Submit an Energy Drinks: Health Implications Related to Caffeine Toxicity Final Outline Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the possible health effects that can be tied to the consumption of energy drinks. Central Idea/Thesis Statement: Energy drink consumption has raised several health concerns including caffeine toxicity, which can be tied to common reactions of jitteriness or insomnia, but also to more serious conditions like cardiac instability. INTRODUCTION I. We all know that having good academic standing, keeping up with your social spheres, and balancing that all out with work or other activities requires A LOT of energy. II. Sometimes coffee no longer does the trick to keep you wide-awake and energized. We, as college students, then look for alternative solutions; we need all the energy we can get, and so some turn to energy drinks as the ultimate solution for a fast and easy energy boost. III. When I say energy drinks, I am referring to any drink that is marketed to improve energy and alertness, usually containing high amounts of caffeine, taurine, sugars, and/or other herbal supplements (Seifert et al., 2011). Some examples that you may recognize are Red Bull, Monster, and Rockstar. Personally, I don’t drink energy drinks, but many of my friends and classmates do. In fact, 50% of this class reported consuming energy drinks—some more frequently than others, but drinking them nonetheless. Similarly, a 2007 survey of 496 college students, reported in Excellent Outline 1 Pediatrics, the official journal for the American Academy of Pediatrics, consumption among these students was reported to be 51%. On a more general level, a study presented by the College of Medical Toxicology showed that “34% of 18- to 24-year-olds surveyed reported regularly consuming energy drinks” (Sullivan, 2011). IV. Increasingly, research is showing that consumption of energy drinks like Red Bull, Monster, and Rockstar, just to name a few, can be tied to several negative health effects (Spierer et al., 2013). But as statistics show, not everyone drinks them—so why should you care? Well, like me, I’m sure you know at least one person who consumes energy drinks and you may find some of the health effects worth sharing with them. V. Though there are many health concerns that energy drinks are raising, I will first discuss the main concern of energy drink related caffeine toxicity, then follow by discussing the more common side effects related to this, and finish up by explaining more serious concerns. TRANSITION: Let’s begin by addressing one of the leading health issues related to energy drinks: caffeine toxicity. BODY I. Like I mentioned earlier, energy drinks are marketed for their ability to increase alertness and supply energy to the consumer. This energy is highly due to the large amounts of caffeine present in the drink—however, too much caffeine intake can result in caffeine toxicity (Schaffer et al., 2014). A. So what exactly is caf ...

1. Submit an Energy Drinks: Health Implications Related to
Caffeine Toxicity
Final Outline
Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the possible
health effects that can be tied
to the consumption of energy drinks.
Central Idea/Thesis Statement: Energy drink consumption has
raised several health concerns including caffeine toxicity, which
can be tied to common reactions of jitteriness or insomnia, but
also to more serious conditions like cardiac instability.
INTRODUCTION
I. We all know that having good academic standing, keeping up
with your social spheres, and balancing that all out with work or
other activities requires A LOT of energy.
II. Sometimes coffee no longer does the trick to keep you wide-
awake and energized. We, as college students, then look for
alternative solutions; we need all the energy we can get, and so
some turn to energy drinks as the ultimate solution for a fast
and easy energy boost.
III. When I say energy drinks, I am referring to any drink that is
marketed to improve energy and alertness, usually containing
high amounts of caffeine, taurine, sugars, and/or other herbal
supplements (Seifert et al., 2011). Some examples that you may
recognize are Red Bull, Monster, and Rockstar. Personally, I
don’t drink energy drinks, but many of my friends and
classmates do. In fact, 50% of this class reported consuming
energy drinks—some more frequently than others, but drinking
them nonetheless. Similarly, a 2007 survey of 496 college
students, reported in
Excellent Outline 1
Pediatrics, the official journal for the American Academy of
Pediatrics, consumption among these students was reported to
be 51%. On a more general level, a study presented by the
College of Medical Toxicology showed that “34% of 18- to 24-

