New study finds energy drinks in excess harmful to health
By Amber Jurgensen and Dave Castagno | gargoyle@flagler.edu
Maggie Russell says energy drinks make her feel like she’s going to die.
“They make my heart race,” said Russell, a Flagler College student.
A racing heart is not a figment of her imagination. A new study which came out in February in the online medical journal, Pediatrics, analyzes the health effects that energy drinks have on children, adolescents and young adults and found that energy drinks can cause serious health effects.
“Frequently containing high and unregulated amounts of caffeine, these drinks have been reported in association with serious adverse effects, especially in children, adolescents, and young adults with seizures, diabetes, cardiac abnormalities, or mood and behavioral disorders or those who take certain medications,” the study said.
“People who have cardiac issues to begin with need to limit their intake of caffeine to keep from making their cardiac issues worse,” said Naomi Mellos, a nurse at Naval Hospital Jacksonville. “The most common effects of caffeine that I have seen are heart palpitations, shaky hands and occasionally some nausea.”
Luisa Garcia has epilepsy and is unemployed because she can’t drive or hold a job due to seizures. “Because of my preexisting seizure disorder I try to stay away from caffeine. I can’t imagine having a Red Bull which has so much caffeine. The stress of being so hyper would probably give me a seizure,” Garcia said.
The caffeine in energy drinks doesn’t just affect people with preexisting medical conditions, however.
“I have [patients] with moderately elevated blood pressure after just one Red Bull. Blood pressure in the most recent case was 150/70 — too high for a 24-year-old male,” said Judy Angyalfy, a nurse at Flagler College.
Using self-report surveys, the study found that energy drinks are consumed by 30 to 50 percent of adolescents and young adults. College students reported that “insufficient sleep (67%) and the desire to increase energy (65%) are the most common reasons for use,” the report said.
“I think energy drinks like anything else are OK in moderation. I think they are harmful when used daily in place of good health practices,” Angyalfy said.
“I’ll drink a couple during the week if I need to do an essay,” said Jason Bell, a Flagler College student.
“[Energy drinks] are marketed to appeal to people who probably ‘burn the candle at both ends,’ don’t pay careful attention to eating whole foods, getting adequate rest, cultivating their spiritual nature, and so they get a caffeine fix to boost energy,” Angyalfy said.
Fifty four percent of college students in a survey reported mixing energy drinks with alcohol, and 49 percent drank three or more energy drinks while partying, according to the study.
Four Loko, an alcoholic energy drink, was banned earlier this year until the FDA approved the caffeine to alcohol level was safe. Four Loko takes its name from its four main ingredients, alcohol, caffeine, taurine and guarana.
“The only reason people were getting so drunk so fast was because the alcohol in it and the caffeine being mixed with it. The fact that the caffeine was so high and the fact that other ingredients like ginseng was in it, people would start blacking out,” Bell said.
“I’ve only had Four Lokos twice. I felt my heart skip beats on Four Loko, so I decided to never drink another Four Loko,” Russell said.
Energy drinks can contain “70 to 80 mg per 8-oz. serving (3 times the concentration in cola drinks),” the report said. “Caffeine content can be nearly 5 times greater than that in 8 oz. of cola drinks when packaged as “energy shots.”
Energy drinks also contain additional amounts of “additives, including guarana, kola nut, yerbamate, and cocoa,” the study said. “Manufacturers are not required to list the caffeine content from these ingredients. Thus, the actual caffeine dose in a single serving may exceed that listed,” the study said.
“Taurine is found in many energy drinks. It seems that effects of excessive intake of taurine has not been studied in depth so to me that poses a risk for children and young adults that may still be developing,” Angyalfy said.
Taurine is found naturally in meat, fish and breast milk. “Some studies suggest that taurine supplementation may improve athletic performance, which may explain why taurine is used in many energy drinks. Other studies suggest that taurine combined with caffeine improves mental performance, although this finding remains controversial,” mayoclinic.com said.
There have been no long term studies on the effects of taurine combined caffeine on humans, according to a psychology page on the Vanderbilt University website.
“Energy drinks in moderation are just as safe as having a glass of iced tea or cup of coffee. The caffeine level in energy drinks is just slightly higher than a cup of coffee, depending on which energy drink you pick,” Mellos said.
“Drink energy drinks always in moderation,” Russell said.
Five Hour Energy drinks have changed my life……….I first had a panic attack and wound up in ER. Felt like I was having a heart attack. From that time on I felt I was always on the verge of another attack. My heart felt like it was racing but when they took my pulse it was normal. I can’t explain the feeling I keep having other than my heart feels like it is trying to jump out of my chest and I feel slightly naseauted… Don’t drink them would be my advice. If this feeling does not subside, I am going to have to have my doctor refer me to a heart doctor even though the EKG was normal.
