Ingredient of the day: Inositol - Meth and Cocaine filler

What is in this energy supplement stuff anyways?  All these odd ingredients, from Wood Rosin to Guarana to MSG?   This handy Guide will walk you though the more popular ingredients at a store near you, but not in any way approved by the FDA...

INOSITOL
Inositol is a kind of sugar that  plays an important role in chemical reactions in the body.  However, it works very differently from Glucose or Fructose, as this makes up an important part of your body's chemistry.  It is sometimes considered part of the B vitamin family - with the difference that it is not an essential nutrient.  Basically, this is a compound which you can find in a ton of food, including nuts, beans, wheat and wheat bran, cantaloupe, and oranges.  Not to mention, your body makes this in enough supply you would never need to take this as a supplement.  There are some instances where this is helpful as a supplement, as it might help people with diabetes or suffer Depression, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Although inositol is sometimes called a member of the B complex of vitamins, it is really not a vitamin. Vitamins are considered essential to the human diet  it is not essential for life.

Some experts think that people who drink a TON of caffeine might have problems with the amount of Inositol in their diet, but it would take over 300 cans of red bull in 24 hours to have any sort of health benefit from the dose.  In reality, the amount in energy drinks don't do a single thing as a health benefit.  Good news is it can do nothing really wrong to you either.  T

This is a slightly healthier filler ingredient, so in energy drinks it adds a very slight nutritive value, plus it sweetens it up.  In illegal drugs,  this is used as a filler too.  Inositol is a cutting agent in Meth and Cocaine (both in this one and the real thing).  The flavorless white color, texture and inability to overdose on it make it a perfect substitute for the real thing.

TAURINE
Taurine was named from where it came from, as "bos taurus" means Ox Bile in Latin, where it was first discovered - as well as in the urine and saliva as well. The taurine in Monster and almost every other energy drink does not actually come from bull urine any more (now it is made artificially), but can be found everywhere in nature, including being produced normally in our bodies.  The body uses Taurine to aid the nervous system, aid the immune system, control cell chemicals and prevent gall stones.  It's used by doctors to treat epilepsy, heart problems and control certain cholesterol levels.  So what is this doing in energy drinks?  No idea - but they certainly can pack it in there. some energy drinks can have up to 6 grams of it.   Taurine does not have any stimulant properties, but might do something to inhibit the jitteriness of the big punch of caffeine many of them have. 
You might be wondering if you have enough taurine in your system, seeing as most people don't take taurine supplements, although they do sell them, but your body naturally produces enough of this without  any problems.  It is a normal acid produced by your system, and you can also get it from eating any dairy products, fish or meat.  Now if you are a big bodybuilder, having a lot of taurine might be good for you, because your body stops producing it at levels of extreme exertion  - and can help oxidize your muscles faster so you can work out longer, but unless you are regularly downing big energy drinks before intense workouts, this nutrient does not do a thing either good or bad for you.

Why is it in so many drinks?  Only one real reason - and that is Red Bull.  People got used to the sulfuric taste of it, Rockstar and Monster added it, and there would be no way you could make an energy drink now without it - that would be like selling a burger and not getting catsup.  It is possible, but not very likely.


GUARANA
Native to the Amazon basin and especially common in Brazil, the guarana features large leaves and clusters of flowers. It's  best known for its fruit, which is about the size of a coffee berry. Each of those fruits contains about one seed, which has as much as 3 times the caffeine as coffee.

According to a myth dating back to the Sateré-Maué tribe, guarana was given to a tribe in Brazil after a deity killed a beloved village child. The villagers were really upset, so another Deity pulled out the left eye from the child and planted it in the forest, resulting in the wild variety of guarana. Then the god then plucked the poor dead kid's right eye from the child and planted it inside the village, where it grew to become domesticated Guarana.  Somehow, the boy was grown from the ground like a plant, and the everyone lives happily ever after. Take that, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm!

So is there any difference between Guarana caffeine and coffee caffeine?  Not really... Caffeine is Caffeine, although the guarana seeds do taste WAY different than coffee beans.. In many places in south america, they sell Guarana beverages, where it is sweetened and sold as soda.  But "natural" caffeine from guarana berries will give you exactly the same caffeine as a cup of coffee would.  Guarana Will NOT help you lose weight, will not help you be better in bed or help you gain extra brain powers.  There have been some studies that show that Guarana might act slower on your body than normal caffeine,giving you a slower and more gentle high with less crash. 

Research by Monash University in Melbourne has found that guarana, a key ingredient in many energy drinks, improves the performance of drivers on long-distance highway trips, but the "hit" was not immediate. "We think that's probably because the caffeine in guarana is bound up in complex tannins that mean it is released slower so you don't get the high from it as quick." said Dr Russell Conduit, who oversaw the unsponsored project by Patrick McGrath.
Topics: the basics