Energy drinks and caffeine-or-stimulant supplements showed up far more often in reports of serious heart events than other consumer products did, according to preliminary research presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2026. The study cannot show the products caused those events.
What Researchers Found
A medical student at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, Sai Samayamanthula, analyzed voluntary reports in an FDA safety database from 2017 through 2025 for people 13 and older. Of 28,345 reports, 854 involved energy drinks or supplements with caffeine or other stimulants. The rest involved products without them, such as soft drinks, smoothies, vitamins, protein bars and meal replacement shakes.
Compared with those other products, the stimulant products were mentioned more often alongside several heart problems:
- Cardiac arrest: about 11 times more often
- Heart attack: about 4.5 times
- Ventricular arrhythmias or palpitations: about 4 times
- Rapid heart rate: nearly 3 times
- Chest pain: 2.71 times
- Fainting: about 2 times
About 45% of the cardiovascular reports involving these products were for people ages 18 to 34. Men and women showed similar patterns.
The Catch
These are counts of reports, not measures of risk. The database is voluntary and incomplete, and the researchers could not count how many people used these products without problems. Other conditions or behaviors could explain the results, and products were grouped by ingredient, not brand.
Gregory M. Marcus, a UCSF cardiologist who chaired the AHA’s 2026 scientific statement on caffeine and heart health and was not part of the study, said the study “does not prove that caffeine products cause these events.” The work is also a conference presentation, not a peer-reviewed paper.
What It Means for Readers
The AHA’s 2026 statement says most adults can generally consume up to 400 milligrams of caffeine a day. Some energy drinks carry up to three times the caffeine per fluid ounce of brewed coffee, and some pre-workout supplements more than 12 times, the AHA said. Check the label for caffeine per serving, and talk to a doctor if you have a heart condition or notice palpitations or chest pain.
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