By that definition, of course, all food is energy food. And no one would need this stuff if they just got enough sleep and exercised a little.
"Of course, that's the solution, but most people don't want to do that," said Krista Faron, a senior analyst for Mintel International Group Ltd., a market-research company in Chicago. Instead, she said, you will see the word energy slapped on many more foods.
The trend of energy claims moving beyond drinks and energy bars into everything from dairy products to chocolate in this country has accelerated in the last year.
The attraction is obvious enough. "People are busy. People are stressed. They're tired," Faron said.
Plus, makers of energy drinks have done a fine job of marketing products - at premium prices - to young people who like "extreme" consumption, she said. In a Mintel survey released in July, more than a third of teenagers and 15 percent of adults said they drank energy drinks. Mintel estimates sales at $4.8 billion this year.
Daniel Monti, director of the Jefferson-Myrna Brind Center of Integrative Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University, is concerned. "What we're doing is we're using these products as a replacement for good nutrients and adequate sleep," he said.
Staying hyped on stimulants all day stresses a body and disrupts sleep, he said. "We are never giving our bodies a chance to rejuvenate and revitalize."
Stimulants such as caffeine activate our sympathetic nervous system, the fight or flight mechanism that helped primitive humans flee saber-toothed tigers. It does heighten awareness, but too much of that can make people feel tense and anxious, Monti said.
He recommends no more than 200 mg of caffeine a day. A cup of coffee has 80 to 100 mg.
