By Barrett Niehus
I was driving to work the other day, enjoying my obligatory glass of
morning stimulant. This morning it was a can of Red Bull, I
didn’t have time to stop at Starbucks, and I noticed that the
primary ingredient in Red Bull is Taurine. After hearing their
commercial on the radio, I got to thinking. How exactly does Red Bull
work, and does it really give you wings? Does it give you more
energy? Does it make you more alert?
Well, upon inspecting the ingredients and doing some research, which
wasn’t hard working as a bulk vitamin distributor, I found that
the Red Bull wings reference may be more geared to mental well being
than to actual body energy. At least this may be the case with
Taurine. As it turns out, Taurine is an amino acid that is used in
our body for a number of activities. A couple of which are to act as
a neural regulator, and to protect heart function. Substantial
amounts of Taurine are also found in our eyes and stomach bile. There
is no doubt that Taurine is beneficial, but I could not find any data
that indicated it would give you an energy boost.
After searching and searching, I realized that the "wings"
reference may be geared more toward your mental state. As I
indicated, Taurine acts as a neural regulator. In fact, it is one of
those chemicals in our brain that is responsible for a calm positive
mood. Perhaps the wings effect is referring to the fact that the
Taurine in Red Bull will make you calm and clear-headed. There has
certainly been data to demonstrate that Taurine is effective when
dealing with stress. Another ingredient that would indicate that the
"wings" tag line may refer more to your mental state is the
ingredient Inositol. This is another compound that has been shown to
have a positive, calming, effect on your mood.
What about an energy boost? In looking at the ingredients, Caffeine
certainly jumps out as a major stimulant. Other than that, sugar is
always effective at providing a good short-term energy boost. These
are probably the main ingredients that will make you more "vitalized."
So does Red Bull give you "Wings?" Well, the Taurine and
Inositol in it will certainly make you feel good. It has caffeine, so
there should be a small energy boost, and the other compounds listed
can help with your metabolism. Overall, it should have a positive
effect on your body, and at least make you feel a little calmer and
more energized. As for wings, well, what would we do with them if we
had them anyway?
Austrian Dietrich Mateschitz founded Red Bull in 1987 and owns 49% of
the company. Although the company originated in Austria, the recipe
for Red Bull is said to come from Thailand.
Article Author: Barrett Niehus
Barrett Niehus is a principal for IP Ware, http://www.freetrainer.com
and a technical associate for Compound Solutions http://www.compoundsolutions.com
in Escondido, California.
