Liquid Energy

Body shapers: Some energy drinks promise consumers leaner and stronger bodies by adding creatine, l-carnitine, hydroxycitrate, or pyruvate. Creatine has been shown to improve both sprint performance and muscle strength. But here's the familiar catch: The amount added to energy drinks ranges from 25 to 250 milligrams, which is less than 1 percent of what you'd need to reap any performance-enhancing benefits.

L-carnitine is a compound your body makes to burn fat, and hydroxycitrate is naturally produced by your body during the breakdown of carbohydrate and fat. Both have an obvious clinical connection to weight loss, yet studies show that neither increases your ability to lose weight when taken in supplement form.

Bug juice: In Japan, marathon runners and other endurance athletes are swilling a new energy drink called VAAM, which contains a liquid secreted by hornet larvae. In fact, 2000 Olympic Marathon gold medalist Naoko Takahashi claims the hornet juice contributed to her victory in Sydney. This bug juice, mostly a mixture of amino acids, is normally consumed by adult hornets, and, according to hornet researchers, gives these insects their great endurance and speed.

But will a substance that enables hornets to fly more than 60 miles a day increase human endurance? Possibly. Japanese researchers from the Riken Institute in Honshu have found that lab mice given the hornet juice were able to swim longer with lower lactic-acid levels than mice receiving other nutrients. But before you raid that hornet's nest in your backyard, I suggest you wait for human studies.