It is commonly known that caffeine boosts our energy levels and keeps us alert.
That’s exactly what energy drinks are doing to us – they stimulate us when we are down. Although they are highly beneficial (because they can treat even health problems, such as headaches), energy drinks, in fact, can be destructive to our health because it contains a lot of chemicals.
According to studies, there is a connection between energy drinks (such as Red Bull) and heart attacks. As a proof, they noted the recent case of a 33-year old Cory Terry, a Brooklyn resident, who used to drink a Red Bull can on a daily basis and died from a heart attack suddenly.
As his mother’s sayings, he never drank or smoked and was physically active.
His only flaw was his habit of drinking Red Bull every day.
CAN RED BULL REALLY CAUSE A HEART ATTACK?
In fact, yes it can. In a study performed by the Mayo Clinic, it was confirmed that energy drinks worsen the cardiovascular issues and provoke a heart attack.
The study was conducted over 15 healthy people who were given ½ a liter of an unidentified energy drink on a daily basis.
The composition of the energy drink was similar to the one of Red Bull.
The results proved that the people have increased blood pressure by 10% after 4 hours. Moreover, the people have increased heart rate, which indicated that there is a high risk of heart attack.
Irregular heart rate and high blood pressure can damage the heart arteries, thus increasing the risk of strokes or heart attack.
WHAT DOES RED BULL CONTAIN?
Besides sugar and caffeine, Red Bull has taurine, a very potent stimulator, too.
Because of the fact that there is not enough research done on Red Bull’s ingredients, we cannot prove the negativity of their effect.
On the other side, numerous studies were performed on the effect of Red Bull on our health. For instance, one study proved that the stimulants in Red Bull (taurine and caffeine) are not dangerous on their own.
However, if they are combined, they might damage the cardiovascular system and provoke a heart attack. This confirms what we already knew.
Therefore, in order to prevent strokes and heart attacks, avoid energy drinks.
Next time you need a stimulant, take a cup of coffee.