Red Bull gives you… a whole host of health issues: Minute-by-minute guide reveals what the energy drink REALLY does to your body
An infographic shows what Red Bull does to your body after you drink it
Within minutes, your blood pressure and sugar levels rocket
It takes 12 hours for the caffeine to level you, more for women on the Pill
And a day later you begin to feel withdrawal symptoms, craving another
Source: Daily Mail
By Mia De Graaf
22 November 2016
Despite all the health warnings against energy drinks, it seems appreciation for Red Bull has not wavered.
Whether it’s a boost for work, an energy-kick while driving, or a caffeine high mixed with spirits, millions of people guzzle the canned beverage on a daily basis.
But do we actually know what it is doing to our bodies? Probably not.
Here, in a step-by-step guide, we describe what happens 10 minutes, two hours, and even 12 days after you finish a can.
The data, courtesy of gift site Personalise, offers an alarming insight into the science of the drink.
And it comes just weeks after a study claimed Red Bull and liquor cocktails have the same effect as cocaine on a teenager’s brain.
Just as with the Class A drug, the cocktail can have a devastating affect on the chemical balance of the brain that lasts long into adulthood.
This is a taste of the effect it has on the body in the first 12 days of finishing a can:
FIRST 10 MINUTES AFTER FINISHING A CAN
The caffeine begins to permeate your bloodstream.
In turn, your heart rate and blood pressure start to pick up pace.
15-45 MINUTES LATER
If you drink it fast, you’ll start feeling more alert and concentrated around 15 minutes later. Slow drinkers may not feel the effects for about 40 minutes.
30-50 MINUTES LATER
Caffeine absorption is complete. Your pupils dilate, your blood pressure rises, as a response your livers dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. The adenosine receptors in your brain are now blocked preventing drowsiness.
Your blood sugar spikes, causing an insulin burst. Your liver responds to this by turning any sugar it can get its hands on into fat – of which there is plenty.
1 HOUR LATER
Your body starts to experience a sugar crash, as well as the effects of the caffeine dying down, you’ll start to feel tired and energy levels will start to feel low.
You’ve also now urinated out all the water that was in the Red Bull.
First, however, that water infused with valuable nutrients that your body could have used hydrate your system or strengthen your bone, which were also washed out.
5-6 HOURS LATER
It takes this long for the amount of caffeine to halve in your body.
For women who take the Pill, it will take 10 hours.
12 HOURS LATER
The time that it takes most people to fully remove caffeine from their bloodstream.
The speed at which this happens does depend on many factors from age to activity.
12-24 HOURS LATER
Withdrawal symptoms kick in.
About a day after you had your caffeine hit, you’re in the mood for another.
If you have become used to a daily – or more regular – fix, you will start to feel lethargic, distressed, experience headaches and constipation.
7-12 DAYS LATER
Studies have shown this to be the time frame for your body to become tolerant to your regular caffeine dosage.
That means you’ll get used to it and won’t feel the effects as much.
THE PROS AND CONS OF DRINKING ENERGY DRINKS
PRO: Energy drinks like Red Bull are well within the national guidelines of 400 milligrams of caffeine per day. They contain 80 milligrams per 250ml can.
PRO: Coffee can be much higher in caffeine. For example, a venti americano at Starbucks contains 300mg of caffeine.
CON: It is high in sugar – and therefore calories. And caffeine, a stimulant drug, can cause anxiety, dehydration, nausea, and a dangerously high heart rate.
CON: The number of people hospitalized due to energy drinks doubled between 2007 and 2014 in the US, according to SAMHSA.