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American Morning

Energy Drinks and Alcohol a Dangerous Mix

Aired May 29, 2001 - 09:31   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: To health news, energy drinks with names like Hype and Adrenaline Rush are a hot new trend in many dance clubs. Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen looks at what's in these drinks and what they actually do to you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At this dance club in Atlanta, it's one order for energy drinks after another.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It kind of makes me stay awake where I get an edge on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It just makes me feel alert, awake.

COHEN: Sports nutritionist Liz Applegate is one of the few researchers who's studied energy drinks. So we asked her what's in them that seems to perk people up. Her answer was very simple.

LIZ APPLEGATE, SPORTS NUTRITIONIST: And frankly, they're nothing much more than caffeine in a can with a lot of sugar.

COHEN: One can of Red Bull, the most popular energy drink, has about as much caffeine as a cup of coffee. The makers of Red Bull told us other ingredients, such as vitamins and amino acids, help boost energy too.

APPLEGATE: And these are sexy sounding ingredients, and while they may give the allure that they're going to help athletic performance or help you feel energized, research studies actually don't support that.

COHEN: Most of the people we met here actually weren't thinking much about athletic performance. They like their energy drinks mixed with vodka, sometimes one after another.

(on camera): All that caffeine combined with all that alcohol has some cardiologists worried. They say large amounts of either ingredient could cause heart problems.

DR. LAURENCE SPERLING, CARDIOLOGIST: If they were to drink multiple glasses of this mix or concoction, I think there would be potential for significant danger, danger such as racing heart beat; elevation of blood pressure; and even, potentially, a heart attack. COHEN (voice-over): A spokeswoman for Red Bull declined to be interviewed on camera, but in a statement said, "Red Bull does not actively market itself as a mixer for alcoholic drinks."

So the experts we talked to said the bottom line is there's nothing wrong with these drinks in moderation, and yes, they will pep you up, but so would anything with that much caffeine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN: Speaking of that much caffeine, let's talk about drunk driving for a second here. Some people are concerned that go out, you have Red Bull and vodka and you feel all pepped up because you've had all that caffeine, but really, you're just drunk.

KAGAN: Goodness. Red Bull and vodka this early in the morning.

COHEN: It's so popular.

KAGAN: Are you feeling look an old lady, because I tell you, I am.

COHEN: I'd never heard of it.

KAGAN: We are so out. OK, in terms of marketing, we saw in your piece that it doesn't market itself as an alcoholic drink or as a mixer for that. Also, they're saying that they don't market themselves as a sports drink. What it is, really, then?

COHEN: Well, that's what people think they are, so there must be something going on here. And if you take a look at the Red Bull Web site, this is their home page here, they say that you should drink Red Bull prior to demanding athletic activities or in a performance drop during a game.

So, even though they told us, we're not marketing it that way, on their Web site, it says to do that. And in fact, the nutritionists that we talked to, they said you know what, the last thing that you want to be doing when you're in an athletic event is to be drinking this because if the caffeine doesn't dehydrate you, all the sugar in the drink will because sugar blocks the body's ability to absorb liquid.

KAGAN: Not to mention what that would do to your heart rate.

COHEN: Yes, exactly, so they say that's a bad idea. As far as the alcohol goes, they told us, we don't market this as something to be mixed with alcohol. But then again, look on their Web site. It says, can you mix Red Bull with alcohol? Yes, exclamation mark, and they cite a study that says that Red Bull has no effect on the alcohol metabolism, whatever that means.

KAGAN: Whatever that means. Red Bull and vodka.

COHEN: There you go.

KAGAN: You won't find me with that any time soon. Elizabeth Cohen, thank you very much.

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