Might want to find something other than Red Bull or Cocaine for those up-all-night coding sessions, fellers. It seems they may not be too healthy for you, and they may encourage “risky” behavior. Oh my!

The Journal of American College Health recently published a study that shows a strong link between the consumption of energy drinks—Red Bull, Amp, Monster, Cocaine, etc.—and “toxic jock” behavior. In non-stupid English, “toxic jock” translates to aggressive and risky behavior. Surely staying up till 2am scanning and things into Delicious Library counts as risky behavior, right? It gets crazy for real here.

While the drinks contain all sorts of weird ingredients like guarana, it’s mainly caffeine that’s to blame for the unruly behavior. So why isn’t coffee demonized in the study, especially since a Starbucks drink usually has more coffee than the aforementioned energy drinks? Simple—energy drinks are cold. While with a cup of coffee you have to sip it, thus limiting your actual consumption, energy drinks are treated as refreshments, so you’re more likely to drink a hell of a lot in a short period of time.

All this could lead to an interesting, if not completely unscientific feature: which energy drink gives you the most bang for your buck?

Image was Flickr’d