Recently, two people died, allegedly as a result of drinking lemonade with extra caffeination that they bought at Panera Bread. Dani Blum and Alice Callahan report for the New York Times on the safety of energy drinks. Should you be drinking energy drinks?
Panera Bread’s “Charged Lemonade” reportedly has as much caffeine as 40 ounces of Red Bull–260 ml of caffeine in a 20 ounce serving. A 21- year old woman and a 46-year old man with heart conditions died after consuming the lemonade. The lemonade allegedly was not labeled as an energy drink, and they might not have realized that it contained as much caffeine as it did.
While experts do not believe that death is a likely consequence of consuming an energy drink, there can be serious life threatening consequences for people with heart conditions. Even if you don’t have a heart condition, consuming these drinks can strain your heart.
Taurine is a typical stimulant in energy drinks. It can force your heart to pump harder in combination with caffeine. And, unfortunately, you might have a heart condition and not know it.
Concerning symptoms after consuming an energy drink: If you consume an energy drink and have heart palpitations, a bad headache, sweat, chest pain or shortness of breath, it’s a sign that you should not be drinking energy drinks. Talk to your doctor.
Who should not consume energy drinks? In addition to people with heart conditions, people under 18 and pregnant women should not consume energy drinks. Also people who use stimulants such as Adderrall should likely not consume energy drinks.
How much is too much caffeine? You should avoid consuming more than 400 ml of caffeine each day.
What not to do after consuming an energy drink? If you drink energy drinks, don’t exercise directly afterwards and don’t drink alcohol either. Both will strain your heart.
Is clean or plant-based caffeine safer than other types of caffeine? No.
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