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Energy Drinks

Energy Drinks

English 210

Mrs. Maysa Banat

By: Mohamed Saleh 2006 0293

Maya Zeidan

Table of Contents

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Energy Drinks

I- Abstract

………………………………………………………………………………..

….p 3

II- Introduction

………………………………………………………………………………p

4

III- History

………………………………………………………………………………..

…..p 5

IV- Disadvantages: - Short-time dangers of energy drinks

……………....p 7

V- Disadvantages: -Combining energy drinks with alcohol

…………..…..p 9

VI- Advantages: - Importance of energy drinks

…………………………...….p 10

VII- Advantages: -The safe use of energy drinks

…………………………p 11

VIII- Components of Energy

Drinks……………………………………………..p 12

IX- Should Energy Drinks be used?

………………………………………………..p 14

X- Conclusion

……………………………………………………………………………..p

15

XI- Appendix

………………………………………………………………………………..p

17

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Energy Drinks

XII- Sources

…………………………………………………………………………….p

18

Abstract

This paper mainly discuss about energy drinks, what are they

made off, where was the first energy drink found, and its undesirable

effects on teenagers and elderly people. It also shows how dangerous

an energy drink could be while being combined with alcohol. To always

be on the safe side, this paper will also show the safe uses of an

energy drink, when and how it should be drinking and it include some

recipes to let everyone make his own healthy energy drink. And no

matter how energy drinks are considered dangerous, it still are

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Energy Drinks

important nowadays because everyone needs that extra boost to be

able to accomplish his work or his practice perfectly.

Energy Drinks

Introduction

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Energy Drinks

An energy drink is simply just like any soft drink or beverage sold

in convenience stores, grocery stores, and bars and nightclubs, but it

differs in that is gives that extra boost of energy. Energy drinks are

known for providing energy to improve physical and mental activity.

They contain large amounts of caffeine and other legal stimulants like

guarana, taurine and ginseng which are substitutes for energy found in

normal food which is measured in calories. Energy drinks may contain

as much as 80 mg of caffeine, the equivalent of a cup of coffee.

Compared to the 37 mg of caffeine in a Mountain Dew, 23 mg in a

Coca-Cola Classic, it is quite a large amount of caffeine to be found in a

drink that’s mostly sold to consumers who aren’t above 30 years of

age. Many of these different combinations of ingredients have not yet

been tested for safety. For this reason, many energy drinks are banned

in countries like Norway, Denmark and France. They are even banned

in many sports leagues around the world.

History

People used to see energy drinks and energy pills long ago only

in fiction movies. This dream became real after the invention of energy

drinks to become just like any other consumer product found

everywhere.

The first mass market energy drink dates all the way back to

1901!  The Scottish drink Irn-Bru was the first recorded energy drink to

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Energy Drinks

enter the market.  Irn-Bru which is commonly referred to as Iron Brew

was brewed and marketed in Scotland.

The UK followed Scotland in 1929 with its own energy drink

Lucozada Energy. It was first manufactured in 1927 by

a Newcastle chemist, who experimented for several years to provide a

source of energy for those who were sick with common illnesses, like

the common cold or influenza. It became available throughout

the United Kingdom for use in hospitals under the name Glucozade.

This was changed to Lucozade in 1929. Lucozada Energy then was

marketed as a medicinal beverage.  It was not until decades later in

the early 1980’s that it was sold to reload energy.

Japan began marketing its own series of energy drinks in the

1960’s.  Japans first energy drinks were not sold like soft drinks. 

Instead they were bottled in brown bottles more closely resembling

medicine bottles.  Japans first energy drink was Lipovitan which was

first introduced as a medicinal tonic drink for those suffering from lack

of energy and fatigue, it grew in popularity in Asia as part of a fad that

had more to do with late party hours and clubbing.   Energy drinks in

Japan and South Korea are named genki-products.

The 1980’s saw a new name for energy drinks.  The drink Jolt

Cola was marketed as having twice the normal caffeine of any other

soft drink.  This increased caffeine aided the drinkers of Jolt Cola to

stay awake, and was the cornerstone of the marketing strategy.  Quick

note Jolt Cola had the same amount of sugar as the other leading soft

drinks of that time.   

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Energy Drinks

   Pepsi in the United States introduced Josta in 1995.  Josta was Pepsi’s

first energy drink, and lead the way for other major soft drink

manufacturers in the energy drink market.

