For the past 5 years or so energy drinks have become one of the most popular drinks consumed by the 30-and-under crowd. With catchy names like "Monster", "Hyperdrive", and "Nightburner", it's obvious the kind of demographic these companies are targeting.

Energy drinks claim they use only a combination of caffeine and natural vitamins to give you that boost of energy. Unfortunately, there are certain ingredients in energy drinks that can do serious damage to your health. Once you understand energy drink dangers, you'll be less likely to want to use them to stay awake.

Why Energy Drinks are Bad for You

   Energy drinks may claim they contain as much caffeine as a cup of coffee and that's true ... if your cup is big enough to hold in two hands. The average cup of coffee contains about 80 milligrams of caffeine. Some energy drinks contain 300 milligrams of caffeine per serving.

That's like belting back almost 4 cups of coffee in under an hour!

In addition to an excessive amount of caffeine, energy drinks also contain dangerous additives and preservatives that can do serious damage to your health.

These ingredients include:

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