Energy Drinks Elevate Blood Pressure

(Huffington Post) — Those fun, harmless-looking energy drinks in the colorful bottles that you see everywhere these days? Those beverages with “natural” ingredients, marketed to all of us — especially our kids — as an alternative to soda? Turns out these drinks aren’t so harmless.

Concerns about the effects of energy drinks are continuing to grow, as new research shows these drinks can cause blood pressure to rise, as well as bringing about heart palpitations and arrhythmias, anxiety, and insomnia.

Researchers in Poland conducted a small study with 18 healthy young adults ages 20-35. The young adults were asked to consume one of two energy drinks: one contained 120 milligrams of caffeine and the other contained 360 milligrams of caffeine. (A regular 8-ounce cup of brewed coffee has between 100-200 milligrams of caffeine.) A third group drank a placebo, which contained no caffeine or other stimulants. Researchers then took measurements of blood pressure and heart rate at 15, 30 and 90 minutes after consumption.

They found that the less-caffeinated drink did not significantly affect either blood pressure or heart rate compared with the placebo group. The more highly-caffeinated drink, on the other hand, had a significant effect on both. Among those who consumed the 360 milligram caffeine energy drink:

• Blood pressure went up by an average of nine points for both systolic and diastolic pressure.

• Heart rate went up by an average of five beats per minute.

• Members of this group also developed irregular heartbeats, racing heartbeats, anxiety and insomnia.

This study isn’t the first to find a link between high-caffeine, high-sugar energy drinks and elevated blood pressure, cardiac disturbances, anxiety and sleep disturbances. Other recent research has returned similarly disturbing results:

A study conducted at the University of Arkansas examined the effects of energy drinks on blood pressure among healthy, non-smoking adults ages 18-45. The results reported blood pressure was significantly elevated in those who drank one serving of Red Bull, which contained 80 milligrams of caffeine and 1,000 milligrams of taurine, an amino acid commonly found in energy drinks.

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