A lot lately about Quercetin. And the latest studies on weight loss with high antioxidant intake are increasing as well. Seems that the O2 Diet book has been taking people by storm and there are scientific studies to back it up. That’s good news for people dieting. Here’s something else, turns out that Quercetin (found in some of the more smart energy drinks) works with resveratrol another antioxidant to increase the weight loss effects.

Of particular interest is a study that combined resveratrol and quercetin to determine their effects on fat cells. In cultured cells, the combination of quercetin and resveratrol, blocked lipid (fat) accumulation by nearly 70 percent. Fat cell apoptosis or programmed cell death was increased by over 300 percent with the use of quercetin and resvertrol.

The combination may improve this effect more than using resveratrol alone, due to the synergy provided by quercetin. Resveratrol is found in red grapes (and red wine) but also in dark unprocessed cocoa. It has a high antioxidant effect that is synergistically enhanced by quercetin.

Quercetin by itself also has a real effect on free radicals. This may mean that a natural energy drink that contains both resveratrol and quercetin may be a beneficial part of a high antioxidant diet. This may make the the difference in your weight loss efforts.

Here’s an update on a previous study of Quercetin regarding the effects on men with chronic prostatis. Ouch! Usually not many things you can do to get rid of it. This was a followup study. A previous study was an open label study that showed that bioflavonoids (Quercetin is a bioflavonoid) improved the condition.

So, to follow it up the Institute for Male Urology, Encino, California conducted double blind studies to see if Quercetin still could improve the symptoms of these disorders in a significant proportion of men when they had no idea what they were taking. A large percentage of the men taking Quercetin had an improvement of at least 25% in their conditions and quality of life. This corresponded with the previous open label study.

Their conclusion was that therapy with the bioflavonoid quercetin is well tolerated and provides significant symptomatic improvement in most men with chronic pelvic pain syndrome.

Doesn’t have much to do with energy drinks (except that you would be really slowed down if you had chronic prostatis) but it is one more positive study of Quercetin. Which seems to be showing a lot of promise in the wellness field. Besides being and ingredient in healthy smart energy drinks Quercetin is found naturally in some fruits and veggies.

BTW, if you’re not aware of Chronic bacterial prostatitis, it is the swelling and irritation (inflammation) of the prostate gland that develops slowly and continues for a long period of time. It is a chronic infection of the prostate gland. I wonder how other antioxidant foods, such as cacao would do with that sort of inflammation.

Here’s an interesting study on Quercetin, an ingredient starting to show up in quality healthy energy drinks. Quercetin was used in this study to see if it helped people to not catch influenza.

It’s fairly commonly known that after you workout your body can be more susceptible to infection. You may be more prone to get upper respiratory infections after the stress of exercise. Quercetin, a flavonoid present in a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, has been investigated for its antiviral activity. Cell culture studies have shown that Quercetin can reduce infectivity of target cells and replication against a wide variety of respiratory viruses, including HSV-1 and HSV-2, adenoviruses, coronavirus, parainfluenza virus type 3, respiratory syncytial virus, rhinovirus, and severe acute respiratory syndrome. It has recently been reported that quercetin feedings can reduce the chance of getting any of these following 3 days of exhaustive cycling exercise in athletes.

This study was on the effects of Quercetin on the chance of infection following exercise stress in a controlled experimental viral  model.

Quercetin was used because of its documented widespread health benefits, which include antiviral activity, abundance in the diet, and reported lack of side effects when used as a dietary supplement or food additive such as in smart energy drinks.

What they basically did (and this is the non-scientific explanation) was take mice, run them for several days on a treadmill, give them Quercetin or a placebo treatment, then expose them to the virus and check to see when or if they caught it and how long it took before they died or got sick. You get the idea.

What happened is first they confirmed that you are more likely to get sick after lots of exercise. They also discovered that when fed Quercetin you were less likely to get sick and less likely to die. If the mice did get sick the body was able to fight it longer when they had Quercetin in their system. In fact, the mice that were fed Quercetin actually had the same results as the mice that did not get stressed at all. Big clue here!

