Are energy drinks bad for you? And if so, how do we spot the signs that energy drinks are bad? First we need to figure out why energy drinks are bad and then find out how to spot the classic signs that you might be suffering from the harmful side effects of energy drinks. QUANTUM ENERGY DRINK

Let's start with a short anecdote. You may have heard the story about the young high school football player who died of a heart attack in the middle of a game. Such a horrible shame. The significance? Apparently he had consumed several cans of a popular brand of energy drink before the game...

So what can we learn from this? Well, if nothing else, it prompts us to investigate whether or not we really should be consuming this stuff in the mass quantities that we are. We need to understand the key ingredients and how to tell if any harmful side effects are manifesting in us.

Most of the famous energy drink brands are being slammed for their dependence on two main ingredients. The first, of course, is caffeine. The second, not surprisingly, is sugar. These sound pretty harmless. So what's the big deal? Well, with sugar, it's easy. Our generation is already suffering from skyrocketing rates of diabetes and the mountains of sugar dumped into our energy drinks isn't exactly going to help. But you already knew that.

What about the caffeine?

All around the world, people have been drinking coffee and tea for eons. Why the sudden fear? Here's the thing. The average American drinks the equivalent of around three cups of coffee a day. And generally speaking, he lives to see his next cup. So how about that football player? He must have had a bad heart to begin with right?

The problem is that there are significant differences between a cup of coffee and a can of energy drink. The first is that a lot of the popular energy drinks that are marketed towards teens and young people contain more than twice the amount of caffeine in a typical cup of coffee. The second is that while your average Joe sips his cup of joe over a newspaper, your average rock star chugs his can of Rockstar over two more cans of Rockstar.

So while Joe consumes around 300 milligrams of caffeine throughout the course of a day, our pretty rock star may down 500 milligrams of caffeine in less than an hour. This is the quickest way to hurl yourself towards a caffeine overdose. And here's where you start to answer the question yourself: Are energy drinks bad for you?

The 7 Signs of Caffeine Overdose

1. Headaches
2. Muscle Tension
3. Anxiety and Nervousness
4. Dizziness
5. Tiredness
6. Nausea
7. Jitters

Beware of the lesser common but possibly more severe symptoms as well, such as stomach pains, confusion, dehydration, ringing in the ears, increased heart rate, seizures and insomnia.

Are energy drinks bad for you?

Anything in high doses is bad for you. But the problem is, with energy drinks, the caffeine comes in high doses regardless of how much you drink. And while there are few reported deaths from energy drinks, there are an increasing number of people complaining of heart palpitations, high blood pressure, headaches and ulcers. That crash you've probably experienced after drinking the stuff answers your question for you.