What about energy drinks?

qsyal (62)in #health • 6 years ago

Whether it's to fuel your late night study session or trying to stay alert on the job, energy drinks are very popular with 76% of young adults consuming them.
But what would happen if you only drank energy drinks?
One sip and the feel-good effect is almost immediate.When the sugar molecules hit your taste buds,it triggers your brain to release dopamine(The hormone responsible for feelings of happiness and well-being). This makes sense considering the sugar content of one can ranges from 2 teaspoons to a whopping depending on the brand.
Within 10 minutes both your heart rate and blood pressure increase in response to adrenaline release, caused by the introduction of caffeine into your body.

How much caffeine?
Well, it depends on the brand and ranges from 6 mg to as high as 242 mg per serving.

To compare, a serving of brewed coffee contains 95 to a 165 mg of caffeine, brewed black tea contains 25 to 38 mg, and a bottle of Coke contains 34 mg of caffeine !
But unlike soda, coffee and tea, energy drinks add in guarana extract.

The guarana plant, which is native to South America, produces seeds which are about the same size as a coffee bean, but yield twice the caffeine content.

Scientists think that Spread out over a day,400 mg of caffeine appears to be safe. But having more than 200 mg in a single sitting can lead to caffeine intoxication.
In 2011, it is estimated that nearly 20.000 visits to the emergency room in the United States, were directly related to the effects of energy drink consumption.Most of these visits involve those between the ages 18 to 25, and the second largest age group being 26 to 39 years old.
So if you start at 7 or 8 glasses of energy drinks, the constant increases in heart rate and blood pressure, might lead to to an increase risk of developing cardiovascular conditions including hypertension or high blood pressure.

An observational study reviewed 7 years of data from calls of the Australian Poison Info Center. Of the 297 calls analysed, the most common symptoms of caffeine toxicity included palpitations,agitation, tremor and gastrointestinal upset.21 cases had signs of serious cardiac or neurological toxicity, including hallucinations, seizures arrhythmias or cardiac ischaemia. And at least 128 subjects required hospitalization.

A cup of black coffee has fewer than 5 calories, but the high sugar content of energy drinks needs a calorie count of about 850 calories in 8 cups of Red Bull. This increases your risk for obesity, and developing type 2 diabetes.

But some of the risks are unpredictable, such as a 26 year old man who drank at least 2 cans of energy drinks daily for a decade. With no prior significant health issues, he had a seizure and fell into a 3-day coma...Docters ultimately attributed this to chronic sleep deprivation, and over-consumption of caffeine.

conclusion:

After all of the above, let me reassure you that energy drinks are relatively safe for infrequent consumption, but you may not wanna drink them on a regular basis.