Asian Ginseng is native to China and the Korean peninsula. In its original form, it is considered “white ginseng,” though processing the root through extensive steaming and then drying produces “red ginseng,” which is often used in the development of ginseng tea and capsule forms. Asian ginseng has the natural effect of warming the body, and is considered the best variety to use for increasing energy.

American Ginseng grows naturally in the Eastern area of North America, from Ontario all the way down to Georgia. Many people who use this variety experience a cooling effect, and it is considered the best form of ginseng to increase endurance and reduce stress, though clinical studies have not confirmed the chemical effects.

Siberian Ginseng has long been a staple of Chinese herbal medicine and is traditionally processed through immersion in water and then distillation. It has shown to increase energy levels in some users and is used to create tonics, teas and other supplements.

The primary ingredient in all types of ginseng are ginsenosides, which have been shown to provide a wide range of benefits, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-cancer effects.¹ Research projects have isolated 20 different ginsenosides contained within most varieties of ginseng, some of which counteract one another. One ginsenoside (Rg1) can cause blood pressure to rise. Another (Rb1) has been shown to depress the nervous system, causing blood pressure to drop. Studies on the effects of ginseng herb report conflicting results.

While ginseng has been shown to offer a number of very beneficial effects², there are some people who should avoid using ginseng as a dietary supplement. Specifically, women who are pregnant³, or people who are taking blood pressure control medication⁴ should avoid ingesting large amounts of ginseng, especially when combined with caffeine, as is often the case in energy drinks and tablets.

¹ BioLine International Report “Use of Ginseng in Medicine: Perspectives on CNS Disorders”
² Chinese Herbs Organization
³ WebMD Report “Early Pregnancy Risk With Ginseng”
⁴ LiveStrong.com Report “Side Effects of Red Ginseng”

Research studies conducted by public universities and private institutions have studied the effects of caffeine on the human body. While there is still some debate regarding some of the results, a significant amount of clarity has been achieved that can help clear up many misconceptions we have about caffeine.

Heart Health: While excessive use can still cause problems, moderate levels of caffeine consumption has shown no negative effect on cardiovascular health.¹

Bone Health: Caffeine usage does not have an adverse affect on how the human body processes calcium, which is critical to maintaining healthy bones. Initial studies pointed to this being a possibility, but no concrete evidence has been found to support this claim.²

Carcinogens and Cancer: Extensive testing has shown that caffeine does not cause – or complicate – cases of breast cancer or intestinal cancer. There are still ongoing studies that are focused on the effects of caffeine on urinary bladder cancer and pancreatic cancer, but initial studies point to moderate usage not having any adverse affects on those strains of cancer either³,⁴.

Natal and Prenatal Health: While moderate consumption levels have shown no ill effects on a woman’s ability to conceive, significantly higher levels of consumption have shown the potential to delay conception and increase the chances of low birth weight babies.⁵,⁶

Physical competition: Professional trainers have known for years that caffeinated energy beverages and energy shots have the ability to improve physical performance, though the particular chemical mechanism in caffeine that increases endurance and speed is still being researched.⁷

Next month, we’ll break down the positive and negative effects that Ginseng – a staple of the energy drink community – has on the human body.

¹ Food Insight Fact Sheet on Caffeine and Heart Health
² European Food Information Council report: “Myths and Facts About Caffeine”
³ WebMD Report “Health Benefits of Coffee”
⁴ Science Daily Report “Coffee May Protect Against Breast Cancer”
⁵ Central Health entry “Caffeine, Conception and Pregnancy”
⁶ American Pregnancy Organization report “What’s the Real Scoop on Caffeine During Pregnancy?”
⁷ Rice University Report “Caffeine and the athlete”

1) It is estimated that over 7 million people in this country work two jobs. Sometimes you just need that little extra burst of energy to make it through a doubly tough day.

2) According to studies conducted by CNN and family magazines, over 40% of Americans don’t get enough sleep. It’s even rougher on teenagers, with an estimated 80% not catching enough Zzzz’s. If you can’t hug the pillow, squeeze a DynaPep energy shot!

3) Based on conversations with friends, coworkers and random complete strangers, I estimate that 75% of Americans are married to an incredibly boring spouse, and require that little extra burst of energy just to stay awake through their completely uninteresting tales of office drama involving people you don’t know or care one bit about.

4) based on a US Census survey, over 6,000 new bars and nightclubs open each year in the US. If you want to properly sample each one to gauge the tastiness of their beverages, the coolness of their atmosphere and the hotness of their other customers, you might need to take a couple of DynaPep energy shots.

Since I qualify for 3 of the 4, I’m probably overdue for a little extra kick… I’ll be back after I get another little DynaPep shot in me!

