Wilting in the heat

Yesterday I had to travel to South Devon, the weather was glorious, the sun shone and the temperature rose to around 26 degrees C. In the car, behind the glass it was rather warmer than that.

The air conditioning in the car, struggled to control the heat and mostly blew hot air back into the cabin. I have a notion of what it might feel like to be stuck in a fan oven now.

So with windows wound down I continued my journey, the return leg of which was diverted off the main road. Hot, tired and parched I sought out somewhere to stop for a drink, not easy as there were few villages with a shop open on the roads I was travelling down.

Eventually I found an old style garage; only two fuel pumps but they did have a shop with cold drinks. Water appeared to be in short supply, Coke or Red Bull seemed to be the main choices (can of Red Bull £0.99 in this tiny shop, £1.69 in a motorway service area...someone is raking it in.)

Red Bull it was then, as I slaked my thirst I took a moment to read the ingredient list. Caffeine and glucose I know about but what the heck is this Taurine stuff?

Some people had even told me Taurine was dangerous, the devil's own brew.

So I checked it out; Taurine is a natural product that we get from meat or fish. It is a kind of amino acid (but not quite the same as others as it lacks a carboxyl group) and was first isolated from Ox bile hence the Taurine name.

So the big news is....Taurine is mostly harmless, can even be necessary and useful to increase the pumping action of the heart.

When combined with caffeine it can increase alertness and mood, which is pretty close to what Red Bull claim!

Cautions: Don't drink more than two cans in one session, it can lead to heart arrhythmia (palpitations) and in extreme cases the combination of dehydration following vigorous exercise and too much caffeine may trigger a latent heart condition.

Red Bull it seems, is about as safe as strong coffee and much better at cooling you off in a hot car than a cup of java!