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Never used energy drinks before. Back when they first started gaining popularity some brands had warning labels on the side. I would be skeptical of ingesting anything that comes with warning labels that ask you to limit consumption etc. Then again, I don't even drink coffee. As others have said, the psychological effect would probably be the reason for improvement... as we say "it's all in the head!"

Winex wrote:An ounce or two of caffeine, water and
natural flavors shouldn't be too harmful, could it?

An ounce of caffeine is about the same as 30 cups of coffee. Probably not too healthy!

If the amount of caffeine in a serving of those little energy drinks would cause any serious damage, I would have died decades ago.

RayMondo wrote:
We should remember too that, water with electrolytes is harder for the body to absorb, as it bound to the electrolyte,

??? What does this mean ?? The levels of electrolytes in most sports drinks barely affect the chemical activity of water.

My understanding is that pure water is more readily absorbed than when combined. Thus, hydration is more easily achieved than with mixtures - especially sugary solutions. Endurance athletes don't always hold down these gooey mixtures, and what ain't held down, comes back up as energy-drink-slime. The greatest marathon runners stem from Kenya and Ethiopia, and they never had these modern-day tonics. It's all another example of industry and advertising leading us in a direction they want us to go - for their profit. Moderation, maybe. But running juiced up on the stuff is more like poisoning ourselves.

Though the isotonic component, as you refer, then does not appear to much affect absorbtion.

"Hydration - Fluid absorption
Two main factors affect the speed at which fluid from a drink gets into the body:

The speed at which it is emptied from the stomach and the rate at which it is absorbed through the walls of the small intestine.

The higher the carbohydrate levels in a drink the slower the rate of stomach emptying. Isotonic drinks with a carbohydrate level of between 6 and 8% are emptied from the stomach at a rate similar to water. Electrolytes, especially sodium and potassium, in a drink will reduce urine output, enable the fluid to empty quickly from the stomach, promote absorption from the intestine and encourage fluid retention."

Reference: "The Effect of Different Forms of Fluid Provision on Exercise Performance", International Journal of Sports Medicine, vol. 14, p. 298, 1993)

mconnell wrote:

Winex wrote:An ounce or two of caffeine, water and
natural flavors shouldn't be too harmful, could it?

An ounce of caffeine is about the same as 30 cups of coffee. Probably not too healthy!

If the amount of caffeine in a serving of those little energy drinks would cause any serious damage, I would have died decades ago.

The label says the bottle "contains caffeine comparable to a cup of the leading premium coffee". More caffeine than I get in a year.

RayMondo wrote: That gal with "jugs" sure looks familiar.

When I need to relax, I go out for fast drive on an open road, at which point my chest relaxes and I fill with air like never before.

Ray ?? You're talking about hot air? Yes?

Geez, check out them udders !

Mark twight used energy gels like GU in his books.


All I drink is water and and half and half drinks(half ice tea half lemonade) maybe an energy if I'm tired driving. Haven't drank soda in years. 5 hour energy drink didn't do shit when I was driving home from northwest Indiana and ended up staying up 26 hours. That fucking sucked

MoapaPk wrote:

RayMondo wrote:
We should remember too that, water with electrolytes is harder for the body to absorb, as it bound to the electrolyte,

??? What does this mean ?? The levels of electrolytes in most sports drinks barely affect the chemical activity of water.

RayMondo wrote:My understanding is that pure water is more readily absorbed than when combined. Thus, hydration is more easily achieved than with mixtures... Electrolytes, especially sodium and potassium, in a drink will reduce urine output, enable the fluid to empty quickly from the stomach, promote absorption from the intestine..."

Doesn't that imply the opposite, that electrolytes promote water absorption?

I don't know if this is simply an osmotic enhancement, or something more complicated.

According the definition, Isotonic (which relates to the transfer of water molecules across a semi-permeable membrane, cell wall) is neutral. So that would imply that the water from the drink can pass through the cell wall with equal degree to it passing from the cell back into the drink mixture - across or back). So wouldn't that mean that their effect on hydration is neutral, so long as the cells are not underhydrated. That's what I recall from my biology studies, and the Wikipedia info below.

Wikipedia:
Isotonicity: Isotonic solutions contain equal concentrations of impermeable solutes on either side of the membrane.

