What the Heck is a Functional Drink Anyway?

What are functional drinks?

Functional drinks are beverages designed to serve a purpose in the body beyond basic hydration.

In your supermarket, everything from your probiotic yoghurt drink to your extra fiery ginger shot to protein- and electrolyte-packed sports drinks now falls under the functional drink category.

And of course, the most common functional drink, coffee, is drunk daily by more than half of UK adults and around two-thirds of US adults.

For those who drink low, no and light drinks, the main categories are adaptogens, which help the body, nootropics, which support the mind, and, of course, CBD-based drinks.

What do functional drinks do?

While some functional drinks in this space are designed just to help you feel more relaxed, more focused or more energised, some brands have spent tens of thousands researching ingredients that can act on the brain’s GABA receptors (the bit that gets activated when we drink booze) in a similar way as alcohol, so that you get that one or two drink feeling but without any of the alcohol.

Do they work?

While functional drinks have the potential to be hugely beneficial, they won’t work the same way for everybody.

Depending on your physiology, tolerance, general health, and even how much full-strength alcohol you still consume, you may feel the impact of these drinks more or less than someone else you know.

And it may take repeated consumption of some types for the benefits to really build up in the body.

What are adaptogens?

Adaptogens are ingredients, usually naturally occurring herbs, fungi and botanicals, with bioactive compounds that help the body adapt to stress and restore balance.

They’ve been used for centuries in Eastern medicine and are now finding their way into mainstream beverage consumption among those looking to do things a little differently.

Many brands are including adaptogens in their low/no drinks now to help users achieve a sense of personal or social ease that they would have previously tried to get from alcohol.

Examples of adaptogens include:

• Lion’s Mane Mushrooms for memory and overall cognitive function
• Reishi mushroom for immune support
• Ashwagandha for stress reduction and improved sleep
• L-theanine for reducing anxiety and improving focus (also a nootropic)
• Ginseng for a natural energy boost

You’ll find these ingredients in drinks from brands like Sentia*, NuWave* and Three Spirit*.

Other functional ingredients may have a more health and fitness-focused role, such as the 10g of protein found in non-alcoholic beer brand Lifted Brewing.

What are nootropics?

The word comes from the Greek nous, meaning mind, and tropein, meaning to turn. So nootropic literally means turning toward the mind or, in other words, acting on cognition.

Where adaptogens are herbs, botanicals and fungi, nootropics are compounds – both natural and synthetic – that enhance cognitive function.

In plain English, nootropics are brain-boosting ingredients found in everything from your favourite coffee shop cappuccino to specially formulated supplements.

This includes things like:

• Caffeine – It’s not just from coffee. Tea, sugary soft drinks and even chocolate all contain caffeine.
• L-Tyrosine – Supports mental performance under stress, helps with mood regulation.
• B Vitamins (especially B6, B12, B3) – which support energy production and brain function as well as fighting fatigue.
• Ginkgo Biloba – which improves blood flow to the brain
• Ginseng – for mental energy and concentration
• Lion’s Mane Mushroom – which supports memory and cognitive function

Some of these ingredients, like Lion’s Mane and Ginseng, can also be considered adaptogens as they provide both physical and psychological benefits.

Again, as with adaptogens, the impact of these ingredients will differ from person to person, depending on all the things that make you who you are.

A note on nootropics

Be careful when you consume them. If they are brain-boosting, memory-enhancing, problem-solving elixirs, you probably don’t want to load up just before bedtime.

In episode 69, I had a fascinating chat with Oli Genn-Bash, the Fungi-Consultant, all about how functional ingredients show up in low/no drinks.

What about CBD drinks?

CBD is short for cannabidiol. It’s the non-intoxicating ingredient from the cannabis plant.

CBD drinks are booming both in the States and here in the UK.

Across the pond, you’ll also find a growth in THC drinks. THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, is the active part of the plant, and it’s currently illegal in the UK, so while these drinks may offer some great functional benefits, I can’t tell you about them here.

The most common question regarding CBD drinks is: Will they get me high?

Lots of people worry that they may cause intoxication or trigger cravings for brownies, but as CBD is non-intoxicating, there’s no risk of the munchies or any type of “high”.

So what do they do?

CBD drinks are often used to induce relaxation and calm.

While they won’t get you woozy, they do bind to or interact with (the science is still being explored) the brain’s endocannabinoid system, where they help to reduce cortisol levels (the stress hormone) and balance your mood.

They can also promote muscle relaxation and reduce inflammation.

As with the adaptogens and nootropics, the effect of CBD drinks varies person by person. There are limits in the UK on the dosage permitted in consumer goods—the current recommended maximum for a healthy adult is 10mg of CBD per day, and other factors, such as your current physiology (maybe even how much weed you smoked in the past), will all impact their effectiveness.

Popular CBD brands here include Trip* & Goodrays*, which you can pick up online or in your local supermarkets.

I spoke to expert Daniel Rowntree from High & Dry about the world of CBD, THC, micro-dosing, nootropics and adaptogens both in the UK and the US in episode #47 of the podcast.