Drinks Intended To Calm You

Think of them as the opposite of energy drinks. A new wave of relaxation beverages can take the edge off stress and anxiety, and even help you sleep, according to the companies that sell them. The drinks have not been tested in rigorous clinical trials, but at least some of their ingredients have been shown in studies to aid sleep or reduce anxiety.

--- By relaxation, we don't mean a gin and tonic. The new drinks, containing plant extracts or even natural human hormones, are designed to chill you out without impairing your function as much as alcohol. Some have sugar, but others use low-calorie sweeteners.

Not including bagged teas, nearly 100 new relaxation beverages -- including different sizes and flavors -- have appeared on the U.S. market in the past three years, according to market-research firm Datamonitor PLC. Products include Vacation in a Bottle, from VIB Holdings LLC, Dallas; Mary Jane's Relaxing Soda from The Relaxing Co., Riverside, Ca.; Dream Water, from Sarpes Beverages LLC, Miami; Drank, from Innovative Beverage Group Holdings Inc., Houston; and Mini Chill, from Stevenson Products LLC, of Little Neck, N.Y.

Many of the drinks contain herbal, plant or hormonal therapies which have been shown in at least some studies to be effective -- but also may have side effects, scientists say.

Kava root, for example, an ingredient in Mary Jane's soda, obtains an unusual grade of 'A' for treatment of anxiety from Natural Standard Research Collaboration, a Cambridge, Mass., scientist-owned group that evaluates natural therapies. The grade means there is strong scientific evidence for effectiveness, but it applies only to the use of kava in people with doctor-diagnosed anxiety, not ordinary stress. The Relaxing Co., which markets Mary Jane's for such daily challenges as 'road rage' and 'public speaking' and 'lousy girlfriends,' says it is beginning a clinical trial to test its effectiveness in combatting everydaystress.

Kava root should be used cautiously -- particularly in people at risk for liver problems, scientists say. In 2002, the Food and Drug Administration warned that kava root had been linked to 'severe liver injury,' including liver failure and the need for a transplant. The Relaxing Co. says Mary Jane's contains kava extracted using a water method which it believes to be safer than chemical methods used to obtain the extract used in the dietary supplements that were linked to liver problems. Still, the company suggests a top dose of two 12-ounce bottles daily.

As with prescription medications, people should work to change the causes of insomnia or stress rather than depending on a quick fix, clinicians say.

'There is no magic pill or soda. Lifestyle is the number one thing you should address first,' says Catherine Ulbricht, co-founder of Natural Standard and senior attending pharmacist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Dream Water contains melatonin, a hormone which has been shown to aid sleep in healthy people and help fight insomnia (it gets a B from Natural Standard), as well as the amino acid 5-hydroxytryptophan and the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid. Taking those should be a last resort only -- and if you do, it should be under the supervision of a physician, says Aparajitha Verma, medicaldirector of the Sleep Disorders Center at Methodist Neurological Institute in Houston.

Melatonin in beverages has come under regulatory scrutiny. The FDA issued a Jan. 13 warning letter to Innovative Beverage stating that melatonin, an ingredient in Drank, is not an approved food additive. Innovative Beverage says that its Drank is a dietary supplement and that it is working closely with FDA to 'clear up any confusion.'

Some beverage companies market the fact that their relaxation drinks don't contain melatonin. Vacation in a Bottle, for example, uses L-Theanine, an ingredient in green tea, to relax you without putting you to sleep, VIB Holdings says.

Laura Johannes