1) Mow the front yard -  The lawnmower was broken, but I had my DynaPep…and a pair of fingernail clippers. The grass never knew what hit it.

2) Paint the house -  The wife wanted me to go with a pale blue with white trim, but DynaPep wasn’t having any of that boring stuff. I ended up going with jumbo versions of Leonardo Da Vinci’s classics on each wall. Considered going with Picasso, but I was way too amped to try mellowing out with the abstract weirdness.

3) Change the spark plugs in my car – The plugs went in easy, and then I had a DynaPep moment and decided to rebuild the entire engine from scratch…with solar batteries and glass panels on the outside of the vehicle. My ’73 Fury has never been so shiny.

4) Do the laundry – Knocked out three loads. Between loads, I sewed missing buttons back on shirts, ironed my socks and knitted a snuggie for the wife.

Really looking forward to more DynaPep next weekend. I think I’ll just put “drill for oil” on the list now…

First, it could help to speak to a practitioner of naturopathic medicine. They can tell you if the cause of your fatigue is a low thyroid or adrenal problem. A high number of cases of chronic depression stem from thyroid issues, and an energy drink certainly won’t help you in those cases.

Second, examine your sleep habits. Are you getting enough sleep at night? Is it restful sleep, or do you toss, turn and wake your way through the night? If you are having sleep issues, try backing off any late night caffeine or sugar intake. If you do that and still have trouble getting to sleep or staying asleep, then maybe you could try a new pillow, or a different mattress. The point, as mentioned above, is to determine what is causing the problem, rather than just piling chemicals on it in an attempt to counter the effects.

A few general diet/lifestyle things you can do that have been shown to increase energy levels:

1) Remove heavily processed foods with high amounts of chemicals out of your diet.

2) Drink more water. Not more juice or more coffee, but more actual water.

3) Exercise more! Before you think I am telling our most-severely out of shape readers that they need to immediately become gym rats, let me clarify. If you currently do “almost nothing” in the exercise realm, then simply adding a 10 minute walk in the evenings would qualify as exercising more. It’s all relative, so gauge where you are on the physical fitness scale, and slightly increase the exercise.

If you need to use an energy drink or energy shot for a specific event, no problem… Drinking them occasionally isn’t that bad for you, as long as you do it in moderation.

In our next blog post, we’ll take a look at natural herbs and oils that have an energizing or otherwise healthy effect on the body. Until then, stay healthy and stay alert. The world moves pretty quickly, and if you blink…you could miss it.

Let’s get something out of the way here… Energy drinks and energy shots should never be used to replace sleep. When you sleep, your body goes through a number of helpful recuperative processes, and these processes simply cannot be replaced by adding extra caffeine and other chemicals into your system. A few of the benefits that sleep provides that you can’t get from an energy drink includes:

* Help maintain proper body weight
The area of the brain that controls sleep is also the area of the brain that controls your body’s metabolic process. When you get the proper amount of sleep, your metabolism works better, helping you to digest food properly and helping to prevent fat cells from building up.

* Improve memory function
Getting plenty of sleep does wonders for your brain’s ability to process information and store it in memory.

* Lower stress and reduce risk of depression
Sleep has a positive effect on your ability to reduce stress, which in turn can have a positive effect on your blood pressure. There are also those in the scientific community who claim that getting more sleep can have a positive effect on your body’s cholesterol levels.

Basically, when you “need” a little extra kick, feel free to use a DynaPep energy shot or other energy drink. Whether it is to help you stay alert when you are tired and aren’t able to take a nap or when you need that little burst of caffeine energy, a little bit goes a long way. Just never let using an energy product become an excuse for not getting enough sleep. Your body will thank you for the extra snooze time you give it.

1) The reader feedback from people who had used DynaPep was a lot more cohesive than the feedback from readers who had not used DynaPep.
2) Too many of our readers don’t have garages, or small children to teach baseball to.

So, in an attempt to be a bit more all-inclusive in our scientific research, we are proud to present… The DynaPep Every-Day Tasks Olympic Time Trials, Part 2!

Time Trial #4: Vacuuming the carpet of a 4 bedroom house (1,800 sq ft)

Without DynaPep: 1 hr 22 minutes
With DynaPep: 1 hr 22 minutes

At first, the scientists couldn’t believe their eyes. How could it be possible that someone without DynaPep-enhancement was able to complete the same task in the same amount of time as the DynaPepper? That would be blasphemy of the first order! However, after taking a closer look at the details of this particular time trial, the answer became clear. While the non-DynaPep tester actually did complete the vacuuming in the time noted, the DynaPep tester actually decided that the old carpet was a little faded and completely out of style, so he proceeded to rip up the old carpet, prep the concrete floor, and then create a tile mosaic in the 4 bedrooms of the house that represented each of the four seasons. The DynaPep tester also painted the walls and ceilings in each bedroom in a color palette to match each season. Score one for DynaPep, and get Better Homes & Gardens on the line, because they definitely need to see this.

