Are You Overdosing on Caffeine With Energy Drinks?



Based on recent reports, attorneys are warning food manufacturers to think twice before automatically adding caffeine to their mix of health-harming processed foods and drinks. Excessive caffeine consumption may be a growing problem.

A review of records from a regional poison control center in Chicago found 265 cases of caffeine intoxication, including 31 hospitalizations and 20 ICU admissions. Most were sickened by caffeine taken in the form of dietary supplements, medications, or energy drinks.

Caffeine is being added to a growing number of products, including sports drinks, energy drinks and gels, caffeinated waters, and fruit juice. So far, the FDA has had little interest in regulating its use.

Symptoms of caffeine intoxication include insomnia, heart palpitations, tremors, sweating, nausea, diarrhea, chest pain, and neurological symptoms.

Food Navigator USA.com February 27, 2007

KansasCity.com February 9, 2007
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Dr. Mercola's Comment:

I'm not surprised to learn energy drinks were among the primary culprits. Energy drinks may contain as much as four times more caffeine than the average sugary sweet drink.

California toxicologists have seen problems among patients who consumed the caffeinated energy drink Redline, which, bizarrely enough, is promoted by its makers as "a freaky scientific breakthrough" and actually healthy because it is "the first physique-transforming matrix to coax your body to burn fat through the shivering response."

Unbelievable ...

Many of us would love to have a boost in our energy levels periodically -- just beware that energy drinks aren't your best bet for that. It is far wiser to address the underlying reasons why you do not have as much energy as you would like.

For many, it is likely due to a combination of factors including: poor food choices, low-quality food, stressful lifestyles, unhealed negative emotional events, and lack of optimal sleep and exercise.

In addition to the caffeine overload, it's important to stay far away from drinks spiked with sugars that raise your insulin levels, contributing to a host of diseases and accelerating aging.

On Vital Votes, nutrition coach Josh Rubin from San Marcos, California adds:

"These drinks are a scam to get people to keep coming back. Americans are so tired that they actually need this stuff to live. When you eat sugar, gluten, etc. your body releases opiates. Then when you stop drinking this crap, you body craves it and you need more.

"Sugar inhibits the immune system, and we wonder why America is so ill?

"My recommendations:

"1. Water is the only thing our body was designed to drink.

"2. If it has an ingredient that you cannot pronounce, don't drink it.

"3. If it is the same color as a highlighter, don't drink it.

"4. If it was not here 10K years ago, don't drink it."