Imagine you’re a teenager in high school and you wake up in the morning, get ready, and go to school. You get to your first class and you can’t stop yawning, so you reach into your bag and grab a Red Bull. Many high school students go through this routine daily and don’t think about how much caffeine they are really drinking.
“I usually have a Red Bull a day and a coffee, sometimes two, so I would say I drink around 400-600mg a day,” sophomore Jersie Smith said. “I feel like when I first started doing it, it was just something people did, so I was just like, ‘okay, let’s get on the trend.’”
Caffeine intake has become a common occurrence in teenagers. According to MedicalNewsToday, teenagers consume roughly 60-800mg of caffeine per day, but some students drink much more. The National Library of Medicine explained that since 1999, caffeine intake has almost doubled from 10% to 24%.
“I probably started drinking it a lot more once I started high school, cause I’m doing a lot more stuff than I used to do, so I’m tired,” senior Lexie Nelson said.
Studies show that after drinking caffeine excessively, it can lead to issues such as anxiety, sleep problems, and the risk of heart attacks. Although caffeinated drinks might taste good, they can have strong effects on your day-to-day life.
“I think at this point it’s for the taste because I don’t really feel like it helps me anymore, I just do it to do it now, ” Nelson said. “I would say it’s an addiction, I get headaches when I don’t have it, and I kind of crave it.”
According to HelpGuide, there are a few ways you can help cut back on energy drinks. First, if your body is used to caffeine, you can start to gradually drink less and less each day, so then eventually you can stop entirely. You can also start to drink things with less caffeine or no caffeine at all; some alternatives are sparkling water or lemonade. Physical activity can circulate oxygen in your body and can release mood-boosting hormones, which can help to reduce fatigue, and you might not reach for caffeine as much.
