Red Bull Drink: Do Energy Drink Ingredients Cause Heart Problems?

The Red Bull drink has been under fire recently. A popular energy beverage that sells 1.6 billion cans worldwide, has increased the risk of heart attack according to an Australian study. The energy drink ingredients are the culprit, naturally.

A study of university students between the ages of 20 and 24 years old found that drinking one sugar free can of the caffeinated energy drink increased the "stickiness" of the blood and raised the risk of blood clots forming.
The Australian students, who were targeted in the study, showed a cardiovascular profile similar to that of someone with heart disease after drinking one can. Students were horrified. Apparently many of them drank as many as eight cans in a single night and say they will never again consume the popular Red Bull drink.

The study was conducted by the Cardiovascular Research Center at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and Adelaide University. Its leader, Dr. Scott Willoughby, claimed to be alarmed by the results of his tests. “After one can it seemed to turn the young individual into one with more of the type of profile you would expect to see with someone with cardiovascular disease," he said. I have to wonder about these results … if it can cause that kind of profile to young college students, who are theoretically at least in their prime, what will it do to the rest of us?

Naturally, the Red Bull drink manufacturers denied that their drink was dangerous. According to Red Bull, it is distributed to 143 countries and has never been banned anywhere it was introduced. However, that absolutely is not true. In fact, it has been banned in France, Denmark and Norway.

Example: Ross Cooney, 18, was a healthy basketball player, but died in 2000 just hours after drinking Red Bull. The student from Limerick, Ireland, died after sharing four cans of the drink with friends before a basketball game.

"5 Hour Energy"

My own experience with an energy beverage is limited to Rockstar and 5 Hour Energy. When I tried 5 Hour Energy I became dizzy and slightly nauseous. These effects lasted for several hours – in fact I was watching the clock waiting for the five hours to hurry and pass so the horrible effects would wear off. That is just my personal experience, of course, and obviously doesn’t mean that this will be the effect on everyone. In fact, obviously it doesn’t work that way for most people since the stuff is quite popular. However, my son and his best friend also tried 5 Hour Energy and, while not getting sick, had no increase of energy whatsoever.

Before chug-a-lugging an energy beverage, drinkers would do well to consider the energy drink ingredients and personal safety. I suspect they are a really bad idea.