Energy drinks: not as bad for you as people say.

This was my favorite Amp. But Amp sucks now, ever since they changed over the product line...

Every article fighting energy drinks that I read, I stop reading. And then I laugh. I put my Milestone X2 down on the table, and laugh. "What is this shit? These aren't reasons."

The 'reasons' - wait, let's find a better word... excuses, are the same among most articles, and the exceptions are just as ridiculous still. The editors of these articles cross me as an older generation that never adapted to energy drinks replacing coffee in the newer generation, and advise against them because "Too much sugar," and "Too much caffeine," and "People die from drinking those, you know!" I don't think any of them are substantiated any further than any argument against coffee and soda, because honestly, an energy drink's really just a mixture of the two with a little less sugar and caffeine, and some natural herbs added as additional stimulants. All it does is beg a little more responsibility.

Soda contains roughly the same amount of sugar ounce-for-ounce as an energy drink, sometimes more, and an 8oz cup of coffee has about 100mg on average, while the same amount as an energy drink has around 80mg on average. Yet people argue the caffeine content of energy drinks is 'dangerously high' and thus should be avoided at all costs. This is used to substantiate claims these drinks are responsible for young adults experiencing heart failure - well, after drinking four in a three-hour span, or several throughout a day. Because, who the fuck drinks that many in three hours, anyway?

Yes, energy drinks have additional stimulants, and they're more powerful than coffee because of it; you don't treat them like coffee, because they're not, hence the price of a can of it versus a cup of arabica dark roast. There's a reason these drinks are targeted at adults; treat them responsibly like adults and you won't suffer cardiac arrest. ("Drink responsibly," eh.) Just one Rockstar - one - taken in time-moderated sips will carry you an entire day without the stereotypical synaptic what-the-fucks they're commonly portrayed to catalyze. This actually justifies the sugar and caffeine content, since most people drink multiple sodas or cups of coffee in a day for their kick, while a single energy drink alone is enough.

A little Google research turned up many of the common herbs and stimulants used in energy drinks, like taurine, ginseng and milk thistle, are harmless to the body taken in moderated doses (and in fact, beneficial even,) and in excess the worst they may cause is discomfort and maybe a kidney infection if you really overdo it - at which point, the caffeine would've killed you anyway, if Rockstar's your method of overdose. Speaking of which, another reason given in another article stated something I thought was profoundly innovative: they can kill you if they aren't consumed in moderation! People've died from drinking too much water (upsets electrolytes,) so let's not drink any at all, right?

Meanwhile, as energy drinks are criticized like illicit drugs, the authors of these articles are typing them up while downing cups of pesticide- and toxin-laced coffee, six-pack sodas with zero nutritional benefit, cartons of cancer-thins, and maybe cheap 2/3rds beers later in the evening. Don't you know alcohol kills? Put the fucking Heineken down, it tastes like alpaca urine anyway, and don't ask how I'd know.

Let's face it: no matter how well-groomed your body is, it's gonna die one day, for all of us.

If you want to know of an energy formula that's 'bad' for you, enter 5-Hour Energy, and each of its brand-name mimics in its variegated flowery bush. I've had heart issues with those, and my dad feels like he's having an OBE after downing one. So stay away from them.

So I'd be interested to know, what energy drinks do you all drink, how often, what brand and flavor, and with what effects?