…the 5 hour energy drinks? If so, how would you compare it to a regular two shot cup of joe? What flavor did you try and would you recommend a particular flavor?
I have a classmate who swears by it but I am a little hesitant to overload my system with vitamin B and caffeine. Don’t know how much amino acid it has in it and what kind.
I have used it before a couple of morning exams when I had stayed up late the night before. It worked for me. I was really tired, and it quickly brought me back to being alert and functional. Like advertised, they had the same effect as a few cups of coffee without the hassle.
As far as flavors, there are various fruit flavors. Since I usually just slammed them with a water chaser, I did not pay too much attention to the taste, but they were not bad at all. I think I had orange and grape flavors.
I’ve occasionally used them if I need to make a long drive home from school and I’m tired and don’t want the calories of something else. It’s worked for me. I wouldn’t say I was hopping and wouldn’t say that I know it did anything more than give me a good placebo effect, but I haven’t had trouble staying awake for the drive home after taking it.
However, note the amount of B vitamins. It IS possible to get a toxic dose of a water soluble vitamin when huge amounts above the RDA are taken in a short time. 3 of them in a short period will definately get you there.
In our nutrition class, we saw some case studies of fatalities involving alcohol and a small number of 5-hour energy drinks. (to be fair, they do warn you about alcohol on the label, I think).
Kate
I drink them in the afternoon to stay awake and focused. Most days I only take half a shot - never more than one bottle a day. That way I don’t worry about overdoing it. I like that it doesn’t make me feel nervous or jittery and that there’s little sugar.
IMO the berry flavor is best.
So today I tried my first 5 Hour Energy drink. I ordered a pack of Lemon/Lime flavor off of the internet after asking some of my classmates and some of them were using it too and spoke well of its ‘effects’.
My experience:
It tastes nasty! Damn thing tasted like expired cough syrup! Anyways I downed the whole thing and washed the taste out of my mouth with water. I thought I might get some skin flushing as warned on the label.
The only side effects I had were, and I am being serious here, my buttocks started itching! I couldn’t understand why since the B vitamins are not fat soluble (which I verified in my Rhoades physiology). Anyways, the itching subsided after a few minutes so no problems there.
However, I felt no energy, and still had to take a nap to overcome my usual afternoon lull. I did notice that my urine smelled really nasty. At this moment I am just trying to wash out my system with large amounts of water!
I always see them around and wonder about them. There have been a few times when I really needed something, but didn’t want to go with some unknown quantity while heading to class. Especially on a test day.
I know some liquid vitamins I used to take got into your system very quickly. I would sometimes get a serious niacin flush if I took them on an empty stomach. Could make me feel pretty sick to my stomach at times.
I’ll give one a try over the summer for kicks. At least then I’ll know.