Mormons are known for the revelation given to Joseph Smith commonly called the “Word of Wisdom”, which is the law of health. Part of the Word of Wisdom includes things that individuals should not consume such as alcohol, and “hot drinks”, which the LDS prophets have interpretted to mean caffeinated tea and coffee.
I read a study on line from UC Davis that stated the caffeine content of some energy drinks can be as high as 294 mg/bottle, which is 50 mg more than the highest amount of your typical tea, coffee, or cola drink. In addition, when you add the amounts of sugar to the drinks, they become something that definitely are more damaging to the body than any tea or coffee. See the chart below for caffeine and sugar content in popular energy drinks:
| Drink | Serving (fl. Oz.) | Servings per container | Sugar per serving | Caffeine per serving | Kcal |
| Diet Rockstar Energy Drink™ | 8 | 2 | 0g | 80 | 10 |
| Full Throttle™ | 8 | 2 | 29g | 72 | 111 |
| Go Girl Sugar Free™ | 12 | 1 | 0g | 150 | 3 |
| Lo-Carb Monster XXL™ | 8 | 3 | 3g | 80 | 10 |
| Monster Energy Assault™ | 8 | 2 | 27g | 80 | 100 |
| Monster Energy XXL™ | 8 | 3 | 27g | 80 | 100 |
| Red Bull Sugar Free™ | 8.3 | 1 | 0g | 80 | 10 |
| Red Bull™ | 8.3 | 1 | 27g | 80 | 110 |
| Rockstar Energy Drink™ | 8 | 2 | 30g | 80 | 130 |
| Rockstar Juiced™ | 8 | 2 | 21g | 80 | 90 |
| Wired 294 Caffeine™ | 8 | 2 | 26g | 147 | 100 |
| Note: This table does not include amounts of other stimulants found in energy drinks that can enhance the effects of | |||||
| caffeine. | |||||
With all that caffeine in all of the drinks, along with the stimulants found in many of them that enhance the effects of caffeine, coupled with sugar, an energy drink is far worse than a cup of Joe in my opinion.
In general, I think it is good to treat our bodies with respect and not put harmful substances in them. I find it interesting though that coffee and tea are laid out specifically as things to avoid, whereas things like energy drinks are left to our own discretion. I think we should avoid all of them, personally.
A point of discussion, however, is in regards to temple worthiness and the Word of Wisdom. Mormons who follow the Word of Wisdom (i.e. don’t drink coffee, tea, alcohol, use drugs, etc.) can go into the LDS temples. Those who do not follow the counsel to not drink coffee, tea, etc. can not attend the temple. In theory, people could be putting down energy drinks that are much worse than coffee, yet be allowed to attend the LDS temples.
Do you think they should add Energy Drinks to the list for the Word of Wisdom? Why or why not?
Also, if energy drinks are worse than coffee, if one drinks coffee and not energy drinks, do you think they are justified in saying they follow the Word of Wisdom?
Grace for Grace 
14 comments
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July 6, 2011 at 9:03 pm
Macha
A little bit of caffeine is not bad for you. Black coffee every day has been demonstrated to be beneficial for one’s health (though I don’t know if that’s directly related to the caffeine in it or just the antioxidants found in coffee and tea). Add sugar and cream and/or flavored syrups, artifical coloring, and it becomes very bad for you. The same goes with tea. It’s a matter of degrees either way.
I think people would be better benefited if the counsel wasn’t “don’t drink coffee or tea” but “don’t drink things that are bad for you on a regular basis.” The more specific the “rules” are, the more likely people are to approach it with the mindset of “how far can I go without technically breaking the rules?” rather than, “what’s the right thing to do here?”
On a side note, I think you should have to be 18 to buy energy drinks, the same as tobacco. That much caffeine is seriously hazardous to young bodies. I don’t think adults should really be consuming it either, but at least they’re not as likely to actually die from drinking it if they’re responsible.
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July 7, 2011 at 7:58 am
Eric
And, in theory, people could overeat to the point of obesity and go to the temple too.
Seriously, we don’t need more rules to follow. We need to do a better job of following the principles behind the rules we already have.
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July 7, 2011 at 8:44 am
Bro. Jones
I can’t speak for everyone, but while I don’t drink energy drinks “recreationally,” I most certainly drink them to stay awake on long drives. I live in the country, and visiting family can mean a four-hour or longer drive. If it’s late and it’s dark, you’d better believe I’ve got no problem with sipping a Red Bull to get us home.
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July 7, 2011 at 10:39 pm
ama49
Bro. Jones,
That’s fine that you drink energy drinks to stay awake. Would you have a problem drinking coffee to stay awake?
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July 7, 2011 at 10:44 pm
Macha
To me that’s like saying “I don’t take vicodin recreationally, but I do take it when I have terrible pain.” My reaction to that is, “well of course, that’s what it’s supposed to be for!” I don’t know how anybody could fault you for that, except I’d personally recommend using NoDoz rather than deal with a sugar crash from an energy drink. But that’s just me.
