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 There are more than 500 energy drink products on the market, and
their increased popularity is matched by a significant rise in
energy drink-associated emergency department visits and deaths.
Manufacturers and fans of these products claim they are as safe as
caffeine, but there is little evidence to support that claim.
Caffeine in doses up to 400 mg (about five cups of coffee) is
generally recognized as safe by the Food and Drug Administration.
While energy drinks usually contain caffeine, little is known about
the safety of some of their other ingredients the study team writes
in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
To see what effects these other components have, researchers
compared physical changes in a group of 18 healthy men and women
after consuming a commercially available energy drink and after
drinking another concoction with the same amount of caffeine but
none of the other ingredients.
Besides 320 mg of caffeine - the amount in about four cups of coffee
- the energy drink contained 4 ounces of sugar, several B vitamins
and a proprietary "energy blend" of taurine and other ingredients
that are often found drinks like Monster Energy, Red Bull and 5-Hour
Energy.
Sachin A. Shah of David Grant Medical Center on Travis Air Force
Base and University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, and
colleagues measured the participants’ blood pressure and used an
electrocardiogram (often called an ECG or EKG) to measure heart
electrical activity for 24 hours after the subjects consumed the
drinks.
An ECG change known as QTc prolongation and sometimes associated
with life-threatening irregularities in the heartbeat was seen after
drinking the energy drink, but not after drinking the caffeine
beverage, the study team reports.
Several drugs have been withdrawn from the market just for causing
ECG changes of a similar magnitude, the authors note.
Blood pressure increased by close to 5 points after drinking the
energy drink, but by just under 1 point after drinking the caffeine
beverage. Blood pressure also remained elevated six hours later.
These changes are by no means worrisome for healthy individuals, the
researchers say, but patients with certain heart conditions might
need to exercise caution consuming energy drinks.
Larger studies are needed to evaluate the safety of the noncaffeine
ingredients contained in energy drinks, they conclude.
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"The energy drink industry claims that their products are safe
because they have no more caffeine than a premium coffee house
coffee,” said Dr. Jennifer L. Harris from University of
Connecticut's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity in Storrs, who
wasn’t involved in the study.
“However, energy drinks also contain a proprietary ‘energy blend,’
which typically consists of stimulants and other additives. Some of
these ingredients (including taurine and guarana) have not been
FDA-approved as safe in the food supply, and few studies have tested
the effects of caffeine consumption together with these ‘novelty’
ingredients,” she said by email.
“On top of that, energy drinks are highly marketed to adolescent
boys in ways that encourage risky behavior, including rapid and
excessive consumption,” she said. “As a result, emergency room
visits by young people in connection with energy drinks are rising.”
Any research that compares the effects of consuming energy drinks
versus caffeine alone provides important evidence for public health
advocates who have urged the energy drink companies to stop
targeting youth with these potentially harmful products, Harris
added.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1f4U4k9 Journal of the American Heart
Association, online April 26, 2017.
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