A Natural Approach to Energy Management (The Afternoon Pick-Me-Up: A natural approach to energy)

From college students fretting over exams to tired moms trying to juggle sleep, hockey practice and child-wrangling, consumers are looking for potent, effective, energy-boosting products. Mintel, a leading market research company, valued the total off-premise energy-drink market at $4.8 billion in 2008, posting 440-percent growth from 2003 to 2008 in current prices, (363-percent growth after measuring for inflation).

Chutes and Ladders

The popular energy drink, Red Bull seems to deliver a childhood wish of flying: “It gives you wings.” Unfortunately, it’s looking like it may give you more than just wings. According to an article in Time magazine, “A study of 30 university students between 20 and 24 years old found drinking just one 250 ml sugar-free can of the caffeinated energy drink increased the ‘stickiness’ of the blood and raised the risk of blood clots forming.”¹ Researchers said after drinking one can, subjects had a cardiovascular profile similar to that of someone with heart disease.

But whatever its possible downside, Red Bull remains the top dog on the energy drink platform. Mintel reported Red Bull is the top brand choice among teens and adults at 47-percent and 57-percent penetration, respectively. The main ingredients in Red Bull are taurine, glucuronolactone, caffeine and the B vitamin complex. Taurine is an organic acid that occurs naturally in the body; glucuronolactone is a normal human metabolite produced by the metabolism of glucose in the liver; caffeine is a naturally occurring stimulant; and B vitamins, well, they’re vitamins. So what’s wrong with that?

Another ingredient included in Red Bull, and other popular energy drinks, is sucrose or sucralose/aspartame for the sugar-free option. Recent research found sucralose and aspartame may actually promote obesity due to an increase in food intake after consuming an artificial sweetener.² In parallel, the combination of sugar and caffeine delivers a surge of energy followed by an even harder comedown. It’s similar to the giant slide on Chutes and Ladders—it’s a long way down; it may even make your stomach flip.

Another ingredient, caffeine, is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant. It is absorbed in the stomach and small intestine and distributed throughout the body’s tissues. CNS stimulants increase the release of norepinephrine and dopamine from brain cells. Norepinephrine and dopamine affect different regions of the brain, including wakefulness and motor activities. However, CNS stimulants may affect norepinephrine in other parts of the body, causing unwanted side effects such as increased blood pressure and heart arrhythmias due to reactions of norepinephrine on the cardiovascular system.

Julie Kahn Harden, N.D., L.Ac., of the Institute of Professional Medicine (IProgessiveMed.com) said in her paper, “The Truth Behind the Energy Drink Craze” most energy drinks range in sugar content from 54 g to 66 g per 16-oz. can and can have up to 174 mg of caffeine. “The sugar content in energy drinks exceeds that of any regular soda on the market. The result is a temporary high followed by a ‘sugar crash’ and other unpleasant side effects can include weight gain, disrupted sleep patterns and general malaise.”

Tom Schrier, national sales director for Kaneka Nutrients, a supplier of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), agreed: “There are many ‘instant’ energy products on the market, mostly beverages with high concentrations of caffeine and/or sugar. These are marketed to teenagers and 20-somethings, and typically give a ‘boost and crash’ result, often leaving the consumer feeling worse off than before. This is not really energy, so much as over stimulation.”

So how can one “naturally” sustain or obtain energy? There are many natural supplements that help sustain energy or offer a short-term burst of energy. There are also many finished products on the market designed for all different types of users.

The Basics of Energy

There are two types of cells: eukaryotic and prokaryotic. Prokaryotic cells, bacteria and archaea, are usually independent and they lack a nuclear membrane and a nucleus. Eukaryotic cells are typically ten times the size of prokaryotic cells. They contain a membrane, a cell nucleus and organelles, different compartments of a cell. Mitochondrion is an organelle found in most eukaryotic cells that provides cellular energy. One of its main purposes is to oxidize the products of cytoplasmic metabolism to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is the basis for all energy in the body. ATP basically serves as a shuttle, delivering energy where need be. Carbohydrates are converted into glucose, fats are converted into glycerol and fatty acids and proteins are broken down into amino acids. Once in the cells, nutrients are transformed into ATP through the Krebs cycle and ATP redistributes energy to other cellular processes.