effective product that complies fully with FDA regulations. Manufacturers include on the label that AeroShot is not recommended for those under 18 and is not marketed to children and warns that it is not to be used more than 3 times a day.

An FDA official who was at the meeting told The Associated Press that the review will include a study of the law to determine whether AeroShot qualifies as a dietary supplement. The product will also be tested to figure out whether it's safe for consumption.

Unhealthy Ingredients and Consequences

Energy drinks have become a modern day phenomenon, with tens of millions now being consumed daily. What's not to like about having more energy and alertness, particularly if it comes from beverages which often advertise herbal and other "natural" ingredients? It turns out that consumers are being deceived by these claims. Many energy drinks contain unhealthy ingredients, the first and foremost being an atrocious amount of caffeine and sugar. These drinks claim to provide energy and alertness, promoting wellness. On the contrary, regular consumption of these beverages can bring about potentially dangerous health consequences.

Some of the more common unwelcome side effects of energy drinks include elevated heart rates, hypertension, anxiety, headaches and interrupted sleep patterns. Earlier this year, a report in the medical journal Pediatrics warned against energy drinks and cited potential harms including heart palpitations, seizures, strokes and even sudden death.

Late last year, poison control centers started tracking energy drink overdoses and side effects nationwide. 677 cases occurred from October through December. The chart's list of reported energy drink-related symptoms included seizures, hallucinations, rapid heart rate, chest pain, high blood pressure and irritability.

The two most common ingredients found in energy drinks are sugar and caffeine; both of which provide temporary stimulation but can result in actual long term energy loss due to stressing the adrenal glands and causing adrenal fatigue.

Just one of a huge number of health risks caused by processed sugar is the risk of diabetes, a disease which has reached epidemic proportions in the U.S. Very large amounts of sugar can ultimately overwhelm the pancreas, the organ which generates insulin to offset sugar intake. If the pancreas becomes "worn out" by being overworked from too much sugar, diabetes can begin.

Some energy drinks contain up to 7 times as much caffeine as a cup of coffee. While small amounts of caffeine are not generally considered dangerous, too much can over stimulate the central nervous system and can dangerously elevate blood pressure and heart rate. Caffeine is also addictive and withdrawal symptoms include headaches and irritability. Caffeine also causes a loss in valuable B vitamins which are needed for "normal" energy creation. Those who consume energy drinks on a daily basis are training their bodies to not produce natural energy, leaving them dependent on synthetic energy.

When sugar is not used, dangerous artificial sweeteners are employed. Perhaps the most dangerous is sucralose. Sucralose is a chlorinated organic compound, a chemical group which includes several compounds known to be harmful to animals and plants and which has been linked to birth defects and other prenatal conditions. The body does not recognize artificial sweeteners like sucralose as food, but instead essentially processes them as toxins.

Other potentially dangerous ingredients commonly found in energy drinks include:

*Sodium benzoate. Last year a study conducted by an expert in molecular biology and biotechnology linked the common energy drink preservative sodium benzoate to cell damage and an increase in the production of free radicals. Even more concerning, sodium benzoate in combination with vitamin C causes the potent carcinogen benzene.

*Phenylalanine. Though an essential amino acid, phenylalanine is also a neurotoxin and is one of the three main ingredients which make up aspartame. Too much can excite the neurons in the brain to the point of cellular death.

*Guarana. Guarana (or guaranine) comes from the seeds of the guarana plant, which contain up to 3 to 4 times the caffeine as coffee beans.

*Ephedra. Ephedra has been described as a drug that increases heart rate and blood pressure at low doses and causes strokes, seizures, and possibly even death at high doses.

There are far safer options for achieving greater energy than energy drinks, such as super foods powders for example. The very best long term option is an active lifestyle combined with adequate sleep, avoidance of energy robbing toxins and stress and a healthy nutrient-dense diet.

A Non-Addictive Caffeine Fix?

Is the caffeine in coffee really “natural?” Maik A Jochmann, Ph.D. and his collegues ask this very same question.



Coffee, tea, soft drinks, energy drinks, and other high-caffeine drinks are the most popular beverages in the world. The FDA requires that caffeine be listed on package labels, but it does not require for companies to indicate whether the caffeine is from natural or synthetic sources.



