(bouncy piano music)

[Narrator] This 21st Century elixir promises

to turn the walliest wallflower into a bull fighting,

base jumping, breakdancing extremophile,

but what's really inside a can of Red Bull?

Primarily sugar, sucrose and glucose are the backbone

of any soft drink.

So that's pretty sweet.

But sugar doesn't give you wings, caffeine does.

It stimulates your central nervous system and metabolism,

which sharpens your concentration and reaction time,

and makes you feel on top of the world.

Next up is Taurine, an organic acid found in animal tissue.

German scientists discovered the stuff in ox bile in 1827,

naming it for the Latin Taurus, or bull.

The synthetic Taurine found in a single Red Bull

can have wide-ranging effects.

Some studies show it can be a mood stabilizer,

even an antioxidant.

But the rest of this stuff, health authorities

don't think Glucuronolactone does any harm,

but it's not proven to do any good either.

Some users claim it fights fatigue and increases well being,

but that could be bull too.

Niacin can raise your good cholesterol.

And Sodium Citrate can boost athletic performance,

but Red Bull doesn't have enough of either

to have much effect.

Then there's Inositol, a carbohydrate found in muscle.

In quantity, this meat sugar, as it's sometimes called,

reduces depression, panic attacks, agoraphobia, and OCD.

To get those effects from Red Bull, you'd need to drink

about 360 cans a day.

So if you need a quick lift, what's inside a Red Bull

might help, but don't expect magic,

especially if you mix it with vodka.

(thuds)

(slicing burst)

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