It's Red and It's Bull

I was always intrigued by this product... and now that it is parked right next to me, I wasted no time to say my peace. I think I tried one can of this Red Bull a while back but tossed it away after one sip. It was too sweet, and I wasn't sure what's in the can. If you are curious, read on...

Claimed to be produced in Austrian and Swiss Alps using Alpine spring water, this is marketed as a potent energy drink. Besides the water in each can, it contains caffeine; glucuronolactone, a derivative of sugar contained in grains; other derivatives of vitamin B; Sucrose & Glucose, Red Bull energy drink contains Taurine. According to the manufacturer, Taurine is an amino acid, which is almost true. They say Taurine naturally exists in the human body and found in high concentrations in muscle, brain, heart and blood. That's not quite the truth. Taurine is concentrated in bile and found in the large intestine.

Red Bull says Taurine is involved in vital functions of the human body; that it acts as a detoxifying agent by binding with harmful substances and thereby accelerating their excretion from the body; that Taurine is also involved in neurological processes and positively influences the performance of the heart. Further, they say taurine plays a role in thermoregulation.

In truth, Taurine is essential for cardiovascular function and the development of skeletal muscle, the retina and the central nervous system. But you need about 1 gram of it for each kilogram of body weight, which your body already has if you are in good health.

Taurine was named after the Latin word "taurus" when it was first isolated from ox bile in 1827. The natural question that you may have is this "Should you spend your hard earned money to buy this energy drink?" Here's the answer:

Taurine is regularly used as an ingredient in energy drinks, with many containing 1000 mg per serving, and some as much as 2000 mg. A 2003 study by the European Food Safety Authority found no adverse effects for up to 1,000 mg of Taurine per kilogram of body weight per day.

A review published in 2008 found no documented reports of negative or positive health effects associated with the amount of Taurine used in energy drinks, concluding that "The amounts of guarana, taurine, and ginseng found in popular energy drinks are far below the amounts expected to deliver either therapeutic benefits or adverse events". There you have it... but... there's more...

The Red Bull people had this to say:

"Have you heard...

…about the origin of taurine in Red Bull? Many people bet it comes from some delicate parts of the strongest and most potent bulls in the world. Well, fact is that the taurine in Red Bull is produced synthetically by pharmaceutical companies and is not derived from animals."

So, if you think that drinking a few cans of this stuff will have the same or better effect than Viagra, think again. This is in no way an endorsement of Viagra, please do not distort my analysis!

Finally, if you wondered where all this Taurine come from, it's mostly made in China where about 3,000 tons are manufactured each year.