This study needs more followup, of course, and clinical trials and very few of us work out on a treadmill for three days straight. But it is interesting that the flavonol, Quercetin, helped the body fight off the flu under amazing stress. Imagine what it could do for your body when you are exercising!

Quercetin is starting to get more and more research around it for it’s disease fighting qualities. Make sure it is in your energy drink! If this translates into clinical data it may lead to an important nutritional strategy to decrease the risk of infection, which can be a problem in athletes and military personnel, who are often exposed to combinations of severe physical, psychological, and environmental stress.

Ancient Chinese have long believed in the benefits of drinking natural smart health drinks to improve one’s health disposition. Tea has been drunk for at least 4,000 years. While coffee has been around for centuries. Both have immense smart benefits for health improvement.

Tea was first discovered in China in 2737 B.C. According to Chinese records, the emperor would only drink water which was boiled to make sure that it was indeed clean. During a trip, a servant boiled water and a dried leaf fell on the boiling water. It turned the water brown but was still served to the emperor. The emperor drank the concoction and found it very refreshing.

Coffee, on the other hand, has can be traced as early as the 9th century. Coffee was largely cultivated in Ethiopia. Soon, the Arabs started trading it, bringing it to northern Africa where it was mass-cultivated. After being popular in Africa, it started to enter Indian and European Markets.

Europe and Asia pioneered smart energy drinks. In 1901, the first energy drink was released in Scotland called Im-Bru. While in Japan, their healthy energy drinks can be traced as early as 1960s. Although they cite that there are already some attempts in mixing different minerals with water before World War II they released Lipovitan in early 1960s. South Korea also produced “genki drinks” which are also energy drinks.

In 1929, Lucozade Energy was used as a hospital drink in the United Kingdom. This drink was primarily for helping the speedy recovery of hospital patients. In the 1980s, this drink was commercially released as an energy drink meant to replace lost energy.

The worldwide leading energy drink, Red Bull, was created and marketed by an Austrian entrepreneur. This leading energy drink was created in Europe. It was based on a Thai drink called Krating Daeng, which is also based on Lipovitan. Red Bull entered the United States market in 1997, and currently the dominant brand. It’s approximate market share is as big as 47 percent.

For smart sports drinks, the first one created was for the purpose of improving the performance of athletes and sports star, was for the Florida Gators. That is why the first product, which was released during 1960s, was called Gatorade. The main purpose of this drink was to lengthen performance levels and to aid hydration of athletes.

As early as 1985, the United States have started to introduce energy drinks. They had the Jolt Cola. While in 1995, PepsiCo launched the Josta. This was the first energy drink made by a leading United States beverage company.

Since then, energy drinks have started to gain fair market share and popularity. More and more companies are taking advantage of such popularity and high demand. Most people who consume energy drinks are within the range of 13 to 35 years old. Young adult and male drinkers comprise 65 percent of the target market. Since 2001, the increase of the energy drink market has been increasing by 50 percent every year. Since this market is relatively new, with 20 years under its belt, there is still much hype about it. Most of these energy drinks could hardly be called smart, less healthy.

More and more people seek out energy drinks and new developments. People are trying to be heath conscious amidst all the pressure of a high and fast paced life. With the demand increasing, there are unlimited possibilities. We are trying to discover ways in fitting all the nutrients and more vitamins and minerals that we can have in just one gulp. Health can be just in one drink after all.

The latest developments in smart energy drinks are including no chemical caffeine and no chemical names you can’t pronounce; using real low glycemic sugars instead of chemical sugar substitutes or refined sugars; using real super foods to add antioxidants; adding fiber; using energy blends that include quercetin, theobromine, ginseng, yerba mate, guarana; avoiding artificial carbonation.

In a recent study, Quercetin was found to boost energy, looking at endurance capacity and maximum oxygen capacity.

We said it here before, that you were going to see more about Quercetin over the coming year, and we’ll say it again. This study from the University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health, one of the first to look at Quercetin for it’s energy boosting effects. This study, which was partially funded by the Department of Defense showed that the fatigue fighting properties and health properties of Quercetin could have uses for not only athletes or soldiers, but your average adult who deals with stress and lack of energy every day.

