Had this conversation while I was in the hospital after my heart attack. Got chastised for drinking red bull, but they were serving us regular coffee. So I looked at the stats, sugar free redbull has half the caffeine of a cup of instant coffee we were getting. I haven't heard anyone say anything to me since .
It's just another " I don't like this and heard bad things, but I'm too stupid to actually look into it" kind of thing.
Btw my heart attack was related to poor genetics and bad plumbing, the heart itself is still strong. After my triple bypass I feel 20 years younger in general.
I thought it was all the other stuff in energy drinks and all the sugar that makes energy drinks less than desirable? I enjoy one or two per day at work so clearly it doesn't deter me though.
Afaik it’s easier to find sugar-free than energy drinks with sugar.
I know because there was monster flavors I wanted to try but got deterred from it since I worry more about aspartame’s long term effects as a non-diabetic, fake sugar can really mess with how your body over produces insulin but then does nothing with it cause the fake-sugar isn’t recognized to be used but somehow is recognized to still create the insulin.
I actually used to carry a list with the caffeine content of drinks because people gave me so much shit. My parents (in their 70s) drink about twice as much caffeine as I do. I had students call me out for drinking a Mobnster while they had a Venti Starbucks caramel whatever with more caffeine and a butt load of calories. People need to worry less about what others willingly eat/drink.
Actual tea (as opposed to herbal infusions) has some coffeine, but if you let it steep too long (over 4 minutes iirc), it's gonna bind to tannins and become ineffective.
Same. I also have ADHD though. It's all nice until you're 11 hours into a 13 hour shift and you know there is no possibility of caffeine keeping you awake and saving you from almost falling asleep while working.
I’m still not diagnosed but caffeine puts me to sleep as well. I discovered I probably have ADHD when some friends in college convinced me to take Adderall with them recreationally. I had the best nap of my life, drool and all. I woke up to my friends standing over me saying they’d never seen anyone pass out from Adderall
There used to be one called Drank as well, but upon looking it up they stopped production of it in 2013. But does anyone remember those Monster BFCs? Those things were fucking HUGE.
Why do people use espresso as if it's a crazy amount of caffeine? Espresso is the product of a brewing method, like French press, it's not made with "espresso beans" or anything special.
You could say 3 cups of coffee, and it would still be correct. A shot of espresso usually has very similar levels of caffeine to a regular cup of coffee (less if you drink in extra-large mugs/cups).
It seems like you people just spout buzzword and headlines you read but you don't even understand the issue.
"Won't you please think of the children" people have to be some of the least educated and most gullible people on the planet.
I used it because it was mentioned in the article.
The article used it because espresso is more likely to be the same everywhere else too. The amount of beans used to prepare a shot of espresso is almost always the same so the amount of caffeine is also most likely within the same range.
Also the amount of water used to make a shot is most likely to be the same everywhere. A cup of coffee can vary between small mugs, medium mugs and even big ones that are usually used for tea (I’m guilty of this).
So my guess they just use espresso as some sort of comparison unit because it doesn’t vary as much as a normal cup of coffee.
Good. Even regular soft drinks like coke contains a certain amount of caffeine. My cousin got heart problems from drinking 2L of coke almost daily when she was in highschool, which was especially bad since she was underweight aswell.
The wild thing to me is that I was the odd kid growing up because I had 2, maybe 3 cans (the smaller 250ml ones) of coke a day (one at lunch, one at dinner). That would put me below average consumption now. I haven't had a caffeinated drink in 35 years but I remember the headaches when I decided to quit cold turkey.
Because weight gain is driven by a constant excess of calories, not the type of food you eat. You can be fat as hell eating fruits and veggies and rail thin eating chips and McDonald every day.
Yeah, but 2L of coke a day is almost 1000 calories. Getting half your daily calories just from drinks everyday, while having a normal diet, will make you fat
Coke zero exists. But also, I can believe it even of it wasn't coke zero.
Back in highschool I used to barely eat a meal and a half during school days and chug down on energy drinks and was right in the middle of the healthy bmi range.
I was super active though, ~5-6km total walking each day and running ~10-15km twice a week at practice.
800-850 kcal is not half of your daily needs unless you’re really tiny woman or bedbound. It’s closer to a third of your daily needs. Also, no one ever mentioned a normal diet. When I was a teen, I had days when I would just eat some chips, a cup of instant noodles, nibble a bit on whatever was for dinner, and call it a day.
a close friend of mine while growing up used to eat almost exclusively pop tarts and coke. years of this. he was also the thinnest person I've ever known and like 5'0".
I very much doubt that her heart problems were caused by the Coke. 2L of coke is a fairly small amount of caffeine. That's about 5 cups of coffee per day. Which isn't nothing, but it's not like it's going to damage your heart.
What likely happened, is the caffeine made something more easily noticed.
I don't doubt it, but I wouldn't blame the caffeine content.
It potentially a lot of sugar/hfcs, or sweeteners which aren't exactly good for you in high quantities; phosphoric acid (extra bad for bone density, especially for women; and contributes to the formation of kindey stones), etc.
There's also the thing where the body shouldn't be "busied" all the time. If your liver is busy working the sugar into glycogen all the time because you have a sip every 10 minutes, there's a ton of other tasks it won't do well (ELI5 version, obviously that's not exactly what happens).
Could the parents have stopped this necessarily? When I was in school I would sometimes buy 5 chocolate bars to have for lunch. I never ate packed lunches so not sure how much they could’ve done to make sure I was eating healthily.
People reacting like you're the only teenager in history to spend lunch money on something stupid or unhealthy. I ate free breakfast then skipped lunches to save for video games or fast food after school. My mom was too busy being a single parrnt busting her ass to support us to worry about whether we used the money on apples or McDonald's.
It was a variety of things actually. I don’t know why you think it’s a case of “things that were the only thing you would apparently consume”. I never suggested a narrow range of lunches, just that I didn’t like packed lunches. I honestly think you care way too much about this lol. At the end of the day my parents wouldn’t have even known that I sometimes would eat 5 bars of chocolate for lunch, so it’s just ridiculous to suggest it’s bad parenting.
