For junior Joseph Kim, energy drinks have allowed him to stay awake during the school day despite busy nights and inconsistent sleep.
“I started drinking energy drinks probably in (my) sophomore year, and I did it because I have trouble staying awake sometimes, and also I have insomnia. So the next day I would be super tired because I didn’t get enough (sleep),” Kim said. “I had to have the drinks so I could stay awake.”
Kim added that since his sophomore year, caffeine has played a large part in his daily routine.
“I think I’ll have like two shots of espresso and then I’ll have like two Red Bulls, so maybe around 200 and 400 mg (of caffeine per day),” Kim added.
Kim is not alone with his love for caffeine and energy drinks. According to the CDC, 30 to 50% of teenagers reported consuming energy drinks. In addition, 11.6% of schools surveyed sold energy drinks at vending machines on school grounds.
Psychology teacher Michael O’Toole said that although energy drink consumption has decreased in recent years, the advertising towards teenagers and accessibility of the drinks have led many of his students to consume energy drinks.
“The amount of teenagers I used to see drinking Monsters or Rockstars (made up about) 50% of the class. That is not to say that students aren’t still drinking these energy drinks, but in my, again, limited spectrum, it has decreased slightly,” O’Toole said. “I would say (there is a lot of) access (for energy drinks). You can buy some at schools, you can buy them at cafes, they’re in any Get Go or a convenience store. They’re everywhere.”
The positives
This easy access to caffeinated beverages may lead to an increase in caffeine addiction. O’Toole said caffeine addiction tends to be ignored or even promoted because of its often benign effects.
“Caffeine addiction is one of those things that most people and definitely psychologists, have said that you could be addicted to for a long time, but it’s one of the latest additions to the Diagnostic Statistical Manual. It just took a while,” O’Toole said. “I think part of it is, most addictions we think of are really negative. However, what we’ve come to discover is that, although a caffeine addiction can be annoying, there are actually a decent number of positives that come along with it.”
O’Toole added that caffeine allows one to be more responsive to their environment, positively impacting one’s mood.
“Because (caffeine) activates certain neurotransmitters and some more receptor sites, sometimes people feel alert and more creative,” O’Toole said. “(People) have more ideas, and these are important, especially when you have to go to work. You need to be alert or you’re at your job.”
Senior Anna Liao said energy drinks can make her alert even on days when she doesn’t get much sleep, like days before extracurricular competitions. In fact, Liao said she first started drinking energy drinks during a Science Olympiad competition.
“Usually, I’ll make sure to pack a can or two (of energy drinks) for days where I pull three hours of sleep average like (during) Science Olympiad or Quiz Bowl competitions,” Liao said.
Liao said having access to energy drinks allowed her to get less sleep than normal, which was important due to her busy schedule.
“I think maybe I make the decision to stay up later sometimes because of the safety net of caffeine,” Liao said. “At the end of the day, I couldn’t have done most of the things that I did in high school without those extra hours—whether caffeine helped me achieve that or I came up with that drive myself.”
While also helping her accomplish more outside of school, Liao said energy drinks helped her focus and retain information inside of school. She said she could see this difference in her AP U.S. History (APUSH) course last year, where she retained more information on days when she had energy drinks.
“(With energy drinks I am) generally more focused in class,” she said. “I lost so much APUSH content because I was so exhausted constantly, so I definitely value energy as the first step to focus.”
Kim said he agreed with Liao. He said the extra boost of energy from drinks allows him to function and focus despite an irregular sleep schedule.
“Whenever I get tired, I just drink (an energy drink) and then I’m up. And also (the drinks) boost my mood like crazy. ” Kim said. “ I don’t think I’d be awake if I didn’t drink energy drinks.”
The negatives
Despite the productivity caused by energy drinks, many critics point out the negative aspects of the drinks and their effect on teens. According to UCLA Health, high amounts of caffeine can lead to increases in heart rate and blood pressure, jitters and worsened insomnia, with these symptoms generally impacting adolescents more severely than adults.
Kim said he definitely feels some negative consequences from his energy drink consumption.
“Sometimes I get pretty bad anxiety, and, like, my heart physically feels heavy if I have too many (energy drinks),” Kim said.
O’Toole said excessive caffeine can be detrimental both physically and mentally.
“(Caffeine) can dehydrate you, it can affect your short-term memory and in really minor incidents, and this is an extreme amount, it can cause a psychotic episode,” he said.
One of the major risks of caffeine addiction, O’Toole said, is the possibility of a caffeine crash.
“So mentally, there is a—and we’re still researching this—but in layman’s a lot of people it’s called a crash,” he said. “So you do hit a point where the caffeine has started to wear off and now you feel more sluggish. It depends on how big your addiction is or how much your addiction is, how big, how sluggish you are, how much that does set you back cognitively.”
As well as causing mental exhaustion, O’Toole said caffeine crashes can cause physical pain.
“You can also get a caffeine headache… if you aren’t drinking the same amount, so it’s a tolerance issue, even though you’ve had some caffeine, (the crash) may still affect your cognitive ability,” he said. “(Caffeine) may affect your memory and a couple of other things like that, and that’s where the headache comes in because your brain then like most addictions, then comes to expect that substance and it’s not getting to the level (needed) and (the brain) in a way is kind of getting angry at you.”
Despite his consumption of energy drinks, Kim said he does not recommend them due to their addictive nature.
“I don’t recommend it. It’s pretty addictive,” Kim said. “The energy you get from (energy drinks) is like a lot.”
Future of energy drinks
Due to the unhealthy and addictive nature of energy drinks, some European countries, such as Poland, have opted to ban them for minors outright. Liao said she generally disagrees with such proposals, although she has not researched the topic enough to make a firm conclusion.
“I don’t know enough about the evidence on this to take a solid position right now—I think the cultural limits around caffeine consumption in America are reasonable and not dysfunctional enough for any obvious damage yet,” Liao said.
O’Toole said that although he believes that energy drinks can have negative side effects, placing a ban on them is not likely to solve any underlying issues.
“Now in our country, we’ve got a limited history of once we give people access to something and take it away, they find ways, so I’m not sure that it would really limit (energy drinks),” he said. “I mean, if you look at other things, such as vaping, teenagers are not technically allowed to have that, but they clearly have access to it. So I’m not saying I want them to have access, but I’m not sure putting an age gap on it or an age limit will really reduce anything.”
Although other countries push to ban energy drinks, without any significant political push against energy drinks in the United States, it’s unlikely that energy drinks will be banned for minors. Kim said he believes this is a good thing. Although he said he does not recommend consuming energy drinks, he said he believes energy drinks have had a positive impact on his life.
“(I have too much energy), but that’s a good thing,” Kim said. “I love having lots of energy.”