--- title: Are Energy Drinks Healthy: Abnormal Heart Rate One Effect description: Consuming energy drinks may increase blood pressure and modify the heart rhythms of healthy humans canonical: https://time.com/4246337/energy-drinks-blood-pressure-heart-rate/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-03T17:05:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-15T04:59:09.000Z article:section: Health og:title: Are Energy Drinks Healthy: Abnormal Heart Rate One Effect og:description: Consuming energy drinks may increase blood pressure and modify the heart rhythms of healthy humans og:url: https://time.com/4246337/energy-drinks-blood-pressure-heart-rate/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Are Energy Drinks Healthy: Abnormal Heart Rate One Effect twitter:description: Consuming energy drinks may increase blood pressure and modify the heart rhythms of healthy humans twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Some Energy Drinks May Increase Blood Pressure and Change Heart Rhythms, Study Says  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Updated: Dec 15, 2023 4:59 AM UTCPublished: Mar 3, 2016 5:05 PM UTC  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Updated: Dec 15, 2023 4:59 AM UTCPublished: Mar 3, 2016 5:05 PM UTC Consuming energy drinks may increase blood pressure and modify the heart rhythms of healthy humans, according to new [research](http://www.pacific.edu/About-Pacific/Newsroom/2016/March-2016/Energy-drinks-trigger-abnormal-heart-rhythm-rise-in-blood-pressure.html). The finding, presented yesterday at a meeting of the American Heart Association in Phoenix, adds to [growing concern](http://time.com/3935287/energy-drinks-have-doctors-worried/) over energy drinks that combine ingredients like caffeine, guarana and ginseng into a potent stimulant. Researchers tested 27 healthy adults under age 40 in the small study. Participants who consumed two energy drinks saw a statistically significant increase in abnormal heart behavior and a rise in blood pressure when compared to a control group given a placebo. Both of these conditions lasted two hours. The new research is far from the first study to caution that energy drinks may lead to adverse health effects. A [2015 study](http://time.com/4104765/energy-drinks-blood-pressure/) in the journal _JAMA_ found that energy drinks raised blood pressure and caused a stress hormone in young people. Researchers behind the new study recommended that consumers, particularly young people, await further research before regularly drinking energy drinks. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4246337/energy-drinks-blood-pressure-heart-rate/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4246337/energy-drinks-blood-pressure-heart-rate/"},"headline":"Some Energy Drinks May Increase Blood Pressure and Change Heart Rhythms, Study Says","datePublished":"2016-03-03T17:05:20.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-15T04:59:09.000Z","description":"Doctors are concerned about the health effects of energy drinks","url":"https://time.com/4246337/energy-drinks-blood-pressure-heart-rate/","keywords":["Nutrition"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/nutrition/","name":"Nutrition"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4246337/energy-drinks-blood-pressure-heart-rate/","name":"Some Energy Drinks May Increase Blood Pressure and Change Heart Rhythms, Study Says"}}]}] ```