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

#71

Post by stryan » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 4:59 PM UTC

frankzander wrote: post #33

To all RB/Energy Drink consuments ... why do you drink RB instead of a good ol cup of coffee/tee? Please ... don't just write "it tastes good" ... no it don't. A strawberry or a cherry from the tree tastes good but not RB.

Speak for yourself, I love the taste of taurine. Plus there's something strangely satisfying about the taste of a standard diet Red Bull. There's no attempt at natural flavoring there: you can rightly tell God had no part in making it.

But besides that, energy drinks are an easy consistent way of getting exact amounts of caffeine. I drink pre-workout before gym days for that exact reason since it's a lot easy to get 200mg of caffine via one cold 10oz drink than trying to brew and chug two hot coffees at 8am.

Plus occasionally there's non caffeinated benefits; the Monster Rehab line really does seem to help in the morning after a night of hard drinking.

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

#72

Post by cogman10 » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 4:59 PM UTC

filoleg wrote: post #62

superdisk wrote: post #29

I really don't know why people go so nuts over energy drinks. People casually chug coffee like crazy and then act like you're drinking nuclear waste when you drink a monster, and then you look at the ingredients list and it's like - Water - Sugar - Vitamin B - Caffeine and the caffeine is basically equivalent to one cup of coffee.

I am with you here, especially given that the examples listed in the article were basically: * Some young man downed 6 beers and "several" energy drinks, then dove into a lake, and subsequently died. His mother said that he grew up near a lake and a was a good swimmer, so their conclusion was to blame energy drinks. * An 18 year old woman downed 10 jagerbombs (a mix of jagermeister liquor and an energy drink) and sub…

I think the most convincing example isn't energy drinks but rather Panara bread's energy blaster drinks that they had to stop selling. [1] It seems like they used all the same ingredients common to a lot of energy drinks, but they used more of them.

[1] https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/23/business/panera-lawsuit-charg...

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

#73

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 4:59 PM UTC

layer8 wrote: post #58

tombert wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably. As I said, I've always hated coffee so I've never really had any desire to consume large quantities of it, so I can't speak to that. I will say, though, energy drinks do become a relatively expensive addiction. A Monster energy drink can easily cost 3-4 dollars, so if I had three of those a day we are talking $10+ of cost. If you get off brands they're cheaper, but even still I think they're overpriced. I k…

$3-4 is a lot. They are 0.99 € here (tax included).

[deleted]

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

#74

Post by Retric » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 5:00 PM UTC

BugsJustFindMe wrote: post #52

Retric wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Monster has roughly the same amount of caffeine per volume as black coffee but their standard size is 16oz which is a huge cup of undiluted coffee.

My daily morning coffee is about that size though, so it's not huge to me. :)

And how much of that is milk, honey, or just water from making weak coffee?

That’s the difference. What’s an extreme amount of caffeine compared to most people is presented as the normal servicing size. So the next step up is 2 of them.

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

#75

Post by dfxm12 » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 5:00 PM UTC

frankzander wrote: post #33

To all RB/Energy Drink consuments ... why do you drink RB instead of a good ol cup of coffee/tee? Please ... don't just write "it tastes good" ... no it don't. A strawberry or a cherry from the tree tastes good but not RB.

I asked a coworker who gave a few reasons. It's easier/cheaper to buy in bulk. He gets them by the case. He also like sweet flavors more than bitter flavors.

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

#76

Post by tombert » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 5:00 PM UTC

layer8 wrote: post #58

tombert wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably. As I said, I've always hated coffee so I've never really had any desire to consume large quantities of it, so I can't speak to that. I will say, though, energy drinks do become a relatively expensive addiction. A Monster energy drink can easily cost 3-4 dollars, so if I had three of those a day we are talking $10+ of cost. If you get off brands they're cheaper, but even still I think they're overpriced. I k…

$3-4 is a lot. They are 0.99 € here (tax included).

It very much depends on the brand. I was initially buying the Monster drinks at a local gas station where I believe they were $3.25.

Eventually I transitioned to the Aldi brand which was I think around $1.

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

#77

Post by neutronicus » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 5:01 PM UTC

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…

I swore off energy drinks in high school after someone brought a case of them on the bus to a football game and I drank one and got horrible diarrhea and had to shit in the woods at halftime.

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

#78

Post by BugsJustFindMe » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 5:01 PM UTC

Retric wrote: post #74

BugsJustFindMe wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My daily morning coffee is about that size though, so it's not huge to me. :)

And how much of that is milk, honey, or just water from making weak coffee? That’s the difference. What’s an extreme amount of caffeine compared to most people is presented as the normal servicing size. So the next step up is 2 of them.

I make it strong. No sweeteners. An ounce or two of heavy cream. The amount of caffeine is probably quite high.

Anyway, any concept of a "standard" coffee is substantially smaller and weaker than what any variant in the US actually is in practice, where espresso-based drinks nearly universally use 2-3 shots and drip coffees are poured in sizes ranging from voluminous to biblical flood. An 8 ounce cup of coffee is just unrealistically small here.

My point is just that 16 ounces of drip is not a "huge" amount of coffee in the US. It's pretty normal. Especially if you account for people going back for a second cup. I make no arguments about whether it's a good or bad thing.

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

#79

Post by enraged_camel » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 5:01 PM UTC

superdisk wrote: post #29

I really don't know why people go so nuts over energy drinks. People casually chug coffee like crazy and then act like you're drinking nuclear waste when you drink a monster, and then you look at the ingredients list and it's like - Water - Sugar - Vitamin B - Caffeine and the caffeine is basically equivalent to one cup of coffee.

>> then you look at the ingredients list and it's like >> - Water - Sugar - Vitamin B - Caffeine

I'm drinking a sugar-free Monster at the moment. The list is way longer than that. It also contains citric acid, erythritol, taurine, sodium citrate, natural & artificial flavors, L-carnitine L-tartrate, sucralose, sorbic acid, benzoic acid, ester gum, acesulfame potassium, inositol.

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

#80

Post by xerox13ster » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 5:01 PM UTC

frankzander wrote: post #33

To all RB/Energy Drink consuments ... why do you drink RB instead of a good ol cup of coffee/tee? Please ... don't just write "it tastes good" ... no it don't. A strawberry or a cherry from the tree tastes good but not RB.

I drink, sugar-free Red Bull and monster ultra.

They are consistent. They are cold. They are fast.

There is none of the variation that you have in a single cup of coffee.

The preparation process is pulling a tab. No French press, no aero press, no coffee maker, scale, grinder, bags.

They don’t warm me up, I don’t have to cool them down.

I can carry them with me and drink them when I feel like drinking them without needing to worry about them leaking.

They don’t stain clothes. Or teeth (but they do eat them)

They lack the biological enzyme that coffee has that causes you to rush to the toilet. Any bowel effect is purely from the caffeine and not the passengers that come along in coffee.

I like the colors and designs.

I don’t have to feel like I’m participating in massive Third World exploitation to enjoy caffeine.

Black coffee tastes bad, so it requires milk and sugar, but I like to avoid drinking my calories.

The powdered fast stuff taste like shit.

You never know what beans public places are using and if you’re even getting enough caffeine for your needs.

Coffee doesn’t give you wings.