Red Bull Energy Drink May Prove Harmful To Health

June 12, 2009 - PRLog -- Mother of one, Brooke Robertson, a twenty-three year old New Zealand woman, may have lost 45 kg in eight months, but she recently suffered a heart attack and has been left with serious health problems. Robertson drank 10 – 14 cans of Red Bull per day of the energy drink.

Robertson says, “I just started drinking it. I wasn’t sleeping. I wasn’t eating – I was exhausted. I continued to drink it because it’s an appetite suppressant and I noticed I was losing weight so I stuck to it". Robertson was able to keep her addiction to the drink a secret for 8 months. From time to time she would nibble on a handful of dried cereal.During a two-week stay in a clinic, she managed to wean herself off the drink. "I had severe withdrawals - sweating, nausea, shaking".

A representative for the Red Bull drink,in New Zealand said, “There is scientific evidence that caffeine is not  addictive. After all Red Bull has sold 3.5 billion cans in 143 countries across the world, therefore it must be safe to consume".

A teenager was admitted to hospital in early 2008, suffering from heart palpitations, after drinking eight cans of Red Bull. A man aged 40 years old died in April, in Oxford, in the same year, after suffering a fatal heart attack, where it was thought Red Bull was a contributing factor. An 18 year old British basketball player collapsed and died in 2007, after consuming three cans of the drink. A 33 year old Australian died in July 2001, after consuming a pitcher of Red Bull and vodka. Now the Swedish National Food Administration is heading an investigation into the energy drink, after the deaths of three healthy young people in Sweden.

When a low level of cocaine (a banned substance) was found in the drink, five German provinces banned it.  Sales of the drink, however, immediately increased four-fold in pubs and night clubs in Austria, after Germany announced its decision.

Red Bull was inspired by a Thai product where coca leaves are used as an ingredient. The company slogan is ‘Red Bull Gives You Wings’. “De-cocainized extract of coca leaf is used worldwide in foods, as a natural flavouring,” a company spokesperson said. “We only use it after illegal cocaine has been completely removed". The company is fighting back against the claims that the drink is harmful to health.

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