Science has now confirmed what anyone who has ever consumed a Red Bull already knows: Energy drinks cause your heart to do strange things. Obviously, this isn’t exactly a safe side effect. Along with caffeine, the main culprit may be the ingredient taurine. Though MRIs showed no major changes to heart rate or blood pressure, according to this story, after downing energy drinks, “more peak strain in the heart’s left ventricle, where oxygenated blood flows from the lungs and is pumped to the aorta.” The researchers are still trying to determine what long term effects this could have on people’s hearts. Currently, energy drinks are essentially unregulated, so unknowing consumers—like ones with existing heart conditions—could be in danger from the beverages’ effects …
