Dubious research tied to Red Bull has shaped energy drink policy • Hacker News Board

Re: Dubious research tied to Red Bull has shaped energy drink policy

#161

Post by AlphaAndOmega0 » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 11:24 PM UTC

inigyou wrote: post #153

hirvi74 wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> INVERSE effect of caffeine for years It's likely due to some other factor or individual difference. To my knowledge, there is no evidence that stimulants affect people with ADHD any differently than people without ADHD. By differently, I mean having a paradoxical reaction that can only be attributed to having ADHD. Correlation does not imply causation, but people still try it all the time.

How come normal people take methamphetamine and go crazy but people with ADHD can take it to feel normal? (One of the less common prescription meds for ADHD is literally just meth but with the government stamp of approval on it)

I'm a psychiatry resident, and I have ADHD. The myth is, in fact, a myth.

More importantly, the dose of desoxyn (methamphetamine) used therapeutically for ADHD is *much* lower than what's consumed recreationally. That's really it. Use low doses, as prescribed, and the risks are minimal/comparable to most alternative stimulants.

It's like asking why a society where everyone has cups of tea twice a day has a different relationship to caffeine than a frat house where they're drinking 3 cans of Red Bull a night.

Re: Dubious research tied to Red Bull has shaped energy drink policy

#162

Post by amanaplanacanal » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 11:25 PM UTC

inigyou wrote: post #153

hirvi74 wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> INVERSE effect of caffeine for years It's likely due to some other factor or individual difference. To my knowledge, there is no evidence that stimulants affect people with ADHD any differently than people without ADHD. By differently, I mean having a paradoxical reaction that can only be attributed to having ADHD. Correlation does not imply causation, but people still try it all the time.

How come normal people take methamphetamine and go crazy but people with ADHD can take it to feel normal? (One of the less common prescription meds for ADHD is literally just meth but with the government stamp of approval on it)

Normal people take way more than that prescribed dose.

Re: Dubious research tied to Red Bull has shaped energy drink policy

#163

Post by antod » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 11:27 PM UTC

DANmode wrote: post #124

jodacola wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Migraine auras - the additional disturbances that can accompany the pain (or, in some cases be present without the pain) [0]. [0] https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22131-migrain...

Thank you!

I don't get migraines very often (once a year maybe), but the first aura was very strange not knowing what it was.

For me they start out as a bright point of light then spreads out into an expanding shimmering arc of rainbow colors. Sometimes the vision inside the arc is ok, other times it is kinda missing. The headache usually comes on as the aura is fading out. Sometimes I get an aura without the migraine.

Re: Dubious research tied to Red Bull has shaped energy drink policy

#164

Post by jwrallie » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 11:38 PM UTC

InsideOutSanta wrote: post #99

tombert wrote: post #25

I have always hated coffee so I've previously had some kind of energy drink in the morning for weeks at a time. Those suckers are bizarrely addictive. It's one thing to have one shortly after you wake up, but I found myself craving them later and later in the day, and of course that makes it harder to sleep...which makes me more likely to have energy drinks the next day. I stopped the daily consumption when I realize…

You're describing caffeine addiction. This also happens with coffee. People at the office sometimes ask me how I manage to get up in the morning and be in a good mood without having a cup of coffee. I suspect that most of them are only in a bad mood after waking up because they have mild caffeine widthrawal.

That is likely true, but there are other factors. For example delayed sleep phase paired with fixed office work hours.

I bet many people that have a slight 1-2h shift compared to the average are using an early morning coffee to make things work.

Re: Dubious research tied to Red Bull has shaped energy drink policy

#165

Post by jay_kyburz » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 11:48 PM UTC

cassepipe wrote: post #133

Kon5ole wrote: post #126

Seems like a good a place as any to ask this - anyone else feel no effect from either coffee or energy drinks? I can go from 4-5 cups of coffee per day at work (coffee machine) to 0 cups in the weekend and feel no different. Had bouts of doing 4-6 red bulls (or similar energy drinks) per evening into the wee hours as a youngster and still fell asleep at the keyboard - felt no different than drinking water or lemonade…

I must be strange because I feel no effect from coffee until I drink too much which is when my heart beats too fast for too long and I feel anxious Energy drinks on the other hand ? The taste sucks but they do work and give me what I guess most people get from coffee ? They make me sharp and pumped up

Sugar

Re: Dubious research tied to Red Bull has shaped energy drink policy

#166

Post by elmer2 » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 11:51 PM UTC

mmsc wrote: post #60

tombert wrote: post #25

I have always hated coffee so I've previously had some kind of energy drink in the morning for weeks at a time. Those suckers are bizarrely addictive. It's one thing to have one shortly after you wake up, but I found myself craving them later and later in the day, and of course that makes it harder to sleep...which makes me more likely to have energy drinks the next day. I stopped the daily consumption when I realize…

Feeling miserable for three days seems ... unlikely after 800mg/day of caffeine. I say that to mean, it should be much longer (been there, done that, took many months) Caffeine use especially at that level massively grows the amount adenosine receptors your brain has, and they don't just disappear overnight. A 500ml Diet Coke (assuming you don't mean the caffeine free version) also contains about 65 mg of caffeine, w…

If I consume 1-2 canned coffees a day (which is around 300mg at most), it takes me around 7 days after I quit to stop getting headaches, body aches, or mood issues.

