Thursday 13 November 2008

Red Bull Gives You Wings!

But apparently having just read an article by What The Doctors Don't Tell You, they may as well be angel's wings as it can boost the risks of heart attacks and strokes.



Oh my God, and we consume so much of the damn stuff too. Last year close to 20 million cans were guzzled in 120 countries. Scary figures! And with 80mg of caffeine in each tin PLUS five teaspoons of sugar is this really a ' natural health' drink as they like to claim? Don't think so.



It's used alot after physical exercise to re-plenish the hard working muscles. Ha, thats a laugh, as due to the high caffeine content its more likely to dehydrate rather than rehydrate. And after exercise the lack of hydration could put a strain on your heart.



The fact that it's served cold means we can down more of it than coffee, and our systems get a pretty instant buzz - just what you need as an afternoon pick-me-up or a hangover cure right? Wrong, very wrong! The high levels of caffeine and other stimulants such as gaurana, have been found to increase the heart rate and blood pressure.



I'm abit old for this (can't believe I'm writing that) but apparently the 'youth of today' are also making lethal cocktails with energy drinks and alcohol. Well, apparently it gets you there...... but with what potential consequences?



You get a double dose of the 'baddies' which will weaken your immune system and rob you of your vitality. Please think before you drink............. and try water instead, eight glasses a day. You WILL feel better for it, I promise you.



Today's Tip : Make time for the special things in life!

10 comments:

Paul said...

thats nice to know, as i drink virtually no caffeine now, despite being kinda raised on it, and at one point drinking constant coffee all day.

Something that makes me smile... The word verification bit on this blog... The word is always something that sounds like it ought to be on Call My Bluff... Today's word is Midackst.

Unknown said...

lethal cocktail? I don't think so...think it would be banned if that were really the case

Unknown said...

I am not suggesting ingesting a lot of stimulants is in any way good for you but to single out red bull I think is unfair. More people die from taking asprin or paracetemol each year than ecstasy but we dont single them out. Or just the excess amount of alcohol we take probably far outweighs the dangers of the red bull we may mix it with - this is poor research at best. And slightly scare mongering.

Paul said...

sorry to be a bit off-topic but also kind of linked.. Ruth, I would like to know what you think of Aspartame, the sweetener found in energy drinks which can have all sorts of long-term consequences, and should these drinks be avoided?

Unknown said...

Even Red Bull acknowledge that their drink is not deigned to re-hydrate. . ."Since Red Bull® Energy Drink has not been formulated to deliver re-hydration, we encourage people who engage in sports to also drink lots of water during intense exercise." www.redbull.co.uk

Ruth said...

Yes Paul, defo avoid all artificial sweeteners - Aspartame is the main player in this market, and is in fact one of the ten ingredients found in Sugar Free Red Bull! (even worse for you than the regular sugar one). Check out my earlier blog post on the subject for more info.

Unknown said...

Paul you sycophant.

Paul said...

i am a sycophant... half-sycopath, half-elephant.

"WOHHH!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THAT TRUNK?!?!"


--
my aspartame journey...

saturday, met a friend who said he is never drinking energy drinks again and hasnt done for a while. This was cos he'd read on the net and researched all the dangers of which there are many long-term. He claimed that it was going to be made illegal in USA but donald rumsfeld decided it should be legal, and that time he had a big energy drinks company.

so i believed my mate, like the sycophant i am.

then i researched it and found it to be one of the biggest internet hoaxes existing, transported by spam e-mails, lots of very legitimate looking websites etc... and of course, there are companies, e.g. sugar companies that would have a very large vested interest in scaremongering people about aspertame...

so to get the official score on aspertame, to see if it was really EXCESSIVELY DANGEROUS as my mate told me, i went to Food Standards Agency web site, and other sites talking about the reports done on it. Anyway, no reports had proved that any of the long-term effects existed. Although the study is a little bit limited in places.

but bottom line, the highly dangerous effects meant to be caused by it are completely unproven, so it is no worse than other sugars and sweeteners ( which can of course be bad for you )

Lucy, what's your favourite type of cheese?

Unknown said...

Anythin unpasteurised. . . so why did you ask a question when there is apparently no scientific evidence to back it up?

Paul said...

because at the time, i hadnt researched into it, i only had my mate's opinion that it was highly dangerous.