Stay off that chet.
http://bigthink.com/21st-century-spirituality/energy-drinks-and-junk-food-are-destroying-teenage-brain-development
The study on energy drinks, led by Christine Curran and Cecile Marczinsk at Northern Kentucky University, focuses on the deleterious effects of another form of junk food, heavy in caffeine and taurine. Alcohol is also implicated in this research, as energy drinks are especially popular mixers. This projected $60 billion global industry troubles the authors, given the insidious mixture of caffeine and taurine:
The data suggest that age is an important factor in both caffeine and taurine toxicity. Although the aged or diseased brain might benefit from taurine or caffeine supplementation, it appears that adolescents are not likely to benefit from supplementation and may, in fact, suffer ill effects from chronic ingestion of high doses.
Since energy drinks are sold as food supplements, companies are not required to list caffeine levels. While caffeine toxicity is not often discussed—45 percent of all reported cases occur in children or teens—Curran and Marczinsk note caffeine levels per energy drink range from a relatively safe 50 mg to a whopping 505 mg. One energy drink has the potential to push 70 percent of children and 40 percent of teens above adverse effect levels, considered to be 3 mg/kg/day.
Caffeine can increase blood pressure and heart rate; when combined with the amino acid taurine the likelihood that this happens increases. Using research on mice, the authors share the cognitive problems this combination presents. While they acknowledge that caffeine does indeed have positive cognitive effects in adults, they conclude:
[T]he developing brain is uniquely sensitive to caffeine’s effects through early adulthood, and fatigue in a developing child is an indicator for the need to rest and not an indication for need for caffeine administration.