Bob please give me any additional info you have…I’ll keep this short for now considering no one has posted in over a year, should anyone respond then I will lay it out there. Energy drinks almost killed me!! I am a 23 year old female and have been drinking Monsters since I was 17, at least one a day at the most 3. The summer after highschool is when my very first “symtom” occured. After the birth of my son I developed endometriosis and ultimately had to have a hysterectomy. After my surgery is when all the other symptoms came on and boy were they some crazy ones. Okay like I said..not going to go into detail unless someone responds but long story short I have been diagnosed with psoriasis, chronic sinusitis, degenerative disc disease,fibromyalgia, ulcerative colitis, Lupus, sjogrens syndrome and Im sure Im missing a few. My symptoms were indeed real but the problem was every doctor diagnosed me with something new without being sure themselves they knew what was going on. Most of all my doctors gave up on me because they could never get to the bottom of things. I felt like I was dying, I knew I was! It was the scariest time of my life, I had to teach my 3 year old how to dial 911 in fear I wouldnt wake up one day and my children would be there alone. Anyhow after being prescribed methotrexate and having an allergic reaction I knew I was on my own. No medicine was going to help me and no doctor cared enough to go the extra mile. One morning shortly after the methotrexate incident I cracked open my morning monster (i truly believed that would be the only thing to get me through the day) I would take a sip..throw up…take a sip throw up. I did this for 3 days before I said “okay its time to lay them down for a few days”. As the days went on my symptoms started to ease up, day 6 was when I first noticed my fatigue had drastically improved. Over the course of a couple months and almost all my symptoms were gone. I have had doctors and family shrug this off so I put it to the test, within 3 days of drinking one monster a day I break out in various forms of rashes over my entire body. These “rashes” were my VERY FIRST SYMPTOM AFTER MY HYSTERECTOMY, between day 7-10 of drinking one a day almost all of my symptoms resurface. If you look up symptoms of autoimmune disease, lyme disease or heavy metal toxicity, those were the symptoms I lived with for a year and a half and the same symptoms that resurface within a week to 2 weeks after consuming one monster a day. Im sorry if this post was hard to follow, just writing this brings so many emtions and there is still so much more to be said. I wish someone would do this testing on me, I want to prove to everyone what this crap is doing to people. This should never be allowed to be sold along with so many other things that the FDA approves. I actually believe the FDA and pharmacutical companies are a scam. Making people even more sick so they have to keep coming back. I’ll save that for another day though.
I read a news story that stated drinking to many of these energy drinks are very bad for your body due to the high sugar in them. They make your heart race and can definitely lead to health problems.
My oldest daughter saw others drinking them and I told her to avoid them at all cost. I then explained the damage they can do to her body. I think a more natural boost would be better, such as drinking coffee. Research is showing some benefits to coffee and I’m sure it doesn’t harm your body as much as energy drinks do.
Thanks to Bob’s comment I think I’ll even start drinking a lot more water. I have some of those symptoms and don’t even drink energy drinks.
Bob,
I would be very interested to see references to where you got your information on how energy drinks destroy mucous membranes in the body causing at least the following: dry skin,loss of teeth,destruction of moisture glands,digestive problems, depression,balance issues,an autoimmune disorder, resulting in permanent damage.
I myself have done some pretty extensive research and there are no long term studies confirming or denying the health dangers you have listed with moderate energy drink consumption. Having used these drinks in “moderation” myself for at least nine years, I have yet to experience even one of these side effects(even mildly).
Please, in the future provide some references/credit to the validity of your claims.
Energy drinks should be avoided, they create addiction and also alter how the body processes nutrients. Interestingly, most home remedies for high blood pressure also provide benefits in terms of more energy and endurance, without any complications and damage of energy drinks.
Energy Drinks destroy the mucous membranes through out the body and over time, depending on the age of the individual it can be as short a period as 3 years, will result in dry burning skin on the outside of the body as well as on the inside including the mouth and esophagus. Dryness in the mouth will result in infections and the loss of teeth. The stomach and digestive track will also be affected resulting in severe stomach pain due to ulcers that will be very hard to heal because of the lack of moisture.
Additionally, the digestive system is where 70% of the anti-depressant juices are created, The result will be depression, paranoia and “foggy thinking”. In some cases the person may not be able to remember where they live.
Balance will be affected as well resulting in an inability to maintain balance when the head is moved and in some cases the inability to stand upright.
There are moisture producing glands in the eyes, not including tear ducts, that are also affected. Once these small glands are destroyed the result will be that the user will be required to wake up numerous times during the night to put eye drops in their eyes.
These are the same symptoms of an autoimmune disorder called Sjogren’s. However, it is as a direct result of drinking energy drinks and not a problem with the autoimmune system.
Once all these symptoms occur they will not heal. They are as a result of permanent damage.
I drink about 5 red bulls per day. I think it’s time to try and cut back. Every time i try and stop though i feel tired pretty fast.