Hydration, Health Drinks, Energy Drinks and History, Who Knew!

Cancer patients are told that keeping hydrated is one of the most important thing you need for your body. You are told to drink a full glass of water with your medication and when you have chemo because if you are not hydrating these chemicals can become concentrated in your blood and body and become toxic. This is all very true. (I found out the hard way when my toe nail began bleeding and fell off from Taxol toxicity.) The following is a brief history of health drinks and energy drinks that I found very interesting.

Always discuss with your doctor what drinks you can and can not have and how much you can have.

Health Drinks: A History

Ancient Chinese have long believed in the benefits of drinking natural 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 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 is 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, 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 energy drinks. In 1901, the first energy drink was released in Scotland called Im-Bru. While in Japan, their energy drinks can be traced as early as the 1960s. Although they cite that there were 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 were 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 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 is to provide to lengthen the performance levels and aid hydration of athletes.

As early as 1985, the United States had 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.

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 vitamins, minerals and nutrients we can have in just one gulp. Health can be just in one drink.

Maybe soon we will be living in the Real Sci-Fi world where all your vitamins and nutrients are in a pill or water. The question is are we ready to give up the taste of steak, lobster, squash, baked potato with sour cream, chives and bacon bits, or chocolate cake. No, I don't think so! Eat Healthy, Drink Healthy