Energy Drinks: A Healthy Business Model?
Consumers are inundated with ads for energy drinks, including the tiny bottle of 5-hour Energy.
Carl Sperber, the spokesperson for Living Essentials, says, “It would be easier for me to tell you where we didn’t sell them in the U.S. thank list all the places we do.” Living Essentials is the Michigan based manufacturer of the 5-hour Energy drink.
The drink promises to give the drinker energy alertness without jitters. Most energy drinks are marketed to college students, but 5-hour Energy’s target audience are the multitasking, working professionals. Since it’s debut in 2004, the demand for the drink has skyrocketed. Live Essentials projects that it will sell more than 350 million drinks this year, a figure up from 174 million in 2008.
Sperber adds, “This is a no-nonsense drink. It is not a fashion statement. It doesn’t have a cool name; it’s just a simple grab-and-go product to help busy adults when they can’t afford a letdown.”
The drink contains no sugar, just 4 calories, and about the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee. In addition, it contains a handful of ingredients that are broken down into B vitamins, described as an “energy blend” by the manufacturer.
Dr Brent Bauer, of the May Clinic, explains, “”The B vitamins are given at extraordinarily high levels, and people need to know they are not some magic potion that’s going to immediately raise your energy level. There is no data that show that.”
Regarding the health factors of the drink, the results are a little unclear. Insufficient data has been collected about the drinks safety or effectiveness.
Bauer warns, “These energy shots have over a dozen ingredients all together, and consumers are ingesting them at very high doses but there is no research of how the ingredients react all together.”
It’s unlikely that consumers of the drink would ever ingest enough to reach toxic levels of vitamin B, but side effects could still occur. Live Essentials says that there is a potential “niacin flush reaction” from vitamin B3.
Having too much B3 in your body can cause a tingly sensation, which is only temporary. Your face and body would turn red but only for about 30 minutes. Jim White, spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, explains, “Research also shows high doses of vitamin B6 can cause nerve spasm, also temporary trouble with muscle coordination.”
Live Essentials stresses that none of their ingredients are synthetic drugs. They also advice consumers to check with their health care provider before drinking the energy drink.
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Posted by Brett Nordin
on Jun 13 2011. Filed under Featured News, Health.
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