The dangers of drinking too many energy drinks

Ingredients in Energy Drinks That May Be Considered Dangerous

1. Caffeine
2. Sugar

Rather than dangerous, these two ingredients are the ones that should be consumed in moderation (*´･ω･)(･ω･｀*)ﾈｰ.

Other "energy ingredients" are present in such small amounts that there is almost no need to worry about them. Since they are included in such tiny quantities, they hardly have any significant impact on the body. Unfortunately, drinking them with the expectation of significant effects is meaningless.

Caffeine

As mentioned in the Energy Drink and Caffeine Lethal Dose page, unless you drink dozens of cans at once, you won't reach a lethal dose. However, it’s surprisingly easy to suffer from acute caffeine poisoning. If you drink a few cans within an hour, you'll surpass the generally known caffeine threshold.

This is true not only for energy drinks (about 80mg of caffeine) but also for coffee (about 80mg of caffeine).

The important thing to remember is that there is no clear threshold of how many milligrams of caffeine is dangerous, as it depends on age, weight, gender, and other factors. Metabolism and tolerance vary from person to person, so it's impossible to say that a certain amount of caffeine is safe for everyone.

For more details on energy drink caffeine addiction and lethal doses, please refer to the page. It will be clear that there is no danger when consumed in normal amounts.

Sugar

It’s often overlooked, but energy drinks contain a lot of sugar. If consumed in large amounts every day, it's not good for your health. However, it’s a common misconception that energy drinks are especially high in sugar.

Most energy drinks like Red Bull and Monster Energy contain around 10g of sugar per 100ml. This is similar to the amount found in cola, so it's not considered particularly high. Cola contains 11.3g per 100ml. Most sweet soft drinks contain similar amounts of sugar.

In conclusion, “Sweet soft drinks (including energy drinks) are dangerous if consumed excessively”.

*I once grabbed an Orangina thinking I’d drink it, but after seeing it contains just over 10g of carbohydrates, I returned it quietly to the fridge for later, for my energy drink cravings (；´∀｀)

Is It Okay to Drink Two Cans a Day?

There is absolutely no problem with this.

If you drink about 200ml of a major Japanese energy drink, it would be:

• Caffeine content: 80mg × 2 cans = 160mg, which is less than two cups of coffee
• Sugar content: about the same or less than 500ml of cola

Surprised that it’s not much different from a regular juice? Energy drinks are soft drinks with added vitamins, amino acids, caffeine, etc., and they’re not dangerous enough to cause health problems when consumed normally (；´∀｀).

Furthermore, if you look at the ingredients in energy drinks, you’ll see that they don’t improve your health or condition. While some articles claim that they are beneficial, you should be cautious and not take them too literally. There seems to be some inconsistency there.

Deaths Allegedly Caused by Energy Drinks

This topic often comes up, and many gossip sites and blogs bait readers with titles like “died after drinking excessive energy drinks.” By now, most people are likely immune to such headlines. But in reality, it is extremely difficult for an average adult to die just from drinking Monster Energy or Red Bull.

As mentioned earlier, the risk of dying from energy drinks seems pretty low. For more details, please refer to the page on caffeine poisoning and lethal doses caused by energy drinks.