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Does Red Bull Give You Wings?

DOES RED BULL GIVE YOU WINGS?

Image via http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Energydrinks-collection.jpg

University students around the world are faced with plenty of long nights revising notes, completing homework, and cramming for exams. After a while, it may get tough to stay focused or even awake for that matter so many “study-aids” are consumed, including the ever popular energy drinks.

These concoctions are loaded with sugar and many of them contain caffeine and taurine as their main stimulants as well as a variety of vitamins. Most of these drinks are advertised as “dietary supplements” so they are not reviewed by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration). There is a shroud of mystery surrounding energy drinks and many studies have been conducted to debunk this.

The companies that produce these energy drinks claim that these beverages will increase alert-fullness and performance, this may not entirely be true. Medical experts have warned that the feeling you get after consuming a can of your favourite energy drink may be almost exclusively from the rapid increase of sugar and caffeine in your system. This means that drinking a cup of coffee with sugar could produce a very similar effect.

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A CBC story on the risks of energy drinks.

Another worry associated with these supplements is the dangers of constant drinking. Many different energy drinks, even Red Bull (the most popular energy drink worldwide) have been banned in different countries. Despite, this energy beverages are generally safe in decent doses. If you drink them in moderation you should be fine, but if you start to rely on energy drinks to get you through the day, every single day it will carry many of the symptoms associated with excessive coffee drinking. Dehydration is a common side effect.

Diagram showing possible effects via
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Main_side_effects_of_Caffeine.png

If you were a child or pregnant is is recommended that you steer clear of these beverages as they are recommended for adults and can exacerbate existing heart or kidney conditions. In the end, drinking energy drinks is safe practice if you follow the suggested guidelines (Usually 1 to 2 cans per day). If a cup of coffee is working fine for you already there really isn’t a need to switch to these more expensive beverages however.

Zohaib Mahmood