混合酒精和能量飲料可能比你想象的更糟

As it turns out, mixing alcohol and energy drinks may be worse than you think. Although it might seem like a good idea, it's actually quite dangerous (via Self). If you remember the Four Loko controversy in the early 2000s, you know that the caffeinated alcoholic beverage was temporarily banned in several states after sales of the drink led to an increase in hospitalizations among teenagers. At the time, the drink was appealing to many people who wanted to get intoxicated without experiencing the sedating effects of regular alcohol.

事實證明，混合酒精和能量飲料可能比你想象的更糟。雖然這似乎是個好主意，但實際上相當(dāng)危險。如果你還記得21世紀(jì)初關(guān)于Four-Loko的爭論，你就會知道，含咖啡因的酒精飲料在幾個州被暫時禁止，因為這種飲料的銷售導(dǎo)致青少年住院人數(shù)增加。當(dāng)時，這種飲料吸引了許多人，他們不想體驗普通酒精的鎮(zhèn)靜作用，只想喝醉。

This is incredibly risky, however, because it can inadvertently cause people to drink more than they should (via the Cleveland Clinic). As a result, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued warnings, claiming that the drink posed a risk to consumer health because "consumers — particularly young, inexperienced drinkers — may not realize how much alcohol they have consumed because caffeine can mask the sense of intoxication." While Four Loko no longer contains caffeine, there are plenty of other caffeinated alcoholic drinks on the market that have since taken their place.

然而，這是非常危險的，因為它會在不經(jīng)意間導(dǎo)致人們飲酒過量。因此，聯(lián)邦貿(mào)易委員會(FTC)發(fā)出警告，聲稱該飲料對消費者健康構(gòu)成威脅，因為“消費者——特別是年輕、無經(jīng)驗的飲酒者——可能不知道他們喝了多少酒，因為咖啡因可以掩蓋醉酒感。”雖然Four-Loko不再含有咖啡因，但市場上還有大量其他含咖啡因的酒精飲料取而代之。

Exactly how the combination of alcohol and energy drinks impacts your health is largely dependent on the ways in which they independently and collectively interact with adenosine (via Self). Adenosine is a naturally occurring chemical that relaxes and dilates blood vessels. It also impacts your central nervous system by regulating your sleep-wake cycle.

酒精和能量飲料的結(jié)合如何影響你的健康，在很大程度上取決于它們與腺苷相互作用的方式。腺苷是一種天然存在的化學(xué)物質(zhì)，可以松弛和擴(kuò)張血管。它還通過調(diào)節(jié)你的睡眠-覺醒周期影響你的中樞神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)。

According to Dr. Brandon Fritz, a postdoctoral fellow in the psychiatry department at the Indiana University School of Medicine, high levels of adenosine in the body can contribute to sleepiness. As a result, drinking alcohol can cause these levels to rise, whereas consuming caffeine can have the opposite effect and actually ward off drowsiness. "Caffeine works to kick-start your [energy] by blocking adenosine receptors in your brain, stopping that sleepy signal and perking you up," Dr. Fritz told Self.

印第安納大學(xué)醫(yī)學(xué)院精神病學(xué)系博士后布蘭登·弗里茨博士認(rèn)為，體內(nèi)高水平的腺苷會導(dǎo)致嗜睡。因此，飲酒會導(dǎo)致這些水平升高，而攝入咖啡因則會產(chǎn)生相反的效果，實際上可以防止嗜睡。弗里茨博士告訴賽爾夫：“咖啡因通過阻斷你大腦中的腺苷受體，阻止困倦信號，讓你重新振奮起來。”。

One similarity that alcohol and caffeine share, however, is the ability to increase your heart rate and blood pressure. This means that when you consume beverages that contain both caffeine and alcohol, you're doubling the impact the two substances can have on your heart. This can potentially lead to atrial fibrillation and other more serious heart problems.

然而，酒精和咖啡因有一個共同點，那就是增加心率和血壓的能力。這意味著當(dāng)你飲用同時含有咖啡因和酒精的飲料時，這兩種物質(zhì)對你心臟的影響會加倍。因此可能導(dǎo)致心房顫動和其他更嚴(yán)重的心臟問題。