Cardiologist Warns of Risk from Energy Drinks Heart Muscle Thickening by Red Bull?

Medic explains: So much Red Bull is really dangerous
No matter if "Red Bull", "Monster" or "Booster": Energy drinks are trendy. The caffeinated drinks should keep awake and just deliver "energy". Especially for teens, the sweet drinks are popular. Doctors warn against the health dangers of popular drinks.

Drinks full of sugar
Energy drinks have enjoyed uninterrupted popularity for years. The promised "energy kick" is due to the ingredients caffeine and sugar. A single can can contain up to 13 sugar cubes. Both ingredients are dangerous in larger quantities, especially for teenagers. Every sip of the sugary drinks damages the teeth and a high caffeine consumption represents a risk to the heart. A physician explains, from which amount of energy drinks become dangerous.

Energy drinks are especially popular with many young people. The sweet drinks can become a major health risk if consumed high. A cardiologist explains the amount of danger. (Image: beermedia.de/fotolia.com)

As much caffeine as in three doses of cola
Experts point out again and again that adolescents take too much caffeine, especially with energy drinks.

Even a small dose of Red Bull has 80 mg of caffeine. This is about as much as in three coke cans or in a cup of espresso.

This amount is unlikely to be problematic for most people who occasionally consume one of the beverages, but according to experts, 70 percent of all adolescents routinely perpetrate it. Even every sixth elementary student consumes energy drinks.

Teenagers drink too many energy drinks
That teenagers consume too much of such drinks, Dr. Martin Hulpke bet. In a report of the ARD business magazine "Plusminus" explained the cardiologist from Göttingen:

"That - which is common - is that you drink more than four cans, if you even drink energy drinks. And I did not come up with that, but that's data from the European Food Safety Authority, which asked teenagers. "

The drinks can increase the adrenaline level and thus cause tachycardia, high blood pressure and cardiac arrhythmia.

Among other things, this is illustrated on a website that shows what happens after a can of Red Bull in the body.

When it becomes dangerous
But when will it really be dangerous? According to "Plus-Minus", the European Food Safety Authority has set a benchmark, according to which one should not take more than three mg of caffeine per kg of body weight per day.

That means for a 70 kg adult that he should not drink more than two and a half small doses. A child weighing 30 kg should therefore be left with a small can.

According to experts, energy drinks should be a taboo for children anyway.

Blood pressure is increased six hours later
According to a recent study, blood pressure is significantly elevated even six hours after drinking energy drinks. Dr. Hulpke bet knows from his patients, what happens when teenagers regularly exceed the limit.

"If, in the long term, the heart is offered so much caffeine, it develops, if it is high-dose and over years, just a change in the muscle wall thickness of the heart. And this is something that the patient realizes very well, that he notices when climbing the stairs and says: 'Here I can no longer, even though I am quite young, what is going on with me?' ", Says the doctor.

The report of the ARD magazine also points out that not only the energy drinks alone are the problem, but also the combination with high percentage. Other experts warn again and again of the dangers of energy drinks with alcohol. (Ad)