Natural Energy Drinks – An Oxymoron?

Energy drinks and health in the same sentence? They are usually loaded with caffeine, artificial sweeteners (Aspartame Controversy, Taurine and to make everything seem OK, artificial vitamins. This cocktail is toxic and has already started to cause serious health problems.

More and more people that consume the traditional energy drink regularly or even daily have already or are destined to eventually suffer from stomach, kidney, liver or heart problems. Not to mention the effects these chemical cocktails can have on one's teeth (premature enamel degradation) or skin (dehydration related blotching).

An entire new generation is coming into adulthood without their parents' coffee routine, but with a morning, afternoon or evening energy drink. Sometimes all three. Many spend hours online gaming, instead of exercising, which accentuates the problem with energy drinks, introducing type 2 diabetes and other sedentary diseases.

Why should we be concerned about this new variety of mental stimulant? A cup or two of coffee every day has never caused serious health effects. The big difference relates to where the buzz comes from: natural coffee beans vs. laboratory produced synthetic caffeine.

Like most natural substances, the caffeine in the coffee beans cannot easily be separated as a distinct molecular structure. It comes with many other elements, including fibrous membranes, which actually reduce the speed of absorption of the active caffeine.

With these newly concocted energy drinks, the caffeine is produced in sleek factories, usually in Europe or Southeast Asia. This synthetic caffeine is definitely much better than natural caffeine in one regard: it is much more potent. All of the organic substances that come with the coffee or Guarana or tea do not exist with factory produced caffeine. Artificial caffeine is also less expensive to make than natural caffeine, another great thing for the large corporations that make it. Unfortunately for consumers, this highly potent and toxic caffeine is absorbed into our body as soon as it hits the digestive system.

Natural products like Guarana or tea, on the other hand, are absorbed more slowly by the body. They are also less concentrated and therefore less poisonous than the white powdered caffeine. There are a few advantages with the natural versions of caffeine (whether it be in coffee, tea or Guarana). Firstly, the duration of the increased mental clarity will be longer. Instead of the instant buzz you get from most energy drinks and then the inevitable crash, you get a prolonged feeling of alertness for a several hours and the effect eventually wears off gradually.

Advantage #2 has to do with the jitters. Concentrated exposure to potent artificial caffeine tends to over saturate one's nervous system. If overexposure is repeated, nervous system goes haywire. Nature's way of saying: Enough! Hands shake, nervous tics develop; our body shows the same signs as it would under sustained stress and anxiety. Not a good thing.

With guaranine or tea or natural coffee beans, our circulatory and elimination systems can easily eliminate the excess quantities of caffeine without taxing the nervous system. The additional organic matters buffer and slow down the absorption enough so that the body and deal with the toxicity. But even with natural stimulants, they must be used carefully and not in excessive amounts. It is best to stick with one portion a day of coffee or one 12 oz can of an organic energy drink or a serving of warm or cold tea.

Organic coffees don't contain any of the chemicals used in large farming operations. Whole Foods Markets has a wide variety of these.

Two energy drinks that I recommend are GURU Energy Drinks from Canada and Syzmo from the US. They are both organic, come with exclusively natural caffeine from Guarana and/or coffee. The big plus for GURU is their taste (tastes great) and the fact it doesn't have a random cocktail of added vitamins. Syzmo is excellent quality but much more expensive, and the taste needs getting used to. One of the GURU products is sweetened with Stevia (GURU Lite), which is an added bonus (see my post on Benefits of Stevia: (ref: Stevia wins over Chemicals).

In the world of teas; cold, naturally brewed beverages provide both anti-oxidants and natural caffeine. A brand I recommend highly is ITOEN, from Japan. They have some unsweetened products with a unique taste that grows on you after a while. Teas Teas

January 16 2009 | coffee | No Comments »

Gourmet Coffee in Your Own Home

For many people, life wouldn't be the same without a fresh cup of coffee. It isn't always possible or convenient to get down to your favorite coffee shop or barista, and that brings us to tools for your kitchen. Here are a few coffee brewing gadgets you can use in your own home.

In North America, drip coffee machines are the norm. Simply place fresh coffee grounds in the filter basket, pour in cold water, and turn it on. The coffee pours into the glass carafe, ready to enjoy. Coffee filters and coffee grounds are available in a wide variety. These coffee makers are very easy to use and cheap to purchase.

More recent inventions include single serving coffee makers that use a measured packet of coffee grounds like a tea bag. These are purchased in different flavors and varieties, ready to use, and are popular gadgets for houses that only need one cup of coffee made at once. However, the cost per cup may be higher, and supplies may not be available everywhere.

The French Press is a good way to make one or two cups of coffee. Also known as the coffee plunger, these glass and stainless steel gadgets are designed so that both the hot water and coffee are placed inside and allowed to steep briefly. Then, the plunger is pressed down, separating the grounds from the coffee. The resulting java is reported to be stronger and thicker than that made by a drip coffee machine.

Finally, there are espresso machines which produce a concentrated coffee 'shot' using hot water forced under high pressure through very fine grounds. A shot of espresso is thicker than regular coffee and has more sediment in it. Espresso is used in many other coffee drinks, such as lattes, cappuccini, and mochas. This is a much stronger drink than many are accustomed to, although some would say it is the only 'real' coffee.

A coffee bean grinder might be more trouble than you want to go through at home, but it does give you the freshest coffee. For more course grounds, a steel bladed grinder is sufficient. For a finely ground bean a burr mill is the answer, but a bit more costly.

I purchased a wonderful coffee machine with a built in coffee grinder. It also has a timer, so I put all the ingredients in the night before. About 10 minutes before I get up, the grinder kicks in. By the time I get out of bed, my coffee is ready for me. Doesn't that beat making it in the morning?

January 15 2009 | coffee | No Comments »