Are fitness and energy drinks good for you?

Question

My boyfriends 12 year old son has moved in with us. When he lived in Idaho with his mother she gave him fitness and engery drinks. Now he wants to drink them here, he says they wake him up in the morning. He is not active in sports and the only exrcise he gets is riding his bike around the neighborhood. So should I let him have them or are they bad for your body if you really don't need to replace vitiams and minerals from exercising?

Answer 1

The "energy" drinks generally have a large hit of caffeine which is not good for a 12 year old. The "fitness" drinks are mostly sugar with a few vitamins tossed in. Both are largely a waste of money. The vitamins, minerals etc are obtained from food and supplements are seldom needed unless you have a malabsorption disease likel celiac.

Treat the drinks like pop (actually a diet Coke would be way cheaper with less caffeine and sugar), limiting consumption to once a week or less as a special treat.

At 12 he should be having a good balanced breakfast with milk, toast or cereal, some protein and fruit. He needs 3-4 servings of milk a day, not sugary, caffeine laced water.

Answer 2

The sugar and caffeine may make him more alert when he wakes up.

If he's eating a reasonably balanced diet, the vitamins are irrelevant. They're a marketing gimmick, no more, no less.

The occasional energy drink probably isn't going to hurt him any.