Lipovitan



Lipovitan, or "Livita" for short, is an energy drink produced by the Japanese company Taisho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. with ingredients very much similar to Red Bull. Its introduction predates the latter, having been first released in the early 1960s. Widely available in East Asia, it retails in brown 100ml bottles. The drink has a distinctive bright yellow coloring and is marketed to alleviate physical and mental fatigue. The prime ingredient is taurine. A 100ml bottle gives the same amount of taurine, caffeine etc. as a 250ml can of Red Bull. There's a full line of Lipovitan products in Japan, and stronger versions such as the 'Lipovitan D Super' which contains 2000mg of taurine and 300mg of arginine、and 'MAXIO' which contains 3000mg of taurine. Arginine is the main active ingredient in the modified Red Bull sold in Japan.

Lipovitan is marketed in English-speaking countries under the name Libogen.

Visitors to Thailand will know that this drink is favoured by the locals for its potency. There are bars offering "Vodka-Lipo" for a mere 50 baht (about 0.7GBP ~ 70 pence, $1.34 USD). It should be noted, however, this drink may be strong enough to induce insomnia for many hours.