TODAY’S ENERGY DRINKS: THE SUGAR ROLLER COASTER AND YOU
By Ali Cooper ’09
News Reporter
The school store stocks everything a Choate student could possibly want: books ranging from Hamlet to Stewart’s Single Variable Calculus, Kit Kat bars, Choate sweatshirts, colored ballpoint pens, and… drugs. Caffeine is a drug, and the energy drinks that the school store stocks contain on average about 80 mg of caffeine per serving—not per can, as a can typically contains about two servings. Energy drinks also contain large doses of other stimulants such as ephedrine, guarana, and ginseng.
Caffeine and related stimulants have been known to boost heart rate and blood pressure, even in some cases leading to heart attacks. Heart palpitations and caffeine poisoning are all side effects of extreme caffeine abuse. However, the risks are real even when a person consumes energy drinks once or twice a day. This high level of consumption can lead to caffeine dependency, tremors, sleep disturbances, and upset stomachs. Caffeine is a dangerous substance and should be treated as such.
Choaties who consume copious amounts of energy drinks in the hopes of staying up late to finish that English essay or that problem set for math only think about the immediate effects of the drink: it will help them stay up and stay focused. However, the ramifications for the days and years to follow are anything but enhanced performance and endurance. Both caffeine and stimulant dependencies are characterized by vicious cycles of highs and lows. Drinks high in caffeine improve energy levels in the short run, but when the drink wears off the user is left considerably more tired than he or she would otherwise have been--and in need of more sleep. At Choate, this much-needed sleep is very hard to come by, so the user consumes another drink (or two) in the hopes of staying alert and functional.
Outside of the Choate bubble, about 31% of United States teens drink energy drinks. The aura of excitement and coolness that marketers create around energy drinks caused the number of energy drink users to jump by 80% in 2006. Names like “Monster” and “Rockstar” evoke a sense of glamorous rebellion. Similarly, the taboo name of the energy drink “Cocaine” offers teenagers the opportunity to legally feel the effects of the illicit drug, and partake in the timeless teenage pastime of thrill seeking.
Marketers also claim that energy drinks such as Red Bull can assist in weight loss. Red Bull claims that one of its principal ingredients, taurine, will jump-start metabolism. This is odd in light of the fact that energy drinks are about 10-12% sugar, which provides an additional source of energy and good taste. Energy drinks lack essential proteins, minerals, and dietary fiber that are all essential in healthy drinks and foods.
There is far more to the unhealthy lifestyle that many Choaties live than caffeine abuse. Caffeine abuse has to be triggered by something, and at Choate, we all know what that is. We are overscheduled, overworked, and under-slept. The recommended nine hours of sleep per night for teenagers is an elusive dream. I personally cannot recall a single night this year during which I have gotten the recommended nine hours, and the school chooses to ignore this problem.
This is not entirely Choate’s fault, however, because, in today’s world, sleep is equated with falling behind, a Harvard rejection, and a bad Economics grade. Sadly, although we think working through the night will help us succeed, we, in our stimulated, sleep-deprived stupors, lose the most important thing that drives us: the dreams we have when we sleep.
