title: Energy drinks: potions of illusion.
abstract: Energy drinks are widely consumed by adolescents as these claim to improve performance, endurance and alertness. Recent reports have shown that there are no real health benefits of these drinks. On the contrary, certain adverse effects due to energy drinks have come to the forefront, casting a big question-mark on their safety and utility. This review discusses the present status of energy drinks, their active ingredients and their safety. We conclude that energy drinks, despite having some short pleasant effects, can be harmful for the body and are best avoided.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Delhi; and *University College of Medical Sciences and GTB Hospital, Delhi, India. Correspondence to: Dr Piyush Gupta, Block R6A, Dilshad Garden, New Delhi 110 095, India. prof.piyush.gupta@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Nidhi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bedi
authors.forename: Pooja
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dewan
authors.forename: Piyush
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gupta
mesh_terms: D002110:Caffeine; D061215:Energy Drinks / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis; D059022:Food Safety; D006801:Humans; D010936:Plant Extracts
chemical_list: D010936:Plant Extracts; D002110:Caffeine