Energy drinks may lead to problems for teens

By Ana Barajas

As teens get older, most of them develop a craving for sugar and caffeine. What they go to is coffee (most commonly Starbucks and Black Rock) or energy drinks. An energy drink mostly seen at the hands of Waldo students is Monster Energy. What exactly are we drinking? When buying these items, most people don't look at the important things such as the nutritional facts, ingredients, side effects, and warnings (some energy drinks don't include warnings). A warning Monster has is that "children under the age of 11 should not drink this product". Those who have a specific limit to how much caffeine they can consume should not drink Monster, either.

Straight from the nutritional facts for a 16 oz. container of Monster Energy is a chart I made myself, showing the servings and ingredients it contains:

Now that you know one of the two most important things to know about Monster (the nutritional facts), here are the side effects that can come if you drink Monster too often or too much:
• Headache*
• Dehydration*-Drinking Monster constantly makes absorbing fluids hard. Having difficulty in natural re-hydration while exercising is unhealthy already. Because athletes sweat a lot, they are one of the targets of Monster Energy.
• Increased heart rate and blood pressure*
• Elevated mood*
• Increased or decreased attention span, depending on the person and the amount*
*Everything is caused by the caffeine.
All of the information that was collected in this article supports the fact that there is a serving size and a specific limit for a reason. If you go over the recommended limit, it could have consequences, whether it takes place now or as years pass. It is better to be safe than sorry. If you choose to drink Monster Energy, try to drink the serving size or less. The Nutritional Facts are made to inform you of the product's contents, the amount you should have, and to keep you from having health problems.