What are energy drinks?
Energy drinks is not something new and in fact, has been very famous among teens and adults. Teens and young adults drink these drinks to help them stay alert and awake even after an exhausting day. Energy drinks are caffeinated drinks which are combined with other ingredients to promote nerves works. Hence, energy drinks improve performance and increase energy. Mostly, energy drinks contain caffeine, amino acid (taurine), vitamins, and some other additional ingredients, including artificial sweetener and synthetic flavors. Often, teens mix these stimulant with alcoholic drinks to get the buzzy effects. In fact, this can be dangerous and even life-threatening.
Some risks of consuming energy drinks
Energy drinks, which are high in caffeine are proven in various researches to have side effects when consumed continuously. Some potential risks include:
- Caffeine overdose, which can lead into neurotic illness and promote nausea, vomiting, and high blood pressure.
- Type 2 diabetes, which is resulted by high level of consumed caffeine.
- In pregnant women, excessive consumption of caffeine might influence fetus’s brain development and cause miscarriage.
- In adolescents and children, caffeine consumption triggers cardiovascular and heart diseases.
- Excessive consumption of energy drinks might result in hyperactivity and attention-seeking behavior.
- Drinking the stimulant late in the night might trigger insomnia and early awakening.
- Dental cavities and stains.
Do energy drinks raise cholesterol?
Caffeine is the main content of energy drinks, and this is a stimulant which acts on the central nervous system to temporarily trigger alertness. Energy drinks also contain a high level of artificial sweeteners, which also contributes to various diseases. Related to cholesterol level in our body, energy drinks have a contribution on raising it quite significantly.
Cholesterol is a fat-like substance which is produced by the body. However, some consumed foods also increase the amount of body cholesterol, including energy drinks. Proper level of cholesterol is needed by our body to perform main functions, such as:
- Producing vitamin D and promoting hormone production.
- Protect the cells and main organs inside the body.
High level of caffeine in energy drinks are proven to raise cholesterol level by 8 percent within 4 hours after taking the drinks. This substance raises body cholesterol level by inhibiting the work of a receptor in an intestinal pathway which is critical for its regulation around the blood stream. To be worse, it does not only raise the cholesterol level, but also causes arteries thickening and blockage. When arteries are blocked, there is limited blood supply passing through the heart, and this induces chest pain. Since blood supplies are limited, blood vessels work harder to pump and regulate blood stream throughout the body, causing the blood pressure to elevate eventually.
Besides the caffeine, sugar content in energy drinks possess as harmful cholesterol issue as caffeine does. When consumed, this sugar—mostly artificial sweetener spread across the blood stream, causing high level of blood sugar around the body. This excessive level increases production of low-density lipoprotein—the LDL, and decreases the production of high-density lipoprotein—the good cholesterol taking all blood sugar and cholesterol into the liver for disposal. Various kinds of sugar used in energy drinks, however, are transformed into triglycerides in the blood stream, which contributes to high level of LDL, which leads to cardiovascular and heart diseases.
Apart from directly causing cholesterol raising, sugar content in energy drinks also increases the risk of obesity. A large amount of blood sugar, which are not used in metabolism will be stored as fats, and excess fat cells release cytokines—protein substances which lead to high cholesterol and triglycerides level, both of which contribute to total amount of body cholesterol. Moreover, overweight is also bad for the heart and arteries, as this excess fats do not only contribute in raising total amount of cholesterol, but also causing plaques and thickening the arteries and other blood vessels. This will undoubtedly lead to various diseases, including those cholesterol-related diseases, such as stroke, heart attack, and high blood pressure.
All the discussed risks are not limited to energy drinks. instead, those can also occur along with consumption of other high-caffeinated or sugary drinks.