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You have probably seen the famous cartoon commercials that tell the viewing audience that energy drink Red Bull gives them wings. But the American Academy of Pediatrics says that energy drinks really should be labeled "for adults only".
Dr. Holly Benjamin, pediatrician who worked on the new American Academy of Pediatrics report, told Reuter's Health that children never need energy drinks. "If you drink them on a regular basis, it stresses the body. You don't want to stress the body of anyone who is growing."
Sugar and caffeine are only part of the stress energy drinks put on the body. Part of the problem with energy drinks is that they provide a mixture of herb extracts, amino acids, and vitamins, plus substances like glucoronolactone that break down into sugars and vitamins, that may stress the liver's detoxification pathways in ways that doctors don't yet understand.
Even small amounts of theophylline make the heart beat faster and harder. It increases blood flow to the kidneys, leading to more frequent need to urinate, and stimulates the respiratory centers of the brain. One way of describing theophylline's effects on the brain is to explain that it causes heavy breathing, without a teen's usual reasons for heavy breathing.
Theophylline is cleared out the bloodstream by the liver with the help of an enzyme called P450 1A2. The liver has a limited amount of this enzyme. It may have enough P450 1A2 to detoxify the theophylline in one can of a gurana-based beverage, or even two, but the third can may cause bloodstream levels of theophylline to soar. The result can be the drinker feels as if he or she is having a heart attack. The heart pounds, it is not possible to breathe fast enough to feel comfortable, and the bladder fills up over and over again.
Someone who drinks just one or two cans of this energy drink may have no ill effects at all. But someone who who drinks three or four cans of this energy drink, or who takes another drug that the liver processes with the same enzyme (such as medications for asthma or ADHD), may get very sick.
It is not unheard of for children and teens to be admitted to the hospital for detoxing after drinking too many energy drinks. The soft drink Mountain Dew combined with energy drinks is a common culprit.
Pediatricians are reporting cases of delusions, dementia, seizures, and damage to the heart, liver, and kidney in children who abuse energy drinks. The problem is not likely to show up if the child drinks just one energy drink a day. But if the child is buying 12-packs and cases of energy drinks, parents need to watch out for complications.
What should kids drink instead of energy drinks? Sugar-sweetened soft drinks really are not a good substitute. Real fruit juice in water or a standard electrolyte drink like Gatorade is OK after participating in sports in hot water. But most children should get only one energy drink a day, and if they take medication for asthma or ADHD, no energy drinks at all.
- Frederik Joelving,. Stay Away from Energy Drinks, Doctors Say. Reuter's Health, 30 May 2011.
- Photo courtesy of kristiand on Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/kristiand/3223306147/sizes/m/in/photostream/