Tag: B-vitamins

Thiamin (vitamin B1), the Avengers, and Beriberi – Book Excerpt of the Week

Thiamin (vitamin B1), the Avengers, and Beriberi – Book Excerpt of the Week

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Energy drinks are often referred to as “concoctions of sugar, caffeine, and B-vitamins”, but some B-vitamins aren’t considered essential or even relevant to energy levels. Obviously they’re all essential to life, but if the B-vitamins were all members of the Avengers, would you know which B-vitamin is like Hulk and which is more like Hawkeye?

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Many vitamins are discovered as “That thing that keeps (something bad) from happening.” In the case of thiamin, the bad thing is a disease called beriberi.

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There are two kinds of beriberi: wet and dry. A diet high in carbohydrates, combined with strenuous physical exertion can use up a significant amount of thiamin, leading to wet beriberi. Insufficient energy from food and inactivity are associated with dry beriberi. Wet beriberi includes an enlarged heart and buildup of excess fluid in intracellular spaces (called “edema”). Dry beriberi includes muscle wasting in addition to impaired sensory, motor, and reflex functions (called “peripheral neuropathy”).

With this book excerpt, you might come to the conclusion that “people are lethargic without thiamin”. While this is true, it’s also misleading.

Thiamin does not give people energy. It’s more of a facilitator than fuel.

Thiamin participates in the metabolism of fat, protein, nucleic acids, and especially carbohydrates. That’s why carbohydrate metabolism is the first to go haywire with thiamin deficiency.

Thiamin is definitely a major player in the B-vitamin Avenger squad, but we’ll get into  (the nerdy, biochemical bits on) WHAT THIAMIN DOES next week as we continue our page by page tour through my book on the science of energy drinks and their ingredients.

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B-vitamin discovery – Book Excerpt of the Week

B-vitamin discovery – Book Excerpt of the Week

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Vitamin B (singular) was discovered in 1897 as THE THING that prevented the disease Beriberi. It wasn’t until 1911 that someone discovered THE THING was not ONE vitamin, but a CLUSTER (or a “complex”) of vitamins.

The Book Excerpt of the Week comes from the “B-vitamins” chapter of Part Three: How Do They Work.

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The B-vitamins are similar in how they work: almost all off them help enzymes in our body, and those enzymes are like little machines that get important stuff done (like metabolizing things, building DNA, and much more).

In the coming weeks we’ll talk about what each of the B-vitamins do, and how much you should consume (versus how much is in sports supplements and energy drinks).

Stay tuned for next week’s book excerpt as we move page by page through my book on the science of energy drinks.

Get your copy of “Are You a Monster or a Rock Star: A Guide to Energy Drinks- How They Work, Why They Work, How to Use Them Safely” from Amazon and wherever books are sold.

AUDIO BOOK IN PRODUCTION!!! Visit Patreon.com/greeneyedguide

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How Much Carnitine? Book Excerpt of the Week

How Much Carnitine? Book Excerpt of the Week

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For last week’s Book Excerpt, we reviewed the role of carnitine in the body and how it helps the body’s powerhouse, the Mighty Mitochondria. This week we ask, “How much carnitine is too much?”

With a well-balanced diet, a healthy human body makes enough carnitine to meet demand.

Carnitine supplements have been used in clinical trials for age-related cognitive decline, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s disease. These studies use carnitine in GRAMS and many energy drinks contain carnitine in MILLIGRAMS.

In other words, don’t expect the carnitine amount in energy drinks to MAKE YOU OVERDOSE on carnitine or PREVENT COGNITIVE DECLINE.

The body is pretty effective at getting rid of excess carnitine so consuming too much shouldn’t be a big concern… unless you have an empty stomach. Taruine, carnitine, and B-vitamins can irritate an empty stomach, leading to nausea, light-headedness, and other stomach pains.

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GreenEyedGuide Caffeine Challenge Day 10/10 – 10 Tips for Label Reading

GreenEyedGuide Caffeine Challenge Day 10/10 – 10 Tips for Label Reading

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For the 10th and final day of the GreenEyedGuide Caffeine Challenge we review the 10 things on a label to check before consuming a caffeinated beverage or other health/functional beverage.

Thank you for playing along with the Caffeine Challenge! You can always share your favorite caffeinated beverages with me on Instagram/ Facebook/Twitter and tag @GreenEyedGuide.

Through this challenge, you’ll learn how to use the 5 Levels of Fatigue to reap the benefits of caffeine while avoiding addiction, dependence, tolerance, and toxicity.

Taurine, bad Zodiac jokes, and bull sperm- Book Excerpt of the Week 

Taurine, bad Zodiac jokes, and bull sperm- Book Excerpt of the Week 

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One of the many reasons I decided to write an energy drink book is “bull sperm”. I kid* you not, there were people out there who insisted taurine was a fancy name for bull sperm. They were younger people, hence the “*”, but I couldn’t stand this gross eggageration (so.many.puns). 

Fact-taurine was first isolated from ox bile in 1822. The name comes from Bos taurus, the genus and species of ox.

Okay, so then what is taurine, really?

Taurine is an amino acid, just not the kind of amino acid that is a “building block” for protein.

So what does it DO? WHY is it in energy drinks? 

For that answer, stay tuned for next week’s book excerpt, as we continue through Part THREE of the Energy Drink Guide. We’ll discuss the WHAT IS IT, WHAT DOES IT DO, HOW MUCH IS TO MUCH for 30 of the most common energy drink ingredients. 

Get your copy of my book, ” Are You a Monster or a Rock Star-A Guide to Energy Drinks: How They Work, Why They Work, How to Use Them Safely” on Amazon and wherever books are sold.