Before you reach for the energy drink, you may want to reconsider.
They may kill you.
Hey guys, Amy with you on DNews today.
Energy drinks have become common in the United States in recent years offering a quick energy
boost to match a fast-paced life.
And they work because they’re packed with sugar, caffeine, and other stimulants, none
of which are great for you in large doses.
The sugar in energy drinks hits your system first, giving you a spike of energy then a
crash.
The crash is offset by caffeine, which stimulates the central nervous system with a bit of a
time delay.
Peak caffeination hits after about an hour, and the increased energy can last all day
as it slowly wears off.
It’s safe to ingest about 400 mg of caffeine per day if you’re a healthy adult.
For perspective, a 16 ounce grande brewed coffee from Starbucks has 330mg of caffeine,
a grande Americano with two shots of espresso has 225mg, a 16 ounce can of Rockstar has
160mg, and one 8.4 ounce can of Redbull has 80mg.
Consuming caffeine is known to cause heart palpitations, anxiety and insomnia.
It's a diuretic, causing the kidneys to process extra fluid into urine leaving the body severely
dehydrated.
It can also become addictive meaning the body will need more to feel the stimulating effect,
and the cycle continues.
Where energy drinks are concerned, the effects of caffeine are amplified by stimulants.
Ephedrine is a nervous system stimulant often found in these drinks.
So is guarana, a South American shrub whose seeds contain more caffeine than a coffee
bean.
And so is taurine, an amino acid that acts as a neurotransmitter.
But in moderation it's fine, right?
Well, maybe not.
A study from the Mayo clinic says that even one energy drink can cause momentary health
changes that could increase the risk of heart conditions over time.
The study had adults abstain from caffeine and alcohol before consuming either an energy
drink or a placebo.
Those who drank the real thing showed a marked increase in caffeine levels, blood pressure,
and norepinephrine levels, the sudden spike of which could predispose those people to
cardiovascular problems down the line.
We’re already seeing this happening; ER visits related to the high caffeine and taurine
levels in energy drinks have doubled in the last decade, particularly in patients between
18 and 25.
Another study found a correlation between energy drinks and traumatic brain injuries
in young adults.
The EU Scientific Committee on Food found that increased caffeine intake brought behavioral
changes including increased arousal, irritability, and nervousness.
One woman in the UK actually started losing her sight because of an energy drink habit!
The sugar in the drink caused her to gain weight, and at 364 pounds she developed Idiopathic
intracranial hypertension.
Her optic nerves swelled, leading to temporary blindness.
And it gets worse if you mix energy drinks with alcohol, a common practise with devastating
consequences that Tara talks about in this
video right here: