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Energy Drinks and Energy Bar FAQ |
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 19 April 2009 )
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Are energy drinks and/or bars worth taking? It is quite easy to answer this question in the affirmative, but a deeper answer would be it really depends on you. Energy bars and drinks are there to help people with their energy levels and for that reason you should only take them if you either have a problem with your current energy levels or alternatively feel that you are going to need higher levels temporarily for different reasons. If your life is perfectly fine, you might have no need of either whatsoever. People that are active on a daily basis or are trying to work their way up to that point however might benefit from the use of one or the other.
What is the difference between an energy drink and an energy bar?In terms of ingredients that actually affect your energy levels, there is usually no difference between the two. Both of them were created for the express purpose of helping to increase a person’s energy reserves and that is exactly what they do. The difference is in the delivery system. Energy drinks have a liquid-based delivery system and that tends to mean that they affect you sooner in a more intense way whereas energy bars have a solid delivery system that usually means that they take a bit longer to affect you and are less intense while at the same time maintaining the energy boost for a longer period of time as a result. These are only generalities however as different drinks and bars can act differently when compared across brands and types.
What ingredients can be found in energy drinks and/or bars?The ingredients that can be found in energy products can usually be divided into three distinct groups. The first group is the actual energy-increasing products and depending on what you take these can be stimulants like caffeine or they can be extracts from plants that have been known to increase energy levels. The second group of ingredients is the daily recommended intake ingredients and these usually include various vitamins and minerals that are included with the express purpose of indirectly helping your energy levels by giving you assistance in consuming what you need to each day in order to maintain and improve your fitness level. The third group of ingredients is the aesthetic group and these include ingredients that are intended to make the drink and/or bar taste or smell better. Most energy drinks and bars have a combination of ingredients from these three categories.
What is the difference between energy drinks and bars and recovery drinks and bars?It is true that there is a large amount of overlap between energy and recovery products, but they are not the same thing. Energy products are general purpose products that you take in order to help give you an energy boost. In a very simple way, something like a cup of coffee could be considered an energy product because most people drink it in order to get perked up a bit and gain a bit of a boost because of the caffeine stimulant that coffee has.
Recovery drinks , on the other hand, are specific purpose products that are utilized for only a single reason. Read the Recovery Drinks & Bars FAQ to learn more . As the name implies, they are products that are taken to help you recover after you have drained your resources of energy. This could be because of a workout, a particularly long day that is not yet over or because of a high-intensity physical performance, but the point is that recovery products are taken in response to energy levels being drained whilst energy products can be taken at any point in time when the person doing the taking is looking for an energy boost.
In order to facilitate this difference, you will usually find that recovery products load up on the first category of ingredients (see the previous question) whilst unloading some of the ingredients from categories two and three in order to make room. Energy products aim for balance and good taste whilst recovery products are just there to give you back a large dose of energy after you have just expended a large dose of energy.
Are there any side effects to taking energy drinks and/or bars?This really depends on the ingredients that are within your specific energy product. Side effects are dependant on the constituent ingredients, just as is the case with many of the pills that people can take. In a general sense, one side effect that you should definitely watch out for is the dreaded “crash” that accompanies the time period just after the effects of the energy product have worn off. If this is poorly timed, it can really make things difficult for you, but the good news is that most energy products come with only a mild crash effect and even in the case of the ones that are real jolts that come with larger crashes, the crash is not a serious side effect by even the most conservative viewpoint of side effects.
Are there any alternatives to taking energy drinks and/or bars?As mentioned in one of the previous questions, it might not even be worth taking energy products if you don’t feel any loss of energy or need for extra energy in your life. If you do and would like to try something out that is an alternative to energy products, you might try making dietary changes that include extra fruits and vegetables as well as a standardized sleep schedule that gives you around the same amount of sleep each night.
Dietary changes especially can be effective as they will include many of the same ingredients as energy products, but few people have the discipline necessary to get the same benefits from a sustained dietary change that they would be able to get from introducing an energy bar into their diet on the way to work each day. There is a convenience issue involved here and it is one reason why people en masse will utilize the help of an energy bar rather than making those changes to their diet.
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Sunday, 19 April 2009 |
