It's the beginning of football season, and the end of the
regular baseball season. It's the end of summer and the beginning of colder
months, all which coincidentally end with a "burr". September is a
curious month. A clever man once said, "Every new beginning comes from
some other beginning's end," but to many, the beginnings and ends
September brings are significant.
Like the trajectory of a Red Bull flugtag contraption, many start
September with an optimistic lift of energy and determination…before losing
momentum and dropping quickly to the ground. I have to plan for Halloween already?!? The sun has set already?!?
Midterms, already?!? Don't give into the fall, rise. You may be powerless
to stop the evening fog from rolling in, but you can combat the fog that creeps into your mind – rise.
If you haven't guessed already, the Energy Drink of the
Month for September 2013 is Rize.
Designed by a biochemist with a passion for athletic events
ranging from Mud Runs to Marathons, Rize is not your typical "energy
drink". In fact, one would dare to say Rize symbolizes the New Era of
energy drinks. Rize is just one of
the products you could point to anytime someone makes one of my favorite
blanket statements, "Energy drinks are bad."
Oh yeah? Well, let's
just take a look at this one, shall we?
Like most energy drinks, Rize contains caffeine (*SHOCKER*)
and B-vitamins. However, there are three major ingredients that set this drink
apart from the other 500 products marketed as "energy drinks". (This
is neither an exaggeration nor a typo. According to Forbes Magazine there were
over 500 energy drinks on the market worldwide in 2006. This stat is precisely
why the blanket statement, above, irks me so.)
1 – Trehalose
No, not the fort you'd build in the limbs of a tree,
trehalose ("trey-ha-lohs") is a special kind of sugar. Don't panic,
it's nothing foreign to your body. Trehalose is made from two regular average
glucose molecules (glucose is the most basic building block of carbohydrates).
In trehalose, however, the two glucose molecules are holding hands in a
different way than two glucoses normally would (say, in a starch molecule). This
tiny deviation from the norm is enough to change taste and metabolism.
Too. Much. Science…
Okay, okay, so here's the important part: trehalose doesn't
create blood sugar spikes like other simple sugars would. Trehalose has a
unique sweetness that's different than sugar but not metallic like Stevia, plus
it's free of the controversies surrounding Aspartame and Sucralose. In essence,
trehalose provides the yummy part of sugar, without the rise and fall of blood
sugar levels. The result is sustained energy, the natural way.
2 – Green Tea Extract and Green Tea's caffeine
The
following is an excerpt from the book ARE YOU A MONSTER OR A ROCKSTAR: a guide to energy drinks:
Green tea is probably the healthiest
drink on the planet, second to water. Loaded with antioxidants and other
phytonutrients you've probably never heard of before, green tea is continuously
glorified for its health benefits. Plus, it just looks healthy with that green
hue, doesn't it?
The only downside to consuming green
tea is that it's only good for you if you drink it, and the bitter taste is a
deal-breaker to many, including yours truly. If you can't stand the bitterness
of green tea, green tea extract seems like the next best thing. Green tea
extract is an isolated, purified version of the major antioxidants in green
tea. Green tea has more nutrients than green tea extract, but green tea extract
has all the star players, like the 25-man roster in baseball.
So how does green tea extract work? What, exactly does it do
in the body? How do green tea extract and caffeine interact? For these answers
and the rest of this discussion on the amazing benefits of Green Tea Extract,
check out this handy guide. Rize contains both green tea extract and caffeine from green
tea, giving it an advantage over the stereotypical "energy drinks".
3 – Huperzine
Not only is Huperzine a fun word to say out loud, it's the
X-factor that distinguishes Rize from all the other "energy drinks".
Supposedly, this natural compound helps memory, focus and cognitive function.
There are even double-blind clinical studies to prove it. HOWEVER, those studies gave this compound to people over a period
of 8 weeks! I don't know about you, but I don't think I could commit to drinking the same energy drink
for 8 weeks straight. First of all, that goes against the 5 Levels of Fatigue – the system that categorizes fatigue into
levels of severity, then outlines which particular ingredients to look for to
best suit that particular level. For example, someone who needs a jolt in the
morning should not be drinking the same product as someone who needs to pull an
all-nighter.
This drink is a Level 2 product. For an example of the
Levels of Fatigue in action, see previous blog post [July's Energy Drink of the Month]. For
the full system, see this handy guide.
If you constantly
reach Level 2 and rearranging your schedule to get more sleep isn't feasible,
then it's possible Huperzine could improve brain health. Then again, so will
other things, like this Alzheimer's Association sponsored puzzle book by Terry Stickels . Nonetheless, this ingredient is the third
component that distinguishes this product from the rest.
BOTTOM LINE
Trehalose is not a new discovery, but it's not the most
affordable ingredient out there in the world of sugars and sweeteners. As a
product developer and food scientist, when I see a company using trehalose it
makes me believe these guys are willing to pay for quality. They could've stuck
with green tea and brain-boosting Huperzine, but they decided it was worth it to use trehalose as well. Not
only does this earn my respect as a food scientist and fellow biochemist, it
makes the product unique in sweetness.
The two biggest drawbacks are availability and ambiguity.
Thus far, this product is only available in the eastern half of the US, in
Meijer stores.Rize Store Locator. Of course you could always order a case and get it shipped to
you, but it's not as convenient as purchasing a competitive product from your
local supermarket or gas station. Furthermore, this product does not disclose
the amount of caffeine per can and it's ridiculously difficult to find this
information online. Fear not, it's only a matter of time before Energy Fiend comes to the rescue.
For the full Rize Story: http://www.rizeenergy.com/TheRizeStory.aspx
***UPDATED: 9-16-2013:
Energy Fiend assessment of this product:
Energy Fiend on Rize Energy Drink
***UPDATED: 9-16-2013:
Energy Fiend assessment of this product:
Energy Fiend on Rize Energy Drink
I have been addicted to Green drink for a long time. Someone told me it is not good to take energy drinks regularly.
ReplyDeleteWell this is a curious product - LOTS of big red flags on this supplement website. For example, the website which you've linked mentions this product has "No Common Allergens" but under "Supplement Facts" the Proprietary Blend includes Soy Lecithin (and soy *IS* an allergen, even soy lecithin). As a food scientist and product developer, I'm always VERY CAUTIOUS and SKEPTICAL when a product claims "No Fillers". Why? Because MANY of the ingredients in the Proprietary Blend come as extracts wherein the active ingredient is spray dried onto MALTODEXTRIN. Second of all, they say their ingredients are 100% natural (but they're not technically natural because they've been processed into a powder) and the ingredients are supposedly free of pesticides and herbicides, but there is no Organic claim being made (which would lend credibility to the pesticide/herbicide free claim being made).
ReplyDeleteBOTTTOM LINE: this product is not an energy drink but I suppose the vitamins and phytochemicals could boost your immune system and thus your natural energy level, but not significantly more than a good night's sleep. If this is how you want to spend your money, that's your prerogative and this product isn't going hurt you, it's just questionable whether it'll help you more than eating 5+ green vegetables (the kind in the produce aisle).