UNIVERSIDAD EVANGÉLICA DE EL SALVADOR
FACULTAD
DE CIENCIAS SOCIALES
LICENCIATURA EN TRADUCCION E
INTERPRETACION DEL IDIOMA INGLES
THE
ABUSE OF ENERGY DRINKS, HARMFUL TO HEALTH
LIC. MONICA LUDVINA SALMERÓN REYES
JOAQUIN
ALEJANDRO GRANADOS BORJA
July
22nd 2019
INTRODUCTION
Recently there has been
an increase in energy drink consumption in young and adolescents, leading to
caffeine abuse. This increased consumption served as motivation for creating an
educational workshop in a collective of adolescents. The aim of this work was
improving the level of knowledge about energy drinks and to assess the impact
on the knowledge of the workshop.
Energy drinks or
energy drinks represent a group of products that have been freely marketed in
many countries for some years. Its irruption in the market is influenced by
intense advertising campaigns, which define them as refreshing drinks created
to increase physical resistance, provide a sensation of well-being and
stimulate the metabolism, capable of supplying a high level of energy coming
from a combination of ingredients added by its possible stimulant effects. They
contain a mixture of compounds that include caffeine, glocuronolactone and
vitamins. Some attribute their stimulant properties to amino acids such as
taurine or its content in extracts of herbs such as ginseng or guarana, and in
some cases minerals, inositol and carnitine are added.
The recent
increase in the consumption of energy drinks associated with leisure, during
exam periods, in relation to the practice of sports activities, as well as the
popularity that they enjoy among adolescents and young people, has aroused the
concern of some health authorities in different countries.
THE
ABUSE OF ENERGY DRINKS, HARMFUL TO HEALTH
The combination of caffeine and alcohol increases
blood pressure. Although the scientific evidence is not conclusive, the abuse
of these beverages with high caffeine content could be harmful to health, so
experts recommend moderation in consumption, never combine them with alcohol
and that children and vulnerable groups refrain from take them
According to Infosalus Jordi Salas-Salvadó, Professor
of Nutrition at the Rovira Virgili University in Tarragona, these drinks, which
are difficult to define, contain substances that contribute a significant
amount of caffeine and that seek to elevate the activation state of the
sympathetic system, the In charge of increasing the heart rate or the attention
status.
However, its positive effects could be limited by
its possible side effects such as increased heart rate, blood pressure or
caloric expenditure (thermogenesis), says Salas-Salvadó, a researcher at the
Biomedical Network Research Center on Obesity and Nutrition.
Energy drinks are regulated by the European
Commission as a food product stipulated that it must not exceed the amount of
32 mg of caffeine per 100 ml. However, currently new formats are emerging that
could alter the perception of the consumer in relation to the amount that can
be taken or that can encourage greater consumption.
This is the case of 'energy drinks' ('shots'), sold
only at gas stations, whose small 60 ml containers contain a higher
concentration of caffeine than usual 250 mg containers or also the sale of 500
ml containers or even liter and a half of energy drinks that can already be
purchased in white brands in large supermarket chains.
The best-known energy drinks carry a large amount
of caffeine, about 3 or 4 times the amount present in other beverages such as
colas or coffee. The concentration of caffeine in energy drinks is established,
however, the issue is in the daily consumption of large amounts of energy
drinks or a combination of different beverages containing caffeine, which
greatly increases the average consumption of this substance among the
population.
CONCLUSIONS
Most of the adolescents
have little or no knowledge about energy drinks and about health consequences
of their consumption. This knowledge increased significantly after an
educational workshop with participatory and cooperatives techniques which were
selected according to the preferred learning strategies of the participants.
If these drinks are in the market, it is because they
do not have harmful effects, the problem is in the large amounts of caffeine
they provide and that their abuse can be harmful to vulnerable groups. In the
case of people with arrhythmias, it can be harmful given that Caffeine is a
stimulant of alpha receptors, associated with cardiac risk.
It has not been proven that these drinks with high levels of caffeine create addiction, however, the scientist Jordi Salas-Salvadó points out that in the long term, caffeine could have an addictive effect of being consumed in large quantities. There are people who can get to consume two or three liters of cola drinks with caffeine that are also rich in sugar and empty calories and contribute to diseases such as diabetes or obesity.
