A teenage boy in Norway was recently hospitalized suffering from severe kidney failure after consuming eight liters (over 33 cups) of energy drinks to keep himself awake during a sixteen hour video game marathon. He went into a coma as his kidneys failed and was kept alive with an IV and a respirator.

Though hospitalized for two weeks, the young man, Henrik Eide Dahl, 14 years old, felt he had learned his lesson and will be more careful with energy drinks in the future. He will recover, although he is still on high blood pressure medication (Lee Moran, “Boy Hospitalized With Kidney Failure After 16-Hour Caffeine, Video Game Binge,” New York Daily News at NYDailyNews.com, March 20, 2014).

When a little is okay, but a lot is is not

The key principle here is moderation. God expects us to take care of our bodies: “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who [which] is in you, whom [which] you have from God, and you are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:19, NKJV).

Our physical health is important and consuming caffeine in moderation, as in a daily cup of coffee or two, is fine. However, using caffeine drinks to supply energy, rather than a well-balanced diet, is not.

Take a pro-active approach: eat well, sleep well, and enjoy an energetic abundant life with a variety of activities, indoors and outside!