The Effects Sugars Have On Your Heart Rate

By Sarah Distefano

Abstract The reason why I choose to do this experiment was to give an example

of how your heart rate can change or be affected by things your drink. This is important because some drinks can be dangerous if you drink too much or mix them with activity if your heart rate was to get to high. This is to show how it can change by just drinking and no movement. The hypothesis was if you drink water, Red Bull, and Dr. Pepper, each on different days, then after drinking Red Bull your heart rate will increase the most. To figure this out I had ten different people drink each drink on three different days and recorded their heart rates before they drank and afterwards. The hypothesis ended up being correct, Red Bull increased the heart rates the most and the average for before drinking it was 69.9 beats per minute and for after was 90.3 beats per minute, which was a 20.4 beat difference. For Dr. Pepper average for before drinking was 64.2 beats per minute and the after drinking average was 81.2 beats per minute, which was a 17 beat difference. Averages for water stayed the same at 74.5 beats per minute.

Review of Literature Your pulse is your heart rate, or the number of times your heart beats in one minute. Pulse rates

can be different depending on the person, by age, health, or gender. A normal heart rate for ages 6-15 is 70-100 beats per minute, when your 18 your pulse rate lowers to 60- 100 beats per minute. Your pulse is different when you are exercising (Miller, 2008). Not only can pulse rates be different depending on the person and the qualities listed above but can increase by intake of sugar. The AHA American Hear Association (AHA) (the first time you use an acronym you need to define it) study shows that blood pressure and heart rate levels increase after two cans of an energy drink a day.

Energy drinks contain high levels of caffeine and an amino acid called taurine, both of which have been found to affect heart rate and blood pressure. Energy drinks are not good for you they could cause bad reaction in people that has hypertension or cardiovascular disease. It is most likely that energy drinks increase blood pressure and heart rate normally while doing physical activity (Diane Lofshult, 2008.) A drink that also has caffeine in it is Dr. Pepper but doesn’t have nearly as much as energy drinks do. The caffeine content in Dr. Pepper for a 120z can is 61 as an 8.7 can of Red Bull has 80 milligrams of Caffeine. Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant and it increases alertness (Pinneington, 2005). Caffeine enters the bloodstream through the stomach and small intestine and can have its effect as soon as 15 minutes after it is consumed. Caffeine can also stay around for hours (Weignbrug, 2001). Most energy drink includes caffeine, taurine, vitamins, sugars, and are marketed as enhancing alertness and providing a shorter energy boost. Energy drinks do not constitute suitable sources of rehydration or restoration of electrolytes in association with athletic activity (Miller, 2008)

*Pulse- the regular throbbing of the arteries, caused by the successive contractions of the heart * Caffeine-a white, crystalline, bitter alkaloid, C8H10N4O2, usually derived from coffee or tea: used in medicine chiefly as a nervous system stimulant *taurine-a neutral crystalline substance, C2H7NO3S, obtained from bile. My most important source was Miller K because she explained heart rate and how to take your own heart rate. Also the averages a person should have at a certain age.

Question, Problem Statement, Hypothesis

• Question: -Which drink between water, Dr. Pepper, and Red Bull

will increase your heart rate the most?• Hypothesis: -If you drink water, Red Bull, and Dr. Pepper, each on

different days, then after drinking Red Bull your heart rate will have increased the most.

• Problem Statement:-The problem is that heart rates can change by many different things, so how much can Dr. Pepper and Red Bull effect the heart rate.

Experimental Design • Materials:• Red Bull- one per person• Dr. Pepper- one per person• Water- one per person• Timer• Something to record with (paper, pen, pencil)• Heart rate monitor, or finger method (count your pulse_____ beast in 10 seconds * 6=

____ beats per min) • Possibly Heart Rate Monitor• 120z cups

Set up:The Red Bull just like shown above, dr. pepper and blue cups that we pour everything into. Water you can use bottled or tap. Show above is a bottle of water I used. The timer is to set for five minutes after it is drank. The after the five minutes you would record.

