Supplements, Energy Drinks, and PEDs: The Conversation Every Coach Must Have With Teen Athletes

Walk into any high school locker room in America and you'll find protein powder, pre-workout supplements, energy drinks, and creatine. Social media is flooded with teen athletes promoting supplement brands. A 2023 AAP study found that 35% of teen athletes use dietary supplements, and energy drink consumption among 13-17 year olds has tripled in the last decade. Yet most coaches have never had a direct, honest conversation with their players about what these products actually do — and don't do — in developing bodies. This is that conversation.

The Supplement Industry's Dirty Secret

Here's what the $50 billion supplement industry doesn't want teen athletes to know: dietary supplements are NOT regulated like drugs. The FDA does not test supplements for safety, efficacy, or accuracy of labeling before they hit the market. The manufacturer is responsible for ensuring their product is safe — with no independent verification required. The result is an industry where what's on the label is often not what's in the bottle.

A landmark study by USADA (US Anti-Doping Agency) found that approximately 25% of over-the-counter supplements contain substances not listed on the label — including banned substances, stimulants, and anabolic agents. For a teen athlete, this means taking a "protein powder" or "pre-workout" could inadvertently introduce substances that are harmful to developing bodies, banned by their sport's governing body, or both.

Energy Drinks: The Most Underestimated Risk

Energy drinks are the most commonly consumed performance-related product among teen athletes, and they're the one most likely to cause acute harm. A standard energy drink contains 150-300mg of caffeine — equivalent to 2-3 cups of coffee — plus sugar, taurine, guarana, and other stimulants that amplify caffeine's effects. The American Academy of Pediatrics explicitly states that energy drinks "should never be consumed by children or adolescents."

The risks for teen athletes are specific and serious:

• Cardiac events. Caffeine in high doses can trigger arrhythmias, tachycardia, and in rare cases, cardiac arrest — especially during intense exercise when the heart is already under maximum stress. Emergency department visits for energy drink-related cardiac events in teens have increased significantly.
• Dehydration. Caffeine is a diuretic. Consuming energy drinks before or during exercise in hot conditions accelerates dehydration — the opposite of what athletes need.
• Sleep disruption. A 16-year-old who drinks an energy drink at 4pm before evening practice may still have caffeine in their system at midnight. The sleep loss compounds: recovery suffers, performance suffers, injury risk increases.
• Anxiety and jitteriness. High caffeine doses trigger the stress response — elevated cortisol, anxiety, rapid heart rate. For a teen already dealing with performance anxiety, this makes everything worse.

What Actually Works (and What Doesn't)

Here's the evidence-based truth about the most common substances teen athletes use:

Protein Powder

Verdict: Usually unnecessary. Most teen athletes can get adequate protein (1.2-1.6g/kg/day) from food alone. A chicken breast, Greek yogurt, eggs, and milk provide all the protein a growing athlete needs. Protein powder is not harmful in appropriate amounts, but it's an expensive replacement for real food — and it creates a mindset that supplements are necessary for performance. If food intake is genuinely insufficient (vegetarian athletes, extremely high training loads), a third-party tested protein supplement is acceptable — but food should always be the first strategy.

Creatine

Verdict: Not recommended under 18. Creatine is one of the most-studied supplements in sports science and is effective for increasing short-term power output in adults. However, there is insufficient long-term safety data for adolescents whose bodies are still developing. The AAP and the American College of Sports Medicine recommend against creatine use in athletes under 18. The performance benefits are marginal compared to what proper training and nutrition already provide in this age group.

Pre-Workout Supplements

Verdict: Avoid completely. Pre-workouts are cocktails of caffeine, beta-alanine, nitric oxide precursors, and often undisclosed ingredients. They're designed for adult bodybuilders, not developing teens. The caffeine content alone (200-400mg) exceeds safe levels for adolescents. The combination with exercise creates cardiovascular risk. T...