{"id":236277,"date":"2025-07-04T02:25:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-04T02:25:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/236277\/"},"modified":"2025-07-04T02:25:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T02:25:13","slug":"pharmacists-alarming-warning-about-popular-gym-habit-that-could-trigger-deadly-heart-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/236277\/","title":{"rendered":"Pharmacist’s alarming warning about popular gym habit that could trigger deadly heart attack"},"content":{"rendered":"

A pharmacist has urged gym-goers to avoid popular pre-workout powders due to the severe damage they could do to your heart.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Many supplements that claim to boost energy and exercise performance contain extremely high quantities of caffeine.<\/p>\n

This can, over time, increase blood pressure to dangerous levels and trigger heart rhythm abnormalities, according to Ireland-based drug expert, Lauren O’Reilly.<\/p>\n

In a recent video posted to her\u00a0TikTok<\/a>\u00a0that has amassed over 82,000 views, Ms Reilly said she ‘wouldn’t touch’ the powders.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘They contain\u00a0over 300mg [of caffeine] per scoop or per serving, which is the same as having three cups of coffee all at once,’ she warned.<\/p>\n

This instant hit can leave you feeling ‘super anxious with jitters and heart palpitations’.<\/p>\n

Palpitations, she explained, show ‘how much pressure all of that caffeine at once is putting on your heart, your vascular system, increasing blood pressure.<\/p>\n

‘Over time this can do real damage.’<\/p>\n

Experts have long warned<\/a>\u00a0of the dangers of high doses of caffeine, particularly for those with underlying heart rhythm problems that may be undiagnosed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Caffeine results in the release of hormones that increase heart rate and blood pressure.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In some vulnerable individuals, this can lead to atrial fibrillation, a condition where the heart beats rapidly and irregularly, increasing the risk of a deadly heart attack or heart failure.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The pharmacist’s warning follows last year’s alert from the Government’s Food Standards Agency regarding the safety of caffeinated workout supplements.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The body warned of the dangers of the ‘extremely potent’ products, after the death of a 29 year-old man <\/a>who suffered a fatal cardiac arrest after\u00a0miscalculating the his dose of caffeine powder.<\/p>\n

Personal trainer Thomas Mansfield died in January 2021\u00a0within hours of ‘necking’ a mixture that contained seven times the recommended daily dose of caffeine.<\/p>\n

Minutes after drinking the supplement mix he began ‘frothing at the mouth’ and ‘clutching at his chest’.<\/p>\n

An inquest heard that Mr Mansfield, of Colwyn Bay, North Wales, had mistakenly taken nearly 16 times the recommended maximum dose listed on the packet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Thomas <\/p>\n

Thomas Mansfield (left), 29, died of a cardiac arrest in January 2021 within hours of ‘necking’ a mixture that contained seven times the recommended daily dose of caffeine<\/p>\n

‘The dose he took was the equivalent of up to 200 cups of coffee,’ said the FSA in its warning.<\/p>\n

Concerningly, they added that a survey found less than half of people look for dosage instructions on supplements.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the latest warning, pharmacist\u00a0Lauren O’Reilly pointed out that the small print on products often advises ‘for occasional only’.<\/p>\n

She added: ‘People take these all the time and these are so so dangerous.<\/p>\n

‘And look you’ll see loads of warnings there. So, yeah, these are a massive no from me.’<\/p>\n

Instead, she said eating a banana 30 minutes before your workout will leave you feeling ‘plenty of pump’.<\/p>\n

The FSA recommends consuming no more than 400mg each day of caffeine, which is the equivalent to roughly four cups of coffee.<\/p>\n

In 2023, several lawsuits were launched in the US against fast food joint Panera Bread over the allegedly harmful effect of its highly caffeinated ‘Charged Lemonade’ drink.<\/p>\n

\"DailyMail.com <\/p>\n

DailyMail.com found that some health drinks that feature health-related claims on the label, like clean’, ‘plant-based’ and ‘natural’, have as much as three cups of coffee worth of caffeine, which could be harmful to the three million Americans with long QT syndrome<\/p>\n

\u00a0A 28 year-old Rhode Island woman took legal action against the chain, alleging the beverage left her with long-term heart problems.<\/p>\n

Lauren Skerritt, an athlete, drank two-and-a-half Charged Lemonades at a Panera location in Greenville, Rhode Island, in April 2022, according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

After drinking the lemonade, Skerritt allegedly experienced new episodes of palpitations and dizziness.<\/p>\n

Scans later showed that she was suffering atrial fibrillation.<\/p>\n

It followed the tragic death of a 21-year-old Pennsylvania college student in the US, who according to court documents, suffered a fatal cardiac arrest after consuming the lemonade\u2014which contained 390mg of caffeine.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ms Katz suffered a serious heart rhythm condition called long QT syndrome, which causes the heart to beat irregularly (arrhythmia).\u00a0<\/p>\n

She was diagnosed with the condition aged five and had managed it with medication and limiting caffeine, according to documents written by lawyers representing her parents.<\/p>\n

Dr Stuart Fischer, an internal medicine physician in New York, told DailyMail.com<\/a> that caffeine can eliminate the vital breaks in between heart beats for people with long QT syndrome.<\/p>\n

‘Patients with this condition needs a little bit longer than usual to reboot after the heart muscle has contracted.’<\/p>\n

Caffeine, he explains, speeds up the beating pattern, placing too much stress on the already stretched organ.<\/p>\n

‘If there is too much activity when the muscle needs to relax, it can be potentially fatal or at least a major medical emergency.’<\/p>\n

Dr Fischer added that just 100mg of caffeine, which is the same as a large cup of coffee, could be enough to trigger a deadly attack.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A pharmacist has urged gym-goers to avoid popular pre-workout powders due to the severe damage they could do…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":236278,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[92,45582,105,47724,449,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-236277","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-fsa","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-rhode-island","12":"tag-tiktok","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114792597080584252","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}