Quercetin is found naturally in various fruit skins, like berries, grapes, red apples and red onions. It is also now added in a few healthy energy drinks. This study seems to show that the antioxidant qualities of Quercetin seem to boost the immune system and increase mitochondria in the brain and muscles (that’s great news for anyone who thinks they are too tired to exercise).

It’s definitely not a magic bullet, but one more piece to keep people active so they can benefit from exercise. If you already exercise, this may help you to keep it up longer.

One thing not really mentioned in the study, but probably deserving of more study is how Quercetin also has anti-inflammatory properties which might also work to help athletes, soldiers, and people like us to recover faster from workouts.

This study had significant statistical effects and the team has gotten a grant to study Quercetin and the effects on colon cancer.  You’ll see more of the cancer studies coming out over the years, there are studies happening now with Quercetin and the effects on breast cancer.

Have your own clinical trial. Try a smart energy drink with Quercetin for two weeks while working out and keep track of how you are doing. Try drinking two a day once in the morning and once again in the afternoon. After two weeks let me know how you did in the comments below.

Not sure about which energy drink has the right qualities or how to get it, comment below and we’ll send you more info.

So, what’s in this smart energy drink and why is it so good?

Antioxidants.
The first thing in there is, obviously, dark cacao. A few months ago the technology to make this drink did not exist. It also has Acai one of the top antioxidant fruits available. It also has a blend of super fruits including contains wild blueberry, grape, goji, raspberry, wild bilberry, cranberry, elderberry, apple, cherry, strawberry, and boysenberry.
Energy.
There is a blend of energy mobilizers that slowly bring up your energy and then take you through the steps. No crash and burn. Theobromine from the dark cacao is the main source of energy in the blend. Different than caffeine, it works on the muscle system and does not give you that jittery feeling. It takes a little longer to hit your system and stays a little longer. The other ingredients include: Ginseng to promote physical and mental energy and reduce stress, Maca known to help restore strength, regulate the endocrine system, and increase libido, Yerba Mate an all-natural source of caffeine that boosts the immune system, improves mood, and decreases hunger cravings, Guarana a healthy source of natural caffeine that increases memory retention and physical endurance and Quercetin a potent antioxidant and energy-enhancing nutrient. Quercetin is just starting to get some attention. Lab studies have shown cancer reducing properties and in fact there are some scientists that believe that it is the Quercetin in fruits and vegetables that are associated with reductions in cancer. Not enough studies to know for sure, yet. Quercetin also seems to promote a higher tolerance for exercise and increases in energy. One last thing, it also (in vitro) has shown reductions in fat cell production with certain combinations of antioxidants or flavanols!

This drink is 75% juice is carbonated with reverse osmosis carbonated water. Many soft drinks and energy drinks have phosphates which leech the calcium from our bones. Phosphates are not used in our carbonation.

It’s sweetened with Agave Nectar, a low glycemic sweetener, as well as the natural sugars in the fruits. There is no refined sugar or high fructose corn syrup, no harsh chemicals, no added synthetics, no artificial carbonation, no chemical names you can’t pronounce. It’s an all natural ingredient formula for unrivaled energy.

The ORAC score is 6701 and it has 744 mg of Flavanoids per can.

Quercetin is a plant derived Flavanol that has many interesting properties. There are Lab studies that have shown that it may have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.

There are studies that show it may have anti-cancer properties (although nothing conclusive whatsoever, yet). Some scientists believe that it is the Quercetin in fruits and vegetables that are associated with reductions in cancer, but there are limited animal and even more limited human studies (notably with lung cancer), so we just don’t know yet.

All interesting, and it may be smart, but what does it have to do with an energy drink?

Well, rat studies have shown increases in energy for some time periods and increase in tolerance for exercise. That sounds good! Also, of course, anti-inflammatory properties (like most antioxidants) can mean quicker recovery times for exercise, but also may mean more open blood vessels which means it may be easier to get oxygen through your body. That wouldn’t necessarily mean more energy, but it would sure seem like it. Any energy that was there would theoretically move around faster to where it was needed.

So far, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not approved any health claims for Quercetin.

Some foods that contain Quercetin naturally include red grapes, onions, broccoli, apples, most citrus fruits, tomatoes and many more. A good sounding list, right? Probably why it is in so many supplements, too.

