JEDDAH: A nutritionist at Prince Salman Kidney Center in Riyadh has warned against excess use of beverages containing caffeine by students during examination days saying it would have negative effect on their health.
At least a third of students in the Kingdom use power drinks containing caffeine during examination to keep them awake into the late hours of night. They believe it would provide them strength, greater concentration and energy.
“But studies have proved that excessive use of such drinks is addictive, and they lose concentration,” said Huda Munir Al-Zara. She highlighted the negative effects of such beverages on students.
“These drinks containing caffeine and other stimulants are designed to stimulate the nervous and blood circulation system,” she said. “These drinks do not provide any useful nutrients to the body. They contain excess sugar, carbon substances and pantothenic acid,” Al-Zara said.
Power drinks are likely to increase heartbeats and blood pressure. She said a 250m-power drink contains 80 milligram of caffeine but it should not have exceeded 50 milligram.
“Excessive urination is another problem caused by caffeine,” she said. “Since it is a toxic substance it should be removed from body through urination.
“This leads to a person losing a lot of water and thus leading to dehydration. This is one of the reasons for kidney failure and getting kidney stones,” she added.
Al-Zara said studies have showed that average use of caffeine by people has not changed during the past decade. She said people should try to reduce the consumption of caffeine gradually.
“High nervousness, headache, concentration difficulties, and high heartrate are some of the symptoms of high caffeine content in a person’s body,” she said.
