subject: Do Energy Drinks Give You Energy? [print this page] One of the questions that continue to baffle many people is as to just how, exactly, the popular energy-drinks work in supplying the body with energy. This is not a question born out of idle curiosity. Rather, it is a question that is very frequently used by people considering starting to use the drinks; who want to know what will be happening in their body once they do so. It is a prudent question to be asking really, because one of the worst things you can do is to start using products that interact with your body, without actually getting to understand the mechanics of that interaction.
So, how do energy-drinks work in supplying the body with energy?
Well, there are a number of mechanisms that most of the drinks work through, with the ultimate effect being a heightened energy level on the part of their users.
What is worth keeping in mind is that the makers of most energy-drinks nowadays go to great lengths to explain that the energy that their products supply does not come from their calorie content. In other words, the energy supplied by these drinks is not like that which is supplied by things like carbohydrates and fats. In the case of the latter two, it is the direct breakdown of the foods to release their energy (calorie) content which results in the energizing effect associated with them. Rather, the makers of the energy drinks are keen to point out, it is ingredients such as vitamins in the drinks, or caffeine, or yet still other herbal ingredients that they contain which ultimately result in the energizing effect. This is the right thing to be saying, of course, seeing that we are living at a time when people are very keen to keep their caloric intake down.
Where the energy-drinks work through their vitamin content, the vitamin at work will tend to be vitamin B complex, which has been known to enhance metabolic activity in the body, hence the energizing effect associated with it. In actual fact, going through the ingredient/nutritional listings of most of these energy drinks, one thing that you are not likely to miss is vitamin B complex. Where the energy-drink works in this way, it can also come in handy as a weight loss aid.
Where the energy-drinks work through their herbal ingredients, what we will tend to be looking at are those herbs that have been associated with an energizing effect. Like the vitamin B complex, what most of these herbs tend to do, once in the body is to enhance the metabolic rate, leading to that energizing effect they are associated with.
Finally, where the energy drinks work through an ingredient like caffeine, what they will tend to be leveraging on is the 'stimulant effect' of the caffeine. This is more of psychological, rather than physiological stimulation. Through the use of caffeine, the energy drink users end up 'feeling' almost instantly energized, and this is an important effect from a marketing point of view. Of course, the 'energized feeling' arising out of caffeine use is likely to be short-lived, but it is hoped that by the time the inevitable 'downfall' comes, the energizing effect of other ingredients (like vitamin B complex or herbal extracts) that the energy drink is likely to contain will have kicked in; to ensure a continued energized feeling.
