Energy drinks at adolescence: Awareness or unawareness?

Energy drinks (EDs) are beverages similar to soft drinks, characterized by high
caffeine concentrations with additional ingredients like taurine and vitamins,
marketed for boosting energy, reducing tiredness, increasing concentration, and
for their ergogenic effect. The majority of consumers are children, adolescents,
and young athletes. Although EDs companies claim about the ergogenic and
remineralizing properties of their products, there is a serious lack of evidence
at preclinical as well as clinical level to validate their benefits. The regular
intake and long-term consequences of these caffeinated drinks are not well
documented, especially the possible negative effects in adolescents whose brain
is still developing. EDs combined with alcohol are also gaining popularity among
adolescents and different publications indicate that this combined consumption
might increase the risk to develop an alcohol use disorder, as well as produce
serious adverse cardiovascular effects. There is an increasing need to disseminate
knowledge on EDs damage on health, so that adolescents can be aware about
the potential harmful outcomes of consuming these drinks