caffeine intoxication

Being a college student, I feel like I'm always drinking caffeine whether its soda, coffee, tea, or energy drinks. I've especially been a big fan of almost every type of sugar free energy drink for a while now. Although I've heard they're bad for me, I keep drinking them considering they have a list of viatmins they contain (especially vitamin B which turns food into energy). So what's the truth? According the the recent research I've done, a can of soda has around 35 milligrams caffeine in it where as an energy drink has 13 times that amount per can, which as you can conclude, means energy drinks consist of excessive amounts of caffeine.

In the LA times, The Drug and Alcohol Dependence tries to warn people of the possibility of caffeine intoxification, "The caffeine content of energy drinks varies over a 10-fold range, with some containing the equivalent of 14 cans of Coca-Cola, yet the caffeine amounts are unlabeled and few include warnings about potential health risks of caffeine intoxication," said one of the study's authors, Roland Griffiths of Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions."

Caffeine intoxication is an actual medical syndrome and is marked with serious side effects such as anxiety, nervousness, rapid heart beat, etc. In extreme cases, it can cause death. To see more side effects go to: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/caffeine/NU00600. Besides mood side effects, caffeine can also do some severe damage to your insides such as severe inflammation and bleeding in the intestines. http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-inpractice1-2008sep01,0,2172072.story

Besides the caffeine factor, manufacturers of energy drinks are being held responsible for drug abuse among teens and young adults. Considering some of the name brands are related to drugs such as "Cocaine" or "Blow" it pursuades people to want more of that feeling and intensity and may look to those drugs for that feeling. Aside from the name, these "peformance enhancing" drinks are used to mix with alcohol to form a drink that is said to be very dangerous in many aspects including heart health.

Now what do you think of energy drinks? I know I'll definatley limit my intake of caffeine all together.