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How energy drinks are impacting heart health
Liking energy drinks a little too much could cost you your heart health. A new report from the American Heart Association found caffeinated energy drinks and supplements were linked to more serious heart conditions than anything else. FOX 13's Briona Arradondo reports.
BRANDON, Fla. - A new American Heart Association report links caffeinated energy drinks and pre-workout supplements to serious heart conditions in young adults, with federal health data connecting the products to cardiac arrests and heart attacks across the country.
Energy drink cardiac risks
What we know:
A new American Heart Association analysis of Food and Drug Administration cardiovascular event reports from 2017 to 2025 found that 45 percent of incidents tied to energy drinks or pre-workout supplements involved cardiac arrest and heart attacks. These severe events occurred primarily in adults between the ages of 18 and 34.
Federal health guidance recommends that healthy adults cap daily caffeine consumption at 400 milligrams, an amount roughly equal to four or five 8-ounce cups of coffee. Many popular commercial energy drinks pack between 150 and 300 milligrams of caffeine into a single can.
Dangerous caffeine consumption levels
Why you should care:
Excessive caffeine can increase blood pressure, force the heart to beat faster and trigger dehydration by acting as a diuretic.
Adults 34 and younger are more likely to consume energy drinks and fitness supplements regularly, and doctors warn they may do so without realizing they have exceeded safe consumption boundaries. Because everyone’s body metabolizes caffeine differently, consuming a second can may introduce physical strain.
Brandon cardiologist evaluates findings
What they're saying:
Dr. Abdul Saadi, an interventional cardiologist at Orlando Health in Brandon, said medical providers routinely question patients about their daily caffeine routines.
"We ask them, you know, routinely about energy drink utilization," Saadi said. "How much do you drink? Do you use any of the energy drinks? Do you drink coffee? How much coffee do you do? So those are very typical questions that a cardiologist would ask someone who's presenting with that kind of symptom."
Saadi noted that large epidemiological reviews give researchers a vital starting point to uncover health patterns among younger demographics.
"These epidemiological studies are sometimes beneficial in making us go down and narrow down and focus down more on this group of patients, you know?" Saadi said. "It might be what we call a hypothesis generating type of study. So, it would lead to other more focused studies and trials."
Energy drink causation questions
What we don't know:
Cardiologists caution that current medical literature does not prove energy drinks directly cause heart damage, though the data confirms a statistical link.
Researchers have not determined the exact biological threshold where standard caffeine usage shifts into life-threatening cardiovascular distress for individual consumers.
Chicago cardiology scientific sessions
What's next:
The American Heart Association is presenting the full research findings to medical scientists gathered at an academic conference in Chicago this weekend.
Physicians continue monitoring cardiac patients who report rapid heartbeats while encouraging the public to log their total daily caffeine intake.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13’s Briona Arradondo from an American Heart Association study examining FDA health reports, who also conducted an interview with Dr. Abdul Saadi, an interventional cardiologist at Orlando Health in Brandon.