"Should there be a concern?" Topic

link

I don't touch them myself, as an occasional Dr Pepper usually gives me a "buzz" that I can handle, but should there be concern, according to the article?

Large ammounts of any artificial stimulator will do no body any good, let alone poeple who who are still developing physically. Am I concerned? No. I'm not a parent. If I had kids who drank this crap though….

Notice how careful the researchers are to avoid suggesting a cause-and-effect link…

I think the author is taking a giant leap in causal connection between risk taking teens who drink energy drinks and those that don't. How does the author come to that conclusion?

Anyway, caffeine in large doses does create heart palpitations, but my understanding is that doctors don't really know if there are ill effects beyond that and possibly increased cholesterol and blood pressure. Of course, those that consume vast amounts of caffeine might be doing other things to their bodies that affects those things. That's why those diet pills are packed with caffeine. When I was in endurance training, caffeine was a huge boost during my morning exercises. Everything in moderation.

For the record, I've never tried an energy drink unless you count Gatorade.

Roger Editor… my guess is a spurious correlation. More crap science. Researchers fish around in data sets until they find *something* they can publish.

As Gordon Liddy likes to point out, 100% of all Civil War soldiers who ate carrots are now dead.

My son did some chromatography on a caffinated beverages a couple of years ago. Here in Canada, the ones he tested have a lower concentration of caffiene than coffee. Now, what other crap might be in them I don't know.

I did not see a causal claim at all. Just a tendency for some individuals displaying one behavior to display others at the same time.

Ms Parker-Pope and her editors want you to make a causal link, of course. They suspect there is a correlation between people jumping to the wrong conclusions from scientific study and selling more newspapers.

There have long been studies showing that the caffeine levels in various sodas, which are indeed half of that in coffee, are harmful for younger children.

Kids don't need caffeine. Just look at them! They need a proper night's sleep, to avoid the worst junk food, and some exercise. Then they'll have plenty of energy.

Its the psychology of the energy drink that bothers me. They are simply cashing in on a desire for more, faster, make me better, I want to keep up, I don't want to miss anything, I don't want to pace myself.

We need to learn to pace ourselves, schedule-wise, financially, even socially. But no, there's always a mountebank or paycheck loan place telling us we can have what we want, right now, don't worry about the consequences.

The energy drinks are probably only a little more harmful than a cola, which is only a little more harmful than a non-caffeinated sugar soda, which is only a little more harmful than a mock juice drink.

But the thinking behind the energy drink is cause for concern.

Andrew

An example of Andrew Walters' point:

link

Notice how careful the researchers are to avoid suggesting a cause-and-effect link…

Bill, you think the researchers might have some stake in the energy drink market, or would that be an extreme reach saying that?

Wikipedia has a reasonable little caffeine concentration chart:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine

Turns out I'm not getting very much from my Coke. Red Bull is at the low end for coffee. The other energy drinks start at the high end for coffee, and go up to near-toxic levels.

Andrew

"There have long been studies showing that the caffeine levels in various sodas, which are indeed half of that in coffee, are harmful for younger children."

Can you cite one?