What's All the Fizz About?

It used to be that we were trying to keep the soda consumption in our home down. Way down. In fact we go for months at a time without buying any of the 2 liter bottles - but we don't make an issue about it if the kids want soda when we eat out. The girls are often choosing to drink lemonade and tea when we eat out. But recently there is a new enemy - the energy drink. I am personally really sensitive to caffeine - it doesn't make me hyper - but it causes rapid heartbeat, so I've never had more than a sip of the stuff.
We've even noticed that among our very health conscious friends, the same people who turn down sweets and junk food turn to these drinks and I am wondering if they realize the contradiction. My husband has forbidden our kids to drink them because of the effects they have had on him, and with good reason according to this article. All things in moderation - right? Maybe not.
I have wondered about the possible contradiction since we love to drink coffee. An 8 oz. cup of coffee has on average about 85 mg. of caffeine while the caffeine in 8 oz. of an energy drink varies from 50-145. Mountain Dew which was the taboo-rebel drink of my teen years compares with only 37 mg. of caffeine! But here's the kick - many of the energy drinks have 3-4 times that 8 oz. serving. (To be fair - the average coffee mug is at least double that as well!)
Some other ingredients in energy drinks:

• Taurine - which appears to play an important role in muscle contraction especially in the heart and the nervous system. A German double-blind study on this showed that the volume of blood ejected with each beat of the heart was increased in drinks containing this ingredient.
  
• Guarana - is a tropical berry that grows in the Amazon and is an additional stimulant like caffeine but not - and provides a unique flavor
• L Carnitine - is an amino acid usually created by your liver and kidneys that increases your metabolism and energy levels. It is also known to stimulate heart rate.
  

There are other things that energy drinks contain that seem to support health, such as Ginseng, Gingko Biloba, Vitamin B and antioxidants (I'll stick with my blueberries thanks!), but it seems hard to justify the bad with the good. I read about a dozen articles and it seems that the jury is still out on the immediate or long-term effects on mixing all of these things together. Another interesting practice is mixing the energy drinks with alcohol to inhibit the depressant effects, enabling users to consume more alcohol without feeling it. We can all see the dangers of this.
My son is 10 and one of the most exciting things in his life is the thought of an energy drink. He drinks them at his friends' houses, parties, etc. - but dad said no more. My husband doesn't put his foot down about much, but this would be like giving a razor knife to a baby in his book.
Bye bye Red Bull. So long So Be. Vamoose Vault. Move-along Monster.

What are your thoughts?