I guess the question is why? We all did things when we were younger and thankfully survived, yet it seems the ante keeps being upped, which can result in serious harm and death in some circumstances.

Caffeinated-Alcohol drinks are now being marketed to the young, who have not yet matured and lack the wisdom and discernment to evaluate the potentially harmful effects.  They’re brightly packaged, fruit flavored and resemble a sports drink.  But the similarity stops there.

Forensic toxicologists at the University of Florida, Bruce Goldberger, says “some products like Loko are 12 % alcohol and have a range of 200mg of caffeine.”  “That’s the equivalent of 5-6 beers and 5 colas.”  So a 110 lb woman will have 2 times the blood alcohol level for national intoxication standards.  What we have is a wide awake drunk!

Our bodies were created to survive.  One of our natural defenses to drunkenness is to fall asleep, then our bodies can begin to detoxify the alcohol.  With the caffeine our adrenal glands kick into overdrive, literally pounding our hearts and blood vessels into fight/flight response.  This is a very dangerous combo – It’s not nice to mess with mother nature.  Studies also reveal drinkers of these products engage in “risky behaviors, like drunk driving and sexual assaults.”

Every choice has consequences some though not intended, can be catastrophic.  These are some of the side-effects when we look to the outside for our source of happiness and joy, instead of internally and vertically!!!

In Health & Service,

Dr. Roland Phillips Jr., BA, BS, DC