In search of lost energy, what do you drink?* – magazine?

Energy drinks are booming and in our country, unfortunately, available to everyone. Its consumption presents risks that we need to know about.

One of the great dilemmas of industrialized society is choosing the most appropriate energy source for the 21st century. We live on a planet whose developed side consumes an awful lot of energy resources derived almost exclusively from oil; while the developing side bases its hope on industrial growth, which also entails an increase in the consumption of energy resources. Oil resources promise to be exhausted and in a couple of decades ethanol or hydrogen, biomass, solar or wind energy, or even the return to nuclear energy will be what will move the world. Or most likely a combination of all of this. Whatever the case, we must recognize that we have seriously damaged the environment as a direct consequence of living in an energy-devouring civilization. We have an analogous conflict with the energy sources that make our body function. We have abandoned part of the traditional sources, cereals, not because they have been exhausted, but because they have gone out of fashion.

We have a voracious hunger for energy sources that satisfy our gustatory pleasure, that have immediate effects and serve as a “spark” or “give us wings.” We suffer from obesity problems throughout our spherical planet, which are the result, among other causes, of excess consumption of foods that provide energy. The sale of energy drinks has had spectacular growth, equivalent to 500% from 1998 to 2004, close to 1 billion dollars. This market is already a quarter of the total beverage market, which includes those made from all types of dairy products, herbs, infusions and tea, fruits and, of course, coffee.

Fast food equals fast energy

Human machinery is energetically very expensive: it is expensive to move it. To give you an idea, with my weight of 70 kilos I require about 1,500 calories just to lie in bed for 24 hours. This energy allows me to breathe, think, move blood through the body and filter it, digest what I eat, replenish my dead cells, pass saliva, blink, etc. Although it may seem surprising, to walk about 20 miles at a moderate pace I need to consume another 1,500 calories. The example is not very good, because they will say, rightly, that the amount of energy I require depends on many factors, including the climate, the slope of the terrain, the type of life I lead; that is, my breathing capacity, etc. But the important question here is how do I pay for that energy cost?

To answer this, it is necessary to remember that in the cell we have different ways of obtaining the energy that daily life requires. The quickest and easiest is to use adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and creatine phosphate, which are something like the money we have in our pockets for immediate payments. For example, what is necessary for a short run to the corner to get tortillas or a climb up stairs in the subway. This expense includes the glucose that we bring dissolved in the blood and that is mobilized to the area of ​​the body that requires energy; there it is oxidized to produce ATP. If our journey is longer and we do not have this immediately available energy, we have 100 times more energy stored under the mattress: calories stored as glycogen, a complex way of packaging many glucose molecules — the cheapest and most abundant source of energy. —. Glycogen is split into glucose and this, in the presence of oxygen, is transformed into 32 molecules of ATP for each molecule that is oxidized. If there is a lack of oxygen, glucose is left in the middle of the energy generation process, providing us with only two molecules of ATP and one of lactic acid (the latter accumulates in the muscles and causes pain the day after the effort). Glycogen makes up 1-2% of muscle cells; In the liver, for example, we have about 400 grams of glycogen, so that our brains do not lack fuel and we can follow the thread of this text. Finally, if it is Sunday, everything is closed and we have to walk a couple of hours to get tortillas, we have more energy, which is like the money invested in the bank, which in us would be equivalent to fat. A non-obese individual should have about 30,000 times more energy stored in the form of fat in their muscle cells than is immediately available in the form of ATP. Fat is the ideal way to store energy because it yields 2.25 times more than carbohydrates (nine versus four kilocalories per gram), and it is also insoluble; We do not need water to store it, which is what happens with glycogen. If we are not obese, then 20% of our body must be fat.

And if we need energy, which of these currencies do we have to pay with: ATP, creatine phosphate, glucose, glycogen or fat? The answer depends on how strenuous the effort is: if we breathe calmly, without suffocating, our exercise will be aerobic and oxygen will reach the muscle cells without problems and we will be able to draw on our fat and glycogen reserves, since there is enough time for the fat is degraded and we have the energy available as it is needed. If we have to run to avoid cars—or thieves—our breathing will be labored, we will be at the limits of our maximum cardiovascular capacity (when we feel like our heart is racing and almost suffocating), and we will quickly consume blood glucose, and then the stored in the glycogen cushion. In the blood we normally have one gram of glucose per liter (100 mg/dL to use the same units as blood tests). Given that we have about five liters of blood, this gives us about five grams of glucose in total, which, consumed at a rate of two to three grams per minute, is barely enough for a few minutes at full speed. But if we are in good condition and with sufficient respiratory capacity, breathing at a rate of between 65 and 70% of our maximum capacity, then we consume fat, glycogen and blood sugar. We move between these extremes during the day, increasing our demand for quick energy, especially when we exercise.

You are water and you will become water

“We are stardust,” some scientists say, using a poetic metaphor, “but with 70% water,” nutritionists would add. We have water everywhere: in our cells, in our blood, in our secretions, in our urine, in our tears, and particularly in our sweat, which allows us to regulate our temperature. This is not the space to expand on the importance of keeping water at its optimal level, but it is worth noting that dehydration is one of the most common problems for those who exercise.

In my student days there was a queue at the drinking fountains at the end of recess to replace the lost water. Today, lines form in front of soft drink distributors, which is the final destination of almost half of the sugar produced by the Mexican sugar cane industry. Unfortunately for us, someone thought of combining water needs with energy needs and the negative results are clear: we replace the water we lose (one to three liters a day) by accompanying a good part of it with sugar, through carbonated drinks or soft drinks.

So far this century, our country has remained in the disgraceful leading group in the consumption of soft drinks, here people drink up to 150 liters per capita year. Americans, at the beginning of the 21st century, spent 58 billion dollars a year on soft drinks, equivalent to drinking a little more than 200 liters a year each, of which 42.9 are of Coca Cola31.4 Pepsi18.6 of diet coke and 13.5 of a horrible thing called Dr Pepper. The problem is not the brand, but that a can of soda contains 355 milliliters with 40 or 50 grams of sugar (equivalent to about 10 tablespoons), and provides about 160-200 calories. According to a recent review of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (No. 84), the consumption of carbonated beverages is a key factor in obesity problems in the United States and it is, without a doubt, in Mexico as well. In the USA, 15.8% of the energy consumed comes from sugar added to foods and 47% of this is in soft drinks. It remains to mention the problem of dental caries and, particularly, childhood hyperactivity related to high sugar consumption from an early age.

The only activity that justifies combining both elements, water and sugar, is one in which dehydration and energy consumption go hand in hand: a sport or an exercise that requires sustained effort for more than half an hour. The industry has not missed such a juicy market, of which the brand Gatorade He is the undisputed leader. These types of drinks, whose purpose is to provide energy, are also known as isotonic because they have carbohydrates and electrolytes (sodium, potassium and chlorine) similar to those we have in the blood and therefore are absorbed quickly. They are specially formulated to better withstand long-term efforts, as they contribute to recovering blood sugar. However, they also contain about 60 grams of sugar per liter, so it does not seem very prudent to replace the soft drinks that children drink with these sports drinks; unless they are children who are not sitting in front of the television but rather doing a lot of exercise.

A supplement that seems to work is creatine phosphate, necessary for rapid resynthesis of ATP during high-intensity exercise. There is evidence that its consumption increases efficiency in short-term efforts (sprints), although it is not known what its long-term effects may be.

liquid energy

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