Hang about, in the UK, when I did my training for that brief period of working at Morrisons, I could've sworn it was already law that Energy Drinks couldn't be sold to people who were under 16 anyways
Interesting, a supermarket chain in Australia recently had to challenge an anti-discrimination law to get an exemption to not sell 0-alcohol beverages (0% wine and beer) to kids because it would be considered discrimination under our laws.
What's the point in refusing because I thought the only reason everybody turns into the puritans when wine and beer sales are brought up is that they contain alcohol and alcohol is unhealthy?
Because it's an area where there's large amounts of abuse of alcohol, and the owners of the company don't want to encourage kids to view alcoholic drinks as normal.
The only person who ever got any problems with energy drinks I knew drank them constantly every day, and it still took some time for it to cause real problems.
This just seems like nonsense overreach due to parents not wanting to monitor their own children and the state happily doing it for them.
There is legitimate concern about the consumption of energy drinks in adolescents:
Martinez, K. A., Bains, S., Neves, R., Giudicessi, J. R., Bos, J. M., & Ackerman, M. J. (2024). Sudden cardiac arrest occurring in temporal proximity to consumption of energy drinks. Heart Rhythm. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrthm.2024.02.018
Your anecdotal evidence won't hold water against it because it's just that: Anecdotal.
There are legitimate concerns about the consumption of hyper processed garbage snacks, mainly targeting children, and nothing is banned because the parents aren't doing a moral panic about some stupid oversugared snacks, this is unnecessary legislation that serves only to further state control, no teen that wants a monster will be discouraged from it, the responsible parents were already monitoring their teen's consumption of them, and the irresponsible ones will nlt stop giving their children energy drinks beyond a healthy line.
We must be living in different worlds, because no matter which media I consume, in none were there any panicked parents who lobbied their representatives or councilmembers to ban energy drinks. Fair enough, though, Britain seems focused on beverages, given their prior tax on sugary drinks. I would expect that UPFs will be next, because obviously, they have similar effects to caffeinated beverages.
The British govenrment's press release stated the following on the ban:
The proposal would make it illegal to sell high-caffeine energy drinks containing more than 150mg of caffeine per litre to anyone aged under 16 years across all retailers, including online, in shops, restaurants, cafes and vending machines. The proposals would not affect lower-caffeine soft drinks nor tea and coffee.
Many major retailers already voluntarily restrict sales, but research suggests some smaller convenience stores continue selling to children, highlighting the need for a consistent approach that protects our children and is fairer for industry.
So, yeah, either the parents will back down and purchase the drinks for their children, or they can get past the cashiers who didn't ask for IDs. It would liken the prohibition of sales of alcoholic beverages for adolesents respectively under the age of 16 and 18 in Germany. In the end, I wouldn't call it a nanny or overreaching state for this very reason: Because it's not a ban as much as it is a penalisation of detected illegal sales. Which would beg the question: What's all the fuss about it? Either it will work, which will benefit the children down the line, or it will not work, to which those complaining about it can breathe a sigh of relief because allegedly overreaching legislation imploded through its incapability.
Is there proof for that? I usually drink black and green tea due to a cardiac condition that doesn't allow me to drink coffee, and I never had problems with either of those. I know that black tea at least has caffeine, but far from the dose that could have comparable effects to coffee.
I mean that study proves nothing, it's just a preliminary study to evaluate if further testing is motivated. 7 out of 144 cardiac arrests occured in some vicinity to consuming an energy drink? That's within the margin of error and there's no causal link.
Caffeine is probably the most studied compound in history and people have been drinking coffee safely for centuries. The fact that it now comes packaged in a different way doesn't impact the effects, it's just the eternal cycle of boomers being outraged at the new thing corrupting the morality of the youth.
This just seems like nonsense overreach due to parents not wanting to monitor their own children and the state happily doing it for them.
I get the argument, but back when i was a kid, we didn't have energy drinks, social media designed to addict us, gacha/gambling aimed at kids and teens. This shit is coming faster at us than societies can adapt to them, so a little regulation by lawmakers can help.
On the flip side we had Chernobyl, glycol wine & asbest in walls.
As someone that grew up repeatedly getting used to drinks that were so problematically caffeinated that sales of them had to be stopped, this feels like the better method.
If I remember right, they were originally made 18+ because a 16 year old school girl drank too many and died. But it looks like that was just a voluntary thing, this has made it official. Since she died they have needed a store clerk code in supermarkets or for you to look old enough to buy from corner shops.
16 year old girls can drink too much water and die, too. This is so stupid my millenial self wants to drop an r-slur. Like, this is the exact bullshit idiocy we used that for when I was a kid!
The less the rules will make sense, the less people will care and not follow them.
Whether such a law makes sense for someone or doesn't is dependent on their knowledge of the subject matter. Energy drink consumption can be linked to an increased risk of suffering a cardiac arrest, a severe health condition:
Martinez, K. A., Bains, S., Neves, R., Giudicessi, J. R., Bos, J. M., & Ackerman, M. J. (2024). Sudden cardiac arrest occurring in temporal proximity to consumption of energy drinks. Heart Rhythm. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrthm.2024.02.018
So, you would not necessarily want a youngster to have free handling of such substances, the same way you wouldn't want them to have free acess to alcohol or nicotine. I also don't think that they would switch to alcohol alternatively, assuming they know the effects thereof which are contrarian to that of energy drinks; at worst you would be sleepier or consumptive.
Possibly. But also, you've got a social media ban for youngsters below the age of 18 if I remember correctly, so you're not really in a position to mock other countries for controversial legislation purposed to protect them from harm.
considering the massive amount of caffine addiction and energy drink addiction in general across aus. im not exactly for the id but i am for restrictions to some degree. perhaps a cap on caffeine per energy drink.
I don’t think us copying this is that bad of an idea. They’re literally 10% sugar by weight, and have way too much caffeine to be realistically safe for anyone young.
