Red Bull ... good or bad?

[wellard]

Does any one here on Ironworks drink red bull? I dont and never have, is it as bad as the French courts make out? did the product use to be 'stronger'? Does anyone here use it to help them study? Am I the only guy on the planet not to try it?

"Health concerns over the Red Bull energy drink were fuelled yesterday after Europe's highest court upheld a French ban on the product.

The fizzy drink has been linked to several deaths and some experts have criticised its high levels of caffeine and other stimulants.

Red Bull is Britain's best-selling energy drink, with 213 million cans consumed last year. It has been dubbed the "clubbers' drink", and is often mixed with vodka. The popular adverts claiming that Red Bull "gives you wings", have led to the brand being described as "the Porsche of soft drinks".

It contains caffeine, vitamins, and sugar which, the company claims, kick-starts the body's metabolism and keeps people alert. But France has refused to authorise its sale, along with other vitamin-fortified foods such as Danone yoghurt and Kellogg's cereals."

the full story HERE

What do you guys think? Ban it or love it?

[LordKathen]

Being a heavy java drinker, it has no real affect on me. I have only tried it a couple times. It tastes ok, citrisy. Basically its a real expensive sprite to me. It has become real popular at bars to mix it with booze.

[Dreamer128]

Tried it once, and liked it. But after hearing about the sh*t they put in it, I quit drinking it. If it is really as dangerous as they claim, they are right to ban it. Stuff like this should be kept away from the kids.

[GokuZool]

I've never tried Red Bull and I don't think I ever will. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Regarding the ban of Red Bull in France - I heard of a similar case of someone dying from drinking Red Bull (IIRC, in Australia) but it turned out that the person was drinking way too much of the stuff and already had a medical problem where she (?) had to limit her caffeine and sugar intake.

Too much of good thing?

Instead of banning it, they could always class it as an alcoholic beverage and therefore only sell it to people over 18.

[ 02-07-2004, 07:30 AM: Message edited by: GokuZool ]

[johnny]

Don't like the taste. You know what i'll have instead.

[Davros]

Taste's gawdawful so you won't see me drinking it again.

[Harkoliar]

there are two kinds of red bull.. the one that is alcoholic and the other energy drink.

the energy drink taste so bad... and the alcoholic drink hit you right away (well i know that from the philippines.

[RoSs_bg2_rox]

I havent drank it for a while but I used to quite frequently, it didnt have any adverse affects on me anyway, I did one night down a few cans to see if it would make me kinda hyper for a whole night and it kinda worked, I stayed up till around 6.a.m (which was kinda planned) but I was pretty Hyper the whole time!

[Epona]

It contains stimulants, which affect your blood pressure, and caffeine in particular hardens your arteries for an hour or so after drinking. If you have blood pressure, heart, or circulation problems it could be dangerous, especially combined with alcohol.

The other active ingredient, Taurine, is a naturally occurring protein which is present in all red meats. There is no current medical evidence to suggest that this is dangerous, although a severe overdose can make you feel dizzy and cause palpitations. Epilepsy sufferers are particularly prone to the side effects of a high dose of Taurine.

One major effect of red bull is that it dehydrates you badly, as does alcohol. The other effect is that it can seriously lower your blood sugar levels, which can lead to fainting, unconsciousness, and can be dangerous. These are probably the most serious health risks for most healthy young people.

All the (very few I hasten to add) deaths that have occurred in red bull drinkers occurred as a combination with heavy drinking and in one case with a heavy workout session at the gym. I don't believe you can necessarily pin all the blame for this on red bull. Alcohol can and does kill people with or without red bull, and I would say that on balance the deaths were probably the result of a combination of factors, maybe including the consumption of a drink that dehydrates and lowers blood sugar (not good if you're working out at the gym).

Personally I wouldn't drink it with alcohol, the combined effect of both substances on blood sugar levels could potentially be unpleasant, but for most people probably not dangerous. I don't wholly see the attraction of red bull to be honest, there are better stimulants available

[philip]

I drank some when I was tired and had to hockey in a higher team. They had a lot of cans of it and I was thirsty so I thought why not...

The taste that's why not. I won't ever drink that again if I don't have too