Energy Drinks

[scoutingagain 20]

Since we are discussing adult consumption of alcoholic beverages, I'd was wondering about how folks felt about some of these so called Energy drinks that are available. (The name Red Bull somes to mind but there are others.) These so called energy boosters may contain some stuff that could be consider nutritious and are high in calories, but many contain large amounts of sugar and an extra dose of caffiene. There are no restrictions on their sale and it is not uncommon for some of our youth members to show up with a six pack or two of this stuff as their beverage of choice for an outing, or if we stop to refuel they make a beeline for a snackbar and buy the stuff. Should this be treated the same as Coke, Pepsi or Mountain Dew or other soft drinks or are they different? What beverages do you bring on campouts, or does everyone else just drink water and bug juice?

 

SA

 

 

[FScouter 24]

I want the PLC to make the decisions about what to eat and drink on campouts. Nutrition and cost are major factors. So-called energy drinks fail the cost test.

 

"Every man for himself" works against the concept of a patrol working together, and I discourage personal food and drink on campouts.

[hops_scout 9]

I wouldn allow any energy drinks. The only thing that I would allow even remotely similar would be Gatorade or Powerade or that kind of thing. Thats all I drink anymore. In fact, I've got one right here at the computer with me:)

 

 

[Bob58 10]

As I charter member of the "good to the last drop patrol" I hesitate to mention that among our youth "Dew" is already known as caffiene loaded". (And now I have to go check!)

 

Thanks, Uh, no Black is fine I usually take cream & Sugar but hey this is great.

 

Bob

 

 

[Eagle74 10]

Not an expert on this by any stretch, but will share some of what I know from education and training:

 

Based on 8 oz. serving:

Starbucks drip . . . 200 mg caffeine (grande = 500+ mg)

Coffee in general . . . 110 mg

Red Bull . . . 80 mg

Mountain Dew . . . 37 mg

Reg. Pepsi/Coke . . . 24 mg

 

"Energy drinks" and "sport drinks" should not be confused with each other. So called energy drinks get their "kick" primarily from caffeine and sugar. Some have ma huang, guarana (more potent than coffee) or taurine. The caffeine (and in combination with the sugar) is highly discouraged prior to and during physical activity, because while there may be a "high" from caffeine, it has negative effects such as contributing to dehydration. It also can result in a period of notable laxadaisical (spelling?) periods afterwards once the kick wears off, headaches, etc - caffeine withdrawal.

 

So called sports drinks such as Gatorade are formulated to replace electrolytes, rehydrate, and maintain a desire to drink.

 

A youngster or adult mainaining a healthy, well-balanced diet would do quite well by simply drinking water. Sport drinks are not really "needed" except under high levels of physical exertion, although they won't harm and if it tastes better, they might be more willing to maintain fluid replacement levels.

 

Back to the original question, my approach to this (and lots of snacks, and constant pop consumption) is that it is discouraged - doesn't fit well with physically strong and the lessons in rank requirements. I have on occassion asked a Scout's parents if he eats/drinks like this at home and if they approve of it when he is out with the troop. When I asked this of one parent because the Scout seemed to be drinking an excess of coffee, they were appalled - didn't do much for his opinion of me, but the parents thanked me profusely because they thought it might explain some behavioral and physiological issues. They had no idea he even drank coffee.

[LovetoCamp 9]

patrol coffee = take an packet of instant coffee from MRE, open, pour into mouth, fill mouth with water from canteen, swish around a bit, swallow. MMMMMM Good.

[FScouter 24]

Good, 'ol water. Just can't beat it. A good slug of water is all I need on that dusty trail. Sure beats that sticky syrup stuff. And I don't have to run my bottle up in the smellables bag every night.

[Eamonn 61]

I wondered what that stuff in them little cans was.

A few years back the council was holding a Council Event, we have one every four years. I went down to help set it up, along with OJ who was only a little fellow then and my best friend Mike. OJ calls him uncle Mike. Mike loves to tease me about how cheap I am. He really enjoys when he can tease me in front of OJ.

We worked really hard on Friday night. Every time I seen OJ he was drinking a can of Mountain Dew. Or Mike was giving him yet another dollar for the pop machine.

That night we all went into one of the buildings to sleep. There was the Council key 3, Mike OJ and myself. Soon the sound of snores filled the cabin. I tossed and turned but soon fell into a sound sleep.

I felt myself being shaken and I woke up -it was OJ. I don't like being woken in the middle of the night and was not my cheerful self "What DO you want?" I snapped at this poor kid."Dad I peed the bed" He said. Needless to say we didn't have a spare sleeping bag. So I gave him mine while I hiked across the campsite in search of a blanket.

The next day Mike thought that this was the funniest thing ever. I wanted to string him up. I asked OJ how many cans of pop did you drink?

