Reasons for Banning Energy Drinks Essay Example

Energy drinks are non-alcoholic beverages containing high levels of caffeine, sugar and some other additives like vitamins supplements, preservatives, and stimulants (taurine in most cases). The popular energy drink brands in the United States are Red Bull, Monster, NOS, Rockstar, Full Throttle AMP, and Rip-It. Each day the makers of the so-called "energy drinks", deceive millions of young people around the world through marketing strategies that aim at making the viewer perceive that they will experience an improved physiological and physical performance after using them. Government records of a survey on a sample of 2011/2012 school year children in the province of Rovigo, Veneto region (northeastern Italy) detailed that, age increase corresponds to energy drink usage, such that 17.8% among sixth graders consumed the drink as compared to 56.2% on eighth graders. It also indicated that youths using those drinks were susceptible to alcohol and tobacco abuse, while those having an awareness of the damage caused by such drinks were able to abstain from their usage. The trend is not any different here in the United States. Therefore to safeguard our young generation from hazards caused by the reckless consumption of energy drinks, banning or regulation of their consumption is imminent if not certain.

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Firstly, nutritionists view substances contained in energy drinks like caffeine as unsafe for regular use by children and young adolescents. Caffeine intake by young humans has some negative impacts like anxiety, nausea, feeling jittery, and trouble sleeping. The perception that caffeine antagonizes alcohols' impairment on cognition, makes most young adults consume energy drinks together with alcohol. This combination is viewed at amplifying the stimulation effects of energy drinks at the same time suppressing the outcomes of alcohol sedation leading to a binge drinking. On this line, usage of energy drinks on a frequent basis will lead to destructive alcohol-related behaviors like illicit drug use, smoking susceptibility, unsafe/unprotected sex activity and driving under influence.

Secondly, the substances used in the production of these beverages bring about health issues to young individuals if consumed at a frequent rate (Chrysant & Chrysant, 2014, p. 73). The main issues associated are cardiovascular complications like cardiac rhythm disturbance, hypertension, and hyperthermia. Of late, emergency rooms are filled with patients exhibiting symptoms like vomiting, dizziness, abdominal pains and headaches. After diagnosis, the patient is found as having consumed caffeine at prohibited doses for adolescents and children and the main cause being attributed to usage of energy drinks with a high content of caffeine. A major concern for continued consumption of energy drinks for young healthy persons will be a serious cardiovascular complication like ventricular arrhythmia and cardiac arrests which are fatal. Such cardiovascular complication being amplified by the uptake of a combination of caffeine and other stimulant substances as it is found in the drinks.

Moreover, as quoted by the American Academy of Pediatrics, "energy drinks have no place in the diets of children and adolescents", they bring about diet-related risks (Arun, 2012, p. 201). Since they contain high contents of sugar, a significant amount of it is absorbed into the body due to frequent consumption. A diabetic child per taking these drinks will have to adjust his/her insulin regiments accordingly for a healthy living. Studies on school-attending children who consumed the drinks occasionally often exhibited some irregular feeding patterns. For such kids, it was less likely for them to eat breakfast and they usually preferred consumption of fast foods which is not healthy. As compared to other soft drinks like sodas, one bottle of energy drinks adds, 65% more calories and 60% more sugar to the body. Becoming a great menace in healthy living management since the two added nutrients are the major causes of obesity.

To add to that, energy drinks should not be used by athletic or exercising young generation. The main reason being they don't contain hydrating elements like potassium, electrolytes and amino acids that are lost during sweating involved in exercises. Furthermore, the caffeine present in the drink will only add more thirst, which can be a risk. Since many energy drink manufacturers advertise the drinks as having a capability to enhancing physical endurance, parents and all stakeholders involved in the training of the athlete should ensure energy drinks are out of the question. This should be considered important for the international competing athletes since energy drinks are prohibited by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) because it contains caffeine that can enhance endurance capability for the competitor leading to unfairness.

The consumer market in the United States has been inundated with a new brand of energy drinks on each new dawn. This is due to an exemption of all nutritional supplements on DSHEA (Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act) passed by Congress in 1994. The act exempted certain substances found in energy drinks from stricter regulations that happened in the past. Although DSHEA states its intent as, "to provide dietary supplements that may help augment daily diets and provide health benefits to Americans", some companies selling functional foods like herbs found in some energy drinks, as part of nutritional supplements in order to evade regulations. This has led to health threats and deaths like sports deaths, a good example being the ones involving a herb product called ephedrine that is classified under nutritional supplement yet a menace if consumed inappropriately. Furthermore, the law removes the burden of proofing if a product is safe/unsafe from the manufacturer and placing it on FDA (Cohen, 2015, p. 44). In this case, hardening the work of the Food and Drug Administration in removing unsafe/potentially unsafe products from the market.

Despite the numerous health and dietary risks involving energy drinks, they have some benefits. The first benefit is of course provision of more energy in alertness, productivity, and wakefulness. Secondly, people with a view to managing the caffeine levels they want to consume in their body, energy drinks are the perfect, match since caffeine levels are well stated on each can. Since most are served cold and carbonated, energy drinks give a refreshing effect as opposed to other caffeine drinks like tea. Another benefit associated with these drinks is their convenience since they need not be brewed or heated making them a quick Ready To Drink (RTD) caffeine delivery product.

Conclusion

In conclusion, evidence at our disposal shows the major components of most energy drinks having detrimental health effects on the young generation. All the policy makers and all civil society stakeholders involved in human nurturing, should advocate awareness to children themselves, parents, and staff on the dangers of these drinks or work in the setup of a policy to ban them. Moreover, Congress should make provisions for the amendment of DSHEA so as to allow FDA to stamp their authority on this matter.

References

Arun, B. (2012). Dental Plaque pH Variation with Regular Soft Drink, Diet Soft Drink and High Energy Drink: An in vivo Study. The Journal of Contemporary Dental Practice, 201-204.

Chrysant, S. G., & Chrysant, G. S. (2014). Cardiovascular complications from consumption of high energy drinks: recent evidence. Journal of Human Hypertension, 29(2), 71-76.

Cohen, P. (2015). Clinician's perspective on the dietary supplement health and education act of 1994's (DSHEA) ability to ensure the safety of dietary supplements. Planta Medica, 81(05).