The energy drink industry last year racked up more than $12 billion in sales. The sales of energy drinks between 2008 and 2012 have increased by 60%. The main reasons why these energy drinks are so popular are because they taste great and gives quick energy using caffeine or other supplements. However, these drinks are extremely dangerous and the large quantities of caffeine could be detrimental to one’s health.

A teenager is not supposed to consume more than 100 milligrams of caffeine per day, but energy drinks, whose main target is teenagers and young adults, provide anywhere from 80 to 300 milligrams of caffeine. Caffeine is a stimulating drug that, if consumed in excess, could result in nervousness, irritability, trembling, headaches, heartburn, an irregular heart rate, and insomnia. The effects of caffeine can last for hours, which make these side effects almost unbearable. An increased heart rate for example over a long period of time could lead to death.

Many people have realized the negative effects of caffeine, so to meet demand, they created energy drinks with vitamin B12, a vitamin that naturally gives people energy. However, even though Vitamin B12 is a necessary vitamin for survival, the large amounts in caffeine free energy drinks can be just as deadly as caffeine. For example, a certain energy drink provides 294 micrograms of vitamin B12. That might not seem to be a lot, but according to the daily percentage values, that is enough vitamin B12 for 49 days! This large ingestion of vitamin B12, also known as a vitamin B12 overdose, can lead to itchiness, numbness, improper functioning of the heart, and regular headaches. If you have pernicious anemia, you could get leukemia and if you abuse this vitamin, you have a higher risk for cancer. Vitamin B12 stimulates the growth of cells, but the bad cells replicated are not distinguishable from the good cells, promoting the cancerous cells.