$afety $aves – by Tim McEntire

When I first started working in the woods there was a little convenience store west of Kalispell that at the time was the last sign of civilization before making the journey to the big Plum Creek holdings that many of us worked on.  This store was opened very early and was your last chance to grab a pair of gloves, can of Copenhagen, candy bar, etc.  It was and still is a very popular place early in the morning.  One of the more unique offerings from this store was a membership into a coffee club.  For five dollars you got a plastic cup and holder for your dash and you could bring it in and fill it with coffee for free for as long as you had the cup.    

The little plastic cups are long gone as this program disappeared many years ago.  The store still offers coffee but its not nearly as popular as it used to be.  What has replaced it is a wide selection of brightly colored cans of what is being marketed as “Energy Drinks”.  These cans come in all sizes and offer promises of instant energy and focus.  What they do not advertise is the inherit dangers of over consuming them.

Overconsumption of anything is not good but it is especially dangerous with energy drinks.  Energy drinks most often contain high amounts of caffeine and sugar and have large portion sizes.  These drinks are not designed to be sipped slowly like coffee therefore the body doesn’t have the time to absorb and process it.  Energy drinks do not provide electrolytes and have a higher likelihood of a “crash and burn” effect.  Caffeine excretes water from the body to dilute the sugar entering the bloodstream which can lead to dehydration.

Consumed quickly, the caffeine and sugar rush into your blood stream, giving you a caffeine jolt and raising your blood sugar levels and blood pressure.  This makes your heart take off like a runaway engine leading to heart palpitations and increased blood pressure which are known to cause anxiety.  This also can lead to irregular heartbeats, heart failure and other cardiovascular events.

A lot of these drinks boast of all the vitamins contained in them.  This might sound good but an overdose of vitamins, especially over the course of several months, can be very harmful.  Take vitamin B’s for example. The recommended daily dose of B3 is 14 mg, 1.2 for B6 and 2mcg for B12.  The amount of B3 in a 5 Hour Energy drink is 30 mg, 40mg of B6 and 500 mcg of B12.  Overdosing on Vitamin B when taken over a long period of time can result in headache, dizziness, fainting, yellowing of skin and temporary nerve/brain damage that can last 3 months to 3 years.

Some other negative side effects of over consumption also include nervousness, irritability, insomnia, tremors, shortness of breath, changes in your electrocardiogram (ECG), heart disease, acne, stomach pain and poor dental health.  If that doesn’t convince you to give them up consider this: The average energy drink is $4.00. A habit of 2 cans a day ends up costing you roughly $600/year just for the days you are logging.  Add in those long days of breakup and weekends, you are well over $1000/year.  If you are desperately looking for a place to throw $1000 away, I know a Safety Ranger that is need of a fancy new fly rod.

If any of this hit a little too close to home for you, try slowly cutting back on your consumption.  If I may borrow a rather popular phrase, let’s “Make Coffee Great Again” and maybe we can bring back the little plastic cups.   Remember…$afety $aves.