Evaluating energy drinks

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MANILA, Philippines a trip to the local supermarket now willoverwhelm you with a wide array of new energy drinks, with promisesof mental stamin and vitamins, even boasting ingredients likeroyal jelly and ginseng.

What's in a bottle?

Ingredients that supposedly enhance performance includes taurine,inositol and sodium citrate. Taurine is known as a mild sedative, an age-defying anti-oxidant,and has the potential to steady irregular heartbeats. It regulatesbrain functions and helps improve memory. It's also isolated frombull bile, although the drinks in the market use syntheticallymanufactured taurine. Sodium citrate is used as a preservative in sodas and cheesespreads. It also converts glucose into lactic acid during exercise,and helps replace electrolytes lost when exercising. But what really gives energy drinks wings is one stapleingredient: caffeine. Caffeine is a stimulant, so it increases concentration and reactionto speed, boosts your metabolism and keeps you awake through a fullthree-hour session with the most boring professor on earth. An energy drink can contain about 50-80 mg of caffeine a bottle,and, being a distant cousin of cocaine, caffeine can be highlyaddicting which explains why some people believe they can't function without their morning coffee.

The difference between your usual cup of joe and a bottle of RedBull? We actually call energy drinks functional drinks, because theycontain added ingredients that provide certain health benefits,Gold's Gym nutritionist Joanna Cacait said. Coffee contains justcaffeine and maybe some antioxidants.

Too much of a good thing Since caffeine increases your heart rate, it can causepalpitations, anxiety attacks and insomnia in some people. Butthese are the least of an energy drinker's problems. In 2000, France banned Red Bull from the market when an 18-year-oldIrish basketball player died after ingesting four cans of thestuff. While Red Bull was considered the culprit, doctors cited Sudden Adult Death Syndrome as the cause of death.

Certain schools in the United States have prohibited the selling ofenergy drinks in nearby convenience stores, after studentscomplained of headaches and palpitations because of the drinks. This is probably what gives energy drinks a bad rap, despite somevariants having lower caffeine content than coffee and sodas.

Brewed coffee can have more than 100 mg, and softdrinks likeMountain Dew have more than 50 mg of caffeine, said Jojo Gaviola,brand manager for Revicon I-on (Revicon I-On contains 50 mg ofcaffeine). But softdrinks are not mandated by law to state howmuch caffeine they contain. He also pointed out that caffeine products aren't recommended tochildren, pregnant women and those with heart ailments. This isclearly written on our can, he said.

According to Dr. Sanirose Orbeta, one of the country's leadingdieticians and former chair of the Board of Nutrition, a healthy,active person can stomach up to 300 mg of caffeine a day.

It also has a psychological effect on people, she said. Onceyou've built a tolerance to caffeine, your body thinks it can takein more than the recommended dose. Some cardiologists are convinced that inducing more than 500 mg ofcaffeine can cause palpitations. Caffeine is absorbed by the stomach and small intestine in as fastas 45 minutes, but stays in your system for hours: Cacait said ahealthy person who consumes about 200 mg of caffeine can expect itto remain in the system for more than six hours. Tolerance and lifestyle are big factors in one's reaction tocaffeine, but, according to Orbeta, 3-5 mg of caffeine per kilobodyweight is a safe amount. However, once ingested, no amount of water chugging can wash itfrom your system. According to Cacait, since caffeine is a diuretic, you lose water.Drinking water just replenishes the water that you've lost. Thecaffeine, however, still remains in your bloodstream.

Dangerous mix

Now imagine the effects of combining two diuretics. In 2001, the Swedish National Food Administration looked into thedangers of energy drinks when three people died after drinkingenergy drink-laced cocktails. So why mix energy drinks with alcohol? Many believe the combinationof a downer (alcohol) and an upper (caffeine) can heightentheir senses and give them a feeling of euphoria. Jane Dumal, a call-center agent, admitted to mixing Extra Joss, apowdered energy-drink variant, with beer the night before hergraduation to keep her going ttil the ceremony. I drank so many drinks that night, even mixing them, she said. Ididn't crash at all, and I didn't get a hangover. I felt like Iwasn't drunk! While adding energy drinks to alcohol is slowly becoming a trend,some energy drink companies don't endorse such practices. People prefer to mix Bacchus in their alcoholic drinks, but we donot encourage this practice unlike some of our competitors, saidBacchus sales and marketing manager Doy Lukban.

One of the misconceptions of mixing energy drinks with alcohol isit can lessen one's drunkenness. In fact, it does the opposite. As an upper, caffeine doesn't reducethe effects of alcohol, but merely makes one more alert, giving theimpression that one needs to drink even more alcohol to get drunk.And contrary to what people say, it doesn't prevent hangovers. Caffeine dehydrates you. You get hangovers because you're dehydrated. How can taking more caffeine prevent a hangover?Cacait said.