Red Bull has long been a marketing leader in energy drinks.  This

energy drink was created and marketed by a very market savvy

Austrian named Dietrich Mateshitz.  The Red Bull energy drink was

developed to resemble and is actually based on an energy product

named Krateing Daeing. Krateing Daeing is manufactured and sold in

Thai Wan with a fair amount of success. Interestingly enough this Thai

beverage Krateing Daeing was developed to not only resemble but was

also based on the original Japanese energy drink Lipovitan.

Energy drinks are one of the fastest growing retail drink markets

in the world.  In 2001 energy drinks recorded sales of $8 million

annually.  Only 5 years later energy beverage sales grew to exceed $3

billion dollars annually.

One of the interesting developments in the energy drink market

was a new approach to marketing.  This approach was in the form of a

unique packaging of energy drinks initiated by the Snapple Corporation

in 2002. 

They began producing and bottling there energy drinks in

aluminum bottles shaped like bullets.  One of the increased marketing

benefits of these bullet shaped aluminum bottles was the fact that they

are easily recycled.  This adds appeal to those of us interested in

recycling for the betterment of environment. 

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Energy Drinks

Disadvantages: Short-time dangers of energy

drinks

Fig1: Heart affected by energy drinks

After all what is said about energy drinks, people would sometimes

think of overdrinking this substance. It is a typical human mentality

that if less is good, more must be better, and many people do not think

that there can be too much of a good thing; it is common for people to

forget that other side effects can occur from over consumption or

consumption over a prolonged period of time. As Fact Expert once said,

Energy drink overdose, as the in terms of causing death or serious

immediate health problems, is very rare, but there are significant

health concerns related to excessive use of energy drinks. Some

stories of youngsters dying after drinking such drinks before sports

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Energy Drinks

games became popular lately. One of them is that of a young 18-year-

old basketball player that died right after the match. He drank 3 cans

of non alcoholic Energy drinks before the match. Children athletes

aren’t recommended to drink energy drinks, they are supposed to get

all the energy they need from food they eat. Drinking water every 20

min of playing thus during breaks can replace energy drinks.

Usually people drink energy drinks to keep up their energy during

periods of extreme physical activity or after exercise to satisfy thirst,

but rather than re-hydrating their bodies, these drinks may actually

lead to drying out. Health Canada reports some health symptoms of

over drinking or mixing with alcohol that include:

Electrolyte disturbances;

Nausea and vomiting; and

Heart irregularities.

Another problem arises in the large amounts of caffeine found in

energy drinks that may lead to sleep disturbances, headaches,

irritability and nervousness. Over drinking means drinking more than 2

cans of energy drinks a day or more than 500 ml.

Disadvantages: Combination with alcohol

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Energy Drinks

Many modern alcoholic drinks today are mixed with other drinks

or put in cocktails. Here this mixing means that alcohol is reacting with

whatever is mixed with it. In some cases there are some adverse side

effects resulting from this mixing. Our main concern is the mixing of

alcohol with energy drinks. This has become a widespread habit among

teenagers and whoever drinks alcohol. Scientists fear the final results

obtained from the mixture of energy drinks and alcohol. Mixing

powerful stimulants contained in some energy drinks with depressants

in alcohol could cause cardiopulmonary or cardiovascular failures, said

David Pearson, a researcher in the Human Performance Laboratory. "It

is scary to think that these energy drinks are being used as a mixer

with vodka and whiskey," he said. "You are just overloading the body

with heavy stimulants and heavy depressants." Some of the

disadvantages of this mixing is that when alcohol is mixed with energy

drinks the person drinking this combination can’t control himself and

know how much alcohol he consumed and as is stated earlier

excessive drinking of these drinks leads to dehydration.

Advantages: - Importance of energy drinks

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Energy Drinks

Fig2: Energy drink as an example of a battery for humans

On the other hand, energy drinks if used safely can be a handy

tool to gain some strength in certain cases such as driving at night,

studying or working late, and waking up after a hard night. While

driving at night, energy drinks can be a positive factor to prevent

drivers from falling asleep and as a result saving the driver from a

possible accident. Students can also use energy drinks as well as late

workers to gain some strength to finish their work. However, energy

drinks are not an alternative to healthy sleeping habits and may only

be used as an assisting material to gain time rather than power.

Moreover, energy drink can assist people to wake up after a hard night

where they had to stay late, yet those cases should be rare and

governed by importance.

