Is It Safe for My Teenager to Drink Prime Energy?
We are wrecking their mental health and their metabolism simultaneously.
The short answer is no. But Let me explain before you roll your eyes.
There was a recent viral post on social media about Prime drinks being used in little league baseball with some kids having pretty extreme symptoms. I found the comments and questions from parents and caretakers to be deserving of my attention and dedication to write a full post about this myself.
So here goes! Feel free to chime in the comments with any personal experience or opinions you may have. I’d love to hear more.
Prime was launched by YouTube icons KSI and Logan Paul in early 2022. These two digital celebrities have millions of followers online with a strong base from a young male audience. Their fandom popularity is wild in the online world but if you’re above the age of 28 and you don’t know these names at all, that’s okay.
Let me go ahead and get this out there…
No, it is not ethical to exploit young audiences into pushing your products for profit, especially when they have multiple health risks for those in the youngest age group. Prime Energy contains 140-200mg of caffeine depending on the size you are consuming– almost the same as two cups of coffee (80mg each), two cans of Red Bull (80mg each) and slightly less than a of Monster (160mg).
Prime hydration is more of a sports drink alternative to Gatorade, Powerade, and Body Armor, all of which are essentially sugar water or sweetened electrolyte drinks with vitamin and mineral additives. If you have kids above age 12 who play sports, it’s likely you’re already aware of these brands marketed to kids. It is incredibly important to note that both Prime and Gatorade have a sports hydration line or products as well as an energy drink caffeinated beverage line of products.
Doctors don’t like Prime. Here’s why.
You think enlightened dietetics professionals are more lenient? Think again.
As a dietitian myself, I’m simply here to help us learn what we are eating and drinking and how these items affect our health. I’m also here to help heal the sick and prevent disease. I don’t have a personal vendetta here, none besides what is to shine a light on what is good, whole, and healing for our kids, families, and communities.
Thankfully, some school systems have taken action to go ahead and put a ban on Prime energy to keep students safe.
So, families listen up.
Please, do not get the two confused when speedily rushing through the grocery store with your kids thirst in mind. More recent concerns about retail and restaurant confusion with caffeine and alcohol consumption by kids and parents who didn’t really know what they were purchasing or drinking until it was too late.
We see this risk with Panera’s Charged Lemonades too.
Here’s my story about this issue published May of last year.
We see this with creative consumer packaging around spiked spritzers and hard lemonades that many adults enjoy after work or on the weekends. But when kids see these cans and drinks labeled lemonade, they often don’t fully understand what else “charged” or “hard” lemonade may mean. And in a day and age in which many parents are not leading education and insight with youth about these dangers, it’s even more concerning for someone like me working in the field of health, wellness, and prevention.
Yes, I understand that people have been giving their kids caffeine for decades with the help of Coke, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, and Mountain Dew. Trust me, I also think those are awful decisions to provide to children. But I’m not about to suggest we should celebrate by our decisions to exchange one evil out for another. I would much rather push us in the direction of highest health possible with the greatest chance for consumer clarity on purchasing and consumption.
Kids don’t need energy drinks. Children don’t need caffeine.
We are wrecking their mental health and their metabolism simultaneously.
They already have too many things to worry about. They are already being influenced by pressures of school, career, relationships, and so much more at this age. We also know that this generation of youth are the most lonely, depressed, and anxious generation ever.
Don’t we clearly understand that we have to do better. We can’t keep paddling along fiddling with our fingertips as if there’s nothing we can do or no course of action we can take to steer clear of the cliff of destruction coming in our future.
Yes, I am speaking in hyperbolic metaphors for a reason. I would rather us imagine the pain before we have to feel the pain for ourselves. I would rather prevent disasters instead of having to respond to them later.
Ignorance may feel like bliss until we are faced with reality and forced to wake up to the consequences of our negligence. What we have allowed for our youth today is beyond deplorable.
Babies are born with hundreds of chemicals running through the umbilical cord. When they start latching and receiving what should be nature’s perfect nutrition, breastmilk, it also contains contaminants and chemicals that have been circulating throughout the body and bloodstream of the mother. Don’t you think they deserve a better chance at the beginning stages of life?
We stifle their cries with hours of screen time because we lack the emotional maturity and psychological stability to actually parent a lot of times. There are at least a few generations of parents today that never had true parents themselves, and many don’t have a solid support system to know what to do, how to provide, how to connect and raise a happy, healthy household with balanced respect, responsibilities, and emotional wellbeing.
Oh, did I forget to mention that the United States is leading the world in single-parent households? It’s true. Don’t you think it is easier for both parents and children to stick together instead of trying to face the challenges of modern day alone? Simply put, the dissolution of the family household has wrecked social norms and routines of healthy childhood development for far too long.
We must do better.
We must lead our families and friends to clean waters, not contaminated soils littered with sugar water sports drinks. We must help them recognize the human body thrives with good clean hydration with water and naturally occurring electrolytes. Try coconut water. Try fruits and vegetables. Try a pinch of Celtic Sea salt instead.
We live in a world of too much unnecessary suffering due to poor insight, awareness, education, and understanding. I hope this conversation elicits at least some level of open-eyed concern to prompt us to improve our norms and promote good health and healing for all.
Our kids deserve our leadership in this direction. I hope you run to the front.