fitness Articles

,  Font size

Good health

Relaxation Drinks

Relaxation drinks over the years have come as a craze in the present generation of youth who live stressful lives and live with unhealthy eating habits. Women Fitness presents an informational collection of knowledge for its readers to have a better understanding about these drinks known for their ability to de stress, make you calm and provide relaxing mood.

A relaxation drink is a non-alcoholic beverage containing calming ingredients which may be found in nature. It is a functional beverage which is similar to calming tea but unlike calming tea, it may contain more than one active ingredient. Relaxation drinks are also served chilled and may be carbonated.

The concept of relaxation drink first emerged from Japan in 2005 when a group of products were introduced to the market enriched with gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). In 2007, a couple group of kitesurfers from Kane?ohe Bay and Lanikai beach of O'ahu Hawai'i developed a drink which they dubbed the relaxation drink with their own formula containing gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), L-Theanine and L-Threonine providing similar calming effects found in kava or valerian roots (rhizo) which later became known as lanilai. Lani is a common Hawaiian word meaning sky or heaven and lai means the calm after the storm. Lanilai in Hawaiian carries the meaning of heavenly calm. Kava roots are well known in the pacific islands and mostly grown in Tonga and Fiji. Kava is known to used for social rituals and celebrations. Bula is another relaxation drink that is making waves in the beverage world. Bula was Created by Tongan NFL football player (Sione Po'uha) who would drink Kava after practice and games to heal from the wear and tear of the game. �Bula� is a greeting word used in Fiji. Bula also means �life� and is a way of wishing good health and fortune. Kava and Valerian roots are the main relaxant found in Bula.

Melatonin is another major ingredients found in relaxation drinks which also carry some controversy due to negative effects from long term use. Relaxation drinks have been known to contain other natural ingredients. Common ingredients in relaxation drinks may contain kava root, melatonin, valerian root, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), Chamomile, Melissa officinalis, L-Theanine, L-Threonine, 5-Hydroxytryptophan or Passiflora. Relaxation drinks are usually free of caffeine and alcohol but some have claimed to contain marijuana.

Relaxation drinks are formulated to help reduce stress, anxiety, improve mind focus, promote better sleep. Relaxation drinks are the anti-energy drink which have spread to the US and have found a niche alongside energy drinks.

Relaxation drinks have come in many forms including cans, glass bottles, plastic bottles and small plastics shot bottles. Some are carbonated while others are non-carbonated.

Relaxation drinks may contain hormones like melatonin, artificial coloring, flavors and preservatives.

In many scenarios, people use relaxation drinks for dealing with stressful situation, after a work day, after strenuous exercise or before bed time. Studies have found that ingredients found in relaxation drinks can help promote alpha wave brain wave patterns to improve focus. Depending on the formulation, relaxation drinks may promote Rapid eye movement sleep (REM) sleep.

Relaxation drinks have been known to reduce stress, anxiety and calm nervousness due to their calming effects on the nervous system.

People who are allergic to alcohol, recovering from alcohol abuse or have liver problems have resorted to drinking relaxation drinks because its ability to calm nerves and provides what people call a "buzz" however it is alcohol free which does not bring about the well-known hangover. This is all dependent on the nutritional content which varies from one relaxation drink to another. There are reports of melatonin causing this next-day grogginess feeling.

People with Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been known to use relaxation drinks to substitute for Adderall because of the properties to help focus thoughts.

Warning: Relaxation drinks do cause drowsiness and should not be taken while driving or operating heavy machinery.

IBISWorld�s Relaxation Drink Production market research report provides the latest industry statistics and industry trends, allowing you to identify the products and customers driving revenue growth and profitability. The industry report identifies the leading companies and offers strategic industry analysis of the key factors influencing the market.

Industry Analysis & Industry Trends

There are expected to be nearly 390 different types of relaxation drinks out on the market in 2011 (there were about 350 in 2010). The main competitors include Mini Chill, Mary Jane Soda, Dream Water, Drank, Vacation in a Bottle (ViB), Koma Unwind, Blue Cow, Tranquila, Xin and ExChill. Most contain the active ingredients melatonin or l-theanine. The potential market is significant because aver 53 million Americans have experienced insomnia or had trouble sleeping in the past.

Industry Report

The Relaxation Drinks Production industry develops and manufactures beverages marketed for relaxation purposes that contain a variety of additives; however, melatonin, L-theanine or kava extract is typically the main active ingredient. Beyond these ingredients, the unifying factor among the industry's products is the promise of relaxation and stress-relief. Some producers market their products to include such benefits as relief of muscle tension, reduction of caffeine effects, prevention of jet-lag and treatment of a variety of ailments, such as restlessness, insomnia, headaches and stomach cramps. Overall, there are more than 300 brands of relaxation drinks on the market, produced by roughly 102 companies.

Companies in this industry produce drinks marketed for their relaxation or sleep-promoting properties. Most of these drinks contain the active ingredients melatonin or l-theanine.

