JustCare

Tag: Caffeine

  • Should you be drinking energy drinks?

    Should you be drinking energy drinks?

    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.

    Here’s more from Just Care:

  • Does coffee, tea or chocolate improve your brain’s health

    Does coffee, tea or chocolate improve your brain’s health

    You may have read that the different phytochemicals in fruits can be good for your health, protecting you against cardiovascular disease and tumor growth, among other things. Coffee, tea and chocolate also contain phytochemicals. One recent study by the National Institute on Aging and Johns Hopkins University finds that these phytochemicals might improve your brain’s health.

    The study, published in Neurochemical Research magazine, and reported by Inc., finds that the phytochemical methylxanthines helps the brain, “protecting neurons against dysfunction and death” when examined in animals with stroke, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Coffee, tea and chocolate all contain this phytochemical.

    A second phytochemical, xanthine metabolites, which is released after caffeine consumption, could also be beneficial to brain health.

    Separately, a meta-analysis of 11 studies, published in World Journal of Surgical Oncology, reveals that coffee and tea might reduce the risk of both Alzheimer’s disease and brain cancer. Specifically, the researchers found that “higher consumption of coffee may contribute to the lower development of brain cancer in Asian populations.”

    And, yet another major study at Okayama University found that chemicals in caffeine prevents neurodegeneration in the brain, making it more resilient.

    The good news is that coffee is the most common drink after water. The question becomes whether the possible benefits of caffeine for your brain health outweigh its risks. Coffee can be responsible for anxiety, insomnia, irritability, and panic attacks.

    According to the studies, you need to drink six or eight eight ounce cups of coffee a day to promote your brain health. Among other things, a good night’s sleep, which drinking too much caffeine may prevent, also promotes good health.

    You can replace the coffee with dark chocolate to get the requisite phytochemicals. But, you want to avoid sugar and keep your weight down as well!