United States | News & Politics
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.
This seems like something that could’ve been avoided with clearer labeling, IE “Contains 300 mg of caffeine avoid if you have a health condition” or similar.
We put up signs literally everywhere after the first incident (front door, coffee bar, drive-thru, drive-thru menu, and counter) in like 30 point font that says how much caffeine and that it isn't recommended for (very long scary list of all possible) sensitive groups... The first incident was avoidable, but this time is on them...
Why is it even on the menu?
It was pretty clear to me even before, it literally says "charged" lemonade. The word charged immediately implies it's not a normal lemonade and something is being added to it. There has to be a line for personal responsibility at some point.
I mean, marketing is bullshit, so I don't blame people for not caring about product names.
I've had "fire hot" and "thermonuclear" hot sauces that were barely hot.
I've had "unlimited" data plans that were limited.
I've had cereal that's "part of a balanced breakfast", but only if you eat half a dry cup in skim milk with no other sugar in your meal.
People are used to marketing lying to them about everything. Not saying they shouldn't pay attention, but not gonna blame them for assuming the name of a drink is just bullshit.
No one is supposed to assume the thing added to their food will kill them... Your logic is insanely laughable.
If you have a heart condition a lot of stuff that is completely benign to everyone else can be fatal to you, so who bears responsibility there?
I've seen this take a lot, but I would also like to bring up that a lot of people have heart conditions that they may not even be aware of. To be clear, I have no idea how you'd legislate this, but in a perfect world, I think it makes sense to limit certain ingredients based on a risk factor including the availability of the drink, the risk threshold of someone with an underlying condition consuming it, and the likelihood of someone with said health condition knowing that. And I'm not sure what the numbers look like in the end, but I do know this is a fuck ton of caffeine, sold in a drive thru, that can adversely affect people with one of the most common health conditions that is frequently invisible until a real incident. I don't even necessarily think Panera is acting in a negligent way, but this is a potentially disastrous combo.
They already share that information.
Caffeine is so addicting and so bad for the heart. Isn't it great? I have to have it throughout the day, because I'm so used to it that without it, I get pounding headaches. Usually I only drink about 1/2 cup of coffee a day, but I do drink diet coke throughout the day and eat chocolate all the time. I find if I try to go without it, the headaches are so intense as to be debilitating.
Maybe you should wean yourself off then. I would hate to feel like a slave to a substance. Perhaps start with cutting out the soda, that's probably what's causing the physical dependence.
I personally rarely have caffeine. I sleep pretty well, so I'm not that tired in the morning (I don't even use an alarm). I think people use caffeine to cover up bad habits, and that often feeds back on itself and leads to dependence.
You're right I'm sure. I should wean myself off. I started drinking coffee (very weak with milk) when I was about eight and I'm 65 now - so, maybe too late to quit?
And I don't really drink that much soda, I have a half glass of diet coke (and some water) after lunch and then water until dinner time, then another half glass of diet coke until I switch back to water again around 8:00pm.
If I were a drinker, like everyone else in my family, I'd probably forgo the soda and just have bourbon - I love that stuff, but my body can't process alcohol so I just always went the diet Coke route.
Overcharging kills more than batteries.
I guess they must be to die for