But do they work and are they safe? Registered dietitian, Lauren Popeck, took a look at the claims. She said the relaxed feeling comes from a combination of ingredients often included in melatonin, L-theanine, camomile and calerian Root. They are all natural ingredients found in everything from herbal teas, seeds, nuts, fish and poultry. 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. 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. 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. The Food and Drug Administration said in response to our Freedom of Information Act request that it has received six adverse-event reports.
According to the reports, a year old boy became ill on Nov. Five other children complained of vomiting, headache, nausea, chills, and fatigue, according to the reports. Founded in Austria by a former board member at Red Bull in and made of ingredients that include chamomile, lavender and green tea extract, the brand is already available in over a dozen European, Asian and African markets and aims to be in 50 worldwide by the end of Many of these brands, however, are sleep aids and the number of focus-enhancing relaxation drink brands is far smaller.
Neuro Bliss, whose parent company, NeuroBrands, markets a range of functional beverages that also includes a sleep-inducing drink, is one of the best- known.
Just Chill, the creation of a group of Los Angeles-based surfers, is another. In Sweden, NOA Potions took top honours in the premium drink category in the World Beverage Innovation Awards with a beverage that has the equivalent of 15 cups of green tea extract in a single bottle.
NOA is already available in 18 countries around the world, including Mexico, Slovenia, the Philippines and even Afghanistan. Over in Germany, the category received a boost when the co-creator of the drink Tyme Out was selected to be the star of the local version of TV programme The Bachelor, and he used the platform to promote the brand. Estimates for the size of the market in any country are not easy to come by, both because of the newness of the category and the aforementioned blurry definitional lines.
Both numbers are probably including large amounts of sleep-inducing drinks, with the market size of focus-enhancing drinks likely being much lower. Should relaxation drink brands stress out about the future?
That people are having trouble relaxing is not in doubt: A recent study from the University of Queensland estimated that one in 13 people worldwide suffers from an anxiety disorder.
The American Psychological Association found recently that Americans rate their stress at an average of 4. This is exactly the sort of space that these relaxation drinks are targeting. Most of these products incorporate multiple ingredients that have more evidence when studied alone — but like, not enough.
Pepsi chose to use l-theanine, a workhorse ingredient in relaxation drinks. Some small studies found that l-theanine may reduce stress , induce relaxation, and make it easier for people to get to sleep. Chanaka Kahathuduwa, an assistant professor at Texas Tech University, is responsible for several studies on the amino acid, both alone and combined with caffeine.
Kahathuduwa found that l-theanine had an effect, though it appeared to be subtle. Another common ingredient, also found in Driftwell, is magnesium. While some studies suggest that magnesium may help people with anxiety, the quality of evidence is poor, according to a recent review article. For the companies that are more adventurous than Pepsi, there are other ingredients, like melatonin and CBD.
There are a few early studies that show it may be useful for anxiety. Given the number of these beverages on the market, though, I suspect this prohibition is not being heavily enforced. All of these concoctions are meant to make you relaxed or sleepy, which are subjective responses. And the stronger your anticipation is, the stronger the placebo effect will be. Faced with relatively scant scientific literature, I decide to self-experiment.
Plus, I already self-medicate with beverages — what else would coffee be for? Most of them have a distinct GNC vibe. I get it in the white raspberry flavor, which immediately takes me back to blue-flavored ICEEs at my hometown Kum and Go. It is, by far, my favorite flavor of all the drinks I sample. In fact, I like the flavor so much that I wind up drinking them a couple times a day. If I drink two in a row, I begin to feel like my brain has been wrapped in fleece.
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