What happened when I took crazy-looking yellow energy pills from Japan

Japanese pharmaceutical company Takeda is targeting its rather alarming-looking bright yellow anti-fatigue pills at Hong Kong’s “zombies”. 

Other than the tablets being the colour of atomic bogies, the press sample of Alinamin EX Plus was also particularly frightening as it came in a snazzy cardboard display box designed like a huge battery. There was even a lighting flash to show how mega-super-duper they were going to make me feel.
 

Normally I’d steer well clear of such unnatural looking health products – I’ve seen the film Limitless and I know I’d never kick that habit – but having recently given up coffee because I’m vain enough to think my stained teeth might ruin my upcoming white wedding, I thought I’d give it a go.

Although I can’t claim to juggle the gruelling workload and family life of some Hongkongers – such as actor Louis Koo, the brand spokesman – I work pretty hard and I’m always tired. I qualified as a zombie, damn it, and I needed help. 

But to be completely honest, and to now totally ruin the drama of this piece, I was not all that worried when I looked at the ingredients and saw Alinamin EX Plus is basically a vitamin B complex masquerading as something sizeably more scary.

B complexes are known to play an essential role in helping us stay energised throughout the day by converting our food into fuel. So what’s so special about this stuff?

Well… apparently it’s the addition of  TTFD (AKA thiamine tetrahydrofurfuryl disulfide, AKA Fursultiamine – AKA thanks for the abbrev!), which helps enhance the body’s absorption of the B vitamins.

As the press release puts it: “Typically, vitamins are not able to fight fatigue problems, but the vitamin B complex in Alinamin EX Plus incorporates a TTFD formula that zeroes in on the body’s nerve and muscular system to help change dormant vitamin B1 to active vitamin B1, boosting the energy production of cells to address the root causes of fatigue.” 

Science.


 

As Japan’s top selling anti-fatigue supplement, Alinamin promises to effectively combat symptoms of fatigue such as sore eyes, stiff shoulders and back pain, all of which are suffered by anyone who furiously types at a computer for as many hours a day as I do. Seriously, where all the interns at?

So did it work?

As much as I hate to admit it – yes. Despite having given up coffee, I was still hooked on caffeine before my pill-popping experiment, guzzling green tea (which hopefully won’t stain my teeth green, and yes, does contain lots of caffeine) both in the morning and after lunch when the droopy eye syndrome starts to set in.

Maybe it was psychosomatic, but from Day 1 I felt no need for the extra pick-me-up, and I think I only had caffeine twice in the entire three weeks I was taking the tablets.

In the name of fairness, a week or so after I’d finished taking the Alinamin I switched to a regular B complex (without the TTFD) which I found at my local pharmacy. I’m now back on the green tea daily, which works just fine, but the feeling of alertness is less stable and sustained than before.

Okay, fine, it works. But how much are these magic beans going to cost me in real life?

Alinamin is being sold exclusively at Mannings in Hong Kong for HKD239 for 60 tablets. Those aged 15 or above are advised to take 2-3 tablets once a day, so if you’re going all-out, which I was, one bottle is only going to last you for 20 days.

By my reckoning that makes these yellow fellows about five times more expensive than regular B complex tablets, and that’s not an insignificant amount for a tight-fisted freeloader like myself.

So as I’m a poor journalist with a hedgehog to feed (yep) and a wedding to pay for (#norichdaddy), I think I’m going to stick to the green tea.

If you’ve got the money to fund it and the fatigue to warrant it, however, I can confirm that these weird-looking Japanese pills do seem to deliver what they promise.

Now to go and eat some batteries. I mean human food.
 


Got a tip? Send it to us at hongkong@coconuts.co.




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