Energy Drinks Linked to Adverse Health Effects

The research, which analyzed seven previously published studies and was presented at an American Heart Association meeting, found an increase of 3.5 points in systolic blood pressure for those consuming energy drinks.

"The correlation between energy drinks and increased systolic blood pressure is convincing and concerning, and more studies are needed to assess the impact on heart rhythm," said Sachin Shah, the lead author of the report and an assistant professor at the University of the Pacific in California.

Monster was not immediately available for comment.

Earlier this month, the company said its medical investigators found no evidence that the drink caused the death of a teenage girl in Maryland.

The girl's family sued Monster last year, blaming her cardiac arrest on "caffeine toxicity" brought on by consuming two Monster Energy drinks in a 24-hour period.

The authors of the new research also found that the QT interval was 10 milliseconds longer among those who had just consumed one to three cans of energy drinks.

A prolonged QT interval, which describes a segment of the heart's rhythm on an electrocardiogram, can cause serious irregular heartbeats or sudden cardiac death.

"Patients with high blood pressures or long QT syndrome should use caution and judgment before consuming an energy drink," Shah said.

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Sarah Palin Drinks Big Gulp During CPAC Speech: ‘Shoot, It’s Just Pop!’

During a dynamic and lively speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Saturday, Sarah Palin poked fun at New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s campaign to reduce obesity by limiting the availability of large sugary drinks.

Halfway through her speech, while describing exchanging guns with her husband Todd for Christmas, the former Alaska governor pulled out a Big Gulp from behind the podium, smirked, took several sips, and remarked, “Oh Bloomberg is not around, our Big Gulp is safe! We’re cool. Shoot, it’s just pop!” The crowd erupted in applause. Watch it:

The gag was funny, but the Big Gulp is more than just pop — increasing serving sizes are one of the causes of the nation’s obesity epidemic.

As portion sizes have spiraled out of control, soft drinks sizes have seen one of the largest increases, ballooning by over 50 percent since the mid-1970s, just as rates of obesity nearly tripled. The average American child now consumes approximately 270 calories from soft drinks each day and nationally U.S. children drink about 7 trillion calories from soda each year.

The obesity epidemic now accounts for 21 percent of national health care spending — costing the nation more than $160 billion every year — a figure that will continue to rise since 42 percent of Americans are projected to be obese by 2030.

And while Bloomberg’s ban won’t single-handedly slim down the nation, public health advocates believe that it will discourage people from consuming “excess quantities of sugar-sweetened beverages” and change “social norms and unhealthy behaviors.” Palin may not need that kind of persuasion — after finishing her speech, she left her Big Gulp behind.

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Low-Income Black Youth Are More Likely To Consume Calories From Sugary Drinks

Black youth are nearly twice as likely as their white counterparts to take in large quantities of their daily calories from sugary drinks, according to a new study examining American beverage consumption. Low-income children of all racial backgrounds also tend to drink almost twice as many sugary beverages as wealthier Americans do.

Considering the fact that sugar-filled drinks have been conclusively linked to an increased risk for obesity, the study’s results reveal some of the racial and economic disparities within the nation’s obesity epidemic. “Some groups may be more at risk for soda, others may be more at risk for fruit drinks, all of which … have the same sugar base that contributes to obesity and disease,” one of the study’s co-authors, health policy researcher Lisa Powell, explained.

This particular study didn’t try to figure out why that’s the case, although Powell did suggest to Reuters that “cultural norms” and cost could both be factors. But other studies have examined the links between race, class, and nutrition — and research has confirmed that access to healthy food is divided along racial and socioeconomic lines. Even aside from cost barriers, lower-income Americans tend to live in neighborhoods that lack healthy, high-quality food in nearby grocery stores, and they often struggle to access the transportation they need to go grocery shopping. The fast food industry also contributes to nutrition disparities by targeting its marketing to low-income communities.

It’s not clear whether the soda industry is also disproportionately targeting low-income or minority groups, but it wouldn’t be the first beverage sector to try. Alcohol advertising has been proven to particularly target black youth, even despite the fact that African-American teens tend to drink less alcohol than youths from other racial groups.

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