What’s Hiding in Your Energy Drink?

Need an alternative to Red Bull for an energy boost? Grab some *****.

Don’t get the wrong idea—we’re talking about the new British-based energy drink. (Here’s the official link to avoid any NSFW Googling.) The attention-grabbing concoction spawned plenty of inspired headlines and groans around the MH offices, but more importantly, it prompted us to investigate the nutritional content of the drink.

So what’s in a *****? The 100 percent natural drink is made with a blend of fresh white grape juice, pressed Mexican limes, and lightly carbonated water mixed with fruit flavors and six botanical herbs, according to its website. (The drink is only available in stores the U.K., but you can order a 24-pack for a cool $46 on the site.)

While ***** boasts an all-natural lineup, some of its ingredients sound strikingly familiar to every other energy drink on the market.

“The dosages of the herbs added to the energy drinks are usually so low as to have virtually no impact,” says Kevin A. Clauson PharmD, Associate Professor at Nova Southeastern University, Ft. Lauderdale. “It probably doesn’t have much of a safety risk, but it also won’t do you any good.” Clauson was a lead researcher on the recent study of the effects of commercial energy drinks on athletic performance and weight loss published in The Physician and Sportsmedicine.

Check out these supposed benefits and dangers of five usual suspects in popular energy drinks:

Taurine
Taurine, an amino acid abundant in the brain, can act as a neurotransmitter, and may even have mood-boosting benefits. A study published in the journal Amino Acids found that a taurine-supplemented diet had an antidepressant effect in mice. Here’s the catch: The taurine found in energy drinks like Red Bull is dumped into the bloodstream and won’t get to where it needs to go to be beneficial in humans—past the membranes that protect the brain.

Guarana
Guarana is a small red fruit found in the Amazon. Touted for its fatigue-fighting properties, guarana’s stimulant effects can often be attributed to the high levels of caffeine in its seeds—more than double that found in coffee beans. A study published in the journal Appetite found participants who drank a guarana supplement had better cognitive performance and reduced mental fatigue as compared to the placebo group. But be wary of downing one can after the other: The caffeine content in energy drinks doesn’t factor in the caffeine that comes from guarana, says Clauson.

Gingko Biloba
Touted as a memory enhancer, ginkgo biloba seems like an ideal choice for late nights at work. A study from Purdue University found that after 3 weeks, men who drank 184 milligrams of the supplement daily were 20 percent more productive in the afternoons. “It’s used for memory, cognition, and circulation, which is why it is often included in energy drinks. But the evidence for most of those uses is poor,” Clauson says. You might want to avoid it if you take certain medications. When combined with aspirin the pair can increase your risk of bleeding, and when taken with the popular blood thinner warfarin it can reduce the drug’s effectiveness.

Ginger
“Its chief medicinal use is typical to help combat nausea and vomiting,” Clauson says. (Maybe to counter all the caffeine packed into energy drinks?) “It’s also used for arthritis and has some evidence that it acts as a blood thinner,” he says. (Caution: Like ginkgo, ginger can be dangerous when mixed with drugs that thin the blood.)

Milk Thistle
Some energy drinks like RockStar and ***** include milk thistle in their recipes probably because of its liver-cleaning capabilities. Silymarin, the active ingredient in milk thistle, has been shown to help detoxify the liver and even form new liver cells. But don’t think downing a can pre-binging will help prevent a hangover. The herbal supplement’s liver-protecting properties have only been shown beneficial in cases of alcoholic liver diseases—not in moderate drinkers who had a little too much.

While we’re not promoting chugging a *****, the bottom line is energy drinks typically contain trace amounts of these herbs. Most of the drinks energy-boosting benefits come from plain old caffeine. Since coffee is chock full of antioxidants and may even help prevent Alzheimer’s disease, it’s still your best bet for a quick pick-me-up.