I am indifferent to this law. Young teenagers shouldn't be drinking that much caffeine, but I also don't believe it's the government's job to encourage this.
Canada has a law where energy drinks are limited to 180mg. Now that would be pushing it too far. Adults should be free to make decisions for themselves.
Literally not healthy and it's a good thing the government is restricting it's sale. A lot of people think drunk driving is a perfectly fine idea but it's illegal for a reason
Why do people use espresso as if it's a crazy amount of caffeine? Espresso is the product of a brewing method, like French press, it's not made with "espresso beans" or anything special.
You could say 3 cups of coffee and it would still be correct. A shot of espresso usually has very similar levels of caffeine to a regular cup of coffee (less if you drink in extra-large mugs/cups).
It seems like you people just spout buzzword and headlines you read but you don't even understand the issue.
"Won't you please think of the children" people have to be some of the least educated and most gullible people on the planet.
Adults *are* free to make decisions for themselves. If they need more than 180 mg of caffiene, they can purchase more than one drink. Otherwise, the limit makes good sense. They can also take the pills if they further want to poison themselves.
So where does your personal limit go? 1/10th lethal dosis? 9/10th? etc its all just limit and where it should be placed should likely be where it is reasonable for the amount you drink or an amount that is low enough to not cause much harm long term.
For countries with public healthcare it seems fair to set the rules to encourage a healthy lifestyle without taking choice away. Eg you can just buy 2 cans of monster if you MUUUUST have those extra mg of caffeine... Which for gods sake nobody does.
A toxic dose is about 10 grams of caffeine, far above any of the numbers people are talking about here.
And I know many people who drink the equivalent of two Monsters. They are pretty healthy if you ask me. Definitely way healthier than people who smoke or drink alcohol.
Is anything allowed in England at this point? Depressing how quickly they've descended into some kind of proto-dystopia. And it seems the EU is using them as a blueprint with all the bullshit legislation like chat control in the pipeline.
What a joke. Such nanny state overeach. Most energy drinks have less caffine than coffee and coffee is unaffected. It's just pandering trying to look like they are achieving something.
Caffine addiction is benign and doesnt need to be restricted. At worst you get a headache and feel a little tired for a week as withdrawl symptoms.
It's only harmful if you have a stupid amount and have a preexisting heart condtion. The only real unhealthy thing is the absurd amount of sugar but of course sugarfee energy drinks are still banned for under 16s but you can still get a sugar filled coffee. What a joke
This statement really went off the deep end. But to talk about caffeine, energy drinks have more than most regular coffee due to misleading regulations. That caffeine amount you see is only the extra added caffeine. The caffeine in naturally occurring Taurine or guarana is not calculated for the label.
Caffeine in large doses with other substances like Taurine which is added to many energy drinks, not coffee, is shown to have potentially severe impacts on developing bodies. No it is NOT only harmful for pre-existing conditions. That is simply not true based on every study made on the impact of energy drinks on young people.
Yes it should be parents who are better, but when that is shown not to happen, restricting it seems like a perfectly reasonable option. Yes high sugar content in drinks should also probably be regulated since its a huge impact on the average health.
Overall; no, its not "nanny state overreach", there is valid arguments for why its implemented with clear interest of the peoples health. It is obviously possible to argue against, of course it is, but to try dismiss a real argument as such is just ignorant, or at worst, dishonest.
The depression table is just as likely to show the depression causes somone to be more likely to consume caffine rather than what you claim. A
nd it's obvious it can disturb sleep. If if a parent notices his/her kid isnt sleeping properly and they drink energy drinks then they can restrict them, no need for the government to get involved.
There is also no basis for the other assertion, that coffee consumprion causes mental illness in children. Correlarion does not necessarily mean causation.
Someone who has an illness such as depresison my feel more lethargic and want coffee. Somone who is anxious may feel like they need coffee becuase they might worry about being tired, etc. Clearly it's theoretically possible
Funnily enough my first time having an energy drink when it was still banned in France was in the UK. I was like 12. Maybe they saw how I turned out and went "absolutely fucking not"
in Poland they are. it's not as strict as alcohol, but good luck getting them under 18. can't complain but it's so funny when I have to be accepted as self checkout lmao
I got actually asked for my ID when buying a monster not long ago. Normally at the self checkouts at my local Biedronka they just accept it and go on their way even when there's a bottle of wine involved. Well, at least I can tell myself that I look young haha
As some one who dose park clear ups and some around schools the amount of them you'd find is insane. This will just be great for kids in general as when I was at school you could tell who had addiction issues with them
One of the extremely rare times I'm proud to be an American. My body my choice! If my kid wants to drink radioactive waste that's their the goddamn right
I see. I was out of the country for most of last year so it makes sense I didn't know about it.
The cashier also seemed really confused when I asked them for a reason to show my ID lol.
Guess we acted quickly on that one. Seems like a pretty stupid thing to put the limit all the way at 18, but at least acting on those tragedies is something.
Either way, people are unaware or they don't care that energy drinks aren't good for anybody's health in long perspective, they just like its taste so nothing will change to be honest. Since healthcare is "free" and drinking doesn't have immediate negative effects, no one will care.
Even when healthcare isn't free, people in developed countries simply do not care as much about long term consequences of doing anything, until it begins hurting them physically
Does that mean in Polish shops they regularly fail to actually keep the law of +18? Sounds like a more down to earth issue of ensuring shops enforce the rules set for them.
That being said - seems fair for any country with tax paid healthcare to enforce regulation to avoid unnecessary sickness in the population within a reasonable degree.
No it's not that. I'm just saying these regulations will do nothing, because even if children and teenagers don't have access to them, they will drink them as adults either way. Because of how good they taste. They will develop the same habits either way sooner or later
Taxation on popular products has nothing with concern about population's health. Health concern is just an excuse for additional taxing.
People will still drink, smoke and if they can't afford it, they can always find cheaper sources or replacements.
