Energy drinks are becoming more popular

• A relatively new phenomenon, the energy drink has been sucked up by eager consumers hoping that the coloured sweet liquid will give us an extra boost in today's 24-hour society.
• So embedded have they become in our culture that almost every pub stocks silver and blue cans of these carbonated and caffeinated sugar drinks in anticipation of the weekend demand for double vodkas laced with Red Bull.
• It is into this crowded but lucrative market - last year the worldwide energy drinks market was worth an estimated £1.6bn - that drinks giant Coca-Cola is reportedly launching its own version, Sprite3G, in the hope of snatching the crown from the head of clubbers' favourite Red Bull, which has a 70% share of the market.
• We have tended to group all energy drinks - ranging from the traditional Lucozade to its isotonic cousins to the guarana-containing liquids promising a "natural" high - into one category.
• But according to the British Soft Drinks Association, there are differences which set sports drinks apart from energy drinks.
• They are often isotonic - in balance with the body's own fluid - containing the same number of dissolved solids as the blood.
• Frankie Phillips, of the British Dietetic Association, said, "Most of these energy drinks contain caffeine which we know can revive people when they are starting to flail - it is a stimulant and provides a boost, making us a little more alert.
• Professor Bruce Davies, an expert in health and exercise science at the University of Glamorgan, said sports drinks which contain between 6% and 8% carbohydrate were the most effective in replacing lost fluid and energy for athletes in competition or training.
• "For the average person in the street there is no reason to drink anything other than water and they should make sure they are drinking two and a half litres in this weather," he said.