How many red bulls does it take to overdose

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I Accept Show Purposes. You can easily have a caffeine pill overdose if you take more than the stated dose. Side Effects of Caffeine.

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Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Related Articles. What to Know About Deep Sleep. What to Expect From Caffeine Withdrawal. Why Can't You Sleep? Packed with caffeine, sugar, and other fancy-sounding miracle ingredients like taurine and unicorn tears, energy drinks promise to help you stay awake, boost athletic performance, and give you wings maybe. Sure, these promises seem a little far-fetched, but anyone who's had one or two of these drinks in a row knows that too many of them can make you a jittery mess.

So at what point does your regular energy drink become dangerous? If caffeine is technically a drug, then is it possible to overdose on caffeine-laced energy drinks?

Energy drinks get their energy mostly from caffeine, about 50mg to mg per can. But most formulas contain other energy-producing ingredients , such as guarana another stimulant , ginseng herbal supplement supposed to help with energy and mental function , and B vitamins also for energy. These fizzy beverages also tend to be packed with lots of sugar to make them tolerable. Although 20g to 30g of sugar in a serving isn't necessarily deadly on the spot, too much of the sweet stuff can lead to a whole host of life-threatening issues, such as diabetes, metabolic disorders, and heart disease.

Sure, there are sugar-free varieties, but those are just laced with artificial sweeteners instead ; not exactly a marked improvement.

But in terms of an overdose and what can kill you the fastest, the most dangerous of all these magical ingredients is the caffeine. Caffeine affects everyone differently, which is why some coffee addicts are able to down three cold brews before work and be fine, and other weaklings are reduced to shaking in the fetal position after one shot of espresso. The more caffeine you ingest, the more you develop a tolerance and a mild dependence to it, so it becomes harder to elicit that jolt of energy with each dose.

Even for the most caffeine-dependent person, there are still side effects that set in after too much -- usually more than mg about three cups of coffee. Signs you've gone overboard are the usual suspects , like nervousness, jitteriness, and heart palpitations. But to reach the fatal levels of caffeine intoxication, someone would have to take in 10g, or 10,mg.

Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant, and some 90 percent of adults in the world consume it in tea, coffee, soda, and other beverages daily.

This legal drug can boost alertness , cognitive performance, and even improve short-term memory. Drinking coffee is also associated with a range of other health benefits , including lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes. In the United States, we average about two cups of coffee — which total to mg of caffeine — a day.

A serving of an energy drink can have anywhere between 50 mg and mg, and a can of soda typically contains less than 70 mg. Going above mg daily, the recommended dose for adults, can cause unpleasant side effects that are probably familiar to you: jitteriness, insomnia, irritability.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends kids 12 to 18 years old stay below mg of caffeine a day, or one cup of coffee. The reason? Some of us are genetically predisposed to be more sensitive to caffeine than others. Any underlying health problems particularly involving the heart , as well as medications or other drugs, can also stimulate a stronger reaction to caffeine. But, as Tara Haelle wrote over at Forbes , these reactions are really, really uncommon from beverages alone.

According to a review of the medical literature , there were only 45 caffeine-related deaths reported between and Energy drinks typically contain more caffeine than coffee — making them, at least in theory, easier to overdose on. A generously caffeinated energy drink might contain mg of caffeine — so a person would need to quickly drink 10 to reach deadly blood levels of the stimulant. Even so, medical complications from energy drinks are still rare.

They are arguably the most dangerous form of caffeine, and the most likely to lead to serious health problems.