Every individual has different caffeine tolerance and different health conditions, therefore this article will help you to choose the best energy drink for you if you suffer from high blood pressure.
There are high risks in drinking energy drink if you have high blood pressure. However, the energy drink brands that I find best for people with hypertension are Aspire Energy Drink, Zipfizz, and Monster Zero Ultra.
Keep reading if you want to learn more in detail about these energy drink brands.
Contents
What is high blood pressure?
Hypertension or High Blood Pressure is a typical condition wherein the long-term force of the blood against your artery walls is sufficiently high that it might ultimately cause health issues, like coronary illness.
The measure of your blood pressure is determined by the amount of blood pumped by your heart and the amount of resistance to blood flow in your arteries. The more blood your heart pumps and the smaller your veins, the higher your blood pressure. A blood pressure reading is given in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). It has two numbers.
The top number (systolic tension). The first, or upper, number estimates the tension in your courses when your heartbeats.
Base number (diastolic tension). The second, or lower, number estimates the pressure in your arteries between beats.
You can have hypertension for quite a long time with no manifestations. Uncontrolled hypertension builds your danger of genuine medical conditions, including cardiovascular failure and stroke. Luckily, hypertension can be handily identified. Furthermore, when you realize you have hypertension, you can work with your primary care physician to control it.
Let us look into the composition of energy drinks for a better understanding of what ingredients have what effect on high blood pressure.
Common Composition of Energy Drink
Caffeine
The maximum caffeine intake limit for a healthy adult is 400mg.
Caffeine is one of the key ingredients found in all energy drinks. The amount of caffeine varies from one drink to another. Some contain 300mg of caffeine per can and some even contain 50mg to 100 mg of caffeine.
Although the maximum limit of caffeine is 400mg daily, the caffeine tolerance level of individuals is different. Hence I would recommend you take caffeine at moderate levels or else you can have some of the health issues listed below:
- Insomnia
- Trouble breathing
- Vomiting
- Hallucinations
- Confusion
- Chest pain
- Irregular or fast heartbeat
- Uncontrollable muscle movements
- Convulsions
Sugar
Sugar is another common ingredient in every energy drink. The amount of sugar also varies from one drink to another.
Sugar is not good for health so nowadays you will find a lot of energy drinks using sugar substitutes.
Sucrose is one of the most common artificial sweeteners used in energy drinks. Sucrose provides the sweetness without the calories in the energy drink. Therefore you can have a sweet energy drink without worrying about any calories.
On the other hand, it is still recommended to have artificial sweeteners in moderation. Too much of it can cause side effects.
Amino Acid
Taurine is a common amino acid used in a lot of Energy drinks. It is considered one of the most important amino acids needed by our body.
Per 8 ounces of energy drinks contain around 600-1000 mg of taurine.
The main role of taurine in your body includes:
- Maintaining proper hydration and electrolyte balance in your cells
- Forming bile salts, which play an important role in digestion
- Regulating minerals such as calcium within your cells
- Supporting the general function of your central nervous system and eyes
- Regulating immune system health and antioxidant function
Guarana
Guarana is a natural source of caffeine that is used in a lot of energy drinks.
The benefits of guarana are:
- Treatment for anxiety
- Helps weight loss
- Improves mental health performance
- Helps with fever
- Helps with headache
- Enhancement of athletic performance
Although it has a lot of good qualities, it should be taken to moderation to avoid the side effects listed below:
- Anxiety
- Convulsions
- Delirium
- Dependence
- Diarrhea
- Dizziness
- Fast heart rate
- Gastrointestinal (GI) upset
- Headache
- High blood pressure (hypertension)
- High blood sugar (hyperglycemia)
Ginseng
Ginseng is an ancient spice that is used to heal people due to its restorative properties.
It also is a source of energy and it contains anti-fungal properties and it helps to advance memory and relieve stress.
Energy drinks usually contain 8mg to 400mg of ginseng per 8 ounces can.
Given a very small amount of it is used in energy drinks, there are no possibilities of side effects unless you are allergic to it.
B Vitamins
Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)
B2 vitamin helps to break down all the fats, proteins, carbohydrates that we consume and turned them into energy and helps to manage the energy storage in our body.
Vitamin B3 (Niacin or Niacinamide)
This vitamin is responsible for keeping the cells in our body healthy and protects from other harmful substances. It is an essential antioxidant and it also helps to create DNA in our body.
Vitamin B12
This vitamin helps in creating new DNA cells in our body and it is responsible for keeping our nerves and blood healthy.
What effect does caffeine have on blood pressure?
Caffeine is a vasoconstrictor, which implies that it diminishes the size of veins and can raise circulatory strain. Caffeine exerts its effects by interfacing with various receptors in the mind. Specialists accept that different mixtures in espresso or energy drinks, such as antioxidants have a protective effect on veins.
Recent research shows that people with high blood pressure should be cautious about their caffeine intake but there is no need to cut it off completely from your routine.
Having about 284 mg of caffeine per day will not cause high blood pressure, but then again, it depends on your caffeine tolerance level.
Caffeine might cause a short, however dramatic expansion in your circulatory strain, regardless of whether you don’t have hypertension. It’s hazy what causes this spike in circulatory strain. The pulse reaction to caffeine varies from one individual to another.
Know more about what effect energy drinks have on high blood pressure:
What effect does sugar have on blood pressure?
Sugar is bad for high blood pressure.
