BURSTING with caffeine and sugar, energy drinks give your body an instant kick from the first few sips.
Varieties such as YouTubers KSI and Logan Paul’s Prime hydration drinks proved popular among teens this year, sending many in a frenzy to get their hands on them.
High consumption of energy drinks has been linked to heart issues in teens
Consumption of energy drinks – sweet, fizzy beverages containing stimulants such as as caffeine or guarana – remains pretty high in teens despite their well known side effects.
Health experts have long issued warnings about the drinks’ detrimental effects on health and told mums and dads to be extra vigilant.
But new research has drawn direct links between excessive energy drink consumption in kids and adolescents and the likelihood of experiencing severe health risks affecting the heart, nervous system, liver and kidneys.
It comes after a primary school pupil had to have their stomach pumped following a “cardiac episode” after drinking 355ml of the fizzy sweet stuff.
The recent study published in the journal Nutrients found that minors who reported consuming excessive amounts of energy drinks, – especially those containing caffeine – saw severe impacts to their health, especially if they had preexisting medical conditions or also took stimulants or party drugs.
The researchers studied 18 children and adolescents under the age of 18 who reported adverse health events related to their energy drink consumption.
Almost half (45 per cent) of them experienced side effects to their cardiovascular system including cardiac arrhythmia and arterial hypertension – high blood pressure that affects arteries in the lungs and right side of the heart.
Some also experienced acute coronary artery vasospasm – when your heart’s arteries suddenly constrict, causing spasms – and spontaneous coronary artery dissection, when a tear appears in the wall of a coronary artery, which supplies blood to your heart.
While in some cases, the teens had preexisting health conditions or potential triggers, in a few cases, cardiovascular adverse events occurred without other triggers or medical conditions after the consumption of large amounts of energy drinks over multiple days.
One case of spontaneous coronary artery dissection occurred after the consumption of a reasonable amount of caffeinated energy drinks.
Researchers attributed these cardiovascular side effects to the high caffeine content in energy drinks, which they found upped the participants’ blood pressure.
“Due to their high sugar content, the chronic intake of energy drinks can lead to sugar metabolism disorders and excess weight, ultimately increasing long-term cardiovascular [conditions],” they added.
Thirty-three per cent of the 18 participants also saw their nervous system affected from guzzling energy drinks.
The researchers noted that the neuropsychiatric impacts of energy drinks remain largely understudied, but that chronic consumption of caffeinated energy drinks is thought to be linked to panic attacks, psychotic episodes, hyperexcitability, and headaches.
It’s also believed to negatively impact brain development, leading to insomnia, attention deficit disorder, and hyperactivity.
Two of the 18 minors experienced side effects in their liver, which the researchers attributed to the fact that energy drinks contain niacin and large amounts of sugar.
A 17-year-old boy included in researchers’ analysis suffered from acute kidney failure, due to that large amounts of taurine in the beverages.
Minors need to be educated about the potential hazards of energy drink consumption to help them make informed choices and prevent adverse effects to their health, researchers concluded.
Last year, ministers vowed to ban the sale of energy drinks to anyone under 16, but there are currently no legal age restrictions.