As long as humans do not value their health, and they are not raised with this value in mind from an early age, nothing will really change
The high caffeine intake alongside content such a taurine does have a developmental impact on kids, granted it would be even better to have it be allowed later but that is a whole other topic.
Its supply and demand - if you make the supply expensive, demand will drop. Its a proven effect that it reduces usage which in turn encourages healthier alternatives. Numbers just don't lie on that one. That doesn't mean some people won't still do it, but that isn't what matters - the overall stats matter.
Humans are animals, you change their playing field and their nature is to adapt to it.
This is good, this is seriously good. Hope the whole society, shops, off licences work towards implementing this and not care for lost revenue or are compensated for lost revenue
NOV3LIST@reddit
Are the caffeine rules different in the UK? In Germany they are limited to 32mg/100ml.
So a can of monster has 160mg of caffeine in it. Which is still roughly like 3 shots of espresso.
I just came to the conclusion that the monster addiction during my teen years probably explains my coffee addiction now..
Maybe a ban isn’t that bad. Folks would still find a way around it though.
MrWarfaith@reddit
More like 2 but it's about right, depending heavily on which coffee u use.A 34ml Espresso has about 75 mg of caffeine
NymusRaed@reddit
And a strong, large cup of coffee approx 200mg, which is comparable to some so-called "pre-workout" energy drinks.
Andovars_Ghost@reddit
Which is why this is all bullshit.
UnethicalExperiments@reddit
Had this conversation while I was in the hospital after my heart attack. Got chastised for drinking red bull, but they were serving us regular coffee. So I looked at the stats, sugar free redbull has half the caffeine of a cup of instant coffee we were getting. I haven't heard anyone say anything to me since .
It's just another " I don't like this and heard bad things, but I'm too stupid to actually look into it" kind of thing.
Btw my heart attack was related to poor genetics and bad plumbing, the heart itself is still strong. After my triple bypass I feel 20 years younger in general.
Crying_Reaper@reddit
I thought it was all the other stuff in energy drinks and all the sugar that makes energy drinks less than desirable? I enjoy one or two per day at work so clearly it doesn't deter me though.
Tormentula@reddit
Afaik it’s easier to find sugar-free than energy drinks with sugar.
I know because there was monster flavors I wanted to try but got deterred from it since I worry more about aspartame’s long term effects as a non-diabetic, fake sugar can really mess with how your body over produces insulin but then does nothing with it cause the fake-sugar isn’t recognized to be used but somehow is recognized to still create the insulin.
Andovars_Ghost@reddit
I actually used to carry a list with the caffeine content of drinks because people gave me so much shit. My parents (in their 70s) drink about twice as much caffeine as I do. I had students call me out for drinking a Mobnster while they had a Venti Starbucks caramel whatever with more caffeine and a butt load of calories. People need to worry less about what others willingly eat/drink.
ayriuss@reddit
Its pretty much the same as idiots who think vaping is more dangerous than smoking.
TheGodfather742@reddit
I mean it certainly doesn't have tar, but it's still uncertain what vaping does long term to the body no?
Regalme@reddit
Or stop parroting and actually come to a real life conclusion
Duckbilling2@reddit
what always blew my mind was there were 50 different energy drinks, and no drinks to calm you down.
there was Marley's mellow mood for a bit, tho
Why-did-i-reas-this@reddit
Isn't that, to an extent, what decaffeinated tea is?
FreeCapone@reddit
That's why you have tea, innit? Or if it's not branded and sold to you in a bottle at the supermarket it doesn't count?
Duckbilling2@reddit
I think tea has caffeine innit
FreeCapone@reddit
Depends on the tea
cgaWolf@reddit
Actual tea (as opposed to herbal infusions) has some coffeine, but if you let it steep too long (over 4 minutes iirc), it's gonna bind to tannins and become ineffective.
squidparkour@reddit
Everything OP wants is available, they just decided to post on reddit instead of like... looking at a grocery shelf, heh.
Shit, you could make the argument that NyQuil fits the bill.
Sloppykrab@reddit
What do you mean? 1 can of Monster to put me to sleep. It's relaxing.
sydraptor@reddit
Same. I also have ADHD though. It's all nice until you're 11 hours into a 13 hour shift and you know there is no possibility of caffeine keeping you awake and saving you from almost falling asleep while working.
wildflowerden@reddit
You might have ADHD. People with ADHD are often calmed by stimulants. That's why stimulant medications are the go to treatment for ADHD.
figure8888@reddit
I’m still not diagnosed but caffeine puts me to sleep as well. I discovered I probably have ADHD when some friends in college convinced me to take Adderall with them recreationally. I had the best nap of my life, drool and all. I woke up to my friends standing over me saying they’d never seen anyone pass out from Adderall
Sloppykrab@reddit
Yes, sir. I do have ADHD.
SilverDiscount6751@reddit
You can.... not drink an energy drink?
Duckbilling2@reddit
I don't
But for example, Marley's mellow mood tea had
Now I know I can make chamomile at home, and in fact I do most nights a week with "well rested" hot tea.
I think the valerian root might have a strong effect, or maybe the combo of everything, or maybe it's just placebo.
all I'm really pointing out it is there are 50 energy drinks to at this point, zero options if you want to be more calm.
To me that says something. Maybe the something is you can't make money selling a calming energy drink, IDK.
armchairracer@reddit
I think most people use alcohol for that.
Rocktopod@reddit
There's way more than 50 types of booze.
soowhatchathink@reddit
I see this as a result of our capitalist hellscape
Active_Engineering37@reddit
Oh man I miss the Bob Marley teas!
Demonplz@reddit
There used to be one called Drank as well, but upon looking it up they stopped production of it in 2013. But does anyone remember those Monster BFCs? Those things were fucking HUGE.
savedawhale@reddit
Why do people use espresso as if it's a crazy amount of caffeine? Espresso is the product of a brewing method, like French press, it's not made with "espresso beans" or anything special.
