Sports and energy beverages, in fact, accounted for 63 percent of 2003 retail sales of sports nutritional products, a market that includes sports bars and supplements, according to The U.S. Market for Sports Nutritional Products, a new study by Packaged Facts, a division of MarketResearch.com. With this in mind, we decided to join the masses. The irony? We found out they’re not for everybody.
Drink: Omega Energy
Cheesy slogan: "Got the Juice!"
Price: $1.99
Nutrition info: 16 fl. oz. (two servings per can) contain 100 calories, no fat,
105 mg of sodium, 27 g of carbs, 25 g of sugar and no protein, plus 100 percent
of the daily value of vitamins C, B6, B12 and folic acid
Unpronounceable power ingredients: Taurine, D-Ribose, L-Carnitine, inositol and
panax ginseng
Taste: Like biting into a sumptuous, fizzy, passion fruit.
—Jeff Rice
Drink: Rooster Booster
Drink: Red Bull Energy Drink
—Brett Colton
© 2004, Centre Daily Times (State College, Pa.).
Details: I likes me energy drinks like I likes me men: Tall, dark and handsome.
Omega was tall – the biggest of the bunch at 16 ounces – and the can
was dark and attractively colored. So I dove for it.
While everyone else made John Mayer-like grimaces as they choked down their drinks,
my Omega was so delicious, I swigged it, and it was gone in two minutes.
Within the first few swallows, my body went through an interesting series of stages:
My vision got blurry, then I got the jitters, then I got snappy, then tingly and
then I crashed faster than Ben Affleck’s career post-Gigli. So much for energy.
Get this one solely for the flavor.
—Gisela Garcia
Drink: invigor8
Cheesy Slogan: The name speaks for itself.
Price: $1.99
Nutrition info: 8 fl. oz. contain 110 calories, 60 mg of sodium, 27 g of carbs,
22 g of sugar and no protein, plus 100 percent of your daily vitamin C
Ingredients: The carrot and the pear were not meant to be squeezed, but this concoction
contains juice from both, plus apple juice, vitamins, citric acid and something
called guarana extract.
Taste: Remember when you were a little kid and mixed everything in the refrigerator
into one glass, then drank it? Well, this is almost as good as that.
Looks: Somewhere between orange Gatorade and Orange Crush.
Details: One of the most natural and probably healthiest energy drinks out there,
invigor8 ranked regrettably low on the taste scale. My face spasmed less the first
time I had a shot of 151.
During the first 20 or so minutes, I didn’t feel an increase in energy (though
I rarely do at 2:30 p.m.), but I did get a slight headache. Not as much kick as
Red Bull, but not a bad choice for someone limiting sugar intake - if you don’t
mind holding your nose.
Cheesy slogan: "8 ounces of power packed in a can"
Price: $1.79
Nutrition info: 130 calories and no fat, 50 mg of sodium, 32 g of sugar, no protein,
plus 100 percent of your daily value of niacin, vitamins B6, B12 and C
Unpronounceable power ingredients: Niacin
Taste:Eight parts cotton candy, one part melted cherry popsicle syrup that was
scraped off the sidewalk .
Looks: Like deceptively pretty pink fizz.
Details: After clicking open the can, getting past the nauseatingly sweet aroma
and the pastel pink foam, I took a sip - and struggled not to spit it out. However,
if you’ve ever had an urge to drink full-strength liquefied sugar, you might
disagree. That said, either the overdose of caffeine or the truckload of vitamins
made me act like a complete weirdo. To be fair, I skipped breakfast, but I know
ingesting 32 grams of sugar in one 8-ounce drink is almost never a good thing.
Rooster Booster is like booze: It should not be consumed before taking an exam,
talking to your boss or getting behind the wheel of a car.
—Nichole Dobo
Cheesy slogan: "It gives you wings!"
price: $1.99
Nutrition info: 8.3 fl. oz. (two servings per can) contain 110 calories, no fat,
200 mg of sodium, 28 g of carbs, 27 g of sugar and less than 1 g protein, plus
niacin, vitamins B6 and B12, and pantothenic acid
,b>Unpronounceable power ingredients: Taurine, pantothenic acid
Taste: It’s like swallowing a mouthful of liquid Sweet Tarts.
Looks: Think yellow liquid dish detergent.
Details: I didn’t care for it at all. I ended up choking it down, though.
And after the nasty assault on my mouth, I didn’t even notice a difference.
My concentration wasn’t improved like the can promises. At least it lives
up to its name: bull. Maybe next time I’ll add a little Smirnoff.
Drink: AMP Energy Drink
Cheesy slogan: Doesn’t have one yet.
Price: $1.99
Nutrition info: 8.4 fl. oz. (one serving per can) contain 120 calories, no fat,
70 mg of sodium, 31 g of carbs, and 30 g of sugar, plus riboflavin, niacin, vitamins
B6 and B12, and pantothenic acid
Unpronounceable power ingredients: Taurine, pantothenic acid, maltodextrin, guarana
Taste: Think Mountain Dew, only with more of a tangy taste, which makes it almost
undrinkable.
Looks: Like Mountain Dew.
According to www.wirehedmag.com, it glows when placed under a black light because
of all its Vitamin B. However, there aren’t many black lights here at the
office, so we couldn’t test this claim.
Details: If you like Mountain Dew, you’ll probably like this drink. As for
me, I think Mountain Dew tastes like armpit sweat, so I had to force it down.
I will say, though, that it did give me an boost for about two hours ... just
long enough to make it through another marathon meeting.
—Jake Volcsko
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.