Reaping the benefits One of the oldest ready-to-drink energy drinks launched in themarket is Bacchus, which harps on its high taurine content. Whilemost energy drinks contain 1,000 mg of taurine or less, Bacchuscontains 2,000 mg. Taurine is closely linked with brain development. Aside fromenhancing memory, it helps keep the mind mentally alert andfocused, said Lukban.

Bacchus does not only give that physical boost but, mostimportantly, provides mental boost. In fact, taurine is also beingpromoted by various infant-milk companies in their formula.

While taurine acts as an anti-anxiety agent in the central nervoussystem, thus earning its mental alertness medal, Cacait saidingredients like taurine and inositol are nonessential vitamins' since our bodies manufacture them for us. Taurine may be a good supplement for infants, who can't produceenough themselves, but for adults, it's not that necessary.

And since taurine can be derived from animal products, chances are,if you're a carnivore, you're already getting your daily fill. You get a sufficient amount of taurine from the meat you eat andfrom dairy products, Orbeta said. As far as how much taurine you need, Orbeta pointed out that Foodand Nutrition researchers mostly focus on recommended doses ofmacro-nutrients like calcium, magnesium and potassium. And while the wonder drug Inositol's antidepressant powers can befound in some energy drinks, the dosage isn't enough to make muchof an effect.

According to Wired magazine, you'd need to take about 360 cans ofRed Bull a day to reap its benefits. Again, Orbeta said thatinositol can be found in foods like peanuts, monggo, and oranges.

Aside from the high taurine content, Lukban said that Bacchus isthe only drink that contains Korean ginseng, which is supposed tobe the most expensive ginseng in the world. Revicon I-On, on the other hand, includes ginseng, royal jelly,iron and multivitamins. All its benefits, Orbeta said, can be foundin the food we eat everyday.

Despite the supposed health benefits and performance-enhancingeffects of these drinks, Cacait said he doesn't recommend them toher clients. I don't make my clients drink caffeine at least two hours before agame, because it can cause anxiety.

While studies showed ginseng reduced muscle fatigue in rats, theherb isn't a necessary ingredient. A good alternative is glucose.Glucose gives you energy. caffeine just stimulates the energy thatglucose gives you.

As for the sodium in energy drinks? They help replenishelectrolytes lost through perspiration. However, too much can betoxic. It's not recommended for those who aren't physically active,Cacait said. It can do great damage to your kidneys, and causelots of problems, such as uric acid crystal formation. All of these extra-added ingredients in energy drinks, and themsaying one ingredient is what makes their product better isn'tright, said Orbeta. It's also not a good idea to just zero in onone nutrient, because you really need a balanced diet to functionwell.

The best energy boost

Energy boosters are creeping into different markets as well. IDSMarketing, manufacturer of Red Bull, has launched Barako EnergyCoffee Mix, a powdered energy drink that has the full-flavor ofcoffee, but includes taurine, inositol, ginseng, royal jelly,vitamin B complex.

For Orbeta, though, if you're looking for that energy boost, youshould look no further than a well-stocked kitchen.

Energy comes from the correct amount of protein, fat andcarbohydrates, not from energy drinks, he said.

These energy drink manufacturers are marketing geniuses. They makeyou think you need their product to perform well. But really,nothing can replace a good breakfast. You get your energy from agood breakfast and a well-balanced meal. The problem with kidstoday, especially those in call centers, is that they don't havethe time to have a proper meal because they're always rushing. Soinstead, they take caffeine to stay awake. Having trained many of the country's athletes, Orbeta said heendorses the food pyramid for a healthy balanced diet. I tell thePBA players to bring oranges and pasta to practice good food togive them the energy they need.

And for that extra energy boost? The most simple and affordableenergy drink possible: a teaspoon of brown sugar in a glass ofwater with a dash of pandan or calamansi. They get the sucrosethey need for energy. It's as simple as that, she said.

However, she said if you can tolerate drinks like Red Bull, then goright ahead with the chugging in moderation. When it comes to anything with caffeine, take it in moderation.And make sure you drink lots of water. Women should take nineglasses, and men 12 glasses.

If you don't have sufficient knowledge about the product, don't take it, she cautioned. I see people who throw up after drinkingan energy drink, and they claim they took it because their friendssaid it gives them energy. What is good for one person might not begood for you. Gaviola put it another way. There is nothing inherently wrong norunhealthy with energy drinks. The ingredients are common topharmaceuticals and health products. The problems only arise whenthe product usage is abused, and when people are misinformed.