| Caffeine
and Energy Drinks
There
are many energy drinks being marketed to young adults. The web
sites for these products are full of images of athletic/macho
lifestyles. They promote beverages containing ingredients that
sound scientific, but may be unfamiliar to many consumers. "There
is scant scientific support for these ingredients to make the
kind of claims manufacturers use in hyping their product"
says a spokesperson from the American Dietetic Association.
"Most of the energy from these drinks comes from the sugar
and caffeine, not from the unnecessary extras." Aside from
these two, some of the more common ingredients are taurine,
ginseng, guarana (a stimulant), bitter orange (a stimulant)
vitamins and green tea. "Trying to figure out exactly how
much of each stimulant is contained in an energy drink can be
difficult" says another spokesperson, "because the
amount if not always listed on the label, and even when the
information is listed it is hard for consumers to interpret
because we are not familiar with these ingredients." One
ingredient most people are familiar with is caffeine and which
can be very dehydrating, set you up for high blood pressure,
decreased bone density, and jangled nerves. Over a 3 year tracking
period, there was an increase in calls regarding caffeine abuse
to an Illinois Poison Center. Most people know how much caffeine
they can tolerate but not how much of some of the other ingredients.
Here are some sources of caffeine:
Iced tea (16 oz) 20 mg
Green tea (8 oz) 30 mg
Black tea (8 oz) 50 mg
Regular or diet soda (20 oz) 60-80 mg
Red Bull (8 oz) 80 mg
Cocaine energy drink (oz unknown, I’m assuming 16) 280 mg!!!
Regular drip coffee (8 oz) 100 mg
Starbucks Frap, grande (16 oz) 170 mg
Starbucks Latte or cappuccino, venti (20 mg) 270 mg
Starbucks Coffee, tall (12 oz) 300 mg, grande (16oz) 400 mg
and venti (20 oz) 500 mg!!!!! (is this why people get to addicted
to it?)
Vivarin Caffeine pills 200 mg each.
Sources:
WebMD.com and Center of Science for Public Interest.
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