In Jochmann’s study, he and his colleagues describe the use of a technique called stable-isotope analysis to discern between natural and synthetic caffeine. The test uses the differences between types of carbon isotopes and slight variations of the same element found in caffeine made by plants and caffeine made in labs with petroleum-derived molecular building blocks. Their analysis indicated that many caffeine drink companies use synthetic caffeine, even while the label claims the drink to be 100% natural.

The caffeine naturally contained in a few herbs such as Yerba Mate, Guarana, Kola Nut, and Green Tea to name a few, is naturally occurring caffeine, also known as "bio-caffeine" and is non-addictive.

The caffeine doing the major damage today is the caffeine produced by the pharmaceutical industry, the caffeine actually found in many drugs. This caffeine is synthetic and thus harmful. It can cause addiction. But "bio-caffeine" cannot and will not cause addiction. This is why people who drink herbal teas enjoy the beverage, but they are not addicted.

Consider how much synthetic caffeine is found in our drinks:

Brewed Coffee (8 ounces), 60-120 mg caffeine

Double Expresso (2 ounces), 45-100 mg caffeine

Instant Coffee (8 ounces), 70 mg caffeine

Black Tea (8 ounces) 45 mg caffeine

Pepsi Cola (12 ounce can), 38 mg caffeine

Coca Cola (12 ounce can), 34 mg caffeine

Hershey's Special Dark chocolate bar (1.45 ounces), 31 mg caffeine

Herbs containing bio-caffeine contain 20 mg or less of caffeine. Even then, this caffeine found in plants is active (alive) meaning it won't hurt you or cause you to become addicted it.

Sports and Energy Drinks

High energy drinks, popularized by Pepsi and Coke, have become the beverage of choice for our generation. But as more and more studies come out about these high energy drinks (which means very high caffeine), we are discovering that too much of a good thing is bad for young athletes.

Beginning in 1965, Gatorade was created after an assistant football coach for the Florida Gators talked to doctors about their players suffering from heat and dehydration. They discovered that, as players would sweat and lose fluids, carbohydrates and electrolytes were not being replenished in the body. Gatorade was created to remedy this problem.

New Gatorade products and flavors have been developed for sports health professionals around the world, and are now the “official” sports drinks for the NBA, AVP, PGA, MLB, MLS, etc. Gatorade has now progressed into the high energy market with the Gatorade Performance Series—Gatorade Energy Drink, Gatorade Energy Bar, and the Gatorade Nutrition Shake.

Not to be outdone, Coke jumped into the market with Powerade in 1992. Now, you can imagine the marketing schemes of these two huge companies competing to impress young teens and adults. More specialty drinks have hit the market over the years, packing more caffeine than ever before.

With drinks like Hype, Energy, Reload, Guru, Wired, Red Bull, Kick, Blue Bolt, Monster, etc., our young athletes are being bombarded by drinks loaded with caffeine. The more caffeine and the bigger the bottle, the better! We have pre-game fuel (Gatorade Prime) and post-game fuel (Gatorade Recover), and according to Gatorade’s chief marketing officer, the “Athletes are just begging us to do more for them.”

Although Gatorade remains dominant, Powerade sales have nearly tripled over the last 8 or 9 years. Like anything, when taken in moderation, these beverages can have some “positive” effects. Taken in excess, these energy drinks can have very serious negative effects. Many times, energy drinks contain 17 times the caffeine than a cup of coffee and 14 times that of a can of soda.

Red Bull, which has an excessive amount of caffeine, was banned in France after the death of an 18 year old athlete, who drank 4 cans of the drink prior to playing a basketball game. In the United States, energy drinks have been linked to nausea, abnormal heart rhythms, tremors, dizziness, seizures, and emergency room visits.

Energy drink companies are targeting young people, who are easily susceptible to ad campaigns promising to make them stronger and more alert. Many young people just drink them because it’s cool. It’s the new “fad.” Young athletes, especially, are suffering because high caffeine intake coupled with increased physical activity causes the heart to work itself to death.

Caffeinated: A Documentary

I found this short documentary, made by a student at NYU. It contains a firsthand account of the effects of caffeine, as well as scientist interviews on how the drug works and what it does. I found it to be very interesting. Hope you will too!

Energy Drinks and Young People

Red Bull, Monster, AMP and Rockstar. These are among the best sellers in the energy drink industry that is estimated to take in $9 billion in 2011. Are they also potential dangers to your children?

A study released last week by researchers in Miami indicates that children who consume energy drinks as part of their regular diet could be at risk.

