For many college students, fighting early morning sleepiness and heavy eyelids can be dealt with in a few different ways. Some reach for the coffee pot, some need a refreshing shower, and others simply swat at the snooze button. Everyone has his or her own little trick to get moving in the morning. The incessant juggle of schoolwork, jobs and personal relationships puts students through constant mental and physical strain; and because of this, it’s no surprise that energy drinks are becoming the new way to stay alert.
These drinks promising spunk in a can became popular in the late 1990s, and by 2001 the market had expanded in the U.S. to nearly eight million dollars in retail sales each year. Over the last five years, the business has grown an average of fifty percent per year, totaling over three billion dollars in sales by 2005.
But what makes these small cans that pack a punch so popular to this generation, and why do they appeal so strongly to college students?

“[Energy drinks] are convenient, small, and you don’t have to wait in line for them to be made like you have to do with coffee,” says Kinetta McGill, a kinesiology major at City College of San Francisco. She drinks a Red Bull either in the morning or afternoon to help her give that extra boost, “I feel like they pack the same kick as coffee does but much quicker.”

Most energy drinks consist mainly of B vitamins and herbs, and some contain as much as 160 milligrams of caffeine, an amount lower than most coffee drinks. A twelve ounce cup of brewed coffee generally has around two hundred milligrams. However, the stimulating properties from energy drinks can boost the heart rate and blood pressure for a period of time, then dehydrate the body and cause sleeplessness afterward. Their high concentration of sugar, sometimes as much as seventy grams per can, can also leave consumers feeling a physical crash after the initial swell of energy.

“Energy drinks are accommodating for students who are on the go and have very little time in the morning to have an actual breakfast,” says Professor Stephen Hearne, a psychology professor at Skyline College in San Bruno. “However, it shows how little sleep students are getting at night, and[they’re] only hurting themselves even more by putting [energy drinks] in their bodies.”

The popularity of energy drinks mixed with alcohol is also on the rise. At bars, Red Bull and Rockstar drinks are commonly accompanied with whiskey, vodka, and Jagermeister. “People only started mixing [energy drinks] with alcohol a couple of years ago,” says Miles, a bartender at Kezar Pub on Stanyan Street. “[Energy drinks] are really popular with the young kids, and they found a way to combine them with their nightlife.”

These concoctions are popular because they provide consumers with the energy to stay up and continue drinking. But this generation’s experimentation with combining energy drinks and alcohol has its own set of adverse health effects.

Energy drinks are stimulants and alcohol is a depressant. By combining the two, the nervous system becomes confused, potentially leading to cardiac problems. Also, the stimulating affects of energy drinks can mask intoxication. They can make young adults feel more alert and less inebriated when in fact it’s the opposite. Both alcohol and energy drinks have dehydrating properties, too. By combining the two, the body gets a double dose of dehydration. Red Bull’s website claims that there are no negative effects when consuming the drink by itself but admits that when combined with alcohol, the mixture can cause palpitation and rhythm problems with the heart.

A recent study showed that the human body could sustain four hundred milligrams of caffeine in one day without any harmful health effects, but over-consumption has its price. Within the last several years, Denmark, Norway, and France have all banned Red Bull from grocery stores. France made the decision after a teenager died from drinking four cans of Red Bull before playing a basketball game.

Simply put, the main alternative to energy drink consumption comes down to one answer: plenty of sleep. And it’s not that easy for many college students to always get a good night’s rest. Regardless of their purpose, to keep us up at night or to wake us up in the morning, these bullet-shaped aluminum cans filled with energy are becoming synonymous with our generation just like iPods and MySpace. It’s only a matter of time until we’re revered as the generation that never sleeps.