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Running late to work & cannot stop for coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts or Starbucks? That’s OK, just grab a Red Bull from the cooler when you get there, right? Wrong. Some of these energy drinks aren’t good for you and your probably better off just skipping a caffeine boost all together. Here is a list of ingredients in these drinks and the benefits and dangers of drinking them.

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 journalAmino 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 Pussy 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.

(via: Men’s Health)

We are all guilty of grabbing one of these drinks from the cooler at work or the deli on the corner, but research has shown that they aren’t too good for you. Some of the ingredients can interact with many prescription drugs and increase your heart rate. Think about this the next time you go for that Monster.