A teenager, Naomi Haynes, who drank 50 cans of caffeine-laced energy drinks such as Red Bull a week, was warned her addiction could kill her.

Teenager collapsed after becoming addicted to Red Bull
article in the Telegraph

Extracts:

"Naomi Haynes, 14, became so dependent on the drinks that she would spend all her money on them and even borrow from friends to fund the habit.

"The drinks made me happy and I got a great buzz from them, but then I would feel tired and unhappy so I would have another drink to pick me up," said Miss Haynes, of East Cowes, Isle of Wight.

It got to the stage where she would smuggle them into class to stop her from falling asleep.

But she says she has now been warned by doctors that her addiction could lead to a heart attack."

"A spokesman for Red Bull said: "One 250 ml can of Red Bull Energy Drink contains about the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee, which is 80mg. The consumption of Red Bull Energy Drink should therefore correspond to a person’s intake of coffee and the same is true for children. We do not recommend Red Bull Energy Drink to caffeine sensitive individuals including children."

Caffeine in Red Bull may have contributed to the death of Asda worker, Alfredo Duran.

Heart attack man 'drank four Red Bulls a day'

Extract from the Telegraph:

"Fears have been raised over the safety of high-caffeine energy drinks after an inquest heard they could have brought on a fatal heart attack.

Alfredo Duran, 40, who drank four cans of Red Bull every night, collapsed and died after working a supermarket night shift.

An inquest into his death heard that he had an enlarged heart and that caffeine may have triggered an attack.

Dr Ian Roberts, a pathologist, said the amount of Red Bull Mr Duran drank could have contributed to his death.

Levels found during the post mortem examination were not fatal, but were dangerous for a man with an underlying heart condition.

He said: "For an individual with this condition, the risk of problems with the heart is increased by stimulants such as caffeine and may be triggered by levels which would have no effect on people with a normal heart.

"My feeling is, given the evidence available, it was a cardiac arrest, possibly contributed by sub-toxic caffeine ingestion.""

You can reduce the size of an enlarged heart and reduce your risk of heart attack by avoiding salt and salty food. See Sodium in foods and Associated health conditions

People with diabetes may be advised to eliminate caffeine from their diet in order to manage blood sugar levels better.

Warning to diabetics who drink tea and coffee

Extract from the Telegraph:

"The study, conducted by Dr James Lane from Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, is the first to track the impact of caffeine consumption as patients go about their normal lives.

Researchers monitored 10 regular coffee drinkers with established type 2 diabetes who were managing their disease through diet and exercise but with no extra insulin.

The patients were fitted with a tiny monitor which continuously tracked their glucose levels over a 72-hour period. Each took capsules containing caffeine equal to four cups of coffee on one day, and identical capsules containing a placebo on another.

All were free to eat whatever they liked. Researchers found that when the participants consumed caffeine, their average daily sugar levels went up eight per cent.

Caffeine also exaggerated the rise in glucose after meals, increasing by nine per cent after breakfast, 15 per cent after lunch and 26 per cent after dinner.

The findings, which appear in the February issue of Diabetes Care, add more weight to a growing body of research which suggests eliminating caffeine from the diet might be a good way to manage blood sugar levels."

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ami.html

vulnerable groups

How to Lose weight!

Children and Obesity

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

Wider implications of the flawed theory that excess calorie intake causes obesity

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

You can have too much of a good thing! - coffee, for instance...

Just say no to espresso: teenager in hospital after overdose of coffee - Guardian

Extracts:

"It is an all too familiar modern morality tale: teenager goes too far and gets rushed to hospital suffering from an overdose. But in the case of 17-year-old waitress Jasmine Willis, the hyper-ventilation, uncontrolled sobbing and rocketing temperature that she suffered behind the counter of her dad's sandwich shop had a more mundane cause. She'd guzzled too much espresso coffee.

Jasmine drank seven double-espressos during the course of her shift at the shop in Stanley, Co Durham. Customers noticed the difference. "My nerves were all over the place," she said yesterday. I was crying in front of the customers and had tears streaming down my face. I was drenched and burning up and hyperventilating. I was having palpitations, my heart was beating so fast and I think I was going into shock.""

"Jasmine made a full recovery, but last night her plight was being copied into countless office emails, with a warning about the dangers lurking, especially, within filter coffee, which has much higher caffeine levels than the instant variety.

According to the British Coffee Association, drinking a daily cup or three may reduce liver diseases and stave off Alzheimer's but caffeine stimulates the heart and central nervous system and may temporarily increase blood pressure and raise cholesterol levels."


Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
How to Lose weight!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html - social and economic considerations

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

Caffeinated beverages 'help protect the elderly': American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Caffeinated beverages 'help protect the elderly'

Extract:

"The risks of heart disease to the elderly may be diminished by caffeinated drinks, according to a recent study.

Those over 65 who consume four or more caffeinated drinks per day may reduce their risk of cardiac disease by up to 53 per cent, the study, which was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, showed.

However, those under the age of 65 or those with stage two hypertension do not benefit at all from caffeine, the study discovered."

These findings may prove to be true, I suppose, but overwhelmingly the best, most reliable measure that people of any age can take to reduce their risk of cardiac disease (and also hypertension) is to eat less salt/sodium. - See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk and the page http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/conditions.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)