2. year-olds surveyed reported regularly consuming energy drinks”
(Sullivan, 2011).
IV. Increasingly, research is showing that consumption of
energy drinks like Red Bull, Monster, and Rockstar, just to
name a few, can be tied to several negative health effects
(Spierer et al., 2013). But as statistics show, not everyone
drinks them—so why should you care? Well, like me, I’m sure
you know at least one person who consumes energy drinks and
you may find some of the health effects worth sharing with
them.
V. Though there are many health concerns that energy drinks
are raising, I will first discuss the main concern of energy drink
related caffeine toxicity, then follow by discussing the more
common side effects related to this, and finish up by explaining
more serious concerns.
TRANSITION: Let’s begin by addressing one of the leading
health issues related to energy drinks: caffeine toxicity.
BODY
I. Like I mentioned earlier, energy drinks are marketed for their
ability to increase alertness and supply energy to the consumer.
This energy is highly due to the large amounts of caffeine
present in the drink—however, too much caffeine intake can
result in caffeine toxicity (Schaffer et al., 2014).
A. So what exactly is caffeine toxicity?
Excellent Outline 2
B.
i. Put simply, caffeine toxicity is a caffeine overdose, and it can
be deadly (Maulinauskas et al., 2007).
1. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration considers a daily
intake of 400mg or less of caffeine to be safe, “acute clinical
toxicity begins at 1g, and 5 to 10g can be lethal” (Seifert et al.
2007).
While the FDA has measures to regulate the amounts of caffeine
in food products, such as soft drinks (71mg per 12 oz.—
(Thorlton et al. 2014)), there isn’t any such regulation when it
comes to the amounts of caffeine in energy drinks (Seifert et al.,

3. 2007).
i. Why? Well, energy drinks are classified by the manufacturers
as dietary supplements because many contain “natural”
ingredients—like milk thistle, not making it required for them
to list the caffeine content of the product (Sepkowitz, 2013).
1. As a result, it is difficult for individuals to accurately
determine whether they are consuming the recommended safe
amount of caffeine—not just because the labels may
inconsistently vary the amounts of caffeine specified (or not
include it at all), but especially because caffeine can also be
found in a variety of other foods (Thorlton et al., 2014).
TRANSITION: Furthermore, caffeine toxicity, which as we just
learned can result from energy drink consumption, can then
have a variety of reactions and side effects depending on the
severity of the toxicity (Thorlton et al. 2014). Let’s explore
some of the more common, less serious ones first.
Excellent Outline 3
II. With lower levels of toxicity, known as “acute caffeine
toxicity”, there are several common side effects that have been
reported (Spierer et al. 2013).
A. While the effects vary from person to person, Brenda M.
Malinauskas from the
Department of Nutrition and Dietetics at East Carolina
University attributes some of these more common effects
specifically to the caffeine present in the energy drinks (2007).
i. These effects can be simple feelings of jitteriness, twitching,
and headaches (FDA.gov, 2007).
B. In some instances, there have also been reports of increased
levels of anxiety or nervousness due to overstimulation
(Malinauskas et al. 2007).
i. Oftentimes, these increased levels leave people with “too
much energy”—while they may have first been searching for
alertness and energy, as was reported by 65% of students in
Malinauskas’s 2007 survey of 496 randomly selected college
students, when they actually needed sleep, they found
themselves unable to—they were experiencing insomnia.

