I’ll be honest: I had no idea caffeine poisoning was a thing.
Illinois men’s college basketball player Matthew Mayer told reporters Wednesday that he’d been suffering from a “hangover” for the past few days. But it wasn’t alcohol-related.
Instead, Mayer messed himself up with another college kid stereotype: loading up on caffeine so he could play hours and hours of video games. Unfortunately, things didn’t go according to plan, and Mayer said he ended up with “caffeine poisoning” from the multiple Monster energy drinks he consumed.
“I’ve been sick the last few days,” Mayer said. “I had caffeine poisoning. I had six Monsters the day of the game. I only had one before, but I had five after, because I had like a caffeine-induced euphoria to play video games. So I could barely get out of bed the next day. It was basically like a caffeine hangover.”
#Illini Matthew Mayer was out sick since the Ohio State with “caffeine poisoning” after drinking 6 energy drinks. pic.twitter.com/VNU8n5QXuQ
— Brice Bement (@BriceBement) March 1, 2023
Mind-blowing statistics here: So Mayer says that he drank six Monsters. One 16-ounce can has 160 milligrams of caffeine, so in total, he had 960 milligrams in one day. This is more than double what the FDA considers a healthy dosage, but it also depends on the person. And Mayer was still pretty far off from a “life-threatening” amount, which is between 10,000 and 14,000 milligrams. (RELATED: Notre Dame Head Coach Mike Brey Rips Shots Of Whiskey After Huge Upset Win In Final Home Game At University)
It’s insane to me because I drink a lot of energy drinks myself (my personal choice are the Starbucks Doubleshot Energy Coffees), and I honestly had no idea that caffeine poisoning was a thing. Holy shit, man.
You really do learn something new everyday.