Caffeinated Energy drinks consumption and awareness among medical students of Benghazi university

Abstract

Energy drinks (EDs) are a type of caffeinated beverages that are marketed to rising energy, the performance of athletes and mental concentration. Caffeine is the main ingredient in all energy drinks. These EDs are very popular and consumed by young adults especially among the students to increase their physical performance and mental activities.  Caffeine in energy drinks is main content. Caffeine is CNS stimulant and it is added to the energy drinks to increase physical and mental activities of consumers such as; alertness and improvement of memory. The main goal of this study is to determine the consumption of caffeinated EDs among the medical students and their awareness about it. A questionnaire was carried out on 200 medical students in Benghazi University containing: the use of energy drink, reasons for use, knowledge about content and effect, benefits and side effects. In this study, EDs were consumed by 65% of students and the males were drinking them two times more than females. Most students knew about the contents of EDs and their effects on the body( 59% and 65.0% respectively). The consumers were drinks the energy drinks to increase their mental activities for example, before the examinations (46.88%)  and they were feeling well after the EDs drinking (70.31%). Most of the students consume the EDs with other caffeine-containing beverages, for instance, coffee and tea, and this habit may increase the incidence of caffeine toxicity. This study concludes that a significant proportion of students use EDs, especially in males. The common reason for using the EDs was to increase mental performance. The questioned students were conscious the adverse effects and health hazard of the energy drinks. Most of the students use EDs with other caffeine-containing soft drinks such as coffee and tea which potentially increase risk of caffeine overdose and toxicity