Dr. Mercola September 06 2008 218,978 views
Just one can of the popular stimulant energy drink Red Bull can increase your risk of heart attack or stroke. The effect was seen even in young people.
The caffeine-loaded beverage causes blood to become sticky, a pre-cursor to cardiovascular problems such as stroke.
One hour after drinking Red Bull, your blood system becomes abnormal, as might be expected from a patient with cardiovascular disease.
Red Bull is banned in Norway, Uruguay and Denmark because of health risks.
Energy drinks have been popping up all over supermarket and convenience store shelves in recent years, and have overtaken bottled water as the fastest-growing category in the beverage business.
No less than 3.5 billion cans of Red Bull were sold last year in 143 countries.
Yet questions regarding the safety of Red Bull, as well as other energy drinks, keep cropping up at regular intervals when yet another overzealous energy-addict keels over.
Do Energy Drinks Really Really Live Up to Their Name?
When you break down the contents of one of those eight-ounce cans, the primary ingredients are caffeine and sugar (in the form of glucuronolactone, sucrose and glucose). So the answer is yes, energy drinks will provide you with a quick burst of energy.
However, this is not a lasting effect, and drinking several in a row will not turn you into a flying superhero, no matter how hard their sinister marketing geniuses try to convince you otherwise.
According to the official website, Red Bull’s benefits include:
However, the effects of this energy drink will be similar to that of drinking a cup of coffee or a can of soda, in that when the effect wears off you'll start feeling lethargic and will likely crave another can (or cup) to boost your energy once again.
As many of you likely know, it can become a vicious cycle.
According to the article above, the Austria-based company that created Red Bull warns consumers not to drink more than two a day of their wings-in-a-can, but I couldn’t find any references to that fact on Red Bull’s website. Only a statement that said you should compare your consumption to that of coffee, with one can of Red Bull equaling one cup of brewed java.
The problem with that recommendation is the fact that no one really knows the net effect of chugging Red Bull like you would coffee. Coffee has caffeine, yes, but it doesn’t contain all those other artificial and energy-boosting ingredients, including no less than TWO artificial sweeteners (in addition to all the other sugar).
Aspartame alone has been shown to have multiple neurotoxic, metabolic, allergenic, fetal, and carcinogenic effects. I don’t believe it is safe for anyone to drink and I wrote an entire book about it called Sweet Deception.
Do Energy Drinks Have Health Benefits?
Nutritionally speaking, energy drinks are comparable to carbonated beverages like soda in that they offer little of value to your body. Yes, there are traces of B vitamins in Red Bull, and it contains the amino acid taurine, but this cannot make up for the detrimental effects of caffeine and sugar.
Although caffeine can certainly increase short term reaction speed, one major problem is that no one really knows how the combination of ingredients in Red Bull will affect your body. This is especially concerning since energy drinks are marketed toward people under the age of 30, and are especially popular among students and night clubbers who oftentimes drink several cans at a time.
Who Should Definitely Avoid Energy Drinks?
It is fairly self-evident that children should never consume these kinds of drinks, but due to the detrimental health impact of their contents, it would definitely be wise to avoid energy drinks if you:
As lead researcher Scott Willoughby stated, Red Bull can be deadly when combined with stress or high blood pressure, as it can impair proper blood vessel function and raise your risk of blood clots.
Mix With Alcohol for a Potentially Deadly High
Mixing energy drinks with alcohol, which is combining a stimulant with a depressant, has become an increasingly popular occurrence at bars. When mixed with alcohol, drinks like Red Bull are instantly morphed into popular club drinks like "Vodka Bulls" and "Yager Bombs."
The combined effect of these substances is unknown, but researchers say overloading your body with heavy stimulants and heavy depressants could lead to heart failure, and according to previous news stories about fatal outcomes from this deadly mixture, that’s not just a theory.
Countries like France and Denmark banned sales of Red Bull following several reported deaths of people who mixed it with alcohol.
The Red Bull brand has even made it into the scientific literature. The journal Medicine, Science, and Law published an article in 2001 on the effects of alcohol and Red Bull combined with yet another stimulant: ephedra.
The result? Acute psychosis.
And in this month’s issue of the Journal of the Clinical Autonomic Research Society, an Italian case study reviewed an incident of “postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS) associated with a vasovagal reaction,” recorded in a young volleyball player after an excess intake of Red Bull.
They concluded:
“Considering the widespread use of Red Bull among young people who are often unaware of the drink's drug content, this case report suggests Red Bull be considered a possible cause of orthostatic intolerance.”
Orthostatic intolerance is a condition in which a change from the supine position (laying down) to an upright position causes an abnormally large increase in heart rate (more than a 30 beats per minute increase, or a heart rate greater than 120 beats per minute within 10 minutes of sitting or standing up).
POTS has also been proposed as a mechanism for symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome, so if you’re suffering from chronic fatigue, drinking energy drinks is likely NOT in your best interest, which is why I included it in the list above.
As for alcohol, I don’t recommend drinking it at all. It is well established that alcohol is a neurotoxin, which means it can poison your brain. You also need to be aware that consuming large amounts of alcohol -- even wine -- will increase your insulin levels, thereby accelerating your risk of diabetes and other chronic diseases.How to Increase Your Energy Without Energy DrinksIf you’re drinking energy drinks for the reason most people do -- to get more energy – know that there are far superior options than artificial energy drinks. Humans are not naturally sluggish or constantly tired. This lethargic state is something that many of us have brought on ourselves.Your lack of energy is likely due to a combination of factors including:
Increasing your energy levels, then, is as easy as remedying these factors by:
For more details, my book Take Control of Your Health, is THE tool that will really help you regain your energy, once and for all. You can also check out my nutrition plan to get started in the meantime.