Time Trial #5: Take the dog for a walk

Without DynaPep: 45 minutes
With DynaPep: 45 minutes

Fool us once, shame on us…but no fooling us twice. Before the scientists started freaking out, in a way that only lab geeks with pocket protectors can freak out, they took a closer look. While the non-DynaPep did take the family hound on a nice long 45 minute walk, the DynaPep tester took the dog for a walk, had him groomed, and then taught him how to design his very own Japanese rock garden. Another victory for DynaPep, and a profoundly Zen moment for canines everywhere.

Coffee plus the Cinnamon DynaPep energy shot – Talk about tossing a nuke in your morning java!! The strong cinnamon flavor combines nicely with the coffee flavor, and there is no denying the extra caffeine jolt.

Coffee plus the Mint DynaPep energy shot – If you like a little bit of mint in your morning, try a good strong cup of coffee with a shot of DynaPep Mint mixed in. This might be my favorite combination of all. The mint also helps counteract the coffee-breath.

Sprite (or 7-Up) plus the Berry DynaPep energy shot – Refreshing, tasty, and the no-caffeine aspect of the straight Sprite or 7-Up gets kicked to the curb the moment you put the Berry-flavored DynaPep energy shot in there.

We’re always eager to hear about other mixer combinations, so if you have a favorite beverage plus-DynaPep combo, leave a comment below and we’ll check it out for inclusion next time!

When you get tired during the consumption of alcohol, it is your brain telling you that you have had enough (or too much) to drink. By combining the alcohol with a high-caffeine energy drink, you send conflicting signals to your brain, causing it to believe that you aren’t as drunk as you really are, which in turn causes the young drinker to consume even more alcohol. As a result, we have seen a rash of alcohol poisoning cases popping up among the nation’s student population.

Hear me out…this isn’t a soapbox rant about underage drinking, or about straightening out wayward college students. This is a chemistry warning, and a very serious one at that. If it were just caffeine, it wouldn’t be so bad, but most energy drinks also have other stimulants like taurine, ginseng and more…and that combination of mass stimulants and alcohol just pushes things over the edge.

What it comes down to is just using a little common sense. If you are going to mix alcohol with energy drinks, try to limit yourself to one beverage. If you feel the need to consume more than just one, then alternate between alcoholic drinks and non-alcoholic refreshments. to minimize the alcohol’s effect and keep your body properly hydrated.

An even better idea…skip the alcohol and pop a DynaPep energy shot instead.

We started out with some basic tasks…

Time Trial #1: Washing the family car (includes interior, exterior and wheel-cleaning)

Without DynaPep: 1 hour, 12 minutes
With DynaPep: 27 minutes

No contest here, as the DynaPep tester was a virtual human blur. With sponge, rags and Armor-all flying, the DynaPep-enhanced subject had the car shining from bumper to bumper in less than a half hour. Scientific sidenote: After completion of this task, the Dynapep tester wanted to drive his sparkling clean car down to the beach for some boogie boarding, while the non-Dynapep entrant laid down and took a nap in front of the TV.

Time Trial #2: Organizing the Garage (includes removing garbage, organizing shelves and cleaning entire garage)

Without DynaPep: Incomplete (subject gave up after 2 hours)
With DynaPep: 45 minutes

Not much of a battle here either… The DynaPep-burning human machine cleaned the garage, built new wall shelving units and organized roughly 50 boxes of old Buick parts, Christmas decorations, decades-old clothing and random hardware with a blue-collar Dewey Decimal-type System. Subject spent the time left over shopping online for a new motorcycle to fill some of the clean empty space created by this test.

Time Trial #3: Teaching a kid how to play baseball

Slightly different format for this test, as both contestants were given two hours with a random neighborhood child who had never played baseball before. Contestants were told to teach the kid as much as possible during that time period.

Without DynaPep: The subject taught the child how to catch the ball, throw the ball and, as long as the ball was moving slow and across the plate, to hit the ball.
With DynaPep: The subject smartly gave an extra DynaPep shot to his test student. After two hours, the child was playing at an all star level, had a tryout scheduled with the Yankees and rewrote the Major League Baseball collective bargaining contract between players and owners, thereby ensuring that there will be no work stoppage for another couple of decades.

There you have it…Part 1 of our time trials provides clinical and irrefutable evidence showing that DynaPep energy shots not only give you more energy to get things done, but allow you to save the national pastime and provide mentoring for the next generation’s Derek Jeter. All results are unofficial, and it is recommended that you pop your own DynaPep energy shots and conduct your own time trials to verify the results!