(burbling noises)
- I think we can do it.
(bleep)
- Hey everyone, I'm Shirin.
- And I'm Myles.
The hosts of Above the Noise.
The show that cuts through the hype
and digs into the facts
behind the headlines.
(upbeat electronic music)
- So today we're going to be
talking about energy drinks.
And just to recap the last episode,
In 2011, a paper published
in the Journal, Pediatrics,
reviewed the effects of energy drinks
on children, adolescents,
and young adults.
The paper looked at 121 reports.
Two thirds of which were
published in academic journals.
And in all of this research,
there are still two big unknowns.
One: does your age effect how your body
responds to caffeine?
And two: how do all these
additives and caffeine
interact with each other?
Clearly there's still a
lot they're figuring out,
but in the meantime the experts warn
that energy drinks could
be especially risky
for kids with heart
problems, ADHD, or diabetes.
- So, let's jump right into the comments.
We have a question from Raquel, who says,
"Don't energy drinks
contain a lot of chemicals?
It's not just sugar and caffeine.
What makes them special?
And what about the rest
of the ingredients?"
- So, actually, those other things
in energy drinks, the hype,
those are the elements that
are the most unstudied,
as compared to something
like, say, caffeine.
So there's ingredients
like taurine and guarana,
which both have exotic names,
and are pretty unknown,
in terms of how they
interact with each other,
and with caffeine.
- So, basically, in doing your research,
and looking into all the stuff
that you did for this video.
Was there anything that you
came across that was crazy?
'Cause I was doing some stuff
and I find cases of people dyin'
and people claiming that the energy drinks
were the reason these
people were dyin', so.
- Yeah, it's kinda nuts
and that's something
that I've always heard about.
That people die 'cause of energy drinks.
And it turns out there's nothing
that we can say 100% proven.
This person died because of energy drink.
But a lot of families have
sued energy drink companies.
Saying that they think
that's the main reason.
That their loved one
was otherwise healthy.
Like for example, in 2011,
a man in Brooklyn died
after downing Red Bull
and playing basketball
and his family sued
for 85 million dollars.
I believe that case is
still in litigation.
There's another case in 2012,
where a 14-year-old girl
from Maryland died after
having two Monster drinks
within a 24-hour period.
- That's terrible.
- Yeah, so it's hard to say definitively
but there's definitely some
families that believe that.
And because of this, the FDA has opened
kind of an investigation into it
and they're starting to list
all the reported cases.
- And last up we have Divya, who says,
"Has banning energy drinks
in the countries mentioned
(Lithuania) been effective?"
- So I scoured the internet
for research about Lithuania
and the effects of this ban.
Not a lot out there.
However, in Berkeley,
California, they implemented
a soda tax.
And that's been studied
in terms of the effects.
And what they found was
that in a study published
by UC Berkeley and UCSF researchers,
there was a 21% drop in the drinking
of soda and other sugary beverages
amongst Berkeley's
low-income neighborhoods,
after the city put this tax in place.
- Dope.
- Yeah.
- We need more soda tax;
naw, I'm just kidding.
(Myles laughs)
So, I mean, how do you
feel about energy drinks?
Do you drink them at all?
- Honestly, no.
(both laugh)
I have coffee.
I need coffee to survive, but
not energy drinks as much.
- Naw, I can't even drink coffee.
I remember the last time I drank coffee,
I had one cup.
I was really young, I was 10.
And then out of nowhere,
I was out of town, with
my grandmother visiting,
and I remember my mother called me,
which is like, "Hey, just
telling you I miss you.
And hopefully I see you in a couple weeks,
yada yada yada."
I was like, "Alright, for sho."
And then after the phone call,
I finished the cup of coffee,
and I just started bawling.
For no reason.
Like I'd been gone for a minute.
So it wasn't like I missed her hella,
but you know I just was overwhelmed
with emotion and energy.
And I blame the coffee
from that day, so I haven't
had a cup of coffee since
I was nine or 10 years old.
So that's how I feel about
caffeine in general, kinda.
- That's amazing.
- Yeah.
- You might be the only journalist I know
who does not drink coffee.
- I can't do it.
- That's cool.
Black tea is the way to go.
Shameless plug.
(both laugh)
But, I mean, let us know
what you guys think.
I mean, how do you feel?
What do you feel about energy drinks?
What do you think could be done?
Let us know in the comments below,
we'll do our best to look through them.
And remember, we're the
hosts of Above the Noise.
The show that cuts through the hype.
- And takes you, above the noise.
(upbeat electronic music)
