Are energy drinks linked to heart attack risk? This is what latest research says

Ever had that energy drink after working out in the gym or playing a sport? Surely, it must have given an instant hit of energy and felt refreshing. You are advised to think again. New research has indicated increasing incidents of sudden ‘heart attacks’ among those who consume these drinks. This has once again raised questions related to food labeling. This has also caught the notice of the Indian food regulators who had earlier asked companies to desist from labeling drinks as ‘energy drinks’ after it found large-scale irregularities in the ingredients used to manufacture these energy drinks. This has been reported by the New York Post.

What are the issues?
These drinks which claim to provide instant energy, do their job but this comes at a steep cost to human health. It is known to erode the teeth of the consumers apart from increasing the risk of various mental health issues such as Attention Deficit Disorder, depression, and anxiety and encouraging suicidal thoughts in children.

High quantity of sugar
These drinks which often contain high amounts of sugar are also linked to a troublesome issue of increased heart attacks. The drinks include ingredients such as taurine and guarana can disrupt cardiovascular functions increasing the risk of arrhythmia or irregular heartbeat which is a cause of heart attacks.

Sudden heart attacks
Researchers at the Mayo Clinic conducted a study on 144 survivors who had sudden heart attacks and found that seven of them had consumed an energy drink before this life-threatening episode. The researchers pointed out that there is still less evidence to conclude the link between the two but it is important to sound the alarm.

In comparison, a cup of coffee contains 100mg of caffeine. Whereas an energy drink contains anywhere between 80mg-300mg per serving. It is the high doses of caffeine that are known to be risky to one’s health. Reasonable doses of this are known to prevent Type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer's disease.

It is also well known that refined sugar and artificial sweeteners cause an upheaval in the gut of the human body.

FAQs:

1. What does artificial sweetener contain?
It is considered to be a sugar substitute. It contains Aspartame which has in some recent research found to be linked to increased evidence of cancer.

2. What is Type 2 diabetes?
While type 1 diabetes is linked to genetic factors, type 2 is linked to lifestyle issues. Further, in Type 1, the body is unable to produce insulin which is produced in the Pancreas whereas in Type 2 diabetes, the insulin is being produced but the body is unable to use it.