You could say 3 cups of coffee, and it would still be correct. A shot of espresso usually has very similar levels of caffeine to a regular cup of coffee (less if you drink in extra-large mugs/cups).
It seems like you people just spout buzzword and headlines you read but you don't even understand the issue.
"Won't you please think of the children" people have to be some of the least educated and most gullible people on the planet.
NOV3LIST@reddit
I used it because it was mentioned in the article.
The article used it because espresso is more likely to be the same everywhere else too. The amount of beans used to prepare a shot of espresso is almost always the same so the amount of caffeine is also most likely within the same range.
Also the amount of water used to make a shot is most likely to be the same everywhere. A cup of coffee can vary between small mugs, medium mugs and even big ones that are usually used for tea (I’m guilty of this).
So my guess they just use espresso as some sort of comparison unit because it doesn’t vary as much as a normal cup of coffee.
born_at_kfc@reddit
Monster already has less than that in the US. Im sure the recipe is slightly different in the UK, but would the caffeine content be higher too?
Timpstar@reddit
Good. Even regular soft drinks like coke contains a certain amount of caffeine. My cousin got heart problems from drinking 2L of coke almost daily when she was in highschool, which was especially bad since she was underweight aswell.
Why-did-i-reas-this@reddit
The wild thing to me is that I was the odd kid growing up because I had 2, maybe 3 cans (the smaller 250ml ones) of coke a day (one at lunch, one at dinner). That would put me below average consumption now. I haven't had a caffeinated drink in 35 years but I remember the headaches when I decided to quit cold turkey.
tmfink10@reddit
That's some American-level Coke consumption!
Joe_Kangg@reddit
Almost Colombian
Ollyfer@reddit (OP)
Coke production is actually going down in Colombia, leading to problems for the farmers as well as the farm hands that live off of it: https://www.nytimes.com/es/2024/07/16/espanol/colombia-cocaina.html
Drake_the_troll@reddit
Smh, the tarrifs really hit everyone /s
Ollyfer@reddit (OP)
And now, the Trump admin. even targets the supply chain. He is bankrupting Colombia's (second) most productive economic sector!
Timpstar@reddit
We're actually swedish, but yeah. She stopped thankfully
Zosimas@reddit
how was she underweight when drinking 2L of coke daily?
Corben11@reddit
Diet soda?
Much_Guava_1396@reddit
Because weight gain is driven by a constant excess of calories, not the type of food you eat. You can be fat as hell eating fruits and veggies and rail thin eating chips and McDonald every day.
FreeCapone@reddit
Yeah, but 2L of coke a day is almost 1000 calories. Getting half your daily calories just from drinks everyday, while having a normal diet, will make you fat
Dragoncat_3_4@reddit
Coke zero exists. But also, I can believe it even of it wasn't coke zero.
Back in highschool I used to barely eat a meal and a half during school days and chug down on energy drinks and was right in the middle of the healthy bmi range.
I was super active though, ~5-6km total walking each day and running ~10-15km twice a week at practice.
Much_Guava_1396@reddit
800-850 kcal is not half of your daily needs unless you’re really tiny woman or bedbound. It’s closer to a third of your daily needs. Also, no one ever mentioned a normal diet. When I was a teen, I had days when I would just eat some chips, a cup of instant noodles, nibble a bit on whatever was for dinner, and call it a day.
galacticbard@reddit
a close friend of mine while growing up used to eat almost exclusively pop tarts and coke. years of this. he was also the thinnest person I've ever known and like 5'0".
lorddrame@reddit
Probably Coke Zero, sugarfree and all that has near 0 calories.
Wooden-Practice8508@reddit
I used to drink 1L of Coke per day for years and didn't gain a single kg, until I hit 30 ... then I stopped drinking it.
IlluminatedPickle@reddit
I very much doubt that her heart problems were caused by the Coke. 2L of coke is a fairly small amount of caffeine. That's about 5 cups of coffee per day. Which isn't nothing, but it's not like it's going to damage your heart.
What likely happened, is the caffeine made something more easily noticed.
cgaWolf@reddit
I don't doubt it, but I wouldn't blame the caffeine content.
It potentially a lot of sugar/hfcs, or sweeteners which aren't exactly good for you in high quantities; phosphoric acid (extra bad for bone density, especially for women; and contributes to the formation of kindey stones), etc.
There's also the thing where the body shouldn't be "busied" all the time. If your liver is busy working the sugar into glycogen all the time because you have a sip every 10 minutes, there's a ton of other tasks it won't do well (ELI5 version, obviously that's not exactly what happens).
IlluminatedPickle@reddit
Don't attach your pseudo-science to my comment thanks.
nonexistantchlp@reddit
Wow those are some very irresponsible parents...
champagneface@reddit
Could the parents have stopped this necessarily? When I was in school I would sometimes buy 5 chocolate bars to have for lunch. I never ate packed lunches so not sure how much they could’ve done to make sure I was eating healthily.
IlluminatedPickle@reddit
Where were you getting the money to buy 5 chocolate bars?
champagneface@reddit
My parents, due to the aforementioned not eating packed lunches. And receiving lunch money was the norm.
IlluminatedPickle@reddit
So your parents could have stopped you is what you're telling me.
champagneface@reddit
If they wanted me not to eat, I guess. Is that a better option?
LoreoCookies@reddit
People reacting like you're the only teenager in history to spend lunch money on something stupid or unhealthy. I ate free breakfast then skipped lunches to save for video games or fast food after school. My mom was too busy being a single parrnt busting her ass to support us to worry about whether we used the money on apples or McDonald's.
squidparkour@reddit
Heh, I'd buy a pack of Combos and save the rest for smokes, drugs, and booze in middle school. Chugging a 2 liter is definitely not the worst option.
IlluminatedPickle@reddit
Yes I would consider a child not eating lunch to be a better option than consuming 5 chocolate bars every day.
Maardten@reddit
Not eating lunch is horrible for (school) performance.
IlluminatedPickle@reddit
I'm well aware. 5 chocolate bars isn't going to get you through the day.
