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The Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration recently reported energy drink craze is a rising public health problem because medical and behavioral consequences can result from excessive caffeine intake.
Although consumed by a range of age groups, energy drinks were originally marketed to appeal to youths and were reported to have been consumed by 30-50% of children, adolescents and young adults.
In the late 2000s, energy drink brands flooded the market with canned beverages that packaged two drugs/ingredients. Together, resulting in 20,783 energy drink-related emergency visits.
Ten years later, the Food & Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission sent warnings to several companies that produced these drinks. According to the FTC, these drinks presented a risk to consumer health because, “Consumers – particularly young, inexperienced drinkers – may not realize how much alcohol they have consumed because caffeine can mask the sense of intoxication.”
Research has established that, among college students, there are associations between energy drink consumption and problematic behaviors such as marijuana use, sexual risk-taking, fighting, smoking, drinking and prescription drug misuse.
In one study, bar patrons who consumed alcohol mixed with energy drinks were three times more likely to leave a bar highly intoxicated and were four times more likely to drive while intoxicated than those who did not consume alcohol mixed with energy drinks.
Individuals, especially young drinkers, may incorrectly believe that consumption of caffeine can “undo” the effects of alcohol intake and make it safe to drive after drinking. Too many old movies giving a drunk coffee to sober them up – all you have is a wide-awake drunk.
Caffeine has a direct effect on intoxication, according to researchers’ energy drinks reduce the sensation of intoxication – which may induce more drinking by offsetting the numbing effects of alcohol, “alcohol is a depressant.”
“Alcohol has a sedative effect (a depressant). It makes you feel more relaxed.”
“But it also has the residual effect of making you feel tired. Some people like being relaxed but not feeling tired so they add caffeine, (an addictive drug, a stimulant) to bring them back up, to enjoy the feeling of being relaxed without feeling tired.”
The total amount of caffeine in a can or bottle of an energy drink varies from about 80 to more than 500 milligrams, compared with about 100 mg in a 5-ounce cup of coffee or 50 mg in a 12-ounce cola. The problem, is it causes a synergistic effect.
A synergistic effect occurs when two or more substances or agents interact in such a way that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects) the difficulty here is that no one knows the outcome when two substances are introduced at the same time into the body.
Stimulation masks how drunk you are, prompting overdrinking. Additionally, because of the caffeine intake, you’ll have more energy through the night meaning you might be drinking longer and taking in more alcohol.
This leads to alcohol poisoning, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention reported. About 178,000 people die from excessive drinking each year.
Another side-effect of consuming energy drinks is damage to the heart. Both caffeine and alcohol have their separate effects on blood pressure and, when combined, will create even more internal damage. It’s no mystery that excessive amounts of alcohol can negatively impact your heart, combining it with energy drinks could up that risk even more. Combining caffeine and alcohol elevates blood pressure, increasing risk of stroke, heart attack and heart disease,”
“Long-term use negatively affects kidneys and liver.”
Caffeine and alcohol both stimulate atrial fibrillation (irregular heartbeat), this is further compounded by the way both alcohol and highly caffeinated drinks can drastically alter your sleep pattern which can lead to even more heart issues. The risk of alcohol poisoning and other alcohol-related internal physical problems is real – just because you don’t see the scarring does not mean it’s not there.
Alcohol and sports drinks work from the inside out. By the time you end up in the hospital, it’s too late.
The conclusion of multiple studies in the decade since that initial wave of popularity: mixing alcohol with energy drinks does increase the desire to consume more alcohol and results in more alcohol-related and other injuries and deaths.
Dr. Herb Clark of Murphy is an expert in the field of addiction with 33 years of experience. He served on the N.C. Professional Practice board, adjunct professor for two universities and was a U.S. Marine serving 25 years, through two wars and three conflicts traveling the world, seeing the effects of addiction firsthand worldwide. Send questions or comments to him at hypno321@hotmail.com.