This industry excludes ready-to-drink tea as well as dairy-based and carbonated beverages.
 

Industry Products

• Melatonin-based drinks

• Theanine-based drinks

• Kava-based drinks

• Other drinks

Industry Activities

• Producing melatonin-based drinks

• Producing kava-based drinks

• Producing theanine-based drinks

• Producing relaxation beverages

Consumerreports.org report on Relaxation drinks.

Beverages to help you chill out are popping up in supermarkets, drugstores, and even gas stations. But labels we examined didn't usually list the amounts of their de-stressing agents. And our analysis of eight widely sold drinks showed that many didn�t have enough of those ingredients purported to help you unwind.

Among the tested products, only the iChill Relaxation Shot, Relax Drank Extreme Relaxation Shot, and ViB (Vacation in a Bottle) products showed the amounts of their relaxation ingredients; the rest just named them or listed a blend. For each product in our tests, we took samples from three batches. Results are from 2012, when we tested; some drinks have since been reformulated.

Three drinks listed GABA, a chemical that may help regulate stress and anxiety, but even at their maximum recommended daily doses, two�Dream Water 0-Calorie Sleep and Relaxation Shot and RelaxZen Night�contained far lower amounts than the daily dose of GABA used in a published study. The third drink, RelaxZen Day, had far higher amounts.

When we tested, labels for Dream Water, Marley�s Mellow Mood, and RelaxZen Night listed unspecified amounts of melatonin, a hormone that has had mixed results in treating insomnia. All three contained lower amounts than the typical 0.3-milligram to 5-milligram dose used in clinical trials to treat insomnia. Relax Drank and iChill listed amounts per serving (1 milligram and 5 milligrams, respectively), but both averaged far less than claimed (0.02 milligrams and 0.3 milligrams).

Four products�Just Chill, RelaxZen Day, RelaxZen Night, and ViB�listed L-theanine, an amino acid in green-tea leaves that some evidence shows might help with relaxation and sleep. All of the products except for Just Chill listed L-threonine, an amino acid in proteins, but we found no evidence that the ingredient aids mental relaxation. Of the four, only ViB specified the amounts of both amino acids on its label, and its levels of both varied widely.

Dream Water listed 5-hydroxytryptophan, a chemical that might help raise levels of the brain chemical serotonin and have a positive effect on anxiety and sleep. But the levels averaged much lower than those used to treat sleep disorders in published studies.

Five products listed one or more botanicals, including chamomile, passion flower, and valerian. RelaxZen Day had significant levels of a compound that indicated the presence of passion-flower extract; levels of compounds in the rest suggest low or trace amounts of the claimed botanicals.

Health concerns

Some labels of tested products noted that the drink might cause drowsiness and shouldn�t be used when driving. Many indicated that the drink should be avoided by pregnant or nursing women and by children. Yet our mystery shoppers sometimes found relaxation drinks in refrigerator cases near sodas and juices. That children may have easy access to these products concerns Sylvie Stacy, M.D., whose review of the safety and efficacy of ingredients in relaxation drinks appeared in the December 2011 issue of the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology.

�Although moderate consumption of these beverages by healthy individuals is likely safe,� she wrote, �an objective reduction in stress is improbable and associated adverse effects are possible.� Stacy, a resident in preventive medicine at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, said she began examining safety concerns involving relaxation drinks because of recent reports of risks possibly associated with highly caffeinated energy drinks. The Food and Drug Administration has said it would conduct a safety review of energy drinks. The FDA is considering requiring that labels disclose the amount of caffeine those products pack, limitations on use, and warnings about possible adverse effects. That makes sense, because our recent investigation found that energy drinks sometimes have more caffeine than their manufacturers claim.

Our investigation into relaxation drinks has found little evidence that these products have been associated with harmful reactions. A spokesman for the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration said that relaxation drinks �do not contribute to emergency-department visits� or that the visits are so rare that they could not be counted.

The Food and Drug Administration said in response to our Freedom of Information Act request that it has received six adverse-event reports. (By themselves, such reports don�t prove that a product or its ingredients caused a problem.) According to the reports, a 12-year old boy became ill on Nov. 30, 2012, after drinking Marley�s Mellow Mood. He was �shaking and twitching,� but symptoms abated, according to the reports. Five other children complained of vomiting, headache, nausea, chills, and fatigue, according to the reports.

We asked a Marley�s spokesman to comment and received e-mail messages stating that the �packaging clearly states that Marley�s Mellow Mood is not intended for consumption by children,� that the company �cooperated fully with the FDA� and that Marley�s own investigation found �no issues with product quality or package integrity.� An FDA spokeswoman said the reports were still being investigated.

An occasional relaxation drink is probably fine for most healthy adults, but read the labels for warnings and maximum daily servings. It�s sensible for people taking supplements or medications to first consult their health-care provider about possible interactions. Then check our chart for container size, price, calories, and sugars per container, which vary widely.

 

Dated 13 June 2013