© Nattu/Flickr/CC BY 2.0Energy drink
Health experts are concerned about the risks of drinking energy drinks, linked to sudden heart attack
Energy drinks are the go-to go-go juice for many people looking to battle back fatigue and in need of an energy boost. But recent research suggests consuming these drinks could lead to serious health conditions.
A one-two punch of refined sugar and high caffeine, these bevies are effective at keeping folks alert. But the juice, as they say, may not be worth the squeeze since it can cause heart attacks.
Energy drinks contain ingredients like taurine and guarana, which can mess up how your heart works, making it more likely to beat irregularly, which can lead to a heart attack.
Researchers at The Mayo Clinic looked at the stories of 144 patients who had a sudden heart attack but lived through it. They found that seven of them, which is about 5%, had drunk an energy drink before their scary heart problem happened.
Dr. Michael J. Ackerman, the main researcher of the study and a heart doctor at the Mayo Clinic, said, "Although the relative risk is small and the absolute risk of sudden death after consuming an energy drink is even smaller, patients with a known sudden death predisposing genetic heart disease should weigh the risks and benefits of consuming such drinks."
Energy drinks contain up to three times more caffeine than a cup of coffee
Professor Peter Schwartz, who runs Italy's Center for Cardiac Arrhythmias of Genetic Origin and Laboratory of Cardiovascular Genetics, said the results aren't just a coincidence.
For example, a regular cup of coffee has about 100mg of caffeine. Energy drinks can have anywhere from 80mg to 300mg in one serving. Panera Bread's "Charged Lemonade," which they don't make anymore, was said to have caused a nearly deadly heart problem in a teenager who drank it. That drink had 390 mg of caffeine.
Dr. Belinda Griffiths of The Fleet Street Clinic told The Independent, "It increases blood glucose, gives a short burst of energy and then a drop afterward, which can affect your mood, and also make you feel increasingly hungry afterward [meaning] you might want to eat more."
We should expect a LOT of such articles to explain sudden adult death and turbo cancer, now. Don't look at the only variable which changed, in 2021, just look over here. No, over here.