University of Illinois basketball star Matthew Mayer revealed that he has been sick the past few days with “caffeine poisoning,” but the story gets even stranger.
Mayer said he consumed five Monster energy drinks while playing video games on Sunday and had to sit out practice until Wednesday because of the consumption.
The average person is only supposed to consume about 135 mg of caffeine per day, Mayer consumed 800. Yikes!
Mayer, who is a fifth-year senior, chose the Fighting Illini after transferring from Baylor, where he spent four seasons and was part of their national championship team in 2021. Through 29 games so far this year, Mayer is averaging 12.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game and is shooting 36.0% from three-point attempts.
It’s not unusual to hear college students use caffeine-rich drinks like Monster to keep them going, especially as it is closer to the end of the school year and students are prepping for final exams.
But Monster has several side-effects that can affect the person drinking them such as Dehydration (not enough water in your body), heart complications (such as irregular heartbeat and heart failure), anxiety (feeling nervous and jittery), and insomnia (unable to sleep).
It probably wasn’t a good idea for a star athlete like Mayer to drink that many energy drinks in one sitting because it literally could have cost him his life.
About Stacey Mickles
Stacey is a 1995 graduate of the University of Alabama who has previously worked for other publications such as Sportskeeda and Saturday Down South.