Danger Living In Those Energy Drinks?

These drinks invaded supermarket soft drink shelves, training gyms, nightclubs and even gas stations. Their appeal: They promise to fuel all night dancing, studying until dawn or a quick recovery to sudden fatigue.

What’s in these drinks has caused a debate - mainly over the addition of vitamins and these two other components:

Together these two would possess a disintoxicating effect and would increase endurance due to the strong doses contained in certain energy drinks. But these substances could have noxious effects on human health. That is why authorities in France have banned the sale of drinks containing these ingredients since 1996.

The drinks are also loaded with sugar, caffeine and carbonated water. Most of them also contain a Guarana extract, which comes from a Brazilian plant whose grains are similar to coffee beans, but contains twice the caffeine to create a powerful stimulant. It’s noteworthy that authorities in Canada forbid manufacturers from adding caffeine to products, so the soft drink makers use plant extracts that naturally contain this large concentration of caffeine.

When the caffeine content exceeds 120 mg/L, the maker is required only to indicate on the label the presence of “a large caffeine content.” Also, no laws govern the adequate labeling of the nutritional factors. In a drink can, the caffeine content could vary from 80 percent mg/L, to 125mg/L and even 276 mg/L. A cup of coffee contains 100 mg of caffeine. It is important to notice that makers boost the caffeine effect in their drinks by adding natural extracts and stimulants without having to notify the consumer of potential health hazards.

The ways in which caffeine-loaded drinks can affect your health are numerous. Most advertising targets young people. Their vulnerability, their belief in their own invincibility and their taste for performance make them perfect targets. But none of these drinks present any nutritional value, instead they contain extreme doses of sugar and the appalling levels of caffeine. They do not allow the body to rehydrate and they perturb the pancreatic, renal and cognitive functions.

More serious problems often follow when someone drinks too many or ads alcohol to the mix, as is popular in many bars.

Notable side effects are irritability, concentration difficulties, and gastrointestinal symptoms, heart palpitations, lost of hair, kidney problems, fatigue, nausea, vomiting and many others that could be added in the future.

Just because people have now sounded the alarm and several European countries have banned their sales, consumers are not discouraged. The drinks rank No. 3 in sales in Europe.

Several sad stories of health and even life damages are concealed by the media.

Because our young people, and thus, our future are most affected by the popularity of energy drinks, it is time to make the population aware and lobby the governments to act before these damages reach future generations.

Already some young people have been lost to these drinks. Diane Beauparlant’s son Joseph was on track to a bright future until he chugged a drink that at the time, was just beginning to crest in popularity. This is how she tells the story:

I want to share the sad story of an extraordinary young man who touched all who knew him, so much they’d say, “With your contagious smile you always make me happy.”

He was always ready to help and encourage family and friends. And with his great sense of humor he never failed to spread joy and set a good example for others.

Joseph was our fourth child of five. He had three sisters all gifted in music and an older brother who died at 21 of cardiac arrhythmia caused by excessive sports. Our family ate a vegetarian diet consisting of 50 percent raw food and 50 percent cooked. We consumed no caffeine, no chocolate or alcohol.

In 2006, Joseph and our family came to Hippocrates, and after this incredible experience we all went back home and changed our diet to vegan with 80 percent raw and 20 percent cooked.

The children were healthy and happy. Joseph was an A student and youth group leader, who had just been awarded a scholarship at the Aeronautic school in Chicoutimi. He could not wait to become a pilot.

On the fateful day of April 4, 2007, Joseph had a hard day at school and his friends invited him out to a Café/Bistro. They offered him a beer which he declined, since his diet had no alcohol and since he did not ever want to drink and drive. They offered him a Red Bull, told him it would give him “wings” and a bolt of energy. Not realizing that this drink contained 80 mg of caffeine per 250 ml as well as other toxic ingredients, Joseph thought it was safe and had some. While his friends drank beer, he drank four Red Bulls in one hour.

Back then, there was no information about the negative side effects of these energy drinks. There was no documentation regarding the thousands of hospital emergencies related to this product.

He got home around 11:00 p.m. and since I was up he stopped to talk to me, he shared news of his hard day with me I told him not to worry that we all have days like these and tomorrow is another day.

As I was falling asleep I heard him get up. Though I wondered why he would get back up, I fell asleep.

Since Joseph had a tendency toward hypoglycemia and did not tolerate caffeine, the intoxication caused by 320mg of caffeine he ingested earlier in the evening made him delirious and in the end resulted in his death.

It has been reported that 250 mg of caffeine causes the same intoxicating side effect of any other drug overdose. Joseph was hallucinating and went to the basement changed into children’s clothing too small for him and went outside in a snow storm in the woods in a small play house and took his life.

The first autopsy report ruled his death a suicide . But four days later, after we learned he had consumed four Red Bulls, the cause of death was more probably a hypoglycemic drop caused by the chemicals in the drink. The toxic screening showed no drugs or alcohol in Joseph’s system. But the standard screen does not look for caffeine.

After doing research with a psychiatrist at the Montreal General Hospital, he shared with me a diagnostic book for psychiatric and psychological and/or drug related illnesses.

In that book there is a section called: “Organic mental problems caused by caffeine/ Intoxication by caffeine.”

The psychiatrist explained that the symptoms are as follows:

Disconnected thoughts and chatter and psychometric agitation.

This means that you are not conscious of reality even though you remain awake and appear alert. This caused Joseph to suffer psychologically and to have a hypoglycemic drop. This suffering was intolerable and he was in another world and alone in the night. On March 4, 2007, he was a happy 18-year-old, dreaming of becoming a pilot. And a month later, in the middle of the night, our son died of intoxication. Today we know that emergency room doctors see four cases a week of intoxication caused by the energy drinks.

There are now specialist in intoxication who go to schools to warn students that the worst drug they may take is the one they might not even recognize: an energy drink such as Red Bull, loaded with very high levels of caffeine. Energy drinks are the new speed, sold over the counter everywhere and available to anyone, including very young children.

We are now trying to form an organization to educate people about the hidden dangers of these drinks.

Joseph we love you and we will always remember you in our hearts.

Vol 29 Issue 2 Page 32