From Guayakí Yerba Mates to Celsius, students of all grades enjoy energy drinks every day. Urban sells Yerba Mates on campus while other beverages, such as Celsius and Rockstar, can easily be purchased on Haight Street. However, despite their prevalence in everyday life, energy drinks can potentially harm teenagers’ overall health.
Energy drinks’ availability makes them particularly appealing to some students. “I started drinking [energy drinks] because I thought it would help me have energy when I’m really [tired],” Katie Shannon ’27 said. “With Celsius, I can just go to the store and buy it. … It also has a lot more caffeine than coffee.”
According to Columbia University Irving Medical Center, caffeine can have a myriad of negative short-term effects on children, which include anxiety, heart palpitations, high blood pressure, increased heart rate, insomnia, jitters and restlessness. These effects can impact students when in the classroom.
“I ask students in class if they’ve [ever] had too much caffeine … and almost everybody raises their hand,” Health Teacher Jennifer Epstein said. “They’ll say, ‘It gives me a stomach ache and makes me shaky [and] super irritable, … like I want to jump out of my skin.’”
Some people overlook nutritional information, leading them to miss or ignore specific ingredients entirely. “I [can not] say that I know all the ingredients. … Whenever I have an energy drink, my friends will take it and read [them] aloud to me. … I drink a lot of them and they question how I’m still alive,” Robert Milne ’26 said.
The back of most drinks lists nutritional information detailing ingredients and their quantities for consumers. “If you look at Rockstar, there’s one serving per can and that one [alone has] 126% of your recommended daily allowance of sugar,” Science Teacher Geoff Ruth said. “Excessive amounts of sugar can be correlated with diabetes, heart disease and is overall hard for the body to process.”
Some of the common ingredients in energy drinks can instill negative patterns. “[Caffeine] can mask what [students] really need, which is getting enough sleep. People get into this bad habit of staying up too late and then using caffeine to wake up and then they’ll have a hard time sleeping. It’s a cycle,” Epstein said.
Many students consume one or more energy drinks a day, increasing their risk of developing any of the conditions associated with caffeine overconsumption. Milne said, “Including Yerba Mates, I probably drink five or six [energy drinks a day].”
According to the National Library of Medicine (NLH), “Long-term energy drink consumption raises serious health concerns, such as cardiovascular problems, nervous system disorders and the potential for addiction.”
Energy drinks are very common among the student body. Saira Mathil ’28 said, “Everybody drinks [Yerba Mates]. … When my friends have them, I’ll take a sip and think it’s really good, [and] I’ll get one.”
Some have considered how popularity contributes to students’ consumption of energy drinks. “At Urban, Yerba Mates are part of the culture. It’s almost weird if you don’t drink one,” Ari Torres ’26 said.
However, the unintended social promotion of energy drinks can be dangerous.“If you can’t go without it, then it becomes an actual issue,” Torres said.
Epstein said, “I could come home from work feeling exhausted. I could drink a caffeine drink or go for a walk. The walk [would] probably make me feel more awake.”