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Energy Drinks

Advantages: The safe use of energy drinks

Energy drinks should be used safely and responsibly. There are

several dangers surrounding energy drink yet they can be used in

reasonable and answerable manners. Energy drinks should be limited

to rare doses. A can of an energy stimulant every once and a while

when needed is equivalent to the use of a regular beverage. Moreover,

energy drink should not be used regularly as an addiction habit can

evolve.

Fig3: Comparison to some other energy providing drinks

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Energy Drinks

Components of Energy Drinks:

Fig4: Components of Some Energy Drinks

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Energy Drinks

Here is a detailed list of some common components found in

most energy drinks and how each component affects the body.

1) Ephedrine - a stimulant that commonly found in weight-loss

products and decongestants. There are studies raising concern and

issues about its effects on the heart.

2) Taurine - a natural amino acid needed by the body to help regulate

heart beat and muscle contractions.  Currently, researchers are trying

to discover its impact as an energy drink additive.

3) Ginseng - a kind of root thought to have several medicinal benefits. 

It is said that ginseng relives stress and can increase your level of

energy.

4) Vitamin B - a group of vitamins that can change sugar to energy

5) Carnitine - an amino acid.  Its effects can be mainly on the

metabolism of fatty acids in the body.

6) Creatine - an organic acid which main contribution is on energizing

the muscles for muscle contraction.

7) Inositol - a member of the vitamin B complex that helps relay

messages within cells in the body.

8) Ginkgo biloba – came from the seeds of the ginkgo biloba tree. 

There are studies claiming its memory enhancement capabilities.

9) Caffeine - Caffeine blocks certain brain chemicals in sending its

messages to the brain.  This brain chemical is called adenosine which

is mainly involved in sleep. Thinking that the body is experiencing a

problem, the pituitary gland releases adrenaline, which makes the

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Energy Drinks

heart beat faster, eyes dilate, and the liver to release extra amounts of

sugar than normal.

Should Energy Drinks be used?

Fig5: A sarcastic illustration showing energy drink mania

The legality of energy drinks is questionable and a deep debate

around the use of energy drink emerges. Should energy drinks be

used? The answer varies from one person to another. While energy

drinks are hazardous to a very high instant, they can be a stimulant

material that can boost some energy in certain cases when needed. It

is in the same context when a race driver boosts up his engines to gain

few horsepower out of his vehicle to win a race, yet this doesn’t mean

the driver doesn’t maintain his vehicle an does not practice. So should

they be legal? The legality of energy drinks are up to legislators. The

use of energy drinks is the same as smoking cigarettes. It is a choice

and people should take their choice aware of the dangers. After all,

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Energy Drinks

with the safe and responsible use of energy drinks, they can beneficial

as much as they are hazardous.

Conclusion

At the end, no matter how energy drinks are considered

dangerous while being combined with alcohol or even being

excessively drunk it can also be important for some. So, these energy

drinks can be that extra boost of energy you need at a certain time so

you could be able to accomplish a certain work or activity. And for

those who don’t like to drink these energy drinks they can always find

natural substitution for that such as caffeine and some different kinds

of vegetable and fruits. So it is for you to choose the best, either buy

these energy drinks from stores or make your own, but after all don’t

forget to make sure of the safe use of these energy drinks.

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Energy Drinks

Fig6: energy Drink Supplement facts

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Energy Drinks

Appendix

Fig1: Heart affected by energy drinks

----------------------------------------p 7

Fig2: Energy drink as an example of a battery for humans

---------------p10

Fig3: Comparison to some other energy providing drinks

----------------p11

Fig4: Components of Some Energy Drinks

----------------------------------p12

Fig5: A sarcastic illustration showing energy drink

man-------------------p14

Fig6: energy Drink Supplement facts

----------------------------------------p16

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Energy Drinks

Sources

http://www.extension.org/pages/Energy_Drinks:_History

http://www.mupsip.com/history-energy-drinks.html

http://www.energysip.com/index.html

http://energydrinks.factexpert.com/897-energy-drink-overdose.php

http://www.mupsip.com/energy-drinks-and-college.html

http://www.healthkicker.com/706399934/energy-drinks-and-the-dangers/

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/11/011116065754.htm

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-03/ace-caa031906.php

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/83529.php

http://hs.boisestate.edu/radar/materials/alcohol/drugupdate.pdf