Functional Beverages in the 21st Century
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments on the manuscript ID: beverages-2243871, "Functional beverages in the 21st century"; Authors: Mateusz Sugajski, Magdalena Buszewska-Forajta, Bogusław Buszewski
This work is an over-view on the functional beverages of the 21st Century and their effects on human health, mainly that of the young generation.
The authors have a personal, interdisciplinary, scientific and critical approach to this new/modern problem generated by the increasing consumption of these functional beverages nowadays, as well as by the appearance on the market of some interesting beverages, with new compositions, as health-promoting products.
The original contributions of the authors are highlighted and welcomed in view of the benefits to human health. They discuss the composition of the functional beverages and they want to raise an alarm signal, based on sound scientific and medical arguments, very well demonstrated, to make young people, but also other people who long-time consume these types of beverages, aware of the impact and negative effects that appear over time.
On the one hand, the functional beverages, especially sports and energy drinks, give performance outcomes, but on the other hand, produce unwanted side effects (obesity, anxiety, cardiovascular / gastrointestinal system disorder, even addiction, etc.) due to the stimulants or other additives added.
Therefore, the subject of this paper is of interest and corresponds to the purpose of the journal “Beverages”.
The purpose and novelty of this study are clearly reported and the sections are well presented. This involved the study of a large number of literature references which were analyzed, interpreted and commented in a proper and rational way.
The introduction is concise, presenting the background of the work. The content is well organized and the sections are clearly presented. The importance of the water in human life and the sports and energy drinks are multidisciplinary developed showing the involvement of chemistry, medicine, epidemiology, economy, sports, psychology and others. There is also a critical and constructive section focused on the pros and cons of sports and energy drinks as their composition is reflected in human health and well-being. The conclusions (Summary) are synthetic expressed and well pointed. This work is current and allows extending the research on the impact of existing and future beverages on public health.
The 96 references given cover a period of 42 years (1980–2022) plus one paper from 1952, with an emphasis on publications in the last five years (29; 30.21%), the last ten years (54, 56.25%), and from the 21st century (89, 92.71%). They are well allocated and presented, but some of them should be filled in (see below).
The figures and the tables are clearly presented. Below are some suggestions for improving them. The spelling and grammar of the manuscript are good.
In my opinion, the manuscript deserves to be published in your journal after a careful minor revision, increasing its quality through accuracy and clarity.
Comments and suggestions
Page 3, Row 131: “With age, the number of water decreases …” should be “With age, the percentage of water decreases …”
Page 3, Rows 134, 135, 136: Please revise the three water distributions in tissue structures. They should be intracellular (inside the cell), extracellular (blood plasma, lymph) and transcellular (body water contained in the epithelial-lined spaces).
Page 5, Figure 1. “Hipotonic” should be “Hypotonic”. Legend: Red blood cell behavior when blood composition changes from isotonic to hypertonic and hypotonic. The word “state” should be added after hypotonic.
Page 6, Table 1. Legend. The word “sports” should be inserted before “beverage”. References corresponding to the given data should be entered.
Page 8, Table 2. The mention of “Table 2” is missing in the text before its presentation. It should be inserted in an appropriate place. Legend. The word “sports” should be inserted before “drinks”. References corresponding to the given data should be entered. Column 1: for ingredients, enter the volume (how many ml) to which the amount (mg, g) and energy (kJ) mentioned in the table refer.
Page 9, row 410: “Ro” should be detailed.
Page 11, row 442 and Page 12, row 476: “Ginko biloba” should be “Ginkgo biloba”.
Page 11, row 444: “G. biloba” should be “Ginkgo biloba”.
Page 11, Table 3. The mention of ”Table 3” is missing in the text before its presentation. It should be inserted in an appropriate place. Legend. References corresponding to the given data should be entered. Column 1: for ingredients, enter the volume (how many ml) to which the amount (mg, g) and energy (kJ) mentioned in the table refer. For consistency, the “Energy content” row should be moved last (See Table 2).
