We’ve talked up the geek-themed Mana Energy Potion before (and, amusingly enough, my cats gave me some for Father’s Day). The more famous mainstream 5 Hour Energy drink got the once-over at CNN, which covered some interesting ground.

Containing caffeine, B vitamins, and some other stuff we usually get in food, just in super-high concentrations, it’s not surprising that they’ll get you a little jazzed from drinking them (especially if you’re not a big caffeine drinker to begin with, or prone to getting the “niacin flush” from the B3). On the upside, the relative simplicity is reassuring, but, as the Mayo Clinic’s Dr. Bauer pointed out, not a lot of research has been done into how they all play together, or could potentially interact with other medications. The advice to check with Bones or House (or someone, you know, who doesn’t play a doctor on TV or merely stayed at a Holiday Inn last night) is obviously sensible.

I’d be interested in seeing this research, and not merely because I’m a stat-head with a penchant for chemical hacking with an eye towards fitness and performance (within reason). Taurine, the ubiquitous amino acid that’s in just about every energy drink out there, has been alternately praised and reviled. Nailing down firm answers is about as easy as stapling Jell-O. The consensus seems to be that, since it’s either the most-common amino acid in the body — or second-most, depending whose research you trust more — the depletion of it from muscle fibers during exercise means that getting a dose of it before or after exercise may help folks work a little harder, or recover a little bit more quickly.

As far as the risks that energy drinks might pose, these seem to stem primarily from two things. The first is over-consumption of them before engaging in strenuous activity — the caffeine acts as a diuretic, which, combined with the sweat of exertion, leads to dehydration, which is bad for you for a lot of reasons. The other is that, when combining energy drinks with alcohol, folks have a false sense of sobriety (or at least decreased impairment), which could lead to doing something with far more dire consequences than thinking you nailed “Livin’ on a Prayer” at that karaoke bar.

However, even though I was a fan of these two-ounce pick-me-ups before (it’s possible, though not necessarily all that smart, to live on these things and protein shakes for the duration of a convention weekend), what really sold me on this particular brand was Carl Serber’s closing remark on folks who overdo it with these, either alone or in conjunction with other similar products, like Red Bull or the now-recalled Hydroxycut:

“There’s no law against stupidity.”

Amen, sir. I raise my diminutive bottle to you in /salute.

Related posts:

1. Drinking enough water? Or does your Stillsuit manage your hydration?
2. Drinking on the job
3. Strength Buff: There’s a cap(sule) for that