According to a study presented by the European Society of Cardiology 2014, there is a strong link between energy drinks and heart problems. The study reported that consumption of these drinks can lead to heart arrhythmias, chest pains (angina), hypertension, or even sudden death.
Energy drinks are beverages like Monster, Red Bull, Cobra, or Sting. They contain many stimulants that temporarily increase energy, combat fatigue and sleep. These drinks also mask the effects of alcohol in the body because they contain stimulants. A person may not necessarily realize how much alcohol he/she has consumed or how impaired they are if they drink an energy drink along with alcohol.
The study was done in France in a three year period from 2009 to 2012. They looked at data of reported adverse incidents from consumption of energy drinks collected by the French department of food safety.
Caffeine is the number one ingredient in energy drinks. A serving can contain as much as six times the amount of caffeine compared to a can of Coke or Mountain Dew.
According to the researchers, “Around 96 percent of these drinks contain caffeine, with a typical 0.25 litre can holding two espressos worth of caffeine.
Caffeine is one of the most potent agonists…and leads to a massive release of calcium within cardiac cells. This can cause arrhythmias, but also has effects on the heart’s abilities to contract and to use oxygen.
In addition, 52 percent of drinks contain taurine, 33 percent have glucuronolactone and two-thirds contain vitamins.”
Caffeine syndrome was found to be the most common reaction to these drinks as they contain very high levels of caffeine. Caffeine has been proven to cause arrhythmias such as tachycardia (fast heart rate), skipped beats, or irregular heart beats. Unexplained deaths, sudden deaths, and heart attacks have also been linked to caffeine.
Other effects of caffeine are nervousness, tremors, irritability, or sleeplessness. People with heart problems are especially advised to think twice before drinking any energy drinks as they could induce adverse life-threatening effects. Medical providers are also advised to ask patients regarding consumption of these drinks as people do not necessarily think they need to be reported.
Taurine is an amino acid known to help in neurological development and in the regulating water and mineral salts in the blood. Taurine is added in energy drinks because it is thought to enhance physical performance. It would be better to get taurine from foods such as fish and meat instead of supplements or energy drinks. Glucuronolactone is a natural substance produced in our body thought to help combat fatigue.
Caffeine, taurine, and glucuronolactone are in most energy drinks because studies have found that together they enhance short term physical and neurological abilities in sleep deprived test subjects.
However, the long term effects of both taurine and glucuronolactone have not been sufficiently studied.
Furthermore, the French researchers caution that there is no place for these energy drinks in any physical activities whatsoever. Consuming these drinks after strenuous exercise may induce arrhythmias or worsen any existing heart problems.
The high levels of caffeine may further cause dehydration. Caffeine is a diuretic which causes your body to rid itself of fluids. Fluids should be increased during and after strenuous exercise not removed.
People engaging in physical activities should choose drinks made to replace electrolytes and fluids after exercise and not energy drinks.
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Author’s email: floridamsn@safe-mail.net
