Chronic Intake of Energy Drinks and Their Sugar Free Substitution Similarly Promotes Metabolic Syndrome

Abstract

Energy drinks containing significant quantities of caffeine, taurine and sugar are increasingly consumed, particularly by adolescents and young adults. The putative effects of chronic ingestion of either standard energy drink, MotherTM (ED), or its sugar-free formulation (sfED) on metabolic syndrome were determined in wild-type C57BL/6J mice, in comparison to a soft drink, Coca-Cola (SD), a Western-styled diet enriched in saturated fatty acids (SFA), and a combination of SFA + ED. Following 13 weeks of intervention, mice treated with ED were hyperglycaemic and hypertriglyceridaemic, indicating higher triglyceride glucose index, which was similar to the mice maintained on SD. Surprisingly, the mice maintained on sfED also showed signs of insulin resistance with hyperglycaemia, hypertriglyceridaemia, and greater triglyceride glucose index, comparable to the ED group mice. In addition, the ED mice had greater adiposity primarily due to the increase in white adipose tissue, although the body weight was comparable to the control mice receiving only water. The mice maintained on SFA diet exhibited significantly greater weight gain, body fat, cholesterol and insulin, whilst blood glucose and triglyceride concentrations remained comparable to the control mice. Collectively, these data suggest that the consumption of both standard and sugar-free forms of energy drinks induces metabolic syndrome, particularly insulin resistance.

Association of the Healthy Beverage Index With Metabolic Syndrome and Stroke in U.S. Adults: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2013-2014

“…A positive association was seen between diet drinks and MetS in total participants and males. As reported previously, diet drinks consumption increases risk of MetS in mices [41] and in humans [26]. And in our study, higher full-fat milk consumption was a positive association with MetS prevalence in total Figures…”

Long-Term Consumption of a Sugar-Sweetened Soft Drink in Combination with a Western-Type Diet Is Associated with Morphological and Molecular Changes of Taste Markers Independent of Body Weight Development in Mice

“…This effect was seen for both the WD and regular chow group. A similar compensatory mechanism has already been described for mice, including the CD1 strain, that consumed less chow when given a sucrose solution [ 27 ] or for C57/Bl6 mice that received a sugar-containing soft drink [ 28 ]. The SSB used in the present study contained glucose-fructose syrup, which is likely to lead to similar compensatory effects as described for a sucrose solution [ 27 ].…”

The Beneficial Effects of Two Polysaccharide Fractions from Sargassum fusiform against Diabetes Mellitus Accompanied by Dyslipidemia in Rats and Their Underlying Mechanisms

“…Digestive enzymes could break down carbohydrates in food, resulting in an increase in blood glucose level. Under normal physiological conditions, living organisms can quickly complete the absorption and storage of glucose in the blood, resulting in little change in blood glucose level [29]. When severe diabetes occurs, carbohydrate intake can cause greater blood glucose fluctuations.…”