Energy drinks have always been a subject of deep debate over its health properties. Those who indulge in it, swear by its ‘healthier’ properties compared to sodas and other caffeinated drinks.However, a new study has completely negated this belief saying that energy drinks are worse than caffeine itself.
Elaborating on its findings, the study says that energy drinks can have a greater impact on health than caffeine consumption by other means.
Researchers discovered that ingesting about a litre of any commercially-available energy drink caused abnormal changes in blood pressure and heart rate of the study’s participants. These changes were apparently missing when volunteers consumed a control drink that contained the same amount of caffeine.
Each energy drink available commercially is packed with 108 grams of sugar and 320 mg of caffeine. As per experts, the requisite and/or maximum amount of caffeine an adult should consume is approximately 400 mg. Energy drinks also contain “natural substances” such as taurine, ginseng, and carnitine.
The European Food Safety Authority latest opinion confirms the safety of energy drinks and their ingredients and therefore does not provide any scientific justification to treat energy drinks any differently to the main contributors to daily caffeine intake including tea, coffee and chocolate.
“It’s also worth remembering that coffees from popular high street chains contain the same or more caffeine than most energy drinks.”
