ENERGY drinks, foods and supplements

 In the 60's and 70's in North America it was "relax man, take it easy".

Now we have reached the era of over-stimulation and look for "energy" to get more stimulus.
Supermarkets and corner stores all carry Red Bull and many other brands of energy drink. 

There are energy bars as well and people are known to eat a granola bar for a snack at work or to replace lunch since they are too busy. You ask anyone and each person seems to have their little trick. I have tried bee pollen, royal jelly, chia and occasionally drink a blue Monster energy drink. None of these are ideal. I feel the effects of the chia the most and drink the energy drink more as a psychological booster and for taste. I hate the taste of the other boosters ... One female athlete at work, Dolores, has prescribed a very natural solution that she uses before she goes down-hill skiing. In the morning she takes a banana for potassium {K}, an egg for protein and a toast for carbohydrate. She says this gives her everything she needs for a day on the slopes. She has tried some of the items I mentioned above and she finds the white chia seeds give her the best sustained energy i.e. her regular visits to the gym no longer end up fatigued.

NOTE: Have STOPPED drinking Monster since i had two(2) cans one day and had heart palpitations. In the same year a young girl DIED from taking too much Monster :-(

I used to add bee pollen to my chia, butt i ran out. Now i just putt a little sugar in the glass and this is what it looks like when i drink it... About 10 to 15 minutes later i feel my nerves waking up and it feels like i can feel the blood running through my body and yet i am NOT too pumped. It feels like pure raw energy and that is why i like it the most ...

I was approached in the parking lot at OKA by a distributor of Herbalife. They distribute weight loss and energy supplements in North America and perhaps the world now in much the same fashion as Fuller Brush, Watkins and other companies did in the past. I have NO comment on any of these companies, but only mention it here because I feel it is a sign of the times... We have reached the point where people buy such products practically from the trunk of a car...It makes me wonder - have we become desperate ?

Also noticed a van and sail recently at OKA advertising or announcing STS nutrition. When you go their webpage they have Martin van Geenhoven on the front page. Martin was a local expert windsurfer who went to Hawaii and came back. Now he is a model and sells some kind of mechanical toys ?

I found the following article on the internet and really like what it says:
http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-supplements/lifestyle-guide-11/energy-boosters-can-supplements-and-vitamins-help?page=1
Since things seem to disappear on the web these days, I will just put some of their highlights:
"To make things simpler, we’ve divided energy supplement ingredients into three categories: stimulants, which rev up the metabolism; substances that affect metabolism -- specifically how the cells derive energy from nutrients; and calories, which are the basic fuel our bodies use to run. They work in very different ways, though many energy products will combine ingredients from all three categories. "
They run through a discussion on this breakdown and conclude that we just need to sleep better, exercise more and eat better. Some athletes will benefit from B-vitamin enhancements and we all get a little kick from caffeine. But the rest sounds like a waste of time, money and if i may, energy :-)

Items I have not discussed yet are hydration and warm-ups and down. It is important to drink something when doing excessive exercise like hours of windsurfing !! Most windsurfers I know do NO warm-ups nor warm-downs. All of these items are important in terms of muscle fatigue ...

One question I ask myself is whether supplements are better before or after the energy requirement. Like protein and carbohydrates - before or after and at what time interval - 2 hours before ?? For me, these things just make me sleepy :-(

AND rest does not imply only sleep. For how many days in a row can one ideally do excessive windsurfing  {say over 4 hours} ? In terms of muscle training, one athlete has suggested one take a day off in-between. Apparently bodybuilders will work one muscle group one day and another group the next. This way "muscle cells have a chance to repair." Seems we rip muscle cells when we work hard :-(

How about a nice massage or shower afterwards ?? :-)