Energy drinks are everywhere: gyms and high school cafeterias. They’re marketed hard, usually with athletes and influencers, like they’re basically required if you want to perform. I did some research and the picture isn’t great.
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, the American Academy of Pediatrics says energy drinks aren’t appropriate for kids and teens at all. The guideline is that people ages 12 to 18 should stay under 100 mg of caffeine a day. The problem? A single energy drink often packs 100 to 200 mg or more in one serving. And about a third of teens drink them regularly.
The risks aren’t just “you’ll be a little jittery.” We’re talking raised heart rate and blood pressure, anxiety, wrecked sleep, and in some cases irregular heart rhythms. The CDC found energy drinks were tied to more than 1,400 emergency room visits among teens in a single year. That’s not a vibe, that’s an ambulance.
The cruel irony is the pre-workout angle. People slam these before training to lock in, but you’re basically revving an engine in neutral. You get a spike, your heart works overtime, and then you crash, and the caffeine messes with the sleep that you actually need to recover and grow. As somebody who cares about getting stronger, that trend makes no sense.
Water and real food do the job without making your heart do something weird. Energy drinks let you borrow energy from tomorrow, and the interest rate is rough.
The Global Pulse 