The study, headed by Dr. Steven Lipshultz, Dean of Child Safety at Miller’s School of Medicine at the University of Miami, concluded there is no "therapeutic value" in the consumption of energy drinks. While the popular drinks advertise benefits ranging from re-energizing athletes to increasing stamina, Lipshultz suggests that it is quite possible the drinks actually have the opposite effect.

Even worse, Lipshultz said the sugar, caffeine and other ingredients in the drinks aren't regulated by the Food and Drug Administration—which classifies them as dietary supplements—and may be extremely dangerous for kids with ADHD, heart conditions and diabetes.

"I was totally shocked by what I found," said Lipshultz. "We just don't have a lot of information."

“Until last year, the U.S. Poison Control Center did not specifically track caffeine-related overdoses related to energy drinks,” Lipshultz said. “But there are still enough unexplained injuries and deaths to spark significant concern.”

In May 2008, 16-year-old honor student Ashley Ramnauth of Wellington, FL. died after combining energy drinks and alcohol. An autopsy never determined the exact cause of death, but Ramnauth's parents have said that they are certain energy drinks are to blame.

In 2003, Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Belcher died during spring training. His death was connected to ephedra, a substance that was part of energy drinks at the time. All uses of ephedra have since been banned.

Several countries have ordered complete or partial bans of energy drinks or required warning labels on cans after several deaths that appeared to be related to energy drinks in the past few years. Denmark , Turkey and Uruguay have banned all energy drinks, Germany has banned 11 of 16 brands and Australia has banned 5 energy drink makers.

"Other countries are studying energy drinks and many are banning or heavily regulating the products," Lipshultz said. "At some point, you have to wonder why that is happening."

The American Beverage Association quickly shot down the report last week. "This literature review does nothing more than perpetuate misinformation about energy drinks, their ingredients and the regulatory process," the lobbying group said in a statement on its website. And energy drinker maker Red Bull said in a statement that the study did not take into account the "scientifically rigorous examination of energy drinks by reputable national authorities."

The ABA also argued that teens "aren't large consumers of energy drinks" and that the average energy drink can contains no more caffeine than a cup of coffee.

Lipshultz said the data, based on a review of 121 different studies and government reports, is at odds with the beverage group. According to surveys filled out by users, energy drinks are consumed by 30% to 50% of adolescents and young adults, according to the study. Because all the ingredients are regulated, it's impossible to know how much caffeine is added to energy drinks with guarana, for example. That's a South American plant that contains a high amount of caffeine.

"I've seen kids who come in and have had an energy drink in the morning and they will tell me they feel like their hearts are beating out of their chests," said Sandi Delack, who is a nurse at Ferri Middle School in Johnston, R.I.

Delack and Lipshultz offered this advice for parents when it comes to energy drinks:

• "Read the study," said Lipshultz, who said he was proud that Pediatrics magazine has provided free access to the study on its website.
• Have an open and honest conversation with your kids. Does your child, or his or her friends regularly drink energy drinks? Why do they do it, and how does it make them feel?

"This isn't about judging," said Lipshultz. The conversation is a perfect opportunity for teens to learn the importance of monitoring what goes into their bodies. Doctors, teachers, school coaches and others should read the study as well, he said.

"I think it's important that parents just know what their kids are ingesting, and if they are using these drinks, that they are using it correctly," said Delack, referring to concerns highlighted in the study about the combination of energy drinks with stimulants, certain medications or medical conditions.

Lipshultz said while the study wasn't motivated by a desire to conclude that kids should or should not use energy drinks, he believes the evidence points to an inescapable conclusion for now.

"We don't have the evidence," he said. "Why as a parent would I want to have my child take this unregulated drink until there is sufficient information available? In the absence of evidence, children should be discouraged from taking this."

Is Caffeine Dangerous?

Here is a short video I found about the long-term effects of caffeine addiction. Enjoy!

Aeroshot, Caffeine Inhaler

            David Edwards, a Harvard professor of biomedical engineering has unveiled his newest invention, a valuable innovation in this caffeine-driven world. Aeroshot. This device looks very much like a tube of lip balm—small, sleek, and plastic. It is a caffeine inhaler. Apparently, we can’t consume caffeine fast enough in the form of coffee and energy beverages. We need it in our bodies NOW. Aeroshot does not even attempt to disguise its purpose: to pump caffeine into our systems and provide a short burst of synthetic energy.

