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| TIMON WEHRLI/RED DOG STUDIO FOR TIME |
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MORE STORIES The Science of Asian Medicine: In from the Cold For centuries, Western science has dismissed Asia's traditional herbal remedies as quackery. But now the hunt is on to find cures that truly heal--and to figure out how they do it Using the Force Get in touch with your qi Killer Cure A herbal liver remedy proves deadly Acupuncture It's hard to pinpoint what makes needles work Strange Brew Are herbal soups really good for you? Genki Fever TIME puts Japan's energy drinks to the test |
Do Genki drinks have real fizz? TIME takes them for a road test
When Japanese office workers need to get through another day of doing virtually nothing, they reach for genki drinks, supposedly stuffed with traditional well-being ingredients like ginseng or viper tincture. But are genki products just a waste of good Red Bull money? We analyzed four popular beverages using the most precise scientific method possible: Yuman Wong, TIME's newsdesk manager, guzzled and noted the results
SUBJECT: Chinese male, 55, no daily exercise, works 23 hours a day. H: 1.68 m, W: 71.66 kg
| Name | Selected ingredients | Results | Comments |
| LIBOGEN Price: $1.27 |
Vitamins B1, B2, B6, nicotinamide, caffeine, d-sorbitol | 15:30 Samples drink. 16:15 Walks from floor 29 to 37 (125 sec.). |
"Tastes like sugar water. Slight headache. Possessed with desire to walk rapidly back and forth in my two-square-meter cubicle. Desire suppressed." |
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| AMINO GEAR Price: $2.31 |
Amino acids, vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12, C, alcohol, Chinese herbs, caffeine, royal jelly | 21:25 Samples drink. 22:10 Walks from floor 29 to 37 (115 sec.). |
"Tastes like fruit juice. Feel thirsty 10 minutes later. Moisture and a little headache at 23:40. Watch Ally McBeal rerun at 00:30. Find show has drifted into unforgivable self-parody. To bed at 01:30 as usual and sleep well." |
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| YUNKER KOTEI SOLUTION Price: $9.23 |
Viper tincture, civet tincture, bezoar tincture, ginseng dried extract, crataegus extract, rehmannia dried extract, royal jelly, vitamins B1, B2, B6, B12, E, sodium phosphate, nicotinamide, anhydrous caffeine | 06:35 Samples drink. 07:20 Walks from floor 29 to 37 (110 sec. with 4.6-kg handbag). |
"Delicious, with a little ginseng taste. Feel energetic, eyes filled with sunlight on the way to office. Gain proportional strength and speed of civet. Must only use superpowers for good." |
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| YUNKER KOTEI ROYAL Price: $22.44 |
Eleutherococc fluid extract, polygonati fluid extract, epimedii viscous extract, civet tincture, bezoar tincture, viper tincture, d-alpha-tocopherol acetate, vitamin B2, sodium phosphate, y-oryzanol, anhydrous caffeine, alcohol | 13:30 Samples drink. 14:15 Walks from floor 29 to 37 (110 sec.). |
"Tastes like mandarin juice. Feels best to take in the morning. Heart rate: now exceeding 280 beats per minute. Virility: high. Very high." |
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| QUICK LINKS: Cover Story | Using the Force | Killer Cure | Acupuncture | Strange Brew | Genki Fever |