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Man dies on way home from Panera after having three “charged” lemonades
(arstechnica.com)
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this post was submitted on 06 Dec 2023
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United States | News & Politics
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I heard on the evening news (and I'm only reporting what they said) that the guy had high blood pressure already - not the kind of person who should be chugging "charged" anything anyway. Those energy drinks are not good for your heart, but I do get why people use them. I just think they're not for everyone.
'Not for everyone' generally means some people just don't like that thing, not that it causes fatalities.
If you are at risk for certain activities or drugs, like caffeine, you are part of the not for everyone demographic...
IDK, I think it's fair to say peanuts aren't for everyone, and they can cause death if you're seriously allergic to them. Most people are fine having them, but many don't like them and some have negative reactions to them.
If you know your body would have issues with it, don't have it, but it's fine for the general public.
That's true enough. There were a mere 34 deaths from energy drink fatalities according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest this year so - it doesn't even compare to gun deaths or auto accidents. I guess that can be considered pretty safe.
Honestly that makes this Panera stuff seem worse if its caused two deaths out of a low number, unless their lemonade is a bigger share of the energy drinks market than I'd assume.
I don't know the stats, but I have been under the impression that energy drinks with extra caffeine are generally regarded as not being all that safe anyway - but I could be wrong. I know that my own doctor has told me to stay away from energy drinks, I assume because of my blood pressure problems and GI problems, but I'm not sure. Most everyone else seems to enjoy them and have no troubles of any kind.
Energy drink is a huge umbrella term that encompasses 16 Oz or larger cans of heavily sweetened liquid, drinks the containe strange stimulants that are way more aggressive than caffeine, workout drinks that have no caffeine, drinks with caffeine and a ton of tangential stuff in it and vitamins, to drinks that have less caffeine then a cup of coffee.
A Venti Starbucks has 5x more caffeine than an 8oz redbull and vastly more sugar, depending on your preferences. A like comparison has 20oz Starbucks at >400mg caffeine and avg of 300 calories (0-600 range, most people choose 400+ options). 20oz of redbull is 171 MG caffeine and 258 calories.
Energy drinks are just easy and more predictable than coffee.
Literally everyone has high blood pressure as of the most recent CDC update which calls anything above 120/70 hypertension.