The dark side of an energy drink: overconsumption of highly caffeinated energy drinks can lead to major health risks

Joanna Nesamony
eSomethin Staff

It’s another school morning, after conquering hours of homework last night tiredness overflows your body. But a simple sip of the new holiday Starbucks drink, or gulp of an Orange Kiss Alani could fix all your problems, right? Wrong. The truth is that energy drinks can fix your fatigue temporarily, but in the long run cause numerous health problems.

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First of all, popular energy drinks have more caffeine than the recommended amount. A study from Harvard Health, Medical editor Anthony L. Komaraff says, “The FDA considers up to 400 mg per day safe for most healthy adults, but teens should limit intake to 100 mg or less per day.”

Popular energy drinks usually tend to have more than 100mg of caffeine in them, unless they are consumed from the smallest cans. If a high schooler consumes more than 100 mg of caffeine per day these can lead to major health risks, specifically high blood pressure, insomnia and heart problems.

Dr. Garima Methi, who is a family medicine physician, said specific consequences of overconsuming energy drinks “can cause heart arrhythmia, and heart issues. It can also cause insomnia, shakiness, tremors, and trigger ADHD symptoms in kids.”

One of the most serious consequences of overconsuming energy drinks, as Dr. Methi stated, is heart arrhythmia. Heart arrhythmia is when your heart rhythms become abnormal due to malfunctioning electrical impulses. This can cause your heartbeat to become irregular, “abnormal heart rhythms, can be very fatal, and can cause potential death” Methi said.

Drinking a Red Bull may fix your lack of energy temporarily, but can lead to insomnia.

Julia Motzel, a freshman at PHS said, “Whenever I drink an Alani it takes me longer to fall asleep than when I don’t drink one.” This can be terrible for a student’s health. Sleep is a very important thing, letting your brain rest and recharge is what helps it function day to day. But the cycle of not sleeping at night and then popping open a Monster energy drink will only make your sleep schedule worse.

Now, it’s okay to drink Starbucks or an Alani from time to time, but it’s important to drink in moderation to prevent addiction. A lower-caffeine alternative is a drink called “Bubbl’r”. Bubb’lr energy drinks have only 64 mg of caffeine (equivalent to a shot of espresso) and zero sugar. This is a far better alternative for teens than drinking an Alani with 200 mg of caffeine. Please remember to still drink in moderation.

Recently energy drinks have become more popular for teenagers to consume. Last year, in 2024, Wood County students had to take the ADAHMS survey, and the results show that approximately 50% students grades 7 to 12 drank a caffeinated drink more than 11 times.

The number of young adults consuming caffeine have only been increasing throughout the years. Dr. Methi said, “1 in 5 teenagers consume some form of an energy drink.”

With this many people consuming energy drinks it is good to know the major health risks, awareness will help students either stop drinking caffeinated drinks or drink them every once in a while.

So next time you’re absolutely slumped in the morning and feel like you need caffeine in your system, remember that there’s better, safer alternatives like eating an apple or drinking an energy drink with less caffeine.

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