Welcome to the GreenEyedGuide Quick Tips to Start Your Week series!
Should you even bother with nootropic drinks if you already drink energy drinks? While the term “nootropic” isn’t new, marketing something as a nootropic is a new, growing trend. As a result, let’s look at five of the top” nootropic ingredients which are also found in energy drinks. Are they safe? Do they even work?
What defines "THE BEST" energy drink for night shift?
If you’ve ever wondered what to drink to help keep you awake on the night shift, this list is for you. While making the list of the best energy drinks for night shift, I used three criteria: 1) the drink has to be a top-selling brand, 2) it has to have the right amount of caffeine, and 3) it has to have other ingredients science has proven effective for boosting attention.
I know you have many, many choices when it comes to caffeinated beverages, but by sticking with the top-selling brands, you can be sure these brands taste good and are easy to find at grocery stores and gas stations. And, while caffeine does all the heavy lifting keeping you awake, there are several other ingredients that can be Robin to caffeine’s Batman.
Short on time? Download the Night Shift Energy Boost Shopping List – Includes the best energy drinks, ready-to-drink coffees, bottled teas, energy drink alternatives, AND some guidelines for healthier swaps
Energy Boosting Ingredients
If you want to overcome tiredness and get more energy working night shift, caffeine (and a short nap) is the most effective. But if taking a short nap isn’t possible, what should you drink to help keep you awake? To answer this question, we turn to science.
The good news is there are plenty of research papers on energy supplements for night shift workers and for the military.
The even better news is I’ve done all the hard work for you by reading this research! I’ll spare you the details and summarize the important parts.
The following ingredients help you pay attention, even when sleep-deprived. This comes from a systematic review, whichis a meticulous summary of what all the other research papers have to say about this topic.
I declared myself a biochemistry/chemistry major in 2003 – right at the beginning of the Energy Drink Boom. Fascinated by these drinks and all the fears surrounding their use, I’ve applied my education (and basically all my free time) toward understanding the science behind energy drinks and their ingredients. In 2003, energy drinks contained synthetic caffeine as well as caffeine extracts from guarana and yerba mate. While synthetic caffeine was often criticized for being synthetic, guarana and yerba mate were often criticized for being “dangerous stimulants”. Then along came green coffee bean extract and coffeeberry/coffee fruit. As a caffeine consumer, you may be wondering, what is it about green coffee beans and coffeeberry that make it special? I encourage you to geek out with me over these game-changing energy drink ingredients.
One of the biggest questions surrounding energy drinks is whether they are more dangerous for the heart than caffeine from coffee. Some people worry it’s the combination of ingredients, not just the caffeine content itself, which makes energy drinks more dangerous. As a biochemist studying energy drinks, I strive to better understand this risk by reviewing the latest research on caffeine and energy drink ingredients. In this Research Recap, we’ll review an experiment on how caffeine and taurine affect the contraction behavior of the heart muscle. Read more →
One of my favorite ways to study biochemistry is to make up metaphors to help me turn complicated invisible reactions into memorable, tangible stories. My favorite metaphor of all time is one I created for inositol. Inositol already holds a soft spot in my heart because it used to be a vitamin, like how Pluto used to be a planet.
#RIPPluto
Inositol is not an extremely common energy drink ingredient, but it’s in at least one of the “Big 3” (the top 3 selling brands). It’s unlikely the small amount of inositol exerts a strong effect after consuming an energy drink. But if Pluto is worth knowing, then so is inositol.
Our bodies make inositol (hence the removal of “Vitamin” status), so inositol is affecting you on a daily basis even if you don’t drink energy drinks.
Let me tell you a story about what this little fellow is doing.
What Does Inositol Do?
(Audio)Book Excerpt of the Week: Narrated by Jay R. Smith Audio Publishing
We can think of cell membranes like the doors, walls, and windows of a house. Some molecules can get into a house quite easily, while others are like vampires and have to be invited in….or something like that. Some molecules set off a reaction by coming to the threshold of the house, and these reactions are called “membrane mediated events”. With signal transduction, a guest coming to the door creates not onereaction, but a whole series of reactions involving multiple signals and second messengers.
Inositol’s role in treating anxiety, depression, and insomnia all stem from how inositol participates in the chain of reactions and signaling that occurs with signal transduction.
Stay tuned for next week’s book excerpt as we continue our page-by-page exploration through the Energy Drink Guide (now on Audible!!!).
