More than four out of five Emirati college students consume energy drinks, and about one in five do so every day, a study has found.
The study of 522 Emiratis at four college campuses found that 85.1 per cent of students consume energy drinks.
The research found that these students reported side-effects including headaches, blurred vision, nervousness, excessive thirst and difficulty sleeping.
Doctors are now pushing for the Government to further increase taxes on the sugary drinks.
“There is no control,” said Deepti Chaturvedi, a paediatrician at Burjeel Hospital. “Sugar is addictive and gives them a kick. When it stops giving them a kick, they just keep increasing the dose.
“I think it’s the media influence, peer pressure, easy money and ease of availability that is behind the high consumption of energy drinks. They can just buy it at Baqalas. It should be banned from school or college cafeterias, make it less easily available.”
On October 1, the Government doubled the prices of sugary drinks, including energy drinks containing caffeine.
“The taxes on energy drinks levied by the Government should motivate the parents and the students to decrease consumption and to look at the effects that children are exposed to,” Dr Chaturvedi said. “They need to increase prices even further.”
Dr Matthew Robby and Sarah Sanad, at the Sharjah Women’s College health sciences department, conducted the study, Survey of Energy Drink Consumption and Adverse Health Effects: A Sample of University Students in the United Arab Emirates, which also found that most students bought the drinks because they liked the taste (39.9 per cent), while 27.7 per cent said they gave them energy.
Another 13.1 per cent said that it helped them to study, while 11.9 per cent indicated that it made them feel better and 7.5 per cent said it helped them exercise, work or drive.
Those who drank at least one energy drink a day were found to have “slight to moderately” lower grades.
Dr Chaturvedi said that introducing sugary drinks at too early an age led to high consumption of energy drinks among young people. She had seen toddlers with soft drinks, which normalises these drinks when they are very young.
She said that side-effects of energy drinks include palpitations, insomnia, chest pain, dizziness, stress and headaches.
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Long-term side-effects have not been understood completely but people can also suffer fatigue as the body’s adrenal system is overtaxed. Caffeine also interferes with insulin sensitivity and the body can, over time, become insulin resistant.
“It’s a very popular trend among young Emirati people,” said Dr Andrew Jamieson, an endocrinologist at Valiant Clinic in Dubai. “It’s extremely common and the effects on health are quite substantial.
“These drinks are acidic and high on sugar, so they also have an impact on dental health. Youngsters in the UAE don’t recognise the problems they’re leading themselves into by having large amounts of energy drinks.”
The doctor believes calling them energy drinks is “misleading, as they might provide calories but they don’t necessarily provide the energy people are looking for”.
Dr Jamieson agreed that prices should be increased again.
“You have to find the price point at which it becomes prohibitive,” he said. “You have to make the drink so expensive that they would rather buy something like water for a tenth of the price.”
Roisin Thomas, a professional cyclist and personal trainer in Abu Dhabi, said it was different for athletes.
“When training I burn about 1,300 calories a day and having a sugary drink may be OK for me on that day,” Thomas said. “If you are a regular person, then you don’t need that can of sugary drink.
“Energy drinks may help me because it’s a surge of caffeine but most people don’t need it. If you do feel you need it, you should check with the doctor.
“Most athletes rely on maybe a coffee or a drink that has some glucose before a ride, but they don’t rely on energy drinks.”
Dr Arun Thangaraj, a gastroenterologist at Aster Clinic in Karama, Dubai, tried some energy drinks and found that there was a temporary boost but then they could backfire.
“It’s like anything that acts on your brain – you get pleasure and slowly it becomes an addiction,” Dr Thangaraj said.
“Any chemicals in the long run will have a detrimental impact on your body. The phosphoric acid in carbonated drinks increases acidity and acid reflux.”
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
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Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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Ruwais timeline
1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established
1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants
1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed
1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.
1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex
2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea
2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd
2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens
2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies
2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export
2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.
2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery
2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital
2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13
Source: The National
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
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Globalization and its Discontents Revisited
Joseph E. Stiglitz
W. W. Norton & Company
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4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
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THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre
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Tests 11; Runs 573; 100s 0; 50s 5; Avg 27.38; Best 94
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