The moral of the story is… I took over a gram in 6 hours. I think a cup of coffee is 50 or 100mg of caffeine. So about 10-20 cups? I didn’t die, though sometomes I wish I had. Though there are factors thAT

Ok so I avoided heatbeatpleasure.com for the last few days as the flame war that seemed to be getting ready to happen was just stressing me out. So I come back and the thread as been locked, so I’m going to post this here.

If it was my friend who ODed on caffeine I’d call him/her a moron. Because that’s what they would be. Ok I’m trying to stay calm here but, like I ranted in a previous post, there are thousands of brands of energy drinks, each with different levels of caffeine, taurine, guarana, and other things.

If it was my friend after calling her an idiot I’d ask how much caffeine was in the drink(s), how much caffeine she normally has a day, if she drank it on a empty stomach, and other question to try to drill it into her head that energy drinks are not evil, but if you’re stupid with them you can get sick.

For instance. Are you a one cup of coffee in the morning person, or do you drink a whole pot? Do you drink it weak, normal, strong, or so strong you could remove paint with it? Do you drink soda? Are you a Coca-Cola person?( 34.5mg per 12oz can) or a Pepsi One person? (55mg per 12oz can)

Try adding up how much caffeine you have over the course of a normal day. Now how much caffeine is in that energy drink? If it’s more then you drink over a whole day then YES it’s a pretty good bet you will get sick if you drink it. If you normally over the course of a whole day have like 200mg of caffeine then buy and drink within a short amount of time(ie anything other then the course of a whole day) something like Rockstar Zero Carb which has 240mg of caffeine per 16 ounces, then you’re going to get very sick.

If you drink coffee, soda, energy drinks, anything with a lot of caffeine in it on a empty stomach you’re going to get sick. End of story. Even someone who has 1000mg of caffeine a day with no ill affects will get sick if they have it on a empty stomach.

My point over this whole thing is moderation! If you want to play with caffeine to make your heart fast, great. But do it intelligently. Start with small doses and add a little more more till you get the affect you want. Don’t do for multiple drinks unless you have a lot of experience with it and know how it will affect you. And if you do get sick, don’t go whining that energy drink are evil just because you can’t control your self and/or happen to be one of those people who can’t handle energy drinks.

A place or a home where there is a moderate
level of health standards, heat and air
conditioning, a relatively safe haven for a neighborhood to live in.

Diet should consist of 2 or 3 meals a day
(not junk food), a variety of liquids like
water and juice. Supplements is a plus.

Drinking a mixture of energy drinks and
light spirits such as vodka sounds like
something a very stable person with
military history might do. I don’t know
why but it sounds like risk-taking on
one or more levels, one social.

Energy drinks are a great media football,
and on the internet at least it sounds
like a new game for the in-health crowd.
Using common sense is the highest precept,
but being as the drinks are new means
going somewhere for straight answers.

Why did I attack that angle of undermining the integrity of your stance? Because one of your greatest thesis points here seems to be our lack proper information sourcing. You’re accusing us of leaning on transparent terminology like “lighten up” as our primary weaponry. Of making claims from shady information sources. My first request, then, is that you yourself back your self up. You’re making the claims after all making that your duty, AND you’re writing a paper. Those still require proper sourcing, no?

The most important point I want to make, though, is that you’re placing energy drinks and caffeine into the same category. This is odd, because educated opponents of energy drinks realize that caffeine is also found in coffee, and to make a direct stance against energy drinks they must attack the energy drink ingredients that coffee does not have.

This is always fun, because at that point all arguments fall apart. Why? There is NOT ONE body of scientific evidence indicating that energy drinks are more harmful than coffee. Caffeine is the source of the blame game here, and coffee has it in higher concentrations than nearly every energy drink out there.

So why aren’t you attacking Star Bucks? Because their packaging doesn’t come in satanic colors that dupe children into killing themselves? That’s a joke. At least energy drink companies make efforts to put warning labels on their containers. It’s my stance that energy drink vendors are responsible for not heading the risks of the products they sell. You say it’s always the producer who’s responsible for their products problems once in the hands of a free consumer? That’s a downright silly statement. Seriously, ask yourself where our economy would be today if we always blamed product manufacturers for the improper use of their products. Car makers would be out of business, dog breeders would be put in jail, it’d be a beautiful world.

Your point about alcoholic energy drinks grooming children into alcoholism is not even worth my time. You’re reaching way too far.

Seriously, the biggest task I ask of you is to give me scientific evidence of how energy drinks are more harmful than coffee. You do that and I will step down. All I ask of is hard correlation data, really of any kind. If you keep going on about everything else and tainting it with “greater cause” crap then I’m done. Just go join Green Peace if that’s all you’re here to argue.

I await your reply.

Sincerely,

Dusty

Another point for you to ponder. Since the introduction of “Red Bull and Vodka” in almost every bar around the world, people are drinking themselves into a state of “wide-awake inebriation”, where he or she believes they can operate a vehicle, or do other activities that require absolute concentration, because they are wide awake. Is this not a serious issue? Red Bull claim not to endorse the mixing of alcohol with their product, however, their action speak differently, e.g. promotions in bars.

Alcohol has been around since 9000BC, so there’s plenty of evidence regarding its effects. However, energy drinks have only been around for about 20 years, and the demand has only recently increased in the last few years. Ergo, the documented evidence is limited but still strong. Does this mean we should discount it?

I agree that there are issues in the world which are obviously more serious than this, but I believe it’s an issue that should be addressed before it spirals out of control. How far will these producers and marketers push the envelope? Also, if you didn’t already know, caffeine is a drug, and people suffer withdrawal symptoms after consuming excessive quantities.

I plan to put my time and energy into greater causes (human rights) once I finish my law degree Ted; but I have to study for the time being, and this issue is my focus at the moment. Also, poverty and smoking will never end; don’t be so naive.

I await your reply.

Sincerely,

Mike