i am a huge fan of reader's digest. my dad always read it when i was growing up, so i grew up with it. maybe 30-40% of the articles are seasonal repeats (on topics like family/marriage, weight loss, etc.) and the remainder are new for each month.
this month there was an article on all the drinks they have now that are 2-5 times the caffeine and sugar content of regular sodas. i.e. monster, red bull, pimpjuice, vamp, radioactive energy, killer buzz, etc. there is even one that was called "Cocaine Energy" but the FDA told the mfg to pull it. so they just renamed it "Censored" and put it back on shelves.
a regular cup of 8 oz coffee has 135 mg of caffeine. these energy drinks often have more than that and a lot of the newer ones coming out in the last year have 200 to 360 mg - in one soda can! that doesn't even include all the sugar they put in it to maximize the "boost" you get.
the crazy thing is kids (like 6th grade and up) are getting addicted to these drinks for the buzz they get, as well as using them to stay up studying or to get amped up for sporting events. it is a completely legal jolt that any kid can buy. whatever happened to parents just telling kids that coffee is an adult drink? this is all starbucks fault. they have made it very cool to hang out and drink coffee. kids line up for these 400-600 calorie drinks they serve and parents have a hard time saying no when literally all the kids are drinking coffee now.
the scary thing is that ER rooms have seen an increase in kids coming in that have OD'd on caffeine. doctors mistake it for drugs/alcohol, but they run urine/blood tests and find out it is caffeine poisoning. terrible!
sorry... it is hard when in 12 years thomas will be subject to peer pressure that says it is so cool to drink starbucks or red bull. just had to share my "that's outrageous!" moment.
5 comments:
i agree caffeine is perfectly ok as an adult. just sooo harmful for developing minds and bodies. i read 3-5 cups is fine for an adult. but many of these kids are drinking 3-5 monster sodas a day... i mean that's like 6-10 cups of coffee a day. i think that would be detrimental even to an adult. ugh!
Interesting stuff about caffeine. Those companies will do anything to make more money. I agree, it's not good for kids. I try to avoid large amounts of it too.
I agree with you! I don't want Sara drinking coffee till she's in college. But who knows what peer pressure will do. I haven't tried any of those high-caffeinated drinks but I use to be addicted to Diet Coke during my Sprint days to pass away the boring work afternoons.
I don't think there's anything wrong with caffeine as an adult - within reason. I drink coffee for caffeine and flavor- 3 cups (measured) just about daily. Fortunately Sara is old enough where the caffeine doesn't travel to her breastmilk (they say after 6 months it's okay to drink caffeine while breastfeeding). A benefit of coffee for me though is that it reduces the possibility of diabetes by 25%. And it has to be caffeinated. Decaf can actually do more harm to your cholesterol because of the added oils (so I've read). Of course, I really just love coffee. It gives me a pick me up when the days can be pretty dull.
We got our Reader's Digest magazine yesterday and I read the article while nursing this morning. Caffeine is going to poison us! On the flip side I am sooo addicted to coffee. I don't know if I can muster up enthusiasm for the day without it. I disagree with the article when it mentioned that it's easy to quit cold turkey. I get migraines when I stop and have withdrawl symptoms where I'm just looking for some kind of buzz. -- usually I eat a batch of cookies to compensate. :D
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