What Are the Effects of Mixing Energy Drinks with Alcohol?

Energy drinks refer to drinks that change the composition and content of natural nutrients in the beverage to adjust the function of the body to a certain extent to meet the nutritional needs of some special people.

The International Sports Nutrition Society's definition of energy drinks is: energy drinks are ingredients other than water,

caffeine

Caffeine is the most commonly used substance in the world to cause mental excitement, and it is an alkaloid compound. In China, caffeine is included in the scope of psychoactive drugs controlled by the state. Today, about 80% of the world's population uses caffeinated products every day, the most common of which are coffee (71%), soft drinks (16%)
Japanese tea (12%) ^[3]

At present, the consumption of energy drinks is increasing. Teenagers and athletes are the main consumer groups. The main reasons for consumption are good taste, thirst quenching, refreshing, and enhancing sports performance. The survey found that most adolescents do not know the ingredients of energy drinks and it is difficult to distinguish between sports drinks and energy drinks. Adolescents mostly consume because of the physiological benefits advertised by energy drinks, but they know almost nothing about the potential risks of energy drinks ^[7] .

The negative effects of caffeine

The adverse reactions and toxicity caused by energy drinks are mainly due to their large content of caffeine. For teenagers, the sources of caffeine are mainly energy drinks (20 ~ 40) mg / 100mL, chocolate (5 ~ 20) mg / 100mL and carbonated drinks (9 ~ 19) mg / 100mL. Since most adolescents are not drug resistant to caffeine, they are more likely to have adverse reactions. For adolescents, daily caffeine intake should not exceed 100 mg, and children should not exceed 2.5 mg / kg. However, in common energy drinks on the market, the content of caffeine is about (21 ~ 25) mg per 100 mL. This suggests that if adolescents or children drink 2 bottles of energy drinks per day, they may pose a health threat. In addition, a large intake of energy drinks during intense exercise may cause myocardial ischemia and induce coronary vasospasm due to the combined effect of caffeine and taurine ^[8] . In addition, excessive intake of energy drinks can cause severe neurological and cardiac toxicity such as hallucinations, epilepsy, coma, rhythm disorders, cardiomyopathy, and even cardiac arrest. Other studies have found that intake of energy drinks can strongly exacerbate platelet aggregation, reduce vascular endothelial function, and cause endothelial dysfunction. In addition, intake of energy drinks can induce epilepsy and ischemic stroke.

Mix energy drinks with alcohol

The most dangerous way for teenagers to drink energy drinks is to mix them with alcohol. Most cases related to energy drink intake (including sudden death, coronary vasospasm, tachycardia, severe arrhythmia, and ventricular fibrillation, etc.) are mostly related to excessive intake of energy drinks and / or mixed use with alcohol ^[9] . In the United States, 27% of people aged 12 to 20 drink alcohol every month. A study on adolescent alcohol and energy drink use found a positive correlation between the two. Another study found that adolescents' mixed use of energy drinks and alcohol was positively correlated with alcoholism, drunk fighting, and intentional harm. The reason may be that the caffeine in energy drinks makes people feel energized. When they are mixed, the excitatory effect makes people ingest excessive alcohol, which causes vomiting, respiratory depression and even death.

In addition, the excessive excitement of caffeine in energy drinks can reduce the body's judgment and neurocognitive functions, which in turn can lead to dangerous behaviors such as drug use, sexual assault, fighting, risk-taking and drunk driving. At present, the negative effects of mixed use of energy drinks and alcohol have been confirmed. In our country, although there is no such report, it must also be paid much attention.