Maardten@reddit
You made up the ‘every day’ part though. The person you replied to explicitly said something different.
champagneface@reddit
Where did you get “every day” from? My comment said “sometimes”.
IlluminatedPickle@reddit
So what did you eat on the days where you didn't eat these things that were the only thing you would apparently consume?
champagneface@reddit
It was a variety of things actually. I don’t know why you think it’s a case of “things that were the only thing you would apparently consume”. I never suggested a narrow range of lunches, just that I didn’t like packed lunches. I honestly think you care way too much about this lol. At the end of the day my parents wouldn’t have even known that I sometimes would eat 5 bars of chocolate for lunch, so it’s just ridiculous to suggest it’s bad parenting.
Pick-Physical@reddit
I've eaten 6 donuts for lunch before.
Hell, I work a physically active job and I've rarely ever brought or bought a lunch for work, I just make a meal before and after.
Jimmi11@reddit
Yes.
TheRealMouseRat@reddit
No sane person drinks 2liters of coke every day
ibrown39@reddit
2L of coke is going to be source issue more than its caffeine content. Especially if she was drinking a non-diet form of it.
Beliriel@reddit
Normal or Zero/Light?
SRGsergan592@reddit
I think caffeine is the least concern from drinking a 2L coke daily l.
BadNameThinkerOfer@reddit
Also dark chocolate.
Aenjeprekemaluci@reddit
Energy drinks are seriously underestimated in severity for teenies and below.
Manhunter_From_Mars@reddit
Hang about, in the UK, when I did my training for that brief period of working at Morrisons, I could've sworn it was already law that Energy Drinks couldn't be sold to people who were under 16 anyways
Krashlia2@reddit
Time to tell my fellow Americans about this wonderful market opportunity.
DrachenDad@reddit
I think it was voluntary.
IlluminatedPickle@reddit
Interesting, a supermarket chain in Australia recently had to challenge an anti-discrimination law to get an exemption to not sell 0-alcohol beverages (0% wine and beer) to kids because it would be considered discrimination under our laws.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-03/ceq-anti-discrimination-exemption-sale-zero-alcohol-drinks/105724706
lufan132@reddit
What's the point in refusing because I thought the only reason everybody turns into the puritans when wine and beer sales are brought up is that they contain alcohol and alcohol is unhealthy?
IlluminatedPickle@reddit
Because it's an area where there's large amounts of abuse of alcohol, and the owners of the company don't want to encourage kids to view alcoholic drinks as normal.
zanotam@reddit
But.... The examples you gave were non-alcoholic?!?!
angelolidae@reddit
The only person who ever got any problems with energy drinks I knew drank them constantly every day, and it still took some time for it to cause real problems.
This just seems like nonsense overreach due to parents not wanting to monitor their own children and the state happily doing it for them.
Ollyfer@reddit (OP)
There is legitimate concern about the consumption of energy drinks in adolescents:
Martinez, K. A., Bains, S., Neves, R., Giudicessi, J. R., Bos, J. M., & Ackerman, M. J. (2024). Sudden cardiac arrest occurring in temporal proximity to consumption of energy drinks. Heart Rhythm. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrthm.2024.02.018
Your anecdotal evidence won't hold water against it because it's just that: Anecdotal.
angelolidae@reddit
There are legitimate concerns about the consumption of hyper processed garbage snacks, mainly targeting children, and nothing is banned because the parents aren't doing a moral panic about some stupid oversugared snacks, this is unnecessary legislation that serves only to further state control, no teen that wants a monster will be discouraged from it, the responsible parents were already monitoring their teen's consumption of them, and the irresponsible ones will nlt stop giving their children energy drinks beyond a healthy line.
Ollyfer@reddit (OP)
We must be living in different worlds, because no matter which media I consume, in none were there any panicked parents who lobbied their representatives or councilmembers to ban energy drinks. Fair enough, though, Britain seems focused on beverages, given their prior tax on sugary drinks. I would expect that UPFs will be next, because obviously, they have similar effects to caffeinated beverages.
The British govenrment's press release stated the following on the ban:
So, yeah, either the parents will back down and purchase the drinks for their children, or they can get past the cashiers who didn't ask for IDs. It would liken the prohibition of sales of alcoholic beverages for adolesents respectively under the age of 16 and 18 in Germany. In the end, I wouldn't call it a nanny or overreaching state for this very reason: Because it's not a ban as much as it is a penalisation of detected illegal sales. Which would beg the question: What's all the fuss about it? Either it will work, which will benefit the children down the line, or it will not work, to which those complaining about it can breathe a sigh of relief because allegedly overreaching legislation imploded through its incapability.
zanotam@reddit
It's 100% nanny bullshit because tea and coffee drinks with the same amount of caffeine per liter aren't banned lmao
Ollyfer@reddit (OP)
Is there proof for that? I usually drink black and green tea due to a cardiac condition that doesn't allow me to drink coffee, and I never had problems with either of those. I know that black tea at least has caffeine, but far from the dose that could have comparable effects to coffee.
FlyingSquirrel44@reddit
I mean that study proves nothing, it's just a preliminary study to evaluate if further testing is motivated. 7 out of 144 cardiac arrests occured in some vicinity to consuming an energy drink? That's within the margin of error and there's no causal link.
Caffeine is probably the most studied compound in history and people have been drinking coffee safely for centuries. The fact that it now comes packaged in a different way doesn't impact the effects, it's just the eternal cycle of boomers being outraged at the new thing corrupting the morality of the youth.
cgaWolf@reddit
I get the argument, but back when i was a kid, we didn't have energy drinks, social media designed to addict us, gacha/gambling aimed at kids and teens. This shit is coming faster at us than societies can adapt to them, so a little regulation by lawmakers can help.
On the flip side we had Chernobyl, glycol wine & asbest in walls.
HomeAloneToo@reddit
As someone that grew up repeatedly getting used to drinks that were so problematically caffeinated that sales of them had to be stopped, this feels like the better method.
God do I miss Jolt and Bookoo though...
