To say energy drinks are popular at South would be an understatement. 

You can walk the hallways and see a decent chunk of kids holding these drinks while they shuffle to class. It’s not hard to understand why energy drinks are so popular among teenagers. High school students are notoriously tired, and energy drinks are a good-tasting solution to an ever present problem. 

Unfortunately, energy drinks aren’t exactly good for you, but they’re not deadly either (in most situations). 

According to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), about 73 percent of adolescents consume caffeine on a given day. Energy drinks usually have anywhere from 80mg to 200 mg of caffeine with the average consumption recommendation being under 400 mg per day. So, as long as you only have one energy drink per day, you should arguably be fine.

But what happens if we go further? 

In order to run this experiment, I consumed five energy drinks in 10 minutes, totaling about 650 milligrams of caffeine. I began my experiment at 9 a.m. and then continued my school day as usual. Throughout the day, I recorded the effects of the great amount of caffeine on my body. The graphic to the right explains my experience of my 650 mg caffeine consumption.