The modern day Russian roulette; energy drinks

The modern day Russian roulette; energy drinks

You might laugh at the thought of a person being addicted to energy drinks. “Oh, I go to Dutch Bros everyday for a Rebel”… “I got stacks of Bang at my house for emergencies.” This seems like a topic we wouldn’t need to discuss, but is actually becoming a topic that we have to talk about. It cannot be pushed aside any longer. Too many people, especially students, are now being affected by it. 

When you hear addictions, the first thing that comes to mind are drugs or alcohol. Well, I’m an energy drink addict and I’m only in high school. The amount of sleep I’ve lost purchasing a load of Bangs, Reigns, Red Bulls, and all the above became a habit for me to get through the day not as energized, but just to stay awake.

There are many negative effects to energy drink consumption, even if we do not want to acknowledge it. The most common chronic health issues would be diabetes, heart disease, and even kidney disorders. “But I drink the one that doesn’t have sugar, so I should be good.” Yes, we’ve all heard that before, even coming from me. But understand that is what businesses are supposed to do, use propaganda to influence us to change our views.

Just because it seems visually appealing for our health that something we consume is sugar-free does not mean it still does not have any other ingredients that affect us. Sugar free energy drinks still contain caffeine and artificial sweeteners that could give you type 2 diabetes or even metabolic syndrome (a cardiovascular disease as well as a correlation to diabetes). We’re giving energy drinks a chance to be used a game like Russian roulette, with the stakes raising negatively for our health the more it is being taken by the consumer.

The sad thing is that many others I’ve spoken with have also been hooked on this road for a while now. The main cause that brought us here is our lack of sleep. We sustain the amount of sleep we get to do more things throughout the day, in exchange for being sleep deprived. Yes, even with an energy drink, you can be sleep deprived. It is on average that healthy adults need a range from 7-9 hours, with teens and younger needing even more sleep each night to grow and develop. Our bodies are driven to rest in order to function well, so cutting out your whole sleep schedule could be a major change on how you function throughout the day, even with replacing it with a shot of energy.

The definition of an addiction is the excessive amounts taken of a substance, that is most usually uncontrollable. People think about the overflow of activities they need or want to complete throughout the day or week, and resort to energy drinks as a solution. Although it seems as an unusual or unimportant addiction, energy drinks are taking over people’s daily lives, becoming their “alternative” for sleep.