Vedagi_@reddit
It should be banned for under 14, not 16 in my opinion.
Or at least 15 with is in my country "that age" when person gets stuff like ID, etc.
Though i think it's insane fot enegry drinks to be +18 only. The less the rules will make sense, the less people will care and not follow them.
Being it +18 could actually encourage young to buy alcohol too, as both are +18 in thag case so they'll care less.
TheCursedMonk@reddit
If I remember right, they were originally made 18+ because a 16 year old school girl drank too many and died. But it looks like that was just a voluntary thing, this has made it official. Since she died they have needed a store clerk code in supermarkets or for you to look old enough to buy from corner shops.
zanotam@reddit
16 year old girls can drink too much water and die, too. This is so stupid my millenial self wants to drop an r-slur. Like, this is the exact bullshit idiocy we used that for when I was a kid!
Vedagi_@reddit
Interesting logic.
If a girl overeats with candies will they be 18+ too? Smth cutious if they'd do the same if it was a boy
Ollyfer@reddit (OP)
Whether such a law makes sense for someone or doesn't is dependent on their knowledge of the subject matter. Energy drink consumption can be linked to an increased risk of suffering a cardiac arrest, a severe health condition:
So, you would not necessarily want a youngster to have free handling of such substances, the same way you wouldn't want them to have free acess to alcohol or nicotine. I also don't think that they would switch to alcohol alternatively, assuming they know the effects thereof which are contrarian to that of energy drinks; at worst you would be sleepier or consumptive.
King_Kvnt@reddit
Oi! You got a loicense for dat red bull?
Yeeeeaah. I probably shouldn't jest too much at this one, there's a high chance that Australia's going to copycat.
Ollyfer@reddit (OP)
Possibly. But also, you've got a social media ban for youngsters below the age of 18 if I remember correctly, so you're not really in a position to mock other countries for controversial legislation purposed to protect them from harm.
King_Kvnt@reddit
Australia learned from the best!
catchcatchhorrortaxi@reddit
Molested-Cholo-5305@reddit
Both the UK and Australia are some of the worst nanny states in the world, this translates to the local culture too.
King_Kvnt@reddit
Yup. It just reinforces stupidity and laziness on behalf of the populace.
IlluminatedPickle@reddit
Not yet. We still have time to fuck that up so badly that it doesn't eventuate.
i8noodles@reddit
considering the massive amount of caffine addiction and energy drink addiction in general across aus. im not exactly for the id but i am for restrictions to some degree. perhaps a cap on caffeine per energy drink.
EnglishBrekkie_1604@reddit
I don’t think us copying this is that bad of an idea. They’re literally 10% sugar by weight, and have way too much caffeine to be realistically safe for anyone young.
BlackBacon08@reddit
I am indifferent to this law. Young teenagers shouldn't be drinking that much caffeine, but I also don't believe it's the government's job to encourage this.
Canada has a law where energy drinks are limited to 180mg. Now that would be pushing it too far. Adults should be free to make decisions for themselves.
ItachiOfKonohagakure@reddit
That's close to 3 shots of espresso
BlackBacon08@reddit
Yes, and?
ItachiOfKonohagakure@reddit
Literally not healthy and it's a good thing the government is restricting it's sale. A lot of people think drunk driving is a perfectly fine idea but it's illegal for a reason
BlackBacon08@reddit
You are free to drink as much alcohol as you want in your own home. No one is arguing for drunk driving.
ItachiOfKonohagakure@reddit
I don't understand why it's an issue for the government to care about their people?
BlackBacon08@reddit
Caffeine is completely safe up to 400mg per day. And it would take many times more than that to cause major health problems.
The government should have no say when we're dealing with low levels of caffeine.
savedawhale@reddit
Why do people use espresso as if it's a crazy amount of caffeine? Espresso is the product of a brewing method, like French press, it's not made with "espresso beans" or anything special.
You could say 3 cups of coffee and it would still be correct. A shot of espresso usually has very similar levels of caffeine to a regular cup of coffee (less if you drink in extra-large mugs/cups).
It seems like you people just spout buzzword and headlines you read but you don't even understand the issue.
"Won't you please think of the children" people have to be some of the least educated and most gullible people on the planet.
there_is_no_spoon1@reddit
Adults *are* free to make decisions for themselves. If they need more than 180 mg of caffiene, they can purchase more than one drink. Otherwise, the limit makes good sense. They can also take the pills if they further want to poison themselves.
BlackBacon08@reddit
Just curious, are you also in favor of limiting the alcohol concentration of hard drinks?
there_is_no_spoon1@reddit
Where did you get THAT idea? The article was about caffiene.
Terrible_Ice_1616@reddit
Because by your logic, there is nothing wrong with restricting what proof a beverage can be. If they want more alcohol they can get another drink
lorddrame@reddit
So where does your personal limit go? 1/10th lethal dosis? 9/10th? etc its all just limit and where it should be placed should likely be where it is reasonable for the amount you drink or an amount that is low enough to not cause much harm long term.
For countries with public healthcare it seems fair to set the rules to encourage a healthy lifestyle without taking choice away. Eg you can just buy 2 cans of monster if you MUUUUST have those extra mg of caffeine... Which for gods sake nobody does.
BlackBacon08@reddit
A toxic dose is about 10 grams of caffeine, far above any of the numbers people are talking about here.
And I know many people who drink the equivalent of two Monsters. They are pretty healthy if you ask me. Definitely way healthier than people who smoke or drink alcohol.
FlyingSquirrel44@reddit
Is anything allowed in England at this point? Depressing how quickly they've descended into some kind of proto-dystopia. And it seems the EU is using them as a blueprint with all the bullshit legislation like chat control in the pipeline.
StomachMicrobes@reddit
What a joke. Such nanny state overeach. Most energy drinks have less caffine than coffee and coffee is unaffected. It's just pandering trying to look like they are achieving something.
Caffine addiction is benign and doesnt need to be restricted. At worst you get a headache and feel a little tired for a week as withdrawl symptoms.
