Red Bull Ban Upheld

While doing some research for this blog I came across an article that stated that France tired to put a ban in effect against Red Bull. The country was concerned about the number of deaths in Europe that was linked to the energy drink and did not want its products sold. However, the European Commission challenged the ban because "they complained it was imhibiting imports". The European Court of Justice then told France they must remove the ban until health risks could be proven. Only 2 other countries have banned this drink: Denmark and Norway.

My take on this is that I do not beleive France has a right to ban Red Bull. I feel as though the government could have gone another route and requested that warning labels be placed on the cans and then leave it up to the public to decide. If people want to risk their health while drinking Red Bull, then as long as they know the potential consequences, then that is their choice. It was definitely an interesting article though!

Rethink energy drinks!

Tonight I came across some youtube videos that advise against drinking energy drinks. They are a little weird but are pretty amusing too. The first one's slogan is "Energy drinks cause 11 times more harm to your teeth than pop. Don't be a dummy, stick with water". The first "commercial" is kind of lame, it is just a dentist working on a dummy's teeth that are perfect, then she goes and drinks some amp and her teeth are destroyed. Then the dummy calls her a dummy for drinking energy drinks. It's pretty silly. Here is the link to this one if you wanna watch! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k6PuZsWb0Y&feature=related

The second "ad" is a little bit better than the first. I shows how much energy drinks can really damage your dental health. It shows a man putting a tooth inside a cup of water, a cup of milk, a cup of V8 and a cup of red bull. As soon as the tooth hits the red bull it immediately dissolves as if it is an alka seltzer tablet. It is obviously a bit extreme, but gets the point across. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CUgQwI26GQ&feature=related

The third ad (there are 4) is also pretty clever. It shows a guy who wants to race another guy in a car. The music goes up and one kid begins drinking his Nos energy drink, and without finishing it, adds the rest of the can to his gas tank to give his car an "extra boost". When the race begins, the other guy takes off, and the kid with the energy drink's car just dies. The ad then says "Nos: as good for your teeth as it is for your car". This is my personal fave.. heres the link! :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03eNRxTBCsw

The fourth of the videos is a little gross. It shows some guys teeth bleeding all over the place as if it is a trailer for a horror movie and when the fridge opens to show the bad guy it is a can of Monster. This one was my least favorite because it is disgusting! Here's the link.. I hope all of these work.. you guys should check out one of them! (or all of them!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qNf3pIokFE

Sugar Free Energy Drinks

I never really understood the concept of a sugar free energy drink. I don't imagine them to taste very good! However, I decided to do some research on them (particularly Amp Sugar Free because Amp makes my favorite energy drink) because they contain different levels of ingredients, and even some different ingredients altogether than some of the regular energy drinks do. According to Amp's website, this drink contains only 5 calories, no carbs or sugars, and only 71 mg of caffeine, as compared to the 80 mg in your average can. I have never tried this drink because I am not usually a huge fan of sugar free drinks, but according to most web reviews, it tastes almost exact to the original and still is considered a tasty drink, minus the calories! However, this drink also contains phosphoric acid, which your average amp does not. According to studies, phosphoric acid is known to lower bone density, and has even been linked to kidney stones and kidney disease. Reading up on this, I found that drinking an average of 2 soft drinks containing phosphoric acid per day more than doubled your chance of contacting kidney problems. The drink also contains sucralose which is an artificial sweetener. I also did some research on this, but the food and drug administration have found no links with sucralose causing adverse health effects when consumed over a lifetime on a daily basis. Well, at least that's good! So, I don't really think I am interested in ever trying Amp Sugar Free (and I;m sure my kidneys will appreciate that!), but i wanted to research it since it contains so many "new"ingredients.

"More Power to You!"

There is a new energy drink to hit the shelves recently! It is called Amp Lightning and is packages in a yellow can to represent it's "lemonade" flavor. The slogan for their newest drink is "More Power to You", which I have used as my blog heading. Personally, I decided to give this energy drink a try on Friday and I must say it was pretty good! It has a citrus kick to it, and I am not a huge lemon fan but I liked it, despite the fact that the color of the drink looks like someone let a highlighter explode inside. It is bright yellow, just like the color of this font!However, red amp still has my heart, I really don't think they could make another energy drin k as good. I compared some of the nutrition facts of this amp compared to others It still contains the same amount of caffeine, sodium, sugar, and carbs as Amp Overdirve (my favorite), but contains less sodium than Amp's orange drink "relaunch", so I guess that's a good thing! According to some of the other reviews on this drink it taste's like "Mike's Hard mixed with 7-up". Overall, there are definitely better energy drinks out there, but if you're interested, give this one a try!

Redbull gives you more than just wings!

Apparently, it can give you blood clots too! An artjicle on "Times Online" states that a study done on college students drinking Red Bull can cause heart damage. The study was done on thirty university students between 20 and 24 years old. I guess the results showed that drinking only one can of Red Bull (sugar free) can increase the stickiness of your blood, making it easier for blood clots to form. According to the article: " Using tests to measure blood pressure and the state of blood vessels around the body, the Australian researchers said that after drinking one can participants had shown a cardiovascular profile similar to that of someone with heart disease" That's really scary! Red Bull of course denied the claims. Just something to think about the next time you grab a can of Red Bull!

Energy Alcohol Drinks

The company Miller-Coors has put a stop to their Sparks energy drink which contains alcohol. My first question is: why did they do that to begin with? So many people warn against the dangers of using alcohol with energy drinks, as one is a stimulant and the other a depressant. Knowing that their could be fatal risks, I am happy the company pulled these off the shelves.

Apparently, the company agreed to remove the drinks stimulants, such as guarana and caffeine, and not to target underage drinkers to have this product by cutting back on advertisements. According to the article I got this information from, "studies show that these types of drinks lead to binge drinking (especially because effects of being drunk are less noticeable when consumed with an energy product), car crashes, sexual assaults, and other risky behavior". The company agreed to have all stimulants in this product to be removed by January of this year, so hopefully some changes have been done. The company also agreed to change its marketing so that it shows no intentions of encouraging people to mix the drink with any other drink containing stimulants. At least this company is on it's way to helping others know the dangers of mixing energy drinks with alcohol!