            The AeroShot contains a puff of lime-flavored caffeine powder, dispensing about 40 mg of the drug in your mouth with each use, like an asthma inhaler. The Aeroshot has already been released as a startup product in the Boston area. Although the purpose of Aeroshot is to boost energy on college campuses and in the workplace, many officials are expressing concerns. In December, Sen. Charles E. Schumer worried that the drug would be used as a “party-enhancer.” He questioned its safety and whether or not the inhaler should be made available to children.

            Patrick Hruby, a writer for The Washington Times, pointed out in his article “America’s Caffeine Addiction Races Full Speed Ahead” that regardless of what the drug is intended for, people will use it as they please. “When it comes to the nation’s predilection for energy-boosting enhancement—at parties, at the office or anywhere in between, for young and old alike — the horse has long since left the barn, if only to lap up a double espresso at the neighboring Starbucks.”

Caffeine Buzzed

            What does America run on these days? Hard work? A good night’s rest? A healthy diet? No…according to Dunkin’ Donuts coffee chain, “America runs on Dunkin’.” It seems a bit absurd, doesn’t it, the idea that America relies solely on coffee to function? Just a silly jingle, right? Wrong.

In fact, this statement is closer to the truth than we think. Coffee is the world’s second most valuable commodity. “There are two dark, black liquids that run this country,” said Robert Thompson, director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University. “Oil and coffee. Walk down the street in any major city at lunch hour. You just see coffee and cell phones.” According to historian David T. Courtwright, American per capita coffee consumption rose from three pounds per year in 1830 to eight pounds per year by 1859. Today, the National Coffee Association reports that the number of 18- to 39-year-olds who drink coffee daily jumped almost 10 percent year-over-year in 2011.

Oh, but America does not run on coffee alone. We now have hundreds of energy drinks to choose from, all offering the same caffeine buzz. Consider this. If someone proposed that we place an espresso bar in schools for students to use, everyone would think that person was insane. However, no one thinks twice about the Rockstars and the Monsters and the 5-Hour Energy drinks that even our youngest schoolchildren are consuming on a daily basis. The average American consumes about 300 mg of caffeine a day. Let’s face it. Caffeine is the miracle drug of our generation.

Companies have decided to take the caffeine buzz a step further. We now not only have coffee and energy drinks. We have caffeinated gum, caffeinated lip balm, caffeinated sunflower seeds, even caffeinated soap. According to a recent article in The Washington Post, “We don’t just drink vodka. We drink vodka mixed with the up-all-night energy drink Red Bull—because even our downers need uppers.”

I smell an addiction. What would happen to America if we took away all the caffeine? Would life be slower, sluggish even? How would people wake up in the morning? How would we keep going? What are the long-term effects of this caffeine craze?



That Awkward First Post...

Hello, Internet!

My name is Melissa Turner, and I am an English major/Journalism minor at BYU - Idaho. When I'm not here at school, I'm slaving away as a barista at Caribou Coffee back home in Minnesota.

My job back home is what inspired me to write this blog. See, I've noticed over the years just how dependent America has become on caffeine. It really is fascinating when you think about it. Whatever happened to good old-fashioned healthy eating and exercise as a means for energy? Coffee has been around for years. It's nothing new. The new fad, however, lies in energy drinks. America seems to thrive on bottled energy these days. Is it possible to bottle energy? Can one really achieve the same degree of physical and mental stamina, not by regular exercise and healthy eating, but simply by downing an exquisite concoction of caffeine, sugar, and herbal stimulants? Energy drink companies all over the nation would reply with a resounding “yes,” and millions of Americans would agree. The consumption of energy drinks has become a rapidly growing fad in America and in many other countries all over the world, with little indication of slowing down. Since the introduction of Red Bull to the U.S. in 1997, the sale and consumption of energy drinks has skyrocketed to shocking highs. According to a report by Zenith International, the annual world energy drink consumption reached 906 million gallons in 2006, increasing 17% from the previous year (Roethenbaugh, 2007). The widespread consumption of these products must lead consumers to wonder what they are putting into their bodies and what the real long-term effects of these ingredients are. These drinks contain atrocious levels of caffeine and sugar, along with other stimulants, with blatant disregard for current FDA regulations and the safety of consumers. There are literally hundreds of energy drink brands on the market today. Consumers need only pick their poison.