With 'functional' beverages, brands rush to quench a thirst for drinks that do more than taste good

Supermarket beverage aisles are starting to look a lot more like a pharmacy.
There are sodas made with mushrooms that supposedly improve mental clarity and juices packed with bacteria that claim to enhance digestive health. Water infused with collagen carries the promise of better skin, and energy drinks offer to help burn body fat.
Welcome to the frenzy of functional beverages – drinks designed to do more than just taste good or hydrate. What started in the late 1980s with caffeine- and v