Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Jan 22;11(1):2.
doi: 10.1186/1550-2783-11-2.

Cardiovascular and ride time-to-exhaustion effects of an energy drink

Michael T Nelson  1 , George R Biltz, Donald R Dengel
Affiliations

Cardiovascular and ride time-to-exhaustion effects of an energy drink

Michael T Nelson et al. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. .

Abstract

Background: Currently, there are few studies on the cardiovascular and fatigue effects of commercially available energy drinks. This study investigated the effects of Monster energy drink (Monster Beverage Corporation, Corona, California), on resting heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), ride time-to-exhaustion, peak exercise HR, respiratory exchange ratio (RER), and peak rating of perceived exertion (RPE).

Methods: The study used a double-blind, randomized, placebo controlled, crossover design. After an 8-hr fast, 15 subjects consumed Monster Energy Drink (ED standardized to 2.0 mg * kg-1 caffeine) or a flavor-matched placebo preexercise. Resting HR and HRV were determined. After an initial submaximal workload for 30 minutes, subjects completed 10 min at 80% ventilatory threshold (VT) and rode until volitional fatigue at 100% VT.

Results: Resting HR was significantly different (ED: 65+/-10 bpm vs. placebo: 58+/-8 bpm, p = 0.02), but resting HRV was not different between the energy drink and placebo trials. Ride time-to-exhaustion was not significantly different between trials (ED: 45.5+/- 9.8 vs. placebo: 43.8+/-9.3 min, p = 0.62). No difference in peak RPE (ED: 9.1 +/- 0.5 vs. placebo: 9.0 +/- 0.8, p = 1.00) nor peak HR (ED: 177 +/- 11 vs. placebo: 175 +/- 12, p = 0.73) was seen. The RER at 30% of VT was significantly different (ED: 0.94 +/- 0.06 vs. placebo: 0.91 +/- 0.05, p = 0.046), but no difference between the two conditions were seen at the other intensities.

Conclusion: Although preexercise ingestion of the energy drink does increase resting HR there was no alteration in HRV parameters. Ride time-to-exhaustion was not enhanced.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Respiratory exchange ratio vs. exercise intensity as a percentage of ventilatory threshold (% of VT) for energy drink and placebo conditions. Values are mean ± standard deviation. Only 30% of VT intensity was different from experimental vs. placebo (*p < 0.046).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Hoffman JR, Faigenbaum AD, Ratamess NA, Ross R, Kang J, Tenenbaum G. Nutritional supplementation and anabolic steroid use in adolescents. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2008;40(1):15–24. - PubMed
    1. Froiland K, Koszewski W, Hingst J, Kopecky L. Nutritional supplement use among college athletes and their sources of information. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2004;14(1):104–120. - PubMed
    1. Clauson KA, Shields KM, McQueen CE, Persad N. Safety issues associated with commercially available energy drinks. J Am Pharm Assoc (2003) 2008;48(3):e55–e63. doi: 10.1331/JAPhA.2008.07055. quiz e64-7. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Shah S, Lacey C, Riddock I. Impact of energy drinks on electrocardiographic and blood pressure parameters: A meta-analysis of clinical studies [abstract] Circulation. 2013;127(AP324)
    1. Noakes TD, Lambert EV, Lambert MI, McArthur PS, Myburgh KH, Benade AJ. Carbohydrate ingestion and muscle glycogen depletion during marathon and ultramarathon racing. Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol. 1988;57(4):482–489. doi: 10.1007/BF00417997. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources