But what the pessimists don’t understand is that energy drinks provide the caffeine necessary to keep our adrenaline rushing, along with nutrients our bodies need, such as calcium and potassium. They aren’t exactly on the top of Craig’s List for healthy supplements, but for those who need that extra burst of energy, it helps accomplish many things.
Not all energy drinks are beneficial, such as Spike and Nos. These two drinks come with full warning labels, but that doesn’t stop the fanatics from indulging. It actually brings on the temptation and makes many want to try them more.
Being an energy drink addict myself, I take pride in every single can. Sound extreme? Not at all. Actually, I’m not half as bad as I used to be a year ago. I used to have three to four Red Bulls a day, and would swill back about 16 a week. This wasn’t a problem until I found out that, if heart problems run in your family, your chances of having a stroke or heart attack are majorly increased. I didn’t stop completely, but I cut back a little.
Perhaps because of these medical issues, everyone has made energy drinks out to be the worst possible thing for mankind. But they’re not. “Crashes” and fatigue don’t happen every time you drink energy drinks, and companies have come out with sugarfree options so that doesn’t always happen. There’s also energy shots for smaller, more on-the-go consumption. It really depends on how well you can handle energy drinks and how much you like them.
Not everyone is an addict, but there are a number of addicts drinking energy drinks like they’re water, totally disregarding everything negative. Though they probably don’t care now, they may later, but that’s their choice. Freedom -- it’s a wonderful thing.
Would you rather your child drink energy drinks or take JELL-O shots? Think about it. Sometimes people use energy drinks as an alternative to alcohol, and it is much better to come home and find your kid with a Monster or Red Bull than with a beer or scotch on the rocks with a twist. Believe it or not, both happen.
The number of high school students who drink alcohol is very high, and though energy drinks may not stop alcohol consumption completely, they could help reduce it.
In a perfect world, teens might sit down, have a cup of herbal tea and eat Simply Organic banana bread to boost their energy instead. But we all know this will never happen. No, energy drinks are not always healthy, but you can’t change the fact that we are drinking them. It could be a lot worse.
People have tried for years to scare everyone with the health facts when really, nobody listens. In the long run it may be better to embrace the inevitable and just be grateful that energy drinks are helping teens get their work done and keeping them away from even more unhealthy alternatives out there.