Columns

So, we’re a few weeks into the year now, and all of a sudden reality is knocking at the door. How about those assignments? Don’t tell me lies, I know you’ve left it to the last minute to prepare that presentation, and you’ve been up until 3am finishing that essay. So when the going gets tough, what better way to deal with those write ups in the early hours of the morning than to grab an energy drink?

I don’t know about you, but I feel pretty ripped off when I pick up a can of Red Bull and don’t find myself with a sweet pair of wings. It’d be some pretty awesome science in a can if that were really the case. But seriously, are energy drinks actually giving you the boost they claim?

Here’s the thing about energy drinks: they want you to buy them. They’ll do whatever they can to convince you that their drink is going to turn your laziness into productivity (I wish!). EXTRA this! A DOUBLE HIT of that! But what happens if we take a closer look at the “magic ingredients” they add?

Let’s start with taurine – you’ll find this in Red Bull. Taurine is actually like an amino acid, but it’s used in bile, which helps digest fats in the intestine. This isn’t going to give you an energy boost for two reasons: 1) the amount in the drink is at far too low a level to do anything significant; and 2) your body is actually quite capable of making taurine itself.

How about guarana – that ingredient you find in V? Guarana berries are full of sugar and caffeine, and have a history of being chewed to give energy. But this isn’t because there is some special compound in them – it’s because they’re full of caffeine and sugar. You can get the same hit from a coffee, with a truckload of sugar stirred through.

The sugar and caffeine in energy drinks will definitely give you a boost, but there’s nothing else really going on here. There aren’t any magic ingredients that will give you an extra boost. You’re just as good getting an energy hit from a coffee – which is far more delicious anyway, so why are you wasting your time?

Sorry guys, looks like that can of V isn’t your golden ticket to the land of productivity. It’s just a bunch of marketing that is trying to use science to make some sugar and caffeine in a can sound legit. This isn’t marketing, this is science, bitches.

Science, bitches! is written by members of the Science Community of Otago (SciCo).