Is it necessary to drink functional drinks?

As the day began to heat up, various types of beverages became a daily necessity for people, and functional beverages were sought after by people. Exquisitely filled with functional beverages, choose a bottle of "thirsty, more thirsty," sports drinks, or refreshing, remove the summer energy drinks? Many people are more confused: Do I really need to drink, how should I drink?

Functional drinks are not mystical. People love functional drinks, but they are actually fancy "functional" words. You will find that regardless of fat, thin, tired, exercise, sweating, you can find a functional beverage for you on the supermarket shelves. Many people think that functional beverages taste good, better than boiled water and Coke, and even use it as water.

Actually, functional drinks are not their gods. Popular point of view, adding a certain functional factor to ordinary beverages, so that it has to adjust the body functions, enhance immunity and other health effects, it will be upgraded to a functional beverage. At present, these functional factors are mostly caffeine, taurine, inositol, vitamins, and active ingredients of Chinese herbal medicines. They are said to relieve fatigue and improve people's mental attention.

Recently, on the Internet, a 2009-2012 report on investment analysis and prospects of China's functional beverages market wrote: "As people's health awareness increases, people gradually choose healthy foods, drinks, tea drinks, Fruit juice drinks and functional beverages have become popular with people. Compared with the developed countries in the world, per capita consumption of Chinese functional beverages is only 0.5 kg per year, and there is still more space for the consumption of 7 kg per person per capita in the world. The beverage market has great potential."

Functional beverages are often more expensive than normal beverages and are high-end drinks that are hyped up. As of 2007, there are more than 500 functional beverages worldwide. In the functional division, these beverages implement consumer stratification, which derives such as polysaccharide drinks, vitamins and mineral beverages, sports drinks, and low-calorie, prebiotic beverages. Since December of last year, China’s mandatory national standard, “Beverage General”, has been announced. The statement that “functional drinks” have been abolished has been replaced by “special use beverages,” that is, “by adjusting the composition and content of nutrients in drinks, or adding Beverage products with specific functional ingredients adapted to the needs of certain special groups".

Of course, functional drinks are conceptually meaningful, but only for specific groups of people or for specific situations. According to the provisions of the International Beverage Industry Association, functional beverages refer to soft drinks that have a health-care effect. If a beverage has a specific function, it must have been upgraded to health food. Therefore, the actual functional beverage packaging must have the words “health food” and the “Wei Shi Jian Zi” batch number approved by the Ministry of Health. Right now, most of the functional beverages on the market are mostly stylish and dynamic slogans. It is not a functional beverage in the strict sense. Is it necessary to drink?

Sleepy, tired, really need to drink functional drinks?

Many functional beverages are more spiritual and claim to relieve fatigue. In fact, they rely more on caffeine. It can "excite" you: It provides short-term brain excitement, stimulates the body's potential, and produces anti-fatigue effects. However, in the long run, the best option is to rest and relax. Blindly leveraging functional beverages will only result in dependence on functional beverages, even nausea, diarrhea, mental anxiety and insomnia.

To judge whether a beverage is functional or functional, it depends on experimental data. Looking at the domestic market, the lack of information in this area is difficult for the public to obtain. Last year, doctors from the Ghent University Hospital in Belgium found that functional drinks (mainly a brand of energy drinks) can significantly improve people’s attention and reaction speed, and their memory has improved to some extent. The effect, in fact, is mostly caffeine at work. In other words, the role of caffeine is undoubtedly significant. People grow from distress and concentrate again to prevent sleepiness.

There are also studies questioning functional beverages. Last August, researchers at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, United States, found that high levels of caffeine and taurine increased blood pressure and heart rate and affected heart function. A study at the Australian Adelaide Hospital found that sugar-free Red Bull beverages can make blood thicker and increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. In the latest issue of The Annals of Pharmacotherapy, researchers at Wayne State University in the United States also tested functional beverages (mainly a brand of energy drinks). 15 healthy adults listened to 2 functional drinks every day for 7 consecutive days. It was found that functional beverages increased their blood pressure by 10 mmHg and their heart rate increased by 5 times per minute. This means that this type of beverage may not be suitable for people with high blood pressure or irregular heart rhythms.

It may be counterproductive. Therefore, functional drinks are not suitable for everyone. Taking a sports drink as an example, it contains sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium components, which are only suitable for drinking after exercise to supplement some of the body's lost electrolytes. As a daily drink, it will be the wrong choice. The appropriate proportion of sugar content in sports drinks is 6-7%, which not only ensures the maximum absorption of the human body, but also prevents it from causing an instantaneous increase in blood glucose. Some functional beverages have too high levels of sugar, which in turn can have a diuretic effect on the human body and accelerate the discharge of water from the kidneys. Neither thirst-quenching effect, but also counterproductive, the body is more water.

For people with diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity, whether to choose a functional beverage also requires some consideration. In addition, the elderly, children, and people who are allergic to caffeine are not suitable for drinking. To take a step back, the functional factors of functional beverages are at best an auxiliary way for the body to obtain nutrition. It cannot substitute for a normal diet, and it can never replace the most popular water. In addition, the words such as anti-fatigue, anti-oxidation, and youthfulness promoted by functional drinks can not be used as medicines.

Right now, vitamin C water-soluble drinks are the upstart of functional beverages and are sought after by many white-collar workers. In fact, this type of drink is not "clever." A bottle of this kind of drink contains 100mg vitamin C, the price is more than 4 yuan. However, since vitamin C itself is easily dissolved in water, it may be better to eat a piece of vitamin C with boiled water, which costs only a few cents. In addition, the fresh citric acid taste of the water-soluble C-type product is loved by people, often do not consciously drink a few bottles a day. What is worrying is that the daily requirement of vitamin C in the human body is only 100 mg. Excessive intake will not be absorbed by the body, causing urinary vitamin C to be positive and may cause urinary tract stones.

In addition, certain substances have physiological effects and do not mean that they are still valid after they have been bottled. For example, B vitamins are very important for the metabolism of the human body. If they are stored in water for a long period of time, especially after being exposed to sunlight, the properties will be unstable and easily destroyed.

What should we drink? A few years ago, nutritionists in the United States formulated a "Healthy Drink Guide." The most ideal drink is the most common water. Followed by tea and coffee, low-fat or skim milk, non-caloric sweet drinks, and finally calorie-bearing sweet drinks.

In contrast, how to choose a drink should be clear to the chest.