Vitamin Drinks

There's no shortage of choices for vitamin drinks in Japan. I think a lot of foreigners don't bother with them, but at the same time, we wonder how Japanese people can work so hard and never take a sick day.

I think it's the weather changing so often between seasons, but I keep getting headaches and sore throats and feeling like I'm catching a cold off and on. I feel like my lymph nodes are sore, plus this weekend I have a special work event, so I really can't get sick. Because I often feel tired by the end of the week and have a busy day on Fridays, I got an “Oronamin C Drink” for Friday morning. It was just 74 yen at a supermarket, at the low cost end of the vitamin drinks (top left in the photo).

Most vitamin drinks usually contain caffeine (or something similar), so I didn't want to drink one in the evening. After my usual cup of morning coffee, I drank the little bottle of sweet but sort of vitamin-tasting juice. I wasn't feeling tired in the morning somehow, despite not getting a very good night's sleep. The Vitamin B and caffeine in the drink wasn't gonna hurt my energy level once the lack of sleep caught up with me.

I felt a lot more energetic than usual for the morning, but also more focused than usual, even if I take a multi-vitamin.

Work went by quickly and easily in the morning with only a little trouble focusing during an unexpected planning meeting. After lunchtime I got ready for the afternoon's work. Usually I don't feel like going out again when I can come home for a break, but I was actually ready to go early and didn't feel like I wished I could stay home and relax instead.

Work went smoothly again and felt fun and effective, which is my goal. After getting home I got straight to some follow up work and actually noticed the time to stop and prep dinner at the right time. It was around dinner time that I started to feel sleepy. The too much caffeine, can't really relax, wide eyed version of me went away.

It was a little while later that I got a headache and had no motivation to go out for a walk. In fact, going to bed way too early sounded great. I think the effects of this vitamin drink lasted around 8-9 hours, so maybe it's perfect when you aren't feeling well and just need to get through a work day. I wouldn't recommend drinking these on a regular basis, but when I feel like I might be catching a cold, it sounds good to pick up a couple of these in case I would otherwise be missing work. In the case of fevers or the flu, I'm not sure they would be as effective, but for flip flopping weather or feeling worn out, it was perfect.