One last thing that may be interesting to some is the in vitro (in a test tube) study that showed a combination of Reservatrol and Quercetin inhibited the production of fat cells! So if you’re drinking energy drinks for weight loss, one day we’ll find out if that combo works in humans or not.

Leave a comment if you’ve noticed anything while drinking smart energy drinks with Quercetin.

Here’s one that’s coming out soon. Nothing is finalized as far as I can tell, but looks like since it is coming from Xocai, it’ll have something to do with chocolate. Most likely a Theobromine based stimulant, which is classed as a stimulant the same as caffeine, but has some very different qualities. I’ll do an upcoming post on the differences between them all in an ingredients post.

As all of Xocai’s products also contain an antioxidant blend with Acai in it, I can imagine this will too. This will be a good move for the company and the associates as it will diversify their line, while still being chocolate related. Nice move!

Antioxidant affiliate link to get more info on Xocai.

Smart Energy Ingredient DMAE comes from fish

According to an article in LE Magazine By Stephen Laifer, Nutritionists and folklorists alike have long touted the benefits of a diet rich in seafood. Fish contains no saturated fat or carbohydrates and is a good source of protein, minerals, and vitamins. The omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oils help lower cardiovascular risk. Fish and shellfish also are among the best sources of iodine, which vital for healthy thyroid and brain function.

Another lesser-known compound in fish, dimethylaminoethanol (DMAE), is increasingly favored by medical practitioners for its role in boosting brain power.

DMAE has shown positive results in the treatment of a variety of cognitive and disruptive disorders, including attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and memory lapses.  Help for Alzheimer’s MAE is found in high levels in sardines and anchovies, but small amounts of it are also produced naturally in the human brain. DMAE is believed to work primarily by speeding the production of acetylcholine, a crucial neurotransmitter responsible for carrying messages between brain cells and from the brain to the muscles that control body movements.

Acetylcholine, a synthesized product of choline, is also involved in higher brain functions such as learning, recall, and memory. Animal studies show that taking DMAE can boost levels of choline in the brain, which in turn increases the body’s ability to produce acetylcholine, resulting in a corresponding increase in memory ability and potency. Evidence suggests that DMAE crosses the blood-brain barrier more effectively than choline itself, enabling it to reach the brain and increase the brain’s choline levels more efficiently.

As early as 1959, treatment with DMAE was demonstrated to result in significantly improved test scores. A 1974 report on DMAE focused on two 10-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials involving 124 children with ADHD-related diagnoses. In one of these trials, positive results using DMAE were comparable to those using Ritalin®. Similar positive results were also seen in a 1975 study, wherein a placebo-controlled trial in 74 children found that DMAE at 500mg daily was as effective as methylphenidate.

DMAE, however, has continued to be available as a natural nutritional supplement, and is a subject of more recent investigations into so-called “smart drugs.” To A Higher Power Given the ever-increasing pressures to achieve in modern society, it was only natural that a compound long used to treat brain dysfunction and memory disorders would be explored for its potential use as a memory enhancer and brain “booster.”

Research has shown that DMAE’s cholinergic effects help produce brain chemicals such as acetylcholine that are necessary for mental sharpness. Some individuals accordingly report that DMAE supplementation causes a noticeable boost in their ability to concentrate.

DMAE users also routinely report better memory (especially short-term memory), as well as improved focus, mental clarity, and sleep patterns, all of which may be particularly valuable for those who work in high-pressure or deadline-oriented environments.

Many nutritionally aware physicians routinely prescribe DMAE in combination with additional memory enhancers such as phosphatidylcholine, a dietary supplement. DMAE’s action as an acetylcholine precursor may help with the memory lapses that commonly occur with normal aging. Healing Properties Other aspects of the human aging process tend to be more visible than memory lapses.

Oral tablets or capsules in doses from 50 to 130 mg are common, while pills containing up to 600 mg are also available. Regardless of the amount, start slowly with a low dose and see how you respond before increasing the amount. DMAE should be taken with meals for best absorption. Capsules can even be broken open and mixed in fruit juices or smoothies in the morning for an effective brain “kick start” to the day