Should I drink Red Bull?

Should I drink Red Bull?

Is one of our most asked questions from athletes we train. I have seen the misuse of this on young athletes, who they were asked to refrain from chocolate and caffeine for 6 weeks. Then, 10 minutes before their first International match, they were dosed with Red Bull by the team “Doctor”.

Predictably the results mixed from nausea to poor execution of fine motor skills. Here Gemma looks in a bit more detail at whether you should drink Red Bull as part of of your nutritional plan.

What is in Red Bull?

Red Bull is a caffeinated energy drink available in a normal, sugar-free or extra strong variation. The ingredients also include different types of sugar. It has roughly (depending on how you brew) the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee – 80 mg/250 ml.

It also contains:

• Glucose
• Taurine
• Glucuronolactone
• Caffeine 
• Niacin (niacinamide)
• Sodium citrate
• Inositol (sometimes called “meat sugar”)

Details of these ingredients here

Does Red Bull give me an energy boost?

The energy from these drinks is not likely to last and consuming more can lead to an increase in calories. Not ideal for those looking to maintain or lose weight.

A study in the ‘Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research in 2009 found that the sugar-free variation did not affect high-intensity run time to exhaustion. So, you may get a temporary boost, but it won’t impact you overall.

Longer duration endurance work requires more energy than short term work; therefore, glycogen stores need to be replenished. These stores can last 60-90minutes in an exercising athlete. Ideally, you should drink every 15mins to replace fluids and top up glycogen stores. If you were looking to do an endurance session, keep to the water or sports drinks

Effects on strength

A study by ‘International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism (2007)’ found that Red Bull did increase upper body muscle endurance. The exercise used was a bench press. It showed that when Red Bull was taken, it significantly increased total bench press repetitions over 3 sets (compared to those that took a placebo drink).

Resistance type exercises need shorter bursts of energy compared to endurance exercises, so Red Bull could improve performance as the energy lasts for a short period of time.  Counter this with the effects of caffeine on motor skill performance though.

Does Red Bull help me sprint faster?

A study was completed in 2011 on a group of female athletes to see the effects of Red Bull on their performance.  There were 15 female soccer players all aged around 20 years old. Some were asked to drink 255ml of Red Bull or a placebo drink an hour before their exercise routine. Heart rates, RPE and sprint times were recorded.

The results showed that there was no difference observed between those that drank red bull or the placebo drink for the sprint times. Five girls in the Red Bull group and 5 girls in the placebo group performed better.  The five girls that ran faster in the Red Bull group also had higher heart rates then the five faster girls in the placebo group and two of the girls from the Red Bull group complained of side effects including trembling and sickness.

This study could have been completed in a more realistic way such as how the drinks affected the athletes in a game situation rather than singling out sprint work. (All of these studies have small sample sizes and are not that robust).

What are the long term effects of Red Bull?

Ultimately, drinking a lot of Red Bull regularly is a bad idea. It is full of caffeine and sugar and can have a massive risk on your body and health. It’s easy to get addicted to caffeine and sugar. In some cases, too much Red Bull consumption can lead to:

• obesity  
• diabetes
• tooth decay
• nervousness and anxiety  
• insomnia
• osteoporosis

(Take note that this is when consumption is very high or the person taking it is almost dependent on it.)

Conclusion

Other studies have shown that caffeinated drinks like Red Bull do have a positive effect on some training. But if you eat healthily and train well, you won’t need this energy rush before every game or training session. Everyone has off days so a Red Bull may be a ‘pick-me-up’ but I wouldn’t recommend regular consumption of this drink. It certainly won’t hydrate you during exercise either.

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Gemma Robertson