As a professor I see my students drink this stuff and it does not seem to help their ability to understand or complete their work. I, myself have been off caffeine for 4 years now and have no "shakes" or other problems. I can still stay awake and be totally alert, even though I need to rise early and I am a night owl. I also have "sticky blood" (anti-phosopholipid syndrome) as a medical condition- not a condition one wants to bring on if that is possible- but a stroke or heart attack is not something I want to induce if I can help it. Get real. The more crap you put into your body the less pleasure you will get out of it.
You know people....if you drink to much water you can die. Quit whining about the things you can't change.
www.foxnews.com/.../0,2933,327012,00.html
In April,we pulled our daughter from college(her senior year)due to mental breakdown from high anxiety and stress. She went back to her college town months later, visiting friends, and had 1 jager bomb. She was found several days later on her bed with what appeared to be possible seizure or even catatonia. Because she had suffered from a breakdown at that hospital before, she was put into an acute psychiatric facility and received drugs and mistreatment (her words) from staff. We left work and family behind to find her. We spent thousands (we really don't have much to spare- she's our 3rd out of 7 children)to get her back in our care; even got guardianship. Started supplements and now is at Mercola's clinic. I have not returned to work yet, its been over 3 weeks- she's much more stable now and I should be able to return soon. Just 1 Jager bomb- she had no idea how dangerous it was and said she'll tell all her friends. Why do they have to find out the hard way? This has turned our family inside out and set us back. We've had many blessings, too. Everyone was amazed we found her (HIPA !) I cannot tell you all we went through daily. Thank God we have her back.
I'm writing in the US where the FDA recently decided to mandate the
irradiation of spinach & salad greens. There are no notices required in
the grocery or restaurant to inform us that these foods have been irradiated.
The almonds in our stores labeled Raw are actually "pasteurized" by
saturation with a carcinogenic & noxious chemical.
The FDA is degrading
our fresh food, destroying vital nutrients and most of us don't realize it.
I grew up drinking raw milk and I didn't get sick and die.
Raw milk from healthy animals was the biblical milk from the fabled land of milk & honey.
It's also pretty difficult to find unpasteurized honey.
A raw almond is a miraculous food. Imagine a government agency (FDA)
that makes it all but impossible for US and even Canadian citizens to purchase
raw almonds. Did you know the "RAW" almonds you buy are dead from being
saturated with a cancer causing chemical? Is there any vitamin K or enzyme or
phytonutrient that survives this FDA mandated procedure?
Don't worry Red Bull fans, the FDA is nothing but bull and your Bull is safe.
The FDA is steering us toward synthetic do nothing vitamens, artificial sweeteners,
fast track experimental drugs, devitalized, irradiated GM food grown on chemicalized soils.
Ron Paul was the only candidate who addressed this crazy situation.
Have a nice day fellow citizens. Aloha
About 10 years ago, or so, there was a brand of raw apple juice/cider that made some people sick; a child died. It's one of many true stories about consuming raw products such as juices and milk.(google it)
WHY? If unpasturized goods are so wonderful for us, WHY do they sometimes kill? No one can answer that question for me.
It's because of those stories that I will never drink unpasturized milk or juices, or give it to my family. When these deaths stop, then I'll reconsider.
Good post OmShanti6!
We are currently drinking raw milk (mmmm delicious!) and have for some time (about 5 years now) and we eat lots of raw honey.
I have eight children still at home and they have almost NEVER been sick.
Only two of them have ever seen a doctor (one put a tooth through his tongue,
the other had 28 stitches).
We don't use fluoride toothpaste, and none of the kids have cavities (despite
not having fluoride treatments, imagine that...).
It seems that food was designed to do a job, and it does it quite well left ALONE!
The government gets involved in WAY too much of our lives, I think they are
trying to keep our bodies just healthy enouhg to make the drive to the doctors
office!
Ron Paul for President!
Tigator, some people die when they eat peanuts. Some people die when they eat eggs - pasteurised or not. Some people die when they cross the road, some people die when they get up in the morning, some people die when they drink coffee. Why does anyone die after eating anything?
stop this banning everything bad attitude, instead educate...dont touch a hot stove, dont play with a sharp knife, dont point a gun at your self, look both ways before crossing, dont jump off the roof, dont ingest aspertame, monsanto is evil, cast iron pans covered with paint isnt really cast iron, too much of a good thing isnt a good thing, dont do drugs, go to a functional medicine doctor, exercise, eat healthy, you are what you practice, socialism doesnt work, the devil promotes liberalism/socialism, conservatives are Gods favorites, ron paul isnt the messiah but he talks to Him, Sara Palin for president, brown smelly stuff isnt always shoe polish, juicing vegetables is good.....etc. etc. etc. see :o)
Freedom is hard to maintain when we spend so much of our time trying to force the other person to be like us.
Carryit: Educating we the people, is a very monumental task. Rather than go to the library, we will use the internet. There is on face nothing wrong with the internet as an educational aid, but it should not replace the basics. Then there is that one eyed monster in our homes called television which too many of us rely on for information. That said, we are being bombarded with commercials that do not give us proper or true information. Wall Street, and Madison Avenue crank out more lies than the devil, in the name of profit. So how do we educate, America does not read.
America lives under the misconception that our Government is looking out for us, and that simply is not true. Though the company that manufacturs "Red Bull," knows the health hazards, but will tell the people this is just not so, like the Tobacco Industry has for so many years.