"Only six!"

With Pals like Mike I never need any enemies.

Eamonn

[scoutingagain 20]

Thanks for the responses. Eagle74, I was wondering what your source was for the caffiene content in the various beverages you listed. I don't doubt the accuracy just curious.

 

Personally, I do not use these so called booster drinks, but I am one that enjoys a hot cup of coffee in the morning. My son's do not drink these drinks either, but they do consume more than their share of soft drinks, mostly the non-caffienated varieties. I have noticed that on our backpacking trips, the quantities of these drinks, and other soft drinks that are hauled into the wilderness is much less than when we car camp. I will be continuing to encourage the troop to do more backpacking and for scouts to consider their choices.

 

SA

 

 

[scoutldr 726]

My name is scoutldr and I'm a drug addict. R/ "Hello, scoutldr."

 

Went on a campout once and one of the other adults said, "I'll bring the coffee." So far so good. Sat morning, he pulls out this green can of decaf. . I excused myself and went to the nearest convenience store before my migraine headache set in. Once it starts, I'm done for the day. I tried quitting cold-turkey once and was incapacitated for 3 days.

 

So far, other than a slight heart arrhythmia, no ill health effects. Dr said, "it's benign and won't kill you, but if you quit caffeine, it will probably go away."

 

Now if you will excuse me, my cup needs refilling...

[NJCubScouter 1389]

A couple of months ago, on a whim, I decided to buy and try one of those Red Bulls. I was surprised at the price (I don't remember what it was, but I think it was more than $2 for that little can) and almost put it back without buying it, but I decided what the heck, you only go around once in life, it might be absolutely the best thing I ever had to drink, and it might be a good substitute for coffee.

 

It was just about the most vile-tasting thing I ever had to drink. After the first swallow I figured, nah, it couldn't really taste like that. But as I drank more of it, I had to conclude, yes, it really does taste like that. I think I got about two-thirds of the way down the can before figuring out that it wasn't going to get any better, and chucked the rest.

 

As for what the boys should and should not be "allowed" to drink, I guess it depends on how any given troop treats coffee and caffeinated and/or sugary soft drinks (colas, etc.) If boys are "allowed" to drink coffee or to bring Pepsi, I don't see any basis for prohibiting Red Bull. There should be discussions of what kind of beverages contain what substances and about the nutritional and other effects of each, but if you are going to "allow" the boys (and adults; I drink coffee on camping trips too) to take that information and make their own choices, that needs to be done in an evenhanded manner. And I don't think the relative quantities of caffeine make that much difference, at least not given the numbers posted. If something had 1 or 2 mg of caffeine, I could see permitting that while banning the drinks that have 24, 80 or 110 mg., but I can't see drawing the line between 24 and 80. I personally would not ban any of them.

[scoutldr 726]

The soda machines were a big profit center at summer camp, as was the ice cream and candy. Every choice was of the sugar/caffeine variety. Me and my diabetic ASM would have loved a diet coke once in awhile, but it was not to be had.

[JimmyD 10]

None of the kids drink rhe energy drinks or coffee. They mostly drink soda and we don't mind that.

[Laurie 10]

Summer camp and soda--oh boy, don't get me started on that! My son left for summer camp this year, having had only an occassional soda during the first 12 years of his life. By occassional, he could go a month or longer without having any soda of any kind. He loves water, milk, and juice, and we only keep 100% fruit juice around, figuring we'll get the healthy stuff in where we can. He comes home from summer camp hooked on Mountain Dew. He couldn't get enough of it, and boy did we have trouble getting him to limit it--we were at yet another camp with a vending machine, thus the difficulty limiting it. Oh well...

 

Now those energy drinks. My physical therapist and my sports med doc both told me that these are not necessary, that the very best thing to drink is water. They gave lenghty reasons about nutrition and so on, but I like the advice about teaching the boys to see what is in these drinks and to understand the nutritional value. It is possible they think they are doing something good for themselves (and no, my son did not think he was doing something good for himself with Mountain Dew--it was just simply good ), and it ties in nicely with Scouting and fitness. Just my 2 1/2 cents.

[River2K 10]

Most of the Scouts in our troop are too poor to afford the $2 per can price of Red Bull and such. Soda is nearly restricted on all our campouts. It is used as a reward occasionally though. We encourage water, gatorade, & powdered mixes. I don't have a problem with soda as long as it doesn't cause a problem.

 

Soda is not allowed on backpacking trips due to the weight and diuretic (sp?) properties of caffeine. More garbage to pack out too.

 

I on the other hand do prefer coffee in the mornings and a Monster Energy drink in the afternoon (They are 16 oz. Twice the size of Red Bull). My wife gets sick at the smell of it though.

 

Ken