Brooklyn politican drinks Four Loko til he pukes, for local TV news

[Enrique]

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local-beat/Local-Politician-Takes-Four-Loko-Challenge-108587149.html

Since Four Loko came on the market late last year, Brooklyn Assemblyman Felix Ortiz has been working to get it taken off the shelves.

Now, he's putting his words in action -- graciously offering to be the test subject by guzzling as much of the controversial drink as he can in one hour.

As the hour goes, the Assemblyman's pulse shoots up and his blood pressure slows as the alcohol, a depressant starts to take hold.

Sixty minutes later, two and 1/2 cans in, the equivalent of three large cups of coffee caffeine, Ortiz is intoxicated. His pulse is up to 86 beats per minute and his blood pressure is 126 over 84.

At this point we have to stop filming as Ortiz begins vomiting.

[TwilightGardener]

1. 86 beats per minute and 126/84?? OMG!!

Those are normal numbers.

[EOTE]

2. Wouldn't that depend on your normal, resting rate?

Considering that his resting rate was around 60 beats per minute, doesn't 86 sound quite high?

[TwilightGardener]

3. No. It's well within normal range--especially considering he'd had a lot of caffeine.

[EOTE]

5. So it's in normal range "considering he'd had a lot of caffeine."

Ummm, isn't that exactly what they were trying to point out? If your resting heart rate is 60, a 40+% jump doesn't sound all that normal to me.

[AlabamaLibrul]

6. It's very normal "considering he'd had a lot of caffeine". A heart rate of 84 is a light

jog around the block. It's nothing. There are people (even outside of, but of course especially the overweight category) whose resting rates are 84 and they don't collapse on a regular basis.

[EOTE]

9. He wasn't jogging around the block, he was doing nothing remotely strenuous.

A 40+% increase in heart rate while doing nothing strenuous is not normal. I think the point they were trying to make is that combining large amounts of caffeine and alcohol is not a good idea.

[TwilightGardener]

7. Were they out to prove that lots of caffeine raises a person's heart rate?

I think medical science (and all caffeine consumers) have that one nailed down already. It would be a concern only if he couldn't physically tolerate a resting heart rate of 86 (unlikely for most healthy people), or if his heart rate shot up over 100. Now, one can overdose on caffeine, have crazy high blood vessel constriction, very high heart rate and BP--but I don't think this was that situation.

[EOTE]

8. I think they were trying to prove that alcohol and caffeine is a bad combination.

And I think him puking his guts out seems to bear that out.

[Rebubula]

10. Hmmm...

...I have never mixed caffeine and alcohol and I still have puked a few times.

Are we going to start banning Coffee drinks? Rum and Cokes?

[EOTE]

13. It wasn't an obscene amount of alcohol, though.

More like a 6 pack. I'm guessing he wouldn't have puked after a six pack. And I never said anything about banning anything. I just said that if your typical resting heart rate is 60, then 85 is not "normal" if you're not exercizing.

[superduperfarleft]

15. Chugging a 6-pack in an hour could easily make someone puke. n/t

[EOTE]

21. It certainly wouldn't increase your resting heart rate by 40%.

And I don't think it's ridiculous to study why mixing stimulants and depressants might be a bad thing.

[superduperfarleft]

22. A dumbass politician chugging something in an attempt to support a ban is not "testing" anything. n/

[EOTE]

23. I never suggested that this be taken as a scientific test.

I simply said that your resting heart rate increasing 40% is not "normal". In spite of some people having resting heart rates the same or higher than that number, it's simply not normal for your resting heart rate to increase by that amount.

[TwilightGardener]

24. It's normal if you're taking a stimulant. That's what stimulants do.

Dehydration, fever, stress, anxiety--all also cause increase in heart rate. Variability is built into our cardiac systems. It's when we either get far above normal range (out of normal sinus rhythm) or we experience physical symptoms that it becomes a concern. Not arguing that this drink isn't harmful, just that the reporters of this story don't have what they're clearly hoping for in terms of vital signs.

[JonLP24]

35. It is a bad thing

because it screws up the rebound effect.

[Fuzz]

39. Or he's just a lightweight

;)

[Kalyke]

11. If your resting heart rate is 60, I would assume you were either

a marathon runner on the one end or older and/or less active in your daily life on the other. Runners tend to have super slow rates and so do people who are older or heavier.

