Man Gets Hepatitis After Weeks Of Drinking Nothing But Energy Drinks

We’ve pounded quite a few energy drinks back in our college days. Had to stay awake and cram for those finals somehow. We’ve never drank so many that we’d contract a life-threatening disease, however.

After this terrifying wake up call, we may never touch one again.

Gizmodo reports that a 50-year-old man was diagnosed with severe hepatitis after drinking nothing but energy drinks for three weeks straight. Reports say he needed them to get through his long hours as a construction worker.

The man soon became fatigued, experienced abdominal pain, had nausea, and vomited frequently. He thought he had the flu until he noticed his urine was dark and his skin turned yellow. Yep, jaundice.

The doctors diagnosed the man with hepatitis due to his excessive ingestion of vitamin B3, which is also known as niacin. A typical energy drink, let’s say Monster, contains about 200 percent of the daily recommended intake of niacin. That amount isn’t enough to poison you… unless you drink five to seven times that throughout the day for nonstop for weeks.

A new case published in the British Medical Journal states that consumers should be aware of all the ingredients found in popular foods and drinks so they don’t over-consume dietary supplements.

Maybe we’ll just stick to black coffee for a while.