4. TRANSITION: If these considerably minor effects sound
concerning enough, there are other issues lurking behind energy
drinks that are more serious.
III. Reaching higher levels of caffeine toxicity, one of the most
alarming conditions that can then arise is that of cardiac
instability (Seifert et al., 2011).
A. Caffeine not only makes you “feel more awake and alert”, it
has also been found
that because caffeine is a “Central Nervous System stimulant”
(Sullivan 2011)
Excellent Outline 4
its properties can raise blood pressure as well as increase and
destabilize your heart rate (FDA.gov, 2007).
i. These disturbances can lead to hypertension, which is often
linked to serious heart problems, including cardiovascular
instability/cardiac arrhythmias (i.e. heart palpitations or
tremors) (Schaffer, 2014).
B. Heart conditions like those I just mentioned could have fatal
consequences— that is, they can result in possible death from
cardiac arrest (Spierer, 2013).
i. In fact, in 2012, CBS News published a report related to the
death of a 14-year-old girl, who “died of cardiac arrhythmia due
to caffeine toxicity.” It was reported that this occurred after
drinking two, 24-oz Monster drinks in less than 24 hours.
ii. According to the nutrition label of a Monster drink, each
drink contains 2 servings and an “energy blend” of 2500mg—
exact amounts are not listed, however.
TRANSITION: So, as you can see there are quite a number of
health issues that can result from the consumption of energy
drinks.
CONCLUSION
I. While the effects can start off considerably small they can
grow to become deadly.
II. Like I discussed, energy drink consumption can cause
caffeine toxicity, which is
then one of the primary causes of common reactions like

5. jitteriness or headaches, as
well as more severe conditions, like cardiac instability, among
its consumers.
III. It is often easy to overlook things like this because they
aren’t really publicized; it is even easier to overlook them
because we are all college students, juggling the
Excellent Outline 5
responsibilities of school, work, and sometimes, just life itself.
It seems easy enough to turn to energy drinks to pull that all-
nighter or to make it through the rest of your 3 hour class. In
the end, however, whether you drink energy drinks yourself, or
simply just know someone who does, I hope that you are now
more aware of the health issues that can arise from consumption
of energy drinks.
Excellent Outline 6
REFERENCES
CBS News. (2012). FDA Investigates five deaths, one heart
attack linked to Monster Energy Drinks. CBS News. Retrieved
from http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fda- investigates-five-
deaths-one-heart-attack-linked-to-monster-energy-drinks/.
Malinauskas, B. M., Aeby, V. G., Overton, R. F., Carpenter-
Aeby, T., & Barber-Heidal, K. (2007). A survey of energy drink
consumption patterns among collegestudents. Nutrition Journal,
6, 35-41. doi:10.1186/1475-2891-6-35
Schaffer, S., Shimada, K., Jong, C., Ito, T., Azuma, J., &
Takahashi, K. (2014). Effect of taurine and potential
interactions with caffeine on cardiovascular function. Amino
Acids, 46(5), 1147-1157. doi:10.1007/s00726-014-1708-0
Seifert, S. M., Schaechter, J. L., Hershorin, E. R., & Lipschultz,
S. E. (2011). Health effects of energy drinks on children,
adolescents, and young adults. Pediatrics, 127(3), 511-528.
doi:10.1542/Deds.2009-3592
Sepkowitz, K. A. (2013). Energy drinks and caffeine-related
adverse effects. JAMA: Journal of the American Medical
Association, 309(3), 243-244. doi:10.1001/jama.2012.173526
Spierer, D., Blanding, N., & Santella, A. (2014). Energy drink

6. consumption and associated health behaviors among university
students in an urban setting. Journal of Community Health,
39(1), 132-138. doi:10.1007/s10900-013-9749-y
Sullivan, R. (2011). Energy Drinks. American College of
Medical Toxicology. Retrieved from
http://www.acmt.net/Energy_Drinks_.html.
Thorlton, J., Colby, D., A., & Devine, P. (2014). Proposed
actions for the US food and drug administration to implement to
minimize adverse effects associated with energy
Excellent Outline 7
drink consumption. American Journal of Public Health, 104(7),
1175-1180.
doi:10.2105/AJPH.2014.301967
US FDA (2007). Medicines in my home: Caffeine and Your
Body. Popular Topics: Energy Drinks. Retrieved from
http://www.fda.gov/downloads/UCM200805.pdf
outline packet in class on Wednesday, March 7th thnc