By Jamie Bradley
Since Red Bull was introduced in the United States in 1997, the popularity of energy drinks has skyrocketed, especially among athletes. These beverages promise to provide a boost of energy as well as an increased ability to focus.
Energy drinks such as Red Bull and Monster have become a favorite tool of both amateur and professional athletes in need of a little extra something to get them through their workouts.
Despite the popularity of these drinks, many studies have been released that call into question just how healthy these drinks are.
A Mayo Clinic study released in Nov. 2010 recommended that athletes not consume any energy beverages at all, regardless of the duration of their exercise.
“Ingestion of [energy beverages] before an event or during training can have serious adverse effects, most notably restlessness and irritability,” said the report.
The study also found that consumption of energy drinks can increase urinary output and natriuresis.
Dr. Chris Parsons, a Radiologist at St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart, Ind., explains natriuresis: “Basically what [the study] is saying is that [energy drinks] prevent your body from re-absorbing fluids at the kidney level…and you can actually get dehydrated.”
Additionally, an Australian study found that drinking just one can of sugar free Red Bull per day could increase the ‘stickiness’ of the blood. This effect, said Parsons, is the most dangerous.
“That’s the biggest risk; [getting] blood clots in your arterial system, to your brain, or to your heart,” Parsons said. “Also, your lower extremities – your feet, or something – could get a blood clot.”
Still, even in spite of these studies, athletes continue to consume the drinks.
“I, personally, use all kinds of supplements – including Red Bull – when I work out, and I find that when I don’t use it my workouts aren’t as good,” said Ian Cardenas, a personal trainer from Detroit, Mich.
“I see a lot of people in [the gym] who drink Red Bull while they work out, I see it all the time,” said Cardenas. “There’s one guy…he works out three or four times a week and he comes in with a bag of Red Bull and he just hands them to people.”
Cardenas’ client isn’t the only one passing out these beverages at gyms, though.
According to Peter (not source’s real name), a member of Monster Energy’s street team, which passes out free cans of Monster energy drinks as part of the companies marketing program, they will often stop at gyms to distribute full-size samples of their product.
“Most gyms have member appreciation days where [members] get free stuff, so since we hand out free samples we go inside for like an hour and hand out [Monster,]” said Peter.
“The [gym] staff loves it – the personal trainers – they like bombard us,” Peter said.
Other gyms, like XSport Fitness in Chicago, Ill., sell it right behind the counter.
“We sell Monster, Rock Star, and Red Bull,” said Ryan Broker, sales manager at the 819 S. State St. location. “We do work with Red Bull, [they are] one of our vendors.”
Because of the potential adverse effects and the fact that most energy drinks contain upwards of 150mg of caffeine, Cardenas says he advises his clients of other, more natural, ways to boost their energy.
“What I tell my clients to do…is to have some fruit, and you’re going to get natural sugar from that, and that’s going to give you the energy to get through your workout… an apple, a banana, something along those lines,” said Cardenas.
The same goes for trainers at XSport, according to Broker.
“We always try to recommend something that’s going to be working with [a client’s] goals,” said Broker. “A lot of people come in here, for example, to lose weight – the last thing we’re going to recommend is something high in sugar.”
As for the potential health risks, Broker said that XSport closely monitors studies and FDA reports, and that they have pulled supplements off the shelf in the past.
“For example, when OxyElite (a fat-burning supplement) had problems with their formula…the FDA had gone through their formula and basically their formula was too strong,” said Broker.
Could that ever happen to Red Bull and other energy drinks? Broker says it’s a possibility.
“If it does become a problem where it’s like, ‘hey we have a lot of people asking about these products,’ I wouldn’t be surprised if one day we just didn’t have [energy drinks] anymore,” said Broker.
Until then, despite any potential health warnings, Broker says XSport’s selection of energy drinks will stay on the shelves because customers continue to buy them.
“It’s really just the supply and demand of the consumer,” said Broker.
Peter also said that they and some other members of the team choose not to drink Monster.
“It’s bad for you,” said Peter, “Sometimes I’ll see somebody grab a can and drink one, but for the most part we don’t drink it.”
Paul Yoffe, communications manager for Red Bull USA, declined to comment for this story (after initially responding to a phone call, Yoffe said he conducts all interviews by email. Yoffe never replied to questions sent via email).