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July 7, 2011 at 9:12 am
Marie
I personally think energy drinks are in violation of WoW. From what I understand they can be quite harmful, especially for children and teens. Any drink that can potentially cause heart palpitations, seizures and sudden death in someone is obviously in violation of the principles that WoW is meant to teach.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41577256/ns/health-kids_and_parenting/t/energy-drinks-can-be-dangerous-teens-report-says/
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July 7, 2011 at 10:41 pm
ama49
Hi Marie,
I agree with you. Also, thanks for the link
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July 7, 2011 at 8:38 pm
ezra
How do you know that the words of wisdom referred to caffeine and not just the unnaturalness of a liquid being hot? Should we be concerned about hot chocolate? BTW, that can have up to 13 gs of caffeine.
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July 12, 2011 at 1:50 pm
ama49
Hi Ezra,
Interesting insight. I think Mormons love them some hot chocolate! I’d be interested to see what others say about including hot chocolate. After all, the Word of Wisdom does specifically say “hot drinks are not for the belly” and doesn’t specifically say just coffee.
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July 8, 2011 at 8:11 am
Querida
I don’t like energy drinks. I think they are generally unhealthy and can be harmful, and I don’t drink them or serve them, but I don’t think that they need to be added to the Word of Wisdom.
Since the wording in the self-description of the Word of Wisdom is “adapted to the capacity of the weak and the weakest of the saints”, one can assume that the bar set in the 89th section of the Doctrine and Covenants is set a bit low. Therefore, if, as you go through life and learn more about your body and feel inspired to live a law of health where the bar is set higher than that defined in section 89 (and its definition explained by modern prophets to include drug abuse) either in terms of beverage or food consumption, go for it. Many of us do hold ourselves to more specific standards of eating and drinking and enjoy the benefits and blessings that come from that. However, deciding that the bar should be higher for everyone would be changing the description of the word to “adapted to the capacity of the little bit stronger saints”, That may not be a good idea. I think it was set at a minimum for very good reasons.
The Word of Wisdom as it is outlined is a minimum standard with promised blessings and is intended as such. If a person’s understanding of that law is simply that minimum and she is living that minimum, she may say that she is living the Word of Wisdom and she would be telling the truth.
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July 8, 2011 at 1:53 pm
Keri Brooks
I think a lot of the arguments about whether energy drinks (or other things people may throw out there) violate the Word of Wisdom stem from a misinterpretation of its purpose. Many people, including the OP, refer to it as a law of health. If that’s the case, then, for example, energy drinks should be out and red wine and green tea should be ok. (I’m not saying that red wine and green tea are ok under the WoW, but that is the logical extrapolation of calling it a health law.)
The actual purpose of the WoW is revealed in D&C 89:4 “Behold, verily, thus saith the Lord unto you: In consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you, and forewarn you, by giving unto you this word of wisdom by revelation”
So, it’s not a health law per se – it’s a law to protect against the evils of conspiring people. Tobacco, which is specifically prohibited in the text, is a good example. The cigarette companies used to deny that their products caused cancer. Even today, their advertisements are slick, featuring beautiful people in an effort to get people to try and become addicted to their products. The tea trade back in the day and the coffee trade today exploit poor farmers. Alcohol causes a long list of social ills. The illegal drug trade could reasonably be compared to a modern-day secret combination.
I agree that energy drinks are pretty unhealthy, and that it would be wise to avoid them (just like it would be wise to avoid excessive use of junk food, for example), but I’m not convinced that they’re included in the Word of Wisdom.
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July 12, 2011 at 1:47 pm
ama49
Hi Keri,
Thanks for stopping by.
So from your point of view, if the product is designed by conspiring men who are trying to addict the consumer or do other harmful things then it fits into the Word of Wisdom?
I’ll bet we could make a long list of stuff we could put into that category! Things such as excessive sugar in kids’ cereal and juice, caffeine in soda and sugar, etc. etc.
What are your thoughts?
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July 10, 2011 at 2:36 pm
Casey
I’d set side any WoW questions and avoid ’em because they’re bad for you. That should be good enough; no need to drag The Lord into the debate. Of course, I know from experience that a Red Bull during a long drive can be (forgive the wording!) a godsend.
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April 22, 2014 at 7:07 am
Matthew
Not everybody is like me, but I have a naturally “addictive” personality. If I drink a can of Red Bull on day 1, then I’m buying a can practically each day for the next several weeks. I need to treat caffeine drinks the same way I treat pornography: shun them like the plague. It is the same principle that Meshach, Shadrach, and Abed-Nego followed while serving the Babylonian king: stick to what you know is NOT HARMFUL, and you will be prospered more than your peers (my interpretation.) I am trying, but I fail from time to time.
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