A Can of Bull? Do Energy Drinks Really Provide a Source of Energy?

by Merle Heidemann, Division of Science and Mathematics Education, Michigan State University Gerald Urquhart, Lyman Briggs School of Science, Michigan State University

Objectives

• Describe and categorize chemically the components of various popular “energy drinks.”
• Determine the physiological role of these components in the human body.
• Explain scientifically how the marketing claims for these drinks are supported (or not).
• Determine under what conditions each of the “energy drinks” might be useful to the consumer.

The Case

After spending several years working the Sport’s Desk of the Lansing State Journal, Rhonda had landed the job of her dreams as a writer for Runners’ World magazine. The job was fantastic! Since high school, where she had excelled in cross country, Rhonda had been a consistent runner, participating in local races and those assigned to her for her job. For her last assignment, she had run and reported on the Leadwood, South Dakota, marathon—it was a blast!

As if reading her mind, her boss Charley walked in just then with a can of XS Citrus Blast® in one hand and a list of several other energy drinks in the other.

“We’ve been getting a lot of inquiries about the different energy drinks on the market, including XS Citrus Blast®. Do you know anything about them?” Charley asked.

“I know that people use them for various reasons,” replied Rhonda. “It seems they’re primarily used by athletes to provide some ‘fuel’ as they practice and compete. Other people use them more casually as a way to become ‘energized.’ That’s about all I know.”

“That seems to be about all any of us knows,” Charley said.

“For your next assignment,” Charley continued, “I want you to find out what each of the ingredients in these drinks is and what it does for a runner or for a non-athlete. You need to be very accurate in your analysis—determine what each component really does for the body, not what the marketers want you to believe it does. Then look at the marketing claims of some of these drinks and see if the scientific facts match up to them. Many of our readers are using these drinks with some general notion that they’re helpful, but they’re basing their use of them on no scientific information. I’ve got the marketing claims, a list of ingredients and nutrition facts provided on the cans for consumers, and a short list of questions that should get you started. When you research these, be sure to document all your sources of information, keeping in mind that all resources are not equal. Here’s the information.”

With that, Charely left the office. Rhonda looked over the list. “Guess I’ll have to brush up on my biochemistry. No problem. I’m interested in knowing if my running would be improved by drinking this stuff.”

Rhonda recalled that a food’s calorie content was the simplest reflection of its energy content. Looking at Charley’s list she saw that the different energy drinks contained the following numbers of calories:

Date Posted: 06/20/05 nas

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