Being a high school student nearing the end of their first semester can be very stressful and overwhelming. Assignments have the tendency of taking away time at home designated for rest and decompression. So to counter this, students will occasionally purchase energy drinks or coffee for an extra boost to make it through their day energized. While this can definitely be helpful, doing this everyday can certainly cause irreversible health issues later in our lives.
Caffeine dependency is a growing problem in the student population. Every day these students require a specific amount of caffeine intake in order to perform daily activities. Short term effects of caffeine withdrawal include: fatigue, headaches, and nausea, all making it increasingly difficult to decrease caffeine consumption. These symptoms typically occur roughly twelve to nine hours after discontinuing the caffeine intake process, peaking in discomfort levels around twenty to fifty hours in. These symptoms typically last anywhere from two to nine days.
Drinking multiple energy drinks a day has proven to cause very serious health issues.
One can begin to grow restless, potentially leading to insomnia, a sleep disorder in which one has severe difficulty falling or staying asleep despite adequate opportunity to do so. Another possible outcome is having heart complications, energy drinks have a tendency to change the way one’s heart cells function, potentially causing an irregular heartbeat, or even heart failure.
While you do not necessarily need to cut them out of your diet, consumers should stay aware of the ingredients inside.
When purchasing, pay closer attention to the advertising labels. If a drink proudly displays “zero sugar,” it could still contain unhealthy levels of artificial sweeteners, often associated with heart-related risks. Another ingredient to bring to light is “Panax Ginseng”, an herbal medicinal product known to act as an anti-fatigue agent. The issue is that it’s been known to interact with prescription medications, causing health concerns specific to the medication.
Another is “B Vitamins,” a key factor in the support of many bodily functions. Too many B Vitamins (B-12, B-3, etc.) increases the threat of toxicity, toxicity and a high level of B-12 Vitamins is a sign of potential early liver issues.
In closing, one should feel free to purchase and consume anything of their choosing, but I urge you to think and consider the potential consequences of consuming said products, and to value your long term health over a short lived boost of energy.