Heart rates of 60 are uncommon. Most people are around 70 to 80 bpm and smaller people (like me) have an even higher rate since it doesn't take our heart as long to pump blood through the body (think birdlike). My resting rate is about 85.

[EOTE]

14. His resting heart rate IS 60.

They mention that in the video. So the spike up to 86 is a pretty large jump. If you believe they're fibbing their data, take it up with them.

[MindPilot]

36. That was my first thought!

If my BP got down to 126/84 my doc would be dancing a jig!

[kick-ass-bob]

4. I like one of the comments

"no one drinks more than one Four Loko in an hour"

Oh really?

[superduperfarleft]

12. Anybody want to buy me an eighth so I can go on TV and smoke the whole bag at once?

You know, just to show how bad it is?

What a dumb ass. Chugging four high-alcohol content drinks in an hour can make you puke, regardless of whether it's got caffeine or not.

[NeedleCast]

16. This Experiment is the Opposite of Scientific

It proves nothing other than a politician can still generate sensational news stories by doing things that most people realize shouldn't be done. I drink a moderate amount and drinking that amount of alcohol in 60 minutes would probably intoxicate me as my usual bar beer consumption rate is probably one beer per half hour.

This story should be sensational only in that the outcome is completely, totally, predicatble and doesn't prove anything about Four Loko.

[superduperfarleft]

19. I once took 10 shots of straight vodka in 45 minutes.

It hit me like a freight train, and I spent the next 16 hours or so lying on the bathroom floor puking up bile.

BAN VODKA!!!!!

[Initech]

29. If I wanted to, I could take a 750 of Sailor Jerry's Bluto style.

[Dyler Turden]

17. Amateur.

:)

[Barack_America]

28. Hey man, they'll be coming for your Kahlua next.

No White Russians without that.

[Erose999]

18. My friends were drinking Four Loko last week. Seems to be good stuff. You get a good buzz for $3.

Like any other alcoholic beverage, if you overdo it, then it will hurt you. Four Loko is no worse than Jagerbombs or straight vodka or redbull.

[Phoonzang]

20. I really have to get some of this stuff before nanny bans it.

Yager bomb in a can...nice.

[piratefish08]

25. alcohol and caffeine? you mean like every Red Bull and Vodka ever mixed together?

oh, the horror.

[Barack_America]

26. Or, *gasp* an Irish Coffee?

[piratefish08]

27. we wouldn't be the US if we didn't overreact and jump to a ban.

maybe we can redirect some War on Drugs $$ to start the War on Four Loko.

[superduperfarleft]

30. Look what they did with salvia and what they're doing with K2.

It's like the minute they find someone having fun with something, it's all about BAN IT!!!!!

[reggie the dog]

31. personally i think cocaine should be legal

and people could just do lines and drink their liquor straight....

[erodriguez]

32. Hehe That guy represents my district! That's how we do things in Sunset Park! What!

[RagAss]

33. I live on Espresso and Sambuca !

[JonLP24]

34. Four Loko tastes like crap

Anything higher than an 8.0 alcohol content in an energy drink is really nasty. Generally all beer that is 12% or higher is gross.

[Odin2005]

37. The hysteria over this drink is moronic.

[JonLP24]

38. Interesting - from yesterday

FDA calls 7 caffeine-alcohol drinks unsafe

Washington (CNN) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration told the manufacturers of seven caffeinated alcoholic beverages Wednesday that their drinks are a "public health concern" and can't stay on the market in their current form.

The move follows a year-long review by the FDA, which gave the companies 15 days to either reformulate their products or face possible seizure under federal law, said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, the agency's principal deputy commissioner. Experts have said the caffeine used in the beverages can mask the effects of alcohol, leaving drinkers unaware of how intoxicated they are.

"FDA does not find support for the claim that the addition of caffeine to these alcoholic beverages is 'generally recognized as safe,' which is the legal standard," Sharfstein told reporters. "To the contrary, there is evidence that the combinations of caffeine and alcohol in these products pose a public health concern."

One of the companies that received warning letters was Phusion Projects, of Chicago, Illinois, which makes Four Loko -- a drink nicknamed "blackout in a can" by some users. The company announced Tuesday that it was dropping caffeine and two other ingredients, guarana and taurine, from Four Loko in the face of "a difficult and politically-charged regulatory environment."

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/17/alcohol.caffeine.drinks/index.html?hpt=C1