Hypertonicity: A hypertonic solution contains a greater concentration of impermeable solutes than the solution on the other side of the membrane. When a cell’s cytoplasm is bathed in a hypertonic solution the water will be drawn into the solution and out of the cell by osmosis. If water molecules continue to diffuse out of the cell, it will cause the cell to shrink, or crenate.

Hypotonicity: A hypotonic solution contains a lesser concentration of impermeable solutes than the solution on the other side of the membrane. When a cell’s cytoplasm is bathed in a hypotonic solution the water will be drawn out of the solution and into the cell by osmosis. If water molecules continue to diffuse into the cell, it will cause the cell to swell, up to the point that lysis (rupture) may occur.

What I believe is wrong with many of the so called isotonic drinks is that, whilst the electrolytes on their own may do the job of supplying required electrolytes (aside from they can be absorbed from real food), they are sugar loaded. Thus giving an instant energy shot and feel good factor, but subsequently sling you into a sugar dive and feeling of fatigue - so you consume more of the stuff.

What I'm wondering is - is the isotonic drink claiming isotonicity regarding the whole mix, or just the electrolytes? So what I'm saying is, water bound into sugar solution is not so ready for absorbtion. It might just be a case of them telling only part of the story.

I prefer slow release sugars from carbs and just plain water, as I amongst many I just can't tolerate more than modest input of refined sugars without bombing out.

Something else that may be worth considering is, ones overall body condition. I experienced a couple of detoxes, one proper, full week under expert supervision. Some of the people there were prone to fatigue, tiredness, low stamina, despite being active and participating in sports, etc.

The view is that parasitic overpopulation of yeasts (Candida, for example) in the gut, robs the body of energy. One can quite literally have several pounds of this white guck lining the intestines, or even "bricks" of it (particularly in the upper, small intestine), which under full detox emerges (hope you are all not eating your burritos here) as white brick, stodge or gloop. Detoxing from the ass end just don't work.

After a proper detox, lasting a week, the result is that the overpopulation is gone and so input energy is used by the body and not by the parasitic Candida. Thus, when overpopulated, ones propensity to gain benefit from the sugary isotonics is negated by the ever increasing populous of the Candida, which just loves feeding and multiplying on the sugars supplied in the drink and other simple carbohydrates. In such cases, the drinks are a poison and no amount of training, determination or effort will make any difference. Even that, by so exerting oneself may lead to death.

The analogy is, take your car's cooling system (pipes, tubes etc). Every winter we are supposed to change the antifreeze / summer coolant. All well and good, but without flushing out the rust, the system can't function. So we got to descale the rust, just like the body.

KristoriaBlack wrote:What exactly is pure water? Are we talking about tap? Or Brita? What about the chlorine and flourine, and all the other stuff besides H20...like estrogens, drugs we flush down the loo, industrial waste, and all the other stuff we pour into our lakes and oceans without giving them a second thought. And even taking man-kind out of the equation, how pure is the water from the most pristine glacier? There are all those minerals we pay so much for when we buy mineral water.

The stuff I filter from the illecillewaet glacier every week is probably pretty pure compared to tap water.

KristoriaBlack wrote:Sorry. The water you drink from your pristine glaciers in the gorgeous BC wilderness, might taste better than the stuff I drink, but its still not pure water.

In fact, the stuff you drink is only the first step in the making of Sigma water... its why idiots like me pay $30 for 100mL of water, because PURE water is neither cheap nor easy to find:

http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/analytical- ... water.html

..even in the untouched corners of the world.

Speaking of Toronto..I was at the science center and they had a giant bottle of what they called "pure" water and it had an interesting taste.

You can engineer all the water you want it still wont be refreshing like glacial melt after a long and hot hike.

KristoriaBlack wrote:
In fact, the stuff you drink is only the first step in the making of Sigma water... its why idiots like me pay $30 for 100mL of water, because PURE water is neither cheap nor easy to find:

Aww hell Kristoria. If I have a day in the mountains in summer I need to start off with over 7 litres of water. I'd have to spend over $2,000 to fill my bottles with pure water!

I hope I won't offend you if I'll stick to my definition of purity: "if what is floating around in it is still alive, it must be ok to drink".

MikeTX wrote:the purest water is produced by civil engineers, not mother nature.

Get 'em Mike...

mrchad9 wrote:

MikeTX wrote:the purest water is produced by civil engineers, not mother nature.

Get 'em Mike...

Smart water?