Page 12, Figure 4: the figure title should be cropped, this information being found in the legend figure. The figure should be revised: the pie chart shows 6 colors (components) in the two circles while the legend indicates 11 components.
Page 12, title of section 6: I suggest to use “isotonic sports drink”, Row 464: “Sports drinks (isotonic drinks) and energy drinks (colloquially known as "energy 464 drinks") are …”. I suggest: “Isotonic sports drinks and energy drinks are …”.
Page 13, rows 494 and 495: “The main ingredients of popular energy drinks are shown in Tables 1 and 3.” should be “The main ingredients of popular isotonic sports drink are shown in Table 2 while those of energy drinks in Table 3.”
Page 13, row 537: I suggest to use “Polish people” instead of “Poles”.
References. The following references should be verified, corrected and filled with missing data (journal / volume / pages / article number; publishing house etc.; DOI): 2, 11, 13, 16, 25, 34, 35, 36, 38, 43, 46, 58, 59, 74, 81, 93.
I also recommend adding the Digital Object Identifier "DOI" to each reference where it exists.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
We would like to thank for your positive assessment and insightful evaluation of our review paper on isotonic sports drinks and energy drinks. The critical remarks in the review are important guidelines for us to improve the quality of our review paper as well as our future work.
Comment: Page 3, Row 131: “With age, the number of water decreases …” should be “With age, the percentage of water decreases …”
Answer: In accordance to the Reviewer suggestion’ we correct the phrase in the manuscript.
Comment: Page 3, Rows 134, 135, 136: Please revise the three water distributions in tissue structures. They should be intracellular (inside the cell), extracellular (blood plasma, lymph) and transcellular (body wate,r contained in the epithelial-lined spaces).
Answer: Thank you for your notice. We agree with the comment. For this purpose, we have performed a renewed literature correct the listed mistake.
Comment: Page 5, Figure 1. “Hipotonic” should be “Hypotonic”. Legend: Red blood cell behavior when blood composition changes from isotonic to hypertonic and hypotonic. The word “state” should be added after hypotonic.
Answer: Thank you for the comment. The presented figure contained a spelling error, which was corrected in the current version. The wordi 'state' has been added to the legend.
Comment: Page 6, Table 1. Legend. The word “sports” should be inserted before “beverage”. References corresponding to the given data should be entered.
Answer: We agree with the note. We added the word 'sports' to highlight the differences in nomenclature. Table 1 summarizes the data on the labels of the compared products. We have therefore added this information into the body of the manuscript (page , lines:).
Comment: Page 8, Table 2. The mention of “Table 2” is missing in the text before its presentation. It should be inserted in an appropriate place. Legend. The word “sports” should be inserted before “drinks”. References corresponding to the given data should be entered. Column 1: for ingredients, enter the volume (how many ml) to which the amount (mg, g) and energy (kJ) mentioned in the table refer.
Answer: Thank you for the comment. Indeed, information inTable 2 was missing from the text. This information has been completed. In addition, in line with the reviewer's suggestion, we made changes to the layout of Table 2, which resulted in a more complete and clearer presentation of the data contained therein.
Comment: Page 9, row 410: “Ro” should be detailed.
Answer: Thank you for the comment. We have added the chemical structure of one of the representatives of the oleate group found in Panax ginseng. In addition to the Ro structure, information on polyacetylene ginsenoside-Ro can be found in the literature. However, due to the scarcity of works describing it, we have not presented its chemical structure, as we are not experts in organic chemistry and we did not want to make a mistake when posting it.
Comment: Page 11, row 442 and Page 12, row 476: “Ginko biloba” should be “Ginkgo biloba”.
Answer: We agree with the comment. The spelling error has been corrected as suggested by the Reviewer.
Comment: Page 11, row 444: “G. biloba” should be “Ginkgo biloba”.
Answer: We agree with the comment. The spelling error has been corrected as suggested by the Reviewer.
