If your heart beats faster at the thought of quaffing a cold can of energy drink (think Red Bull, Monster, Rockstar and their ilk), there may be something wrong with you that is more worrisome than your sense of taste.

Almost nobody drinks these hugely popular concoctions for their sublime flavor. People consume them almost entirely for the much-touted neurological jolt derived from an overabundance of caffeine (as much as three times more than in a comparable serving of coffee or soda) and its individual ingredients — B vitamins, the amino acid taurine and guarana, a South American plant with a higher caffeine concentration than coffee, ginseng and ginkgo biloba.

Judging from sales — $12.5 billion in 2012 in the U.S. alone — commercial energy drinks deliver their promised punch ... and worse.

A report presented this week at the Radiological Society of North America found that energy drinks appear to adversely alter heart function. Specifically, they can cause rapid heart rate, palpitations, a blood pressure spike and possibly, seizures or death.

If that's not enough of an eye opener, consider this statistic from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: Each year, almost 21,000 energy drink consumers find themselves in hospital emergency rooms being treated for unwanted side effects from the beverages.

BODY OF KNOWLEDGE

Food reaches the stomach from the mouth in about seven seconds.

GET ME THAT. STAT!

In the United States, 22 percent of American women aged 20 say they gave birth while in their teens, according to UNICEF. In Switzerland and Japan, the percentage is 2 percent.

NUMBER CRUNCHER

A serving of Denny's turkey bacon (two strips) contains 50 calories, 36 from fat. It has 4 grams of total fat or 6 percent of the recommended total fat intake for a 2,000-calorie daily diet.

It also contains 30 milligrams of cholesterol (10 percent); 330 miligrams of sodium (14 percent); 1 gram of total carbohydrates; and 6 grams of protein.

PHOBIA OF THE WEEK

Trypophobia — fear of holes

NEVER SAY DIET

The Major League Eating speed-eating record for whole pickled beef tongue is 3 pounds and 3 ounces in 12 minutes, held by Dominic Cardo. There are no reports that Cardo became sick after achieving this record, so presumably, he held his tongue.

OBSERVATION

"Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing." — Comedian Red Foxx (1922-1991)

LAST WORDS

"Yes, but not too much." — Dutch poet Gerrit Achterberg (1905-1962). Actherberg had just parked his car when his wife asked him, "Shall I bake some fried potatoes?" He replied in the affirmative and then suffered a fatal heart attack.

To find out more about Scott LaFee and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.