Sleep Deprived? SPARK It Up!

One of the first things I do every morning is press brew on the coffee pot.  My morning cup of Joe gets me through my morning workout and usually lasts until about 2 pm when I am seeking out my next source of caffeine be it a sugar-free energy drink or coffee round two.

As Americans, we have a long history of being stimulated by beverages, dating back to the late 1800’s when cocaine and caffeine were the two active ingredients in Coca-Cola. The cocaine didn’t last long as the Supreme Court demanded it’s removal, but the caffeine stayed. The demands for increasing “liquid energy” grew over the years, and in the 1960’s the introduction of herbal extracts and vitamins into beverages was introduced. 1n 1997, Red Bull was brought to America and the consumption and evolution of energy drinks began!

Interested in nutrition and fitness, as well conducting a thesis for my masters at The George Washington University, I wanted to find out if there was a difference between energy drinks and caffeine. All these liquids were keeping me awake in my late hours of studying and early morning workouts, but were they making a difference in the classroom or in my performance? Was it just the caffeine or did the unique combination of the vitamins and amino acids make a difference?

I set out this past summer to conduct my thesis research on just that: The Effects of energy drink consumption on concentration and performance of a visual spatial task following sleep deprivation. After begging, pleading, and compromising with fellow college students ages 18-35, I was able to round up 16 caffeine drinkers. The 16 volunteers (that's right no money & no funding from the company) had to refrain from caffeine, report to the lab at 6:30 in the evening and remain awake all night until 7:00 a.m. the next morning. A concentration grid was used to evaluate concentration and tetris was used to evaluate Tetris.  Three trials were done, one at arrival, one at 5:30 a.m. and one 45 minutes after consumption of the control (120 mg caffeine) or Advocare SPARK(a no-added sugar energy drink with 120 mg of caffeine, vitamins, and amino acids), which took place at 6:45 a.m.

After collecting all the data and running the statistical analysis, I found that the SPARK energy drink improved concentration of college aged students in a sleep deprived state greater than caffeine alone, thus there is validity to the effectiveness of nutritional supplementation in energy drinks and further investigation may assess specific ingredients to a further extent.

As crazy as life gets, it is important to get enough sleep. However, being in school, that doesn’t always happen. I can’t say I have drank a full blown energy drink to keep me awake, as many of them have a surplus of sugar, which means a surplus of calories. However, I tend to go for sugar-free alternatives, and after this study, I gravitate towards SPARK. If you aren’t able to get enough sleep, it might not be a bad idea to consider the healthier alternative to an energy drink, and SPARK it up a bit! 

 For more information, references, or the manuscript feel free to email me at kmvfitness@gmail.com.