A few weeks ago Tony, age 35, reminded me to write an article about the new “energy drink” Red Bull. Tony and his wife had come in for a consultation on preconception care. They had read one of my articles that indicated that it takes 12 months to make a healthy baby, 3 months of good preconception care and a 9 month healthy pregnancy! Tony had a history of addictions so it wasn’t surprising to learn that he was hooked on Red Bull.

I have seen it on local grocery store shelves, as it was recently approved for sale in Canada, but it has been a very popular drink in Europe since 1996. It was developed in Austria and in the year 2004, 2 billion cans were sold world wide at $3.00 CA per can!

It contains three major ingredients 1000mg taurine, 80mg caffeine and glucuronolactone. Taurine is an amino acid and in naturopathic medicine is considered a therapeutic amino acid used to treat cardiovascular disease, seizure disorders, arrhythmias, macular degeneration and diabetes. It has only recently been made available to our profession to prescribe its use! 80mg caffeine is the same quantity found in one cup of coffee but three times the caffeine found in the same amount of Coke. Glucuronolactone is a carbohydrate whose exacts mechanisms in humans is not clear. The combination of these ingredients in humans has not been adequately studied. Pregnant women should not ingest more than 300mg of caffeine per day and need to take into consideration other sources of caffeine such as tea, chocolate, coffee and other energy drinks that would contribute to this daily dosage. Children who consume this energy drink might experience symptoms of irritability, nervousness and anxiety related to the caffeine content. One can of Red Bull also contains 5 teaspoons of sugar.

Countries such as Norway, Denmark and France have banned the sale of Red Bull. Their concerns are that the dosages of Taurine and glucuronolactone are much higher than found in regular dietary sources and their interactions with each other are not known. When combined with alcohol it is even more stimulating and addictive. In Canada there is a warning on the label not to combine with alcohol but this is ignored in most establishments.

Over the years there have been several deaths of young people who had several cans of Red Bull before their collapse. The cause of death has not been attributed to Red Bull, but it is known to lower blood pressure and to cause dehydration both of which put an extra strain on the heart.  What the regulators at Health Canada say is that Red Bull has been approved with strings attached.

So for Tony I tried to give him a few other ideas for ‘soft drink” ideas. One of my favorites is what I call “ginger juice”. Take 2 cups of fresh ginger, slice it and boil it in one gallon of purified water for one hour. This will make a nice flavorful drink. Let cool, store in glass jugs in the fridge, serve on ice with a splash of lime or lemon juice and stevia drops to taste. Some folks don’t like ginger, but when I give them a taste they love it! It is the low carbohydrate version of gingerale! If you really won’t try the ginger use your favorite herbal teas. These don’t need boiling but steep for 20 minutes, making it as strong as you like and cool.

Getting folks off of addictive substances usually requires good liver and adrenal gland support but one of the first things we do is recommend a cleansing program. If you are addicted to any food you really feel it when you stop it. Tony had a headache for three days as he stopped coffee and Red Bull at the same time! This is why I suggest starting a cleanse on the weekend so you can take it easy. By day 3-5 Tony was feeling a lot better but he was surprised how long it took him to get back to normal energy. I explained it wasn’t just the caffeine that he was withdrawing from but the sugar, dairy and wheat as well!

He was using the recipes on my website enjoying the Baba Ganouj, Rice Pancakes, Garbanzo Bean Salad, Vegetarian Rice Noodles with Peanut Sauce and others. To keep up his protein requirements he ate fish, soy and eggs. By the time he had finished the first week, he was over the hump and the second week was a lot easier. His offspring will surely thank him for giving them a head start with their immune system. As for Red Bull, he doesn’t miss it. He will have a specialty coffee once in awhile, then he knows what he is dealing with, but he leaves Red Bull for those who want to gamble with their bodies.