In October 2017 a news story surfaced that a man suffered a severe brain injury because of excessive consumption of energy drinks. Biochemist and Energy Drink Guide author GreenEyedGuide explains what consumers should take away from this news story.
Category: Are Energy Drinks Bad For You?
Questions and discussion about energy drink side effects and health concerns
What you need to know about the Caffeine Overdose in South Carolina
Excessive caffeine led to the death of a 16-year old in South Carolina named Davis Allen Cripe. As a biochemist studying energy drinks, I share my understanding of what happened and what caffeine research tells us about caffeine and heart issues.
Contents (click to jump):
GreenEyedGuide Caffeine Challenge Day 4/10 – How Caffeine Saves Lives
March is Caffeine Awareness Month! For Day 4 of the GreenEyedGuide Caffeine Challenge, we talk about how caffeine can SAVE LIVES!
One of the most important reasons to use the 5 Levels of Fatigue is so you don’t build up a tolerance, so caffeine will still work for you when you need it the most! It’s also important to remember that the 5th Level of Fatigue is Zombieland, in other words, that point at which there is no amount of caffeine that can save you. At that point, only sleep will help.
Learn more about the 5 Levels of Fatigue here
***PLAY ALONG – post a picture or your story about how caffeine has saved lives on Instagram/Facebook/Twitter and tag @GreenEyedGuide, or on the Caffeine Challenge Event page at Facebook.com/GreenEyedGuide/events
Through this challenge, you’ll learn how to use the 5 Levels of Fatigue to reap the benefits of caffeine while avoiding addiction, dependence, tolerance, and toxicity.
- Support GreenEyedGuide on Patreon at Patreon.com/greeneyedguide
- Love energy drinks/coffee/caffeine? Visit Facebook.com/energydrinkguide
- Love Fitness + Caffeine? Visit Facebook.com/greeneyedguide
GreenEyedGuide Caffeine Challenge Day 3/10 – Alcohol and Caffeine (Friday Night Dilemma)
For Day 3 of the GreenEyedGuide Caffeine Challenge, we discuss the Friday Night Dilemma: what do you do when you get tired at 10 pm but you want to enjoy a night on the town and have an alcoholic beverage?
References in the video - FoodNavigator on the DAWN report and Caffeine Informer on alcohol and energy drinks
March is Caffeine Awareness Month – Join the Caffeine Challenge!
Through this challenge, you’ll learn how to use the 5 Levels of Fatigue to reap the benefits of caffeine while avoiding addiction, dependence, tolerance, and toxicity.
PLAY ALONG – post a picture of your WAKE-UP tool/trick on Instagram and tag @GreenEyedGuide, or add your pictures to the Caffeine Challenge Event page at Facebook.com/GreenEyedGuide/events
- Support GreenEyedGuide on Patreon at Patreon.com/greeneyedguide
- Love energy drinks/coffee/caffeine? Visit Facebook.com/energydrinkguide
- Love Fitness + Caffeine? Visit Facebook.com/greeneyedguide
Ironman and Hulk demonstrate why mixing alcohol and caffeine is so bad
Attention all Marvel and/or science nerds: Can you help me spread this message? You know that scene in “Avengers 2: Age of Ultron”, where Hulk is destroying a city under the influence of Scarlet Witch? Ironman in the Hulkbuster suit tries to punch Hulk out so he can’t cause anymore damage,”Go to sleep! Go to sleep! Go to sleep!” But that doesn’t work, so the ruckus continues…
To refresh your memory…
THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU MIX CAFFEINE AND ALCOHOL!
Passing out when you’ve had too much alcohol is your body’s way of making sure you don’t die. When you have caffeine, it overrides this built-in safety mechanism.
🚫THIS IS HOW PEOPLE GET HURT!🚫
Mixing alcohol and caffeine isn’t new – there were Irish Coffee concoctions long before Vodka-Red Bull and Jager Bombs. But this combination messes with the senses – it can make someone feel like they’re “not that drunk”, so they will be more likely to keep drinking or drive under the influence. This is how people get hurt.
Not to mention, when you get admitted to the hospital because of alcohol poisoning from mixing caffeine and alcohol, these count as “energy drink hospitalizations” and you ruin it for the rest of us who DO drink caffeinated beverages responsibly! Not cool! See the “DAWN” report –> and this letter to Time Magazine…
If you absolutely must have some caffeine because otherwise you’ll be too tired to party, you must give yourself AT LEAST a 30 minute window between your last sips of caffeine and your first sips of alcohol. The caffeine will stay in your system for another 4 hours or so, but caffeine takes 20 minutes to take effect so at least you’ll feel that caffeine buzz before you start getting buzzed.
To learn more, check out this article by Caffeine Informer. Caffeine Informer has compiled all the research studies and reports that helped us arrive at the conclusion bartenders have known ages ago: Giving a drunk person coffee just makes them a wide-awake drunk. It does not make them any less impaired (or obnoxious).
To learn more about the science of alcohol, see this awesome video by ACS Reactions:
Want more science-nerd meets comic-nerd meets caffeine-lover posts? Let me know in the comments below. Shout-outs on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook are always appreciated.
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ENERGY DRINK OF THE MONTH YEAR IN REVIEW (YEAR 1 AND YEAR 2…year 3 coming soon…)
- Explore the CAFFEINE INFORMER database
- Need help with quitting caffeine? I HIGHLY recommend this guide: Awake: How to Quit from Caffeine for Good
- Want MORE GreenEyedGuide?
- Visit the Energy Drink Guide Facebook page (Woo-hoo!!! 100 Likes!)
- Follow the GreenEyedGuide on Twitter
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- Get your copy of “Are You a Monster or a Rock Star: A Guide to Energy Drinks — How They Work, Why They Work, How to Use Them Safely”