Effects of energy drinks on the cardiovascular system

Abstract

Throughout the last decade, the use of energy drinks has been increasingly looked upon with caution as potentially dangerous due to their perceived strong concentration of caffeine aside from other substances such as taurine, guarana, and L-carnitine that are largely unknown to the general public. In addition, a large number of energy drink intoxications have been reported all over the world including cases of seizures and arrhythmias. In this paper, we focus on the effect of energy drinks on the cardiovascular system and whether the current ongoing call for the products’ sales and regulation of their contents should continue.

Keywords: Energy drinks; Caffeine; Taurine; Guarana; Cardiovascular effects

Core tip: The last decade has witnessed a great surge in the consumption of energy drinks which coincided with an increased rate of reported cases of intoxications resulting in cardiovascular adverse effects especially arrhythmias, although most of such cases were associated with alcohol, stimulants, or rapid consumption in a short period of time. In our paper, we summarized the research pertaining to the most common components of the energy drinks in an attempt to evaluate whether the call for control of the products is merited, some of which had surprising possible health benefits.