Simply Home Remedies

Are Energy Drinks Safe for Teens?

by Marye Audet on September 26th, 2008

It seems that everywhere I look lately I see teenage boys, the crotch of their pants down by their knees, and sucking  down an energy drink.

The drinks go by alot of names

• Monster
• Rockstar
• Cocaine
•  Red Bull

There is  more than that but that is all I can think of at the moment..it is late and I don’t have an energy drink…

First of all, do you really want your kid to drink something that glorifies those things?  Why can’t they call them things like

• Responsible Kid
• Straight A Student
•  He Who Wears His Pants at their Proper Level

Alot of adults are drinking them, too, which bothers me but not so much.

Anyway…The question is, should you let your teenager drink them?

The quick and easy answer is ….no.

Keep in mind that a teen’s body is growing and changing more than it has at any other time in his life since he was about two years old.  He is  developing adult characteristics, his bones are growing rapidly, there is alot of muscular and brain development as the body hurries to finish him off for adulthood.

It is a time when kids need things like protein, whole grains, leafy greens, and calcium…let’s look at the ingredients in most energy drinks, shall we?

• Sugar
• Caffeine (the equivalent of about 100 ounces of cokes..nearly two gallons)
• Herbs..some good some not we’ll talk about that in a minute
• Various amino acids and nutritional gobblety-gook

Sugar
With increasing numbers of the population overweight and developing diabetes there is no doubt we get too much sugar.  Sugar is not only addictive it depletes the B vitamins in the body.  It makes you more suseptible to candida overgrowth AND it compromises the immune system.  There is significant weakening of muscle groups with in 20 minutes after ingesting sugar.  Two of my boys are in Oklahoma rock climbing in the Witchita Mountains this weekend.  They took some snacks.  None of them had sugar in them because my kids know that when they are competing athletically or training, or even just pushing themselves for fun like this weekend, sugar cannot be part of the equation.

Sugar brings on carb cravings  which in turn encourage you to over eat.  There is a ton of other stuff linked with it, none of it good, but I think you get the point.

Caffeine

I blame adults for the new caffeine cool.  We have made caffeine sound like an awesome drug that takes away all our problems.  Rather than just enjoying coffee whe have to have our caffeine fix.   We need caffeine.  We have turned it into a designer drug wanna-be.

Caffeine is not good for you in high doses and kids should probably stay away from it almost completely.  Remember how those bodies are rapidly developing?  So are the nervous systems.  Too much caffeine overstimulates those developing systems and they can short out easily.  Kids are under enough stress!  They are unable to get solid sleep, think clearly, or react to stimuli in a normal way.

Caffeine is a diuretic.  Kids have terrible habits and most do not drink enough water anyway.  With that combination you end up with compromised immune systems, lots of urinary tract infections, Stomach aches, acid reflux,  etc.  They develop allergies because of the high levels of toxins that are not getting washed out of their bodies.

Caffeine also takes calcium from the body.  At a time when the bones are growing rapidly this is a very bad thing.

Herbs

I love herbs.  What a blessing it is to be able to go and buy a tea, a tincutre, or a capsule to cure an ailment.  But herbs are just that, they are remedies.  The makers of these drinks are dumping herbs in them like crazy. Why? Because the herbs make people think that they are healthy, they can buy them at GNC or a local Health Food store..they gotta be healthy, right?

Wrong!  Herbs are helpful used in the right way for the right things but taking herbs in a  recreational  way is not wise.  And for some of you moms dealing with overly hormonal boys you might want to read the labels on the Monsters he is drinking…

The most common herb is Guarana.  Nice herb, cna do alot of nice things when used properly. These are the top four atributes of Guarana.  Still want to let your son gulp that stuff down?  I don’t know too many fifteen year olds with lagging libidos, do you?

• Nervine
• Tonic
• Slightly narcotic stimulant
• Aphrodisiac

Kola Nuts-caffeine

Yerba Mate

This is actually good stuff.  It builds the immune system, promotes restful sleep, helps manage pain…I think that the energy drink manfacturers thought it sounded exotic.

Ginkgo Biloba

Excellent for Erectile Dysfunction as well as memory boosting.  It basically increases circulation and promotes good blood flow.  I could says some thing very sarcastic here…but I won’t

Ginseng

Enhances physical performance..and in clinical trials a full 60 percent of men suffering from ED had better, firmer erections after using Ginseng.   Next time you see your 16 year old son drinking it an energy drink with this in it….slap him.

So..just to recap.  We are allowing our kids to drink a large amount of amphetamine like drug, giving them huge amounts of aphrodisiacs and then sending them to school.

No wonder teachers can’t get their attention.

Hope this helps someone. :)

Image:Morguefile

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POSTED IN: Kids