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:
