Slap..

Slap, among Bawls, The Beast, Who's Your Daddy, Roaring Lion, Virus of Beauty, Blue Jeans, Beaver Buzz, Bionic Boink, Deep Throat, and Howling Monkey all have something in common: they are all energy drinks! As you can see, some energy drinks have really weird names, some so weird I probably wouldn't even consider trying it. My main question was why name them these awful names? Well, companies say that the name acts as a slogan itself. Who wouldn't be attracted to a weird named energy drink just for the sake of saying you've tried it? Looking into some of these weird energy drinks I found that alot of them come from different countries and some even contain ingredients that are not in your average "American" energy drink. For example, "Virus of Beauty" is made in Belgium and is a "juice based energy drink which contains aspartame". One company even came up with an energy drink called "Great". I'm sure that took alot of thought! However, one of the ingredients in this drink is called "sulphite ammonia caramel". Looking this up, I found that it is a food coloring containing sulphite and ammonia. Sulphite is used as a food preservative, and is also one of the top 9 food allergens. It can cause irritation of the skin, headache, and breathing difficulty if consumed by someone who has this "allergy" and many people do not know if they have it because it has been banned for its usage in numerous products. Ammonia is obviously the bleach used in cleaners.Kind of made me skeptical about this particular energy drink, I think I'll just stick with Amp for now.

If you're feeling sinful...

The Kabbalah Centre (located in California) which is a non profit spiritual organization which teaches principles of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism). It is followed by multiple celebrities such as Madonna and others but has also been thought to be a cult. However, they apparently have their own energy drink. Press releases had stated that celebrities such as Madonna, Demi Moore, Guy Ritchie, and Ashton Kutcher were drinking this energy drink (probably to get more publicity). The most interesting thing about this energy drink is that it has Kabbalah water in it, or holy water! Yet, I don't think that a "holy water infused" energy drink would be any more healthier for you because it still contains 100mg of caffiene, as well as taurine. It also contains a warning label about over consumption of the drink and how it is not recommended for child consumption or consumption by pregnant women. Many think that Kabbalah is not offering this product to promote their followings but rather to promote marketing and make some money (obviously!). The director of Kabbalah Enterprises states that this energy drink is different from others because it does contain Kabbalah water, which has blessings on it and is an added benefit, aside from the fact that it also tastes better than most energy drinks. My take on this drink is that it is certainly odd knowing that you are consuming blessed holy water while at the same time drinking something that can sure do a number on your health if over consumed.

Booty Sweat

Personally, I have never seen the movie Tropic Thunder with Ben Stiller. But, for those of you who have I'm sure you recall a commercial being aired in the movie for a fake energy known as "Booty Sweat". Well, I decided to search Perez Hilton's site again for interesting news on energy drinks and celebs and came across an article that said Paramount Pictures is now launching the energy drink as a REAL DRINK!! They did this to promote the movie which I think is a great idea because it kind of gets me wondering about seeing the movie since everyone is making such a big deal about this drink! I'm pretty sure "Booty Sweat" is already being sold (though I'm not sure if it was just a last years summer thing to run at the same time as a release for the movie?) but it was sold at locations like Hot Topic and Hastings.. and you can of couse buy it off Amazon! And according to Perez Hilton "lets hope it doesn't taste like ass" haha!

You can find the fake Booty Sweat commercial off of Youtube if you want! But here is a link to the Perez article: http://perezhilton.com/2008-06-27-this-is-not-a-joke-43

Gleukos Energy Drink

What is it? A New type of sports drink that is made from glucose as its main sugar. As the maker of this drink discovered, glucose requires no digestion. It naturally expends energy as it enters into the blood stream, and since it is naturally occurring, it does not use the chemicals which dehydrate you and gives you a natural boost of energy. This drink also claims to not result in a "sugar crash". According to Gleukos' website: "Gleukos is all natural and won't leave that overly sweet. syrupy taste in your mouth". Gleukos contains a large number of electrolytes which are vital to health. Gleukos even claims to be healthy for those who are diabetic! Although I have never seen this sports/energy drink, it can be found in places like CVS, Whole Foods Market, and 7 eleven.

