Dr. Ravi Ashwath<\/a> told KSAT that more teens are coming in with a racing heart or palpitations, anxiety, chest pain and shortness of breath. <\/p>\n\u201cYes, we are seeing more palpitations in teenagers,\u201d Ashwath said. \u201cAnd when we really dig deep in and understand what can be leading to it, energy drinks are one of the culprits.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ashwath said high school students can be drawn to caffeine as they juggle sports pressures, homework and heavy marketing that promises quick energy. <\/p>\n
\u201cEnergy should not come from the can,\u201d Ashwath said, in part. \u201cIt should come from health.\u201d<\/p>\n
How much caffeine is too much?<\/p>\n
Experts discourage caffeine use in teens, but if they do consume it, Ashwath said it should be limited. A commonly cited cap is less than 100 milligrams per day for teens.<\/p>\n
For context:<\/p>\n
An 8-ounce cup of coffee:\u00a0about\u00a060 to 100 milligrams of caffeine<\/p>\n
Alani Nu (12 ounces):\u00a0up to\u00a0200 milligrams of caffeine<\/p>\n
Monster (16 ounces):\u00a0about\u00a0160 milligrams of caffeine<\/p>\n
Ashwath said parents should start talking early with their children about caffeine, what it does and the potential side effects. <\/p>\n
\u201cParents have to start the discussion early in life about the use of caffeine,\u201d Ashwath said. \u201cI don\u2019t think one would say that no caffeine is the rule. So we have to say what is the ideal amount of caffeine?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ashwath said the way teens consume caffeine can make a difference. Coffee and tea are often sipped over time. However, energy drinks are often consumed quickly, which can hit the body harder. <\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by KSAT – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2013 A CHRISTUS Health cardiologist is seeing the impact as teens looking for an edge in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250842,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[94698,584,6527,82,84,83],"class_list":{"0":"post-250841","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-caffeine","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-ksatkids","11":"tag-san-antonio","12":"tag-san-antonio-headlines","13":"tag-san-antonio-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250841"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250841\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}