Some American doctors have a new message to kids and teens: stop drinking energy drinks! They also say that young people should consume fewer "sports" drinks like Gatorade. Simply put, all those stimulants, sugars, vitamins, herbal extracts, and a ton of other chemicals are not good for people whose bodies and brains are still developing.
According to Dr. Holly Benjamin, of the American Academy of Pediatrics:
"Children never need energy drinks... They contain caffeine and other stimulant substances that aren't nutritional, so you don't need them... If you drink them on a regular basis, it stresses the body... You don't really want to stress the body of a person that's growing."Experts say that the variety of energy-boosting ingredients in energy drinks may have serious side effects that we don't yet know about, especially in kids. Caffeine and other stimulants speed up the pulse and can disturb heart rhythm. In rare cases they can even cause seizures.
A recent report from a group of Florida pediatricians described cases of heart problems, delusions, seizures, and kidney and liver damage in people who drank one or more energy drinks per day, including popular versions like Red Bull and Redline (an energy-booster/fat-burner sold in many supplement stores). They say that the cases are rare but it's obvious that children shouldn't be risking their health with these products.
We say: It's completely crazy that so many kids are drinking this stuff in such huge amounts. The energy drink market is expected to reach $9 billion in 2011, and children and young adults account for half of that -- $4.5 billion dollars in sales. What's especially crazy is that many of these kids are chubby little video game players/couch potatoes who DEFINITELY don't need extra stimulants, sugars, and calories in their diets!
Learn some mo': Stay away from energy drinks, doctors say
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