Comment: Page 11, Table 3. The mention of ”Table 3” is missing in the text before its presentation. It should be inserted in an appropriate place. Legend. References corresponding to the given data should be entered. Column 1: for ingredients, enter the volume (how many ml) to which the amount (mg, g) and energy (kJ) mentioned in the table refer. For consistency, the “Energy content” row should be moved last (See Table 2).
Answer: We agree with the comment. Indeed, information in Table 3 was missing from the text. This information has been completed. In addition, in line with the reviewer's suggestion, we made changes to the layout of Table 3, which resulted in a more complete and clearer presentation of the data contained therein.
Comment: Page 12, Figure 4: the figure title should be cropped, this information being found in the legend figure. The figure should be revised: the pie chart shows 6 colors (components) in the two circles while the legend indicates 11 components.
Answer: We agree with the comment. Indeed, the pie chart did not fully reflect the information we wanted to convey through it. It has been completely rebuilt and replaced by a column chart. In addition, to highlight the individual components of energy drinks, we decided not to show the carbohydrate and Taurine content. The Icha content concerning the other components made it significantly impossible to depict the actual composition of the energy drinks.
Comment: Page 12, title of section 6: I suggest to use “isotonic sports drink”, Row 464: “Sports drinks (isotonic drinks) and energy drinks (colloquially known as "energy 464 drinks") are …”. I suggest: “Isotonic sports drinks and energy drinks are …”.
Answer: We agree with the comment and have made the change suggested by the Reviewer.
Comment: Page 13, rows 494 and 495: “The main ingredients of popular energy drinks are shown in Tables 1 and 3.” should be “The main ingredients of popular isotonic sports drink are shown in Table 2 while those of energy drinks in Table 3.”
Answer: We agree with the comment and have made the change suggested by the Reviewer.
Comment: Page 13, row 537: I suggest to use “Polish people” instead of “Poles”.
Answer: We agree with the comment and have made the change suggested by the Reviewer.
Comment: References. The following references should be verified, corrected and filled with missing data (journal / volume / pages / article number; publishing house etc.; DOI): 2, 11, 13, 16, 25, 34, 35, 36, 38, 43, 46, 58, 59, 74, 81, 93. I also recommend adding the Digital Object Identifier "DOI" to each reference where it exists.
Answer: We agree with the comment. The section of the paper related to literature references has been re-checked by us. We have paid particular attention to the items identified by the Reviewer and, as suggested, have completed the Digital Object Identifier "DOI" where possible.
In the end, we would like to thank the Reviewer once again for his time and positive opinion of our work as well as his comments, which undoubtedly contributed to improving the quality of our present and future work.
Reviewer 2 Report
This manuscript discusses both the composition of functional beverages and their impact on health. Currently, is daily diet more and more often enriched with isotonic drinks, functional drinks, or drinks bearing the hallmarks of health-promoting products. For these reasons, authors pay special attention to sport and energy drinks. Sports drinks have been scientifically proven to replenish energy and fluids in the body quickly. Considering the current trends focused on promoting health and well-being, high consumption of these products will continue. However, excessive daily consumption of this type of drink leads to serious health consequences. The manuscript reviews 96 articles regarding this topic. The topic of this manuscript is up-to-date, attractive and well-suited for your journal. The manuscript is well-written and divided into 8 main parts, the text is clear and easy to read. For better visualisation authors used 4 figures and 3 tables. I suggest checking for some spelling mistakes and grammar errors. Otherwise, I have no major concerns about this manuscript.
Author Response
We would like to thank you, dear Reviewer, for your positive assessment and insightful evaluation of our review paper on isotonic sports drinks and energy drinks. The critical remarks in the review are important guidelines for us to improve the quality of our review paper as well as our future work.
The reviewer pointed out minor errors in grammar and spelling. We agree with the reviewer's opinion and, after careful re-reading of the paper, we noticed several glaring errors in both spelling and grammar. The perceived errors have been corrected. Any corrections related to the reviewers' comments have been highlighted in red in the revised text.
At the end, we would like to thank the Reviewer once again for his time and positive opinion of our work as well as his comments, which undoubtedly contributed to improving the quality of our present and future work.
