Contents
Energetic – a drink containing sugar and stimulants, most often caffeine, but the list of additives is quite large.
Energy drinks can contain various sweeteners, vitamins, herbal extracts, taurine and amino acids. The group of energy drinks also includes all drinks for athletes and energy bars.
Most often, the energy drink is carbonated, but non-carbonated versions (usually home-made) are also found.
What you need to know about energy drinks
Coffee, tea, cola and other drinks with natural caffeine
Not considered energy drinks.
Safe amount of energy drink
A healthy adult can safely consume as little as 400 mg of caffeine per day. This has been confirmed by the Commission of the European Food Safety Authority (ESFA).
However, Whisk strongly discourages drinking more than two cans of energy drinks a day.
“Rocket” fuel for the brain and body
Most of the effects of the energy drink are aimed at cognitive abilities, such as increased attention and reaction speed.
Other studies attribute these performance “improvements” to the effects of the combined ingredients in the drink formulation.
Energy drink advertisements commonly show increases in muscle strength and endurance, but there is still no scientific consensus to support these claims.
Energy benefits of vitamins
Thanks to the doses of caffeine, the energy drink really works. But, there is no solid evidence that other ingredients in energy drinks provide additional benefits, even though such drinks are often advertised with a focus on them, such as taurine.
Harm from energy drinks
Excessive or repeated consumption of energy drinks can lead to heart problems such as arrhythmias and seizures, as well as psychiatric disorders such as anxiety and phobias.
In Europe, energy drinks containing taurine and caffeine have been linked to the death of athletes. A 2017 study in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that the caffeine content was not the only lethal factor, and that a cocktail of other ingredients in energy drinks made them more dangerous than drinks whose only stimulant was caffeine. The study noted that more research is needed on individual ingredients to determine which ones pose a risk.
Some studies suggest that energy drinks can be addictive in humans.
energy shots
While most energy drinks are sold in large jars or bottles (250-750 ml), energy shots are small 50 ml containers.
These “shots” may contain the same amount of caffeine, vitamins, or other functional ingredients as their bulkier counterparts.
Advertising for such drinks tends to focus on their convenience, availability, and speed of consumption.
Alcoholic energy drink
It is known that with frequent use in a mix with alcohol, energy drinks carry increased health risks, as well as serious risks if a person has a personal intolerance to caffeine and other ingredients of the drink.
There are also ready-made commercial alcoholic energy drinks. For example, American products Four Loko and Joose originally combined caffeine and alcohol, but in 2010 all such drinks became illegal in the United States.
In Russia, the most famous energy drink of this type was Jaguar – an epic drink of 7 and 9% of the fortress, which had an unprecedented success among young people.
The ban on the sale of alcoholic energy drinks in the Russian Federation started on January 1, 2018.
The history of the emergence of energy
Energy drinks were an active part of the early soft drink industry. For example, Pepsi was originally marketed as an energy booster. The name Coca-Cola was derived from two active ingredients, both known stimulants: coca leaves and kola nuts (a source of caffeine).
1819 German chemist Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge was the first to isolate caffeine from coffee beans.
1863 Italian chemist Angelo Mariani creates Vin Mariani, a combination of wine and coca leaves.
1886 Debut of Coca-Cola with a drink based on coca leaves.
1904 Replacing cocaine in cola with a “secret ingredient”.
1927 A chemist named William Owen releases Lucozade to help people recover from the flu, and the drink is still around today.
1949 Chicago businessman William Mark Swartz releases Dr. Enuf, the first energy drink similar to today’s, containing B vitamins, caffeine and cane sugar.
1960 Taisho makes the first Japanese energy drink called Lipovitan.
1987 Creation of Red Bull.
1995 Pepsi Cola releases Josta, an energy drink that lasted until 1999. Josta was advertised as a “high energy drink” with guarana and caffeine.
1997 Red Bull enters the US market.
2001 Rockstar makes its debut in the energy market.
2002 The arrival of Hansen Natural’s Monster energy drink and the increase in energy cans by most major manufacturers.
2007 Powders for energy drinks and effervescent tablets are presented, now everyone can make their energy drink “just add water”.
2008 France lifts 12-year ban on Red Bull.
2009 Red Bull becomes legal in Norway. Colombia prohibits the sale and marketing of energy drinks to children under 14 years of age.
2010 The FDA bans energy drinks containing alcohol in various states of America.
2012 Chaleo Yoovidhya, inventor of Red Bull, dies at 89 of natural causes.
2019 – today: The energy market continues to develop, legislative regulation in different countries is being strengthened.
Basic energy drink recipe at home
The first 2 ingredients can be bought at the pharmacy.
Ingredients
Caffeine-sodium benzoate – approximate price of 13 rubles per 600 mg (6 tablets of 100 mg)
Taufon 4% – the approximate price is 48 rubles per 1 ml (0 ml contains 1 mg of taurine)
Water – from 50 ml to 250 ml, to taste
Lemon juice or acid – from 5 ml, to taste
Sugar – based on the proportions of water and personal taste
Surely you will be confused by the fact that taufon is eye drops, but do not be fooled:
Active substance
Taurine (1 ml drops contains taurine 40 mg)
Excipients
Methyl parahydroxybenzoate (E 218) is used as a preservative in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food industries.
Water for injections – sterile distilled water.
As you can see, there is nothing dangerous in it. You can also use pure taurine, without impurities, which is sold as a dietary supplement over the Internet, but there is a nuance, which is below …
Method of preparation
Our energy drink will include 1 tablet caffeine-sodium benzoate (100mg) and ½ bottle of taufon (5ml or 200mg taurine). This is due to the fact that taurine from eye drops (taufon) is much cleaner than its counterpart from industrial energy drinks.
Now you need to crush the caffeine, mix with taufon (taurine), add lemon juice (acid) and sugar to taste.
Try it, if within 30-80 minutes you don’t feel anything with these proportions, increase the ingredients, either caffeine or taufon (taurine), or both.
After a while, you will come to the desired proportions.
Important! Conduct no more than 2 experiments per day, also try to maintain an interval of 4 hours or more.
If you want to go further, Whistle recommends taking a look at the table below for other ingredients that manufacturers around the world use in their energy drinks (save the picture, it’s larger than you see):
Relevance: 03.05.2019
Tags: Soft Drinks, Soft Drink Recipes