Procedure: This experiment will be a three day period

Day 1, Day 2, or Day 31. Gather all materials you would need ( water, dr. pepper, or red bull, timer, pen/paper, 16 0z

cups and the ten human helpers)2. Have each of the ten human helper take their own pulse then record it (Count your pulse:

____ beats in 10 seconds x 6= ______ beats/minute).3. Give them each a 160z cup of water, dr. pepper, or red bull depending on the day, and have

them drink it4. Then time for five minutes and relax in that amount of time before taking your next pulse5. After that five minutes is up take your pulse again and record it6. Record before and after times for the water, dr. pepper, or red bull, depending on the day for

each person on a data sheet or table

Names: Before Heart Rate

After Heart Rate

Mattie 60bpm 60bpm

Harley 70bpm 70bpm

Ben 72bpm 72bpm

Danny 75bpm 75bpm

Terra 60bpm 60bpm

Mary 60bpm 60bpm

Hannah 78bpm 78bpm

Sarah 70bpm 70bpm

Marley 80bpm 80bpm

Dele 60bpm 60bpm

Names: Before Heart Rate

After Heart Rate

Matty 60bpm 8bpm

Harley 54bpm 90bpm

Ben 72bpm 72bpm

Danny 72bpm 84bpm

Terra 66bpm 84bpm

Mary 66bpm 90bpm

Hannah 72bpm 78bpm

Sarah 66bpm 90bpm

Marley 60bpm 72bpm

Dele 54bpm 72bpm

Names: Before Heart Rate

After Heart Rate

Matty 70bpm 66bpm

Harley 78bpm 90bpm

Ben 96bpm 90bpm

Danny 70bpm 70bpm

Terra 60bpm 102bpm

Mary 60bpm 108bpm

Hannah 78bpm 96bpm

Sarah 78bpm 108bpm

Marley 96bpm 108bpm

Dele 60bpm 65bpm

Discussions

Discussions:In my Project everything went well and I got the

conclusion I wanted out of it but some results came out odd when recording the guy’s heart rates for Dr. Pepper and Red Bull. Most of the guy’s heart rates stayed the same or just went up a beat or two. But when the girls did it there heart rates changed rapidly and got a lot faster for the Red Bull and Dr. Pepper. From this problem, next time I am going to stick to one gender instead of using both.

Nothing changed because water does not contain any sugars or caffeine.

In Dr. Pepper the heart rates did change for before drinking and after drinking. They went up because the sugars and caffeine in the drink. The heart rates increased 17 beats with drinking Dr. Pepper

The heart rates increased the most on Red Bull because this drink contains a massive amount of sugars and caffeine. The heart rates went up 20 beats per minute between the before and after times.

Conclusions & Future StudiesConclusions:After finishing my experiment my hypothesis ended up being correct. After drinking all

drinks, the control being water and the independents being Dr. Pepper and Red Bull, like I said in my hypothesis Red Bull increased the heart rate the most out of all three drinks. This was because Red Bull included the most caffeine and sugars. Then Dr. Pepper came in second in increasing the heart rate because also it include caffeine and sugars but not as much as Red Bull. Red Bull and Dr. Pepper were really close at after averaging heart rates after the human participants drank each drink. Red Bull had an average of 90.3 beats per minute and Dr. Pepper had 81.2 beats for minute. The constant which was water showed no change in heart rates at all.

Future Studies:In my future studies I will you use physical activity after drinking each drink to see

reactant times and heart rate. For example if someone was to drink a Red Bull opposed to a Dr. Pepper or water which drink would give them better reacting time at the starting line when the gun goes off. After the race I would see the difference in each heart rate and how the drinks would affect it.

Acknowledgements Human Participants

Matthew FreddrickHarley SalmoBen OverschDanny SaderDele Papola

Terra BrockmanMary DistefanoSarah McAmaraHannah SearsMarley Brooks

Help With the ProjectMike and Sonie Distefano (My Parents)

Mrs. Richards

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