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The aggressive marketing and widespread availability have led to the soaring popularity of energy drinks among the youth. However, are the claimed benefits such as increased focus and productivity worth the potential side effects? Excessive consumption often leads to health problems, some of which can be quite severe. These include gastrointestinal disorders, dehydration, hypertension, arrhythmia, and even life-threatening conditions like heart attacks, strokes, and, in some cases, death.
What’s Inside Energy Drinks
Typically, energy drinks contain high levels of caffeine and added sugars or substitutes. In addition, the beverage may contain additives, including B-vitamins, and legal stimulants such as guarana, taurine, and L-carnitine, occasionally ginseng. This concoction can enhance alertness, attention, and energy while simultaneously increasing blood pressure, heart rate, and respiration.
The effects of caffeine on humans have been studied extensively, but energy drink encompass more than just caffeine. Italian researchers, therefore, analyzed studies and reports on the impact of such beverages on the human and animal body and published their findings in Nutrients.
About the Research
Scientists examined research materials published between January 5, 2009, and April 30, 2023. These articles reported the consequences of abusing energy beverages. The analysis also included reports on the effects of these drinks on animals, including mice, rats, and rabbits. In total, the analysis encompassed 96 scientific articles that reported on the impact of energy drinks on the cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, neurological, renal, gynecological, autoimmune systems, and the skin.
Overall, researchers assessed 86 negative outcomes. Most of the patients were young, with an average age of 30 years old.
How Energy Drinks Affect the Body
Nearly half of the participants had cardiovascular problems, a quarter had neurological consequences, and the third most common issue was gastrointestinal disorders at 13.9%, followed by renal (8.1%), gynecological (2.3%), and dermatological complications.
Cardiovascular Consequences
Cardiovascular disorders included arrhythmia, arterial dissections, acute coronary syndrome, and more. Nine cases of cardiac arrest were linked to high doses of stimulants in energy drinks. In several cases, previously healthy patients suffered acute cardiac conditions after consuming multiple 250ml cans of energy drinks.
Three individuals died as a result of sudden cardiac arrest, while six others required intensive cardiac-pulmonary resuscitation and showed no cardiac abnormalities during subsequent visits.
Neurological Consequences
Regular consumption of energy drinks was associated with stress, anxiety, and depression. The most common immediate consequences included psychotic episodes and clonic seizures, which are brief spasms of specific muscle groups.
Other Consequences
Among the less common consequences of energy drink abuse were toxic effects on the liver and kidneys. Additionally, one woman gave birth to a child with excessive weight, while another experienced heavy menstruation. There were also two cases of erythema, a condition characterized by intense skin redness.
Energy Drinks Require Stricter Regulation
Researchers believe that this review underscores the need for a more thorough evaluation of sudden cardiac arrest deaths, especially among young individuals, as legal substances, including energy drinks, could potentially be contributing factors.
We propose stricter limits on the consumption of these beverages than for caffeine, based on the evidence found and the data in the literature. This review also calls for the establishment of regulations governing the consumption of these products in view of their potential impact on human health.
Study authors
