A NUTRITIONIST has his out against energy drinks after it emerged a second man suffered a heart attack due to consuming too many.

Yesterday, Martin Bowling, 28, of Little Wakering, warned the public against energy drink consumption following his suffered a heart attack drinking two litres of the caffeine and sugar-rich drinks in one night.

After we revealed his story, Jayson Hurrell, 25, contacted us to say he had also suffered a minor heart attack three months ago, again due to excessive energy drink consumption.

Melanie Ryan, nutritionist with Body Matters, in Ashleigh Drive, Leigh, has said that as well as the immediate heart attack risk, prolonged consumption of the drinks can have long-term health effects.

She said: “It is worrying that people this young are having heart attacks but it is clear that it is the young people who go for these drinks.

“They don’t come with a warning but they should.

“We can see that there is a risk of heart problems with drinking these drinks as the combination of caffeine and sugar raises blood sugar levels three times faster than either on their own.

“Consistently raising blood sugar levels can then have an effect on the body’s insulin sensitivity and in the end lead to type II diabetes.

“Drinking them with alcohol is not a good thing either as it masks the taste and effect of the alcohol, because of the caffeine and sugar, so you end up drinking more and that has its own risks to the liver.

“They should come with a health warning on the can.”

Doorman Mr Hurrell suffered his heart attack three months ago but said it acted as a wake up call.

As a bouncer at a nightclub he was offered energy drinks by venues and drank them mixed with vodka when he was out on the town himself.

He said: “It woke me up and also scared the bejeebes out of me as I'm only 25 years of age.

“I think energy drinks should be on a controlled buying scheme due to how dangerous this stuff is.

“They’re always sold the cheapest too.

“But I've learned from it as at 25 I shouldn't be having a heart attack.

“I packed it all in and don't drink them anymore as it’s the same as popping a few ProPlus, so definitely not good.”

How much caffeine is safe to consume?

• Between 300 and 400mg of caffeine is safe for most healthy adults, according to the European Food Safety Authority.

• One 250ml can of Red Bull 80mg

• One mug of filter coffee 140mg

• One mug of instant coffee 100mg

• One mug of tea 75mg

• One can of Coca Cola 40mg

• One 50g bar of plain chocolate up to 50mg

• One 50g bar of milk chocolate up to 25mg

Big business:

  • The market leader is Red Bull with 43 per cent of the market in 2014
  • They sold £1,899,554,000 worth of it in 2014
  • Monster is in second place with 39 per cent of the market and selling £1,631,390,000 worth
  • Rockstar, Lucozade and Burn are the next three biggest global energy drink sellers, a long way behind the top two
  • Red Bull may seem like a relatively new product but it was created in 1987 in Austria
  • There are currently 12 separate editions of Red Bull, including cola, sugar free, lime and a special F1 edition
  • Red Bull is the established market leader but Monster, now owned by Coca Cola, is hot on its heels and its value has grown by more than Apple’s in the last nine years