Re: Dubious research tied to Red Bull has shaped energy drink policy

#167

Post by malfist » Sat, Aug 01, 2026, 12:01 AM UTC

imzadi wrote: post #93

gruez wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> if not cleaned off regularly. Just rinse it off with water?

It's an acid, which softens your enamel. You should ideally rinse with something that remineralizes the enamel, i.e. flouride.

As long as its a rinse thats fine, you shouldn't brush your teeth immediately after.

You probably don't have to do anything special, your saliva is surprising effective at repairing trivial damage from minor acids as long as you give it time. Pounding acid after acid all day long is how you get in trouble.

Also, an effective drink after soda is unsweetened tea! The tea plant is extremely efficient at extracting fluoride from the ground and tea always has fluoride. Thats why consuming gallons of cheap tea can give you floridosis!

Re: Dubious research tied to Red Bull has shaped energy drink policy

#168

Post by strbean » Sat, Aug 01, 2026, 12:06 AM UTC

cess11 wrote: post #136

strbean wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Consuming that much caffeine is terrible for your heart. If you find yourself consuming a lot of caffeine regularly, you would probably be much better served by Adderall. You can get the same stimulant effect with much less wear and tear on your body. If you want to put it to the test without breaking the law or going through the hassle of getting a prescription, you can try taking 1 or 2 Sudafed (the real stuff that…

Why do you expect pseudoephedrine to be less nasty on the cardiovascular system than caffeine? Recommending going from caffeine to amphetamine comes across as rather weird to me. 'It seems you have trouble regulating intake of a weak stimulant most people have little issue with, how about you take one of the strong, seriously treacherous ones instead?'

> Why do you expect pseudoephedrine to be less nasty on the cardiovascular system than caffeine?

I'm not advocating for substituting pseudoephedrine for caffeine, but rather using pseudoephedrine as a one time proxy for amphetamine to see how well it works for you.

> Recommending going from caffeine to amphetamine comes across as rather weird to me.

With respect for the potential for abuse and addiction, that's a good point. My suggestion comes from a firsthand account of an adult with undiagnosed ADHD who self medicated with grossly excessive coffee drinking. Their doctor suggested getting assessed for ADHD and making the substitution out of fear for their cardiovascular health.

I assumed the parent commenter was overusing caffeine to self medicate for attention issues, but didn't think of the possibility that it was pure addictive behavior.

Re: Dubious research tied to Red Bull has shaped energy drink policy

#169

Post by andai » Sat, Aug 01, 2026, 12:07 AM UTC

>A considerable body of research suggests that incidents like these aren’t just chance or circumstance. Mixing alcohol and energy drinks was linked to higher rates of binge drinking, sexual abuse and drunk driving, according to a study conducted among U.S. college students.

This sounds like it could be correlation? People who are more prone to risk-taking are more likely to mix caffeine and alcohol? Although, in that case, they could be considered a vulnerable population, which a ban would serve to protect. So I guess it makes sense either way.

Re: Dubious research tied to Red Bull has shaped energy drink policy

#170

Post by strbean » Sat, Aug 01, 2026, 12:09 AM UTC

tombert wrote: post #155

strbean wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Consuming that much caffeine is terrible for your heart. If you find yourself consuming a lot of caffeine regularly, you would probably be much better served by Adderall. You can get the same stimulant effect with much less wear and tear on your body. If you want to put it to the test without breaking the law or going through the hassle of getting a prescription, you can try taking 1 or 2 Sudafed (the real stuff that…

I agree it's not good for my heart. I keep my caffeine intake considerably lower now, always less than the 400mg max that the FDA recommends, usually less than that. I'm not sure that adderrall is significantly healthier for the heart. I did take it for a bit but I found adderral to be unbelievably terrible. I would take a small dose at like 7am, and I still would have trouble getting to sleep at night, and when I di…

> I would take a small dose at like 7am, and I still would have trouble getting to sleep at night

Was this an extended release verson like Vyvanse? I had an absolutely terrible time with that for the same reasons. If that was your experience with plain dextroamphetamine, totally sounds like it's just not meant for you!