Energy drinks have become quite popular in the past few years. It seems that the safety of these beverages is the focus of the public only when some regular energy drink consumer dies or has serious health issues. Red Bull alone sold more than 3.5 billion cans last year.
Red Bull is an energy drink produced by an Austrian company with the same name. The potion originates from Thailand. People often recognize this brand by their catchy motto – Red Bull Gives You Wings. Unfortunately, this is not the only thing that Red Bull can provide.
According to the latest studies, only one of these energy drinks can significantly increase the risk of stroke or heart attack. Taurine and strong doses of caffeine can lead to stickiness of the blood which eventually leads to problems like strokes and heart disorders.
Although you might feel awakened and even energetic, the truth is that after an hour you have the symptoms of a patient suffering from some cardiovascular disease. So, it is no wonder why Red Bull is banned in several countries in the world.
Do Energy Drinks Provide Energy?
To answer this question we should check the ingredients of the most popular energy drink – Red Bull. It contains taurine, caffeine, B vitamins, ephedrine, ginseng, glucuronolactone, glucose and sucrose. Judging by these ingredients, Red Bull is certainly an energy booster. But keep in mind that drinking a can of any energy drink will give you an energy boost for a short period.
According to many scientists, the effects of Red Bull can be compared to those of coffee or a can of Coca-Cola. This means that after the effects are gone you will probably reach for another can. Even the manufacturer recommends drinking no more than 2 cans of Red Bull a day. They often compare their product with a cup of coffee, but the fact is that coffee contains caffeine, and its effects are well known.
On the other hand, Red Bull contains many different ingredients, and their interaction is not yet researched well. Some of these ingredients are artificial which makes the situation even more complicated. For example, the ingredient called aspartame found in Red Bull can cause metabolic, neurotoxic, and even carcinogenic effects.
Do Energy Drinks Come With Any Health Benefits?
As we have mentioned before, the closest beverage that can be compared to energy drinks is soft drinks. They don’t have almost any positive effect on the body. Although they have some ingredients which are beneficial when they are alone like B vitamins and taurine, these ingredients have none of these positive effects when they are mixed with large quantities of sugar and caffeine.
In theory, caffeine can increase your alertness, but no research can confirm its effect when it is combined with the ingredients found in energy drinks.
Categories of People That Should Avoid Energy Drinks!
Besides children, several other categories of people should avoid drinking energy drinks, because of the ingredients mentioned earlier.
- People who have bad reactions to caffeine.
- Pregnant or lactating women.
- People suffering from stress, anxiety, or chronic fatigue syndrome.
- People suffer from blood clotting disorders, cardiovascular disease, and high blood pressure.
Some of these categories of people can experience worsening of their health if they consume Red Bull while for some of them, Red Bull consumption can be deadly.
Why You Should Avoid Red Bull With Alcohol?
Many young people are mixing Red Bull with alcohol to create certain effects. There is no definite conclusion on how alcohol and Red Bull react, but according to many experts mixing two substances that cause different reactions (stimulant and depressant) can have serious consequences and they can lead to death.
There are several cases around the world where people drinking a mixture of Red Bull and alcohol end up dead.
Few Ways To Increase Your Energy Level Without Energy Drinks!
If increasing energy is the reason why you want to try energy drinks then you should know that there are some more effective ways to increase your energy and on top of that they are natural and come without any side effects.
There are a few reasons why you feel less energetic – a bad diet, a stressful and fast-paced lifestyle, lack of sleep, physical inactivity, etc. To avoid this situation you can take a few easy steps:
- change your diet – remove sugars and grains from your diet and take more omega-3 fatty acids.
- start exercising.
- practice exercises that can relieve stress.
- develop a good sleeping routine.
If you want to get more details about the effects of energy drinks on human health visit this page.