It's only harmful if you have a stupid amount and have a preexisting heart condtion. The only real unhealthy thing is the absurd amount of sugar but of course sugarfee energy drinks are still banned for under 16s but you can still get a sugar filled coffee. What a joke
jsting@reddit
This statement really went off the deep end. But to talk about caffeine, energy drinks have more than most regular coffee due to misleading regulations. That caffeine amount you see is only the extra added caffeine. The caffeine in naturally occurring Taurine or guarana is not calculated for the label.
lorddrame@reddit
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7177467/
Caffeine in large doses with other substances like Taurine which is added to many energy drinks, not coffee, is shown to have potentially severe impacts on developing bodies. No it is NOT only harmful for pre-existing conditions. That is simply not true based on every study made on the impact of energy drinks on young people.
Yes it should be parents who are better, but when that is shown not to happen, restricting it seems like a perfectly reasonable option. Yes high sugar content in drinks should also probably be regulated since its a huge impact on the average health.
Overall; no, its not "nanny state overreach", there is valid arguments for why its implemented with clear interest of the peoples health. It is obviously possible to argue against, of course it is, but to try dismiss a real argument as such is just ignorant, or at worst, dishonest.
StomachMicrobes@reddit
The depression table is just as likely to show the depression causes somone to be more likely to consume caffine rather than what you claim. A
nd it's obvious it can disturb sleep. If if a parent notices his/her kid isnt sleeping properly and they drink energy drinks then they can restrict them, no need for the government to get involved.
Also the other tables are mostly positive
catchcatchhorrortaxi@reddit
There is literally no basis for that assertion.
StomachMicrobes@reddit
There is also no basis for the other assertion, that coffee consumprion causes mental illness in children. Correlarion does not necessarily mean causation.
Someone who has an illness such as depresison my feel more lethargic and want coffee. Somone who is anxious may feel like they need coffee becuase they might worry about being tired, etc. Clearly it's theoretically possible
StarRotator@reddit
Funnily enough my first time having an energy drink when it was still banned in France was in the UK. I was like 12. Maybe they saw how I turned out and went "absolutely fucking not"
umotex12@reddit
in Poland they are. it's not as strict as alcohol, but good luck getting them under 18. can't complain but it's so funny when I have to be accepted as self checkout lmao
ayu-ya@reddit
I got actually asked for my ID when buying a monster not long ago. Normally at the self checkouts at my local Biedronka they just accept it and go on their way even when there's a bottle of wine involved. Well, at least I can tell myself that I look young haha
Mccobsta@reddit
As some one who dose park clear ups and some around schools the amount of them you'd find is insane. This will just be great for kids in general as when I was at school you could tell who had addiction issues with them
Whatever801@reddit
One of the extremely rare times I'm proud to be an American. My body my choice! If my kid wants to drink radioactive waste that's their the goddamn right
catchcatchhorrortaxi@reddit
If only you didn’t make that the rest of the world’s problem.
Radusili@reddit
Under 16? Sheesh.
Here in Romania I was asked for my ID one week ago for an energy drink.
I had to be 18.
I am 24.
It was the first time in my life to be asked for an ID to buy a drink.
I've bought alcohol plenty of times ever since I was 15 or so, yet this is the first time I've been asked.
FOR AN ENERGY DRINK. I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THOSE WERE NOT SOLD UNDER 18 UNTIL LAST WEEK.
thechadez@reddit
I was asked for ID for an energy drink in Lidl in Sweden, im 33 and had my son with me.
fartingbeagle@reddit
Maybe they thought you were a sexually active teen, prematurely aged by the stresses of parenthood!
Wooden-Practice8508@reddit
It went into effect last year. Happened after a teen drank too many of them and died
Radusili@reddit
I see. I was out of the country for most of last year so it makes sense I didn't know about it.
The cashier also seemed really confused when I asked them for a reason to show my ID lol.
Guess we acted quickly on that one. Seems like a pretty stupid thing to put the limit all the way at 18, but at least acting on those tragedies is something.
Lugo_888@reddit
In Poland energy drinks are already +18
Either way, people are unaware or they don't care that energy drinks aren't good for anybody's health in long perspective, they just like its taste so nothing will change to be honest. Since healthcare is "free" and drinking doesn't have immediate negative effects, no one will care.
Even when healthcare isn't free, people in developed countries simply do not care as much about long term consequences of doing anything, until it begins hurting them physically
lorddrame@reddit
Does that mean in Polish shops they regularly fail to actually keep the law of +18? Sounds like a more down to earth issue of ensuring shops enforce the rules set for them.
That being said - seems fair for any country with tax paid healthcare to enforce regulation to avoid unnecessary sickness in the population within a reasonable degree.
Lugo_888@reddit
No it's not that. I'm just saying these regulations will do nothing, because even if children and teenagers don't have access to them, they will drink them as adults either way. Because of how good they taste. They will develop the same habits either way sooner or later
Taxation on popular products has nothing with concern about population's health. Health concern is just an excuse for additional taxing.
People will still drink, smoke and if they can't afford it, they can always find cheaper sources or replacements.
As long as humans do not value their health, and they are not raised with this value in mind from an early age, nothing will really change
lorddrame@reddit
There is a difference.
The high caffeine intake alongside content such a taurine does have a developmental impact on kids, granted it would be even better to have it be allowed later but that is a whole other topic.
Its supply and demand - if you make the supply expensive, demand will drop. Its a proven effect that it reduces usage which in turn encourages healthier alternatives. Numbers just don't lie on that one. That doesn't mean some people won't still do it, but that isn't what matters - the overall stats matter.
Humans are animals, you change their playing field and their nature is to adapt to it.
Relative-Chain73@reddit
This is good, this is seriously good. Hope the whole society, shops, off licences work towards implementing this and not care for lost revenue or are compensated for lost revenue
snokegsxr@reddit
when energy and beer are both banned for under 16s...
16 year old me would go for the beer then
Bubbly_District_107@reddit
I thought they already were