Juiced energy drinks still give 'jolt and crash'

When someone drinks a Monster or a Rockstar, he gets a feeling of increased alertness and awareness. The feeling of a good buzz leads one into believing he can do anything with newfound strength and endurance.

But what he doesn't realize is that he's being tricked into believing he has more energy and that buzz is the body's reaction to the sudden ingestion of sugar and caffeine. The drinker often comes down hard off that high - a condition referred to as "jolt and crash."

What keeps him from chugging drink after drink is the bitter taste. To combat this, Monster and Rockstar have introduced concoctions that contain natural fruit juices to offset that unpleasantness. But are these beverages any healthier than their predecessors, or are they just a way to make them more appealing to consumers? With so little research done by the Food and Drug Administration, it leans toward the latter.

The main ingredients in energy drinks are carbonated water, sugar and caffeine, as well as some vitamins and herbal supplements. All are intended to energize the body and stimulate the mind, but what consumers don't realize is that the amounts of sugar and caffeine overwhelm the benefits of any natural supplements. It's still unknown what the long-term effects of these drinks are, especially if they are mixed with prescription drugs and/or alcohol.

The FDA hasn't conducted significant research on the effects of energy drinks and allows brands to sell them without its approval, but there have been several studies that have tested the ingredients and how they work in the body.

According to The Associated Press, a University of Florida study determined that an energy drink two-thirds the size of a can of Coca-Cola contains two to four times the amount of caffeine. A study at the University of Wisconsin showed that two ingredients, caffeine and taurine, have no effect on short-term memory, but participants reported slower heart rates and increased blood pressure.

Another concern is that energy drinks are consumed much faster than coffee or tea. According to their respective Web sites, eight ounces of Rockstar contains 1,000 milligrams per serving of taurine, a crystalline acid found in bulls, and 80 mg caffeine. Monster has 1,000 mg taurine and 2,500 mg of an "energy blend," which it says is made up of l-camitine, caffeine and guarana, which contains a stimulant. Both Rockstar and Monster offer 8, 16 and 24 ounce beverages.

With such high levels of caffeine and sugar, it's easy to think that energy drinks mixed with natural fruit juice can be benificial. Rockstar Juiced and Monster Khaos are the same formula as standard versions of the brands but claim to mix that with 70 percent juice. The juice reduces some of the bitter taste that come with regular drinks, but whether it adds any nutritional value remains suspect.

"If the juice is natural, it is a good thing," Kelly Stocker, a professor at San Diego State's department of exercise and nutritional sciences, wrote in an e-mail. "The energy, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants provided certainly do have an added benefit. I do not think it is a good thing if it's just added sugar from sucrose or high fructose corn syrup because that's just extra kilocalories."

Mark Kern, Ph.D., also a professor at SDSU ENS, said it would be better to drink the juice drink because there should be many components remaining from the fruit that aren't present in the original formula, but that doesn't guarantee a healthier beverage.

"When you look at the can, you can see that there are more vitamins in the juiced formula, but that's misleading because you can't tell how much of those vitamins were just added to get the total that is presented," he wrote in an e-mail.

It is likely better for the body to drink the juiced version, though there is no evidence that it provides any additional nutrition. However, people must keep in mind that they are still rapidly ingesting the same amounts of caffeine, sugar and stimulants as they would in a regular energy drink.

So while they are a smoother, better-tasting alternative, juiced energy drinks might be just another way for a $3.4 billion-a-year industry to continue to fuel the "buzzed generation."

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