Although sodium (salt) is known to prompt hypertension or hypertension, sugar can really play a part as well. Eating a lot of sugar can restrain the creation of nitric oxide (NO) in veins. Nitric oxide ordinarily assists with vasodilation (extending of the veins). Without NO, vasoconstriction (narrowing of the veins) can result, prompting hypertension.
Fructose, a sort of common sugar, raises the degrees of uric acid in the blood, which thus hinders the creation of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is the thing that helps your veins keep up with adaptability, so when levels of NO are brought down, you can encounter a rise in blood pressure.
What’s more, expanded sugar utilization can prompt weight gain. Obesity is additionally a supporter of high blood pressure.
Sugar in processed food is viewed as a primary driver of hypertension, as well. Specifically, added sugar, for example, table sugar and syrups used to plan and deal with food sources, is believed to be more unsafe than normally happening sugars like those in fruits and vegetables.
Some studies show that sugar can increase salt sensitivity which leads to increasing the negative effects of salt in the body.
Avoiding sugar in the case that you have high blood pressure is highly recommended.
Artificial Sweeteners also have a long-term effect on raising blood pressure. Research shows that artificial sugars might be related to long-term weight gain and expanded danger of obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and coronary illness, as indicated by another review.
Can you drink energy drinks if you have high blood pressure?
It is risky to frequently consume energy drinks but if you can’t help it, it should be consumed with utmost care occasionally.
The jolt of energy that you get from drinking energy drinks can cause a temporary increase in blood pressure. Therefore it is essential to choose the correct energy drink.
But, you can drink caffeinated drinks regardless of whether you have hypertension if your doctor says it’s protected to do as such.
Possibly you’ve gone over different articles like this one that don’t suggest caffeinated drinks on the off chance that you have hypertension.
You ought to positively get the last word from your primary care physician, however, it may not be important to totally remove all caffeinated drinks.
Keep in mind, caffeinated drinks are not by any means the only beverages that contain caffeine and (once in a while) sugar. Espresso, tea, and soft drinks all frequently contain those fixings as well.
Hypertension or not, I figure you ought to pick caffeinated drinks that are low in caffeine, with practically no sugar and few calories.
Control is critical.
Regardless of whether your PCP gives you the all unmistakable, you ought to consistently burn through all stimulated drinks with some restraint.
In conclusion, you need to screen yourself and be answerable for your own prosperity.
I realize it’s difficult to totally keep away from something that you’re utilized to, yet pay attention to your body. In the event that it seems like caffeinated drinks are messing you up, you should remove them totally and give your PCP another visit.
Energy drinks and high blood pressure medication
Indeed, caffeine interferes with hypertension medicine.
Drinking caffeinated refreshments including espresso or even caffeinated beverages can make your drug less effective, which can affect your circulatory strain.
Caffeine has a short-term increasing impact on your circulatory strain, while your medicine is attempting to decrease your blood pressure. These two powers are pulling in inverse ways, however, the general outcome is higher by and large circulatory strain contrasted with not having any caffeine.
Be that as it may, converse with your primary care physician concerning whether it’s alright to have caffeine in the mix with your particular medicine.
What effect does taurine have on blood pressure?
Taurine is in reality useful for hypertension.
A study done on rats suggest that taurine is helpful for reducing high blood pressure.
Another study on mice shows that consuming energy drinks containing taurine and caffeine had lower blood pressure.
In my opinion, it would be best to choose a drink that has low caffeine and sugar and a good amount of taurine.
Is it safe to drink Red Bull while having high blood pressure?
Indeed, you can drink Red Bull on the off chance that you have hypertension if your primary care physician says it’s OK.
Red Bull just has 80mg of caffeine, which I consider to be a reasonable sum, which is not exactly the normal mug of espresso.
In any case, Red Bull likewise contains 27g of sugar and 110 calories. That is a considerable amount of sugar, particularly considering the American Heart Association’s direction on sugar.
An excess of sugar can add to putting on weight, and recollect, weight gain is anything but an old buddy of hypertension.
Red Bull unquestionably isn’t the most noticeably terrible choice in the event that you have hypertension, particularly in the event that you pick them without sugar form. Yet, clear it with your primary care physician first to ensure it’s safe for you.
Suitable drinks for high blood pressure
Aspire Energy Drink
Aspire is one of the healthiest drinks in the market available.
It has 80mg of naturally occurring caffeine and no calories at all. It also has zero sugar. It also has a minimum amount of artificial ingredients and preservatives.
This drink can be a good addition to your diet considering all the naturally occurring nutrition it contains.
Check out my comprehensive article on Aspire Energy Drink Nutrition Facts in this article.
Zipfizz
Zipfizz contains 100mg of caffeine, 20 calories, and zero sugar. This too is a good option you can consider.
This drink contains a lot of other good ingredients which are good for high blood pressure.
You might also find my article on Zipfizz Caffeine and Ingredients helpful in deciding which energy drink to buy.
Monster Zero Ultra
This drink contains zero sugar, zero calories, and 160mg of caffeine.
If you already consume Monster Drink and you are having high blood pressure then you can just switch to their zero-sugar version. But also keep in mind that it has a bit more caffeine which is not good for high blood pressure.
Know how many Monster energy drink can you safely consume in a day in this article!
Final Thoughts
You should avoid any energy drink that is high in caffeine and sugar if you are suffering from high blood pressure.
Eliminating energy drinks completely from your diet is not necessary, but since energy drinks can interfere with the medication for high blood pressure, you should consult with your doctor and chose a drink that is suitable for your health.