Post by Icarus on Feb 1, 2007 9:56:38 GMT -5
I thought that some of you might find this interesting. It seems that so many people are drinking these “energy” drinks today. My husband is an absolute addict! Anyways, just thought I would pass it on.
Running on Empty
The best antidote for an afternoon slump is a cold energy drink, right? Not so fast.
You may be so tired that you could fall asleep right here, right now, on your keyboard. But before you pop open another energy drink, read the list of ingredients on the label. Some so-called "energy" drinks are high in sugar and low in caffeine, a combination that, according to research, could actually have you crashing even harder about 70 to 80 minutes later. A better remedy: a cup of coffee (not decaf) or a 20-minute nap. You'll feel like a new person.
High-sugar drinks make your blood glucose rise -- and fast. Your body's response? Pump out massive amounts of insulin to handle the load. Your system metabolizes all that sugar just as quickly as it entered your system, leading to a big drop in blood glucose about 70 to 80 minutes after you consumed the beverage. Essentially, you crash -- hard. In fact, you'll feel worse than you did before you had the drink, and you'll probably be mentally slower.
That's what happened to a small group of sleep-deprived people who performed a computer test to determine their reaction times after drinking a high-sugar, low-caffeine energy drink. Participants performed much worse on the test 70 to 80 minutes after consuming the drink than they did just 10 or 20 minutes after downing it. In other words, they were bum-rushed by the sugar.
Power up with a nap, a walk, or a cup of joe instead.
Originally published on 10/04/2006.
(From: RealAge.com)
And…
Department of Psychology, Earley Gate, Whiteknights Road, Reading RG6 6AL, UK.
RATIONALE: Caffeine is present in a wide variety of beverages, often together with a number of other ingredients, such as sugars, taurine, glucuronolactone and vitamins. However, the majority of psychopharmacological studies have used pure caffeine tablets or drinks with doses in excess of those normally consumed in daily life. In addition, all the participants are usually deprived of caffeine for 10 h or more before the study. Consequently, it has been argued that any improvement in performance is only due to a reversal of caffeine withdrawal.
OBJECTIVE: The present two studies tested participants who had minimal deprivation from caffeine (an hour or less) with an 80-mg caffeinated (80 mg/250 ml), taurine-containing beverage (commercially available) verum, which also contained sugars, glucuronolactone and vitamins. The placebos in the two studies were a sugar-free and a sugar-containing drink, in order to examine the effects of the sugar.
METHODS: In total, 42 participants were tested with a rapid visual information test, a verbal reasoning test, a verbal and non-verbal memory test and a set of mood measures. Prior to testing, they were allowed ad libitum caffeinated beverages until 1 h before testing (study 1) and unrestricted caffeine use before testing (study 2).
RESULTS: In both studies, the caffeinated, taurine-containing beverage produced improved attention and verbal reasoning, in comparison with a sugar-free and the sugar-containing drinks. The improvement with the verum drink was manifested in terms of both the mean number correct and the reaction times. Another important finding was the reduction in the variability of attentional performance between participants. No effects on memory were found. There were no differences in performance between the glucose and sugar-free drinks.
CONCLUSIONS: Moderate doses of caffeine and taurine can improve information processing in individuals who could not have been in caffeine withdrawal.
PMID: 11713623 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Running on Empty
The best antidote for an afternoon slump is a cold energy drink, right? Not so fast.
You may be so tired that you could fall asleep right here, right now, on your keyboard. But before you pop open another energy drink, read the list of ingredients on the label. Some so-called "energy" drinks are high in sugar and low in caffeine, a combination that, according to research, could actually have you crashing even harder about 70 to 80 minutes later. A better remedy: a cup of coffee (not decaf) or a 20-minute nap. You'll feel like a new person.
High-sugar drinks make your blood glucose rise -- and fast. Your body's response? Pump out massive amounts of insulin to handle the load. Your system metabolizes all that sugar just as quickly as it entered your system, leading to a big drop in blood glucose about 70 to 80 minutes after you consumed the beverage. Essentially, you crash -- hard. In fact, you'll feel worse than you did before you had the drink, and you'll probably be mentally slower.
That's what happened to a small group of sleep-deprived people who performed a computer test to determine their reaction times after drinking a high-sugar, low-caffeine energy drink. Participants performed much worse on the test 70 to 80 minutes after consuming the drink than they did just 10 or 20 minutes after downing it. In other words, they were bum-rushed by the sugar.
Power up with a nap, a walk, or a cup of joe instead.
Originally published on 10/04/2006.
(From: RealAge.com)
And…
Department of Psychology, Earley Gate, Whiteknights Road, Reading RG6 6AL, UK.
RATIONALE: Caffeine is present in a wide variety of beverages, often together with a number of other ingredients, such as sugars, taurine, glucuronolactone and vitamins. However, the majority of psychopharmacological studies have used pure caffeine tablets or drinks with doses in excess of those normally consumed in daily life. In addition, all the participants are usually deprived of caffeine for 10 h or more before the study. Consequently, it has been argued that any improvement in performance is only due to a reversal of caffeine withdrawal.
OBJECTIVE: The present two studies tested participants who had minimal deprivation from caffeine (an hour or less) with an 80-mg caffeinated (80 mg/250 ml), taurine-containing beverage (commercially available) verum, which also contained sugars, glucuronolactone and vitamins. The placebos in the two studies were a sugar-free and a sugar-containing drink, in order to examine the effects of the sugar.
METHODS: In total, 42 participants were tested with a rapid visual information test, a verbal reasoning test, a verbal and non-verbal memory test and a set of mood measures. Prior to testing, they were allowed ad libitum caffeinated beverages until 1 h before testing (study 1) and unrestricted caffeine use before testing (study 2).
RESULTS: In both studies, the caffeinated, taurine-containing beverage produced improved attention and verbal reasoning, in comparison with a sugar-free and the sugar-containing drinks. The improvement with the verum drink was manifested in terms of both the mean number correct and the reaction times. Another important finding was the reduction in the variability of attentional performance between participants. No effects on memory were found. There were no differences in performance between the glucose and sugar-free drinks.
CONCLUSIONS: Moderate doses of caffeine and taurine can improve information processing in individuals who could not have been in caffeine withdrawal.
PMID: 11713623 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]