This Gleukos energy drink is also the first to use a plastic, collapsable pouch. Supposedly the company used this because it is said to take up 50% less space and is 80% lighter. It also used a special valve to make the drink spill proof as well as leak proog. Here are some articles about this drink:

http://www.strangenewproducts.com/2005/11/gleukos-energy-drink-weird-bottle-bad.html

And its website:

http://www.gleukos.com/

Celcius Energy Drink

I just found out about this newest energy drink craze with a drink called Celcius. It has "negative calories" because it helps you burn calories as you drink it. Well, while researching this drink (which I had heard about while reading an article on Katie Holmes' new diet secret, which just so happened to be Celcius) I came across a website dedicated to this energy drink. It is called ilovecelcius.com and has tons of related articles to the drink! The drink has about 200 mg of caffeine, whereas normal energy drinks have about 80 mg per bottle. This drink has a total of approximately ten calories, and claims to burn well over 100 (I've heard stories of up to 500 calories burned per bottle). This site reccommends not consuming more than 3 bottles of Celcius per day and is not recommended for pregnant women, children under 12, or people sensitive to caffeine. However, the site does state that if you are used to consuming multiple caffeinated beverages per day, Celcius is the better choice because it is not filled with carbs or calories. The only thing really great that I found about this energy drink was that it has very little sodium (especially as compared to other caffeinated beverages), it contains no high fructose corn syrup, no chemical preservatives, and obviously, no carbohydrates. However, it still contains taurine, guarana, and other not so natural ingredients that can still be adverse to your health.

Swimming the Atlantic

I know I said it was dumb that energy drink commercials are all the same. They all have the same message: you can do the impossible if you drink our energy drink! Well, one woman may have proven this to be true! I found an article that was about the first woman to SWIM ACROSS THE ATLANTIC OCEAN!! She was 56 years old and swam from Africa to the British Virgin Islands. Apparently, the woman though that she would be able to swim the whole way if ever a plane went down in the middle of the ocean and wanted to prove to herself that she could do it. Well, she got the aid of energy drinks on her way! Of course, she had a crew with her the whole time on a boat nearby just in case she was too tired to do the whole trip. The crew would throw down bottles of energy drinks to give her the boost she needed to make it all the way! I id find this to be a bit odd since after the initial boost of caffeine, the body goes into crash mode(personally I thought bottled water would be a better choice!), but I guess I was wrong because she was able to complete her voyage. Maybe you can do the "impossible", as long as you have the right brand!

Smile Pretty!

Lately, I have been going to various news sites to see what I can find about newer articles on energy drinks. Well, today was my lucky day!! Usually, I find postings that are old, even though they are still useful. But, turns out, thebostonchannel.com just did an article on sports/energy drinks yesterday and the adverse effects on teeth! According to the article, New York University stated that "sports drinks can provide a boost of energy, but it can also expose your teeth to high levels of acid that erode teeth and cause oversensitivity". Ouch! Not only are you now paying up to 2.50 per can of this stuff, but your also going to be running up your dental bills too! In the article, the writer talks about a study that was going on that concerned cows teeth (which I guess are similar to humans?) and they cut one in half, left it sitting in an energy drink for a little over an hour and then when they took it out they found there was a significant difference and much erosion and softening done to the tooth. However, it is advised NOT to brush your teeth after consuming one of these sugary drinks because it can only worsen the condition since "softened enamel is very susceptible to the abrasive properties of toothpaste". Here's the link if you want to actually read the article!



http://www.thebostonchannel.com/health/19114860/detail.html

Energy Drink Commercials

While bored on youtube, I found some interesting energy drink commercials that are actually airing on television (or have previously aired). I just thought it was funny to compare different energy drink commercials and see what they're all about. Okay so the first commercial I watched was one for Full Throttle. The main message of this commercial: "Let your man out". This I thought to be funny because the whole theme of the commercial is all of these people running after the full throttle truck to get their energy drinks because the commercial is basically saying "you're not a man if you don't drink full throttle". I find it interesting that these companies often advertise to men rather than women because they usually show buff guys getting energy to go work out or play some sports and the companies think that men will look at the commercial and think "wow, this energy drink will really help give me energy for the gym". But the truth is, it is actually dangerous to drink these before or during any type of physical activity because it causes dehydration and consuming too many can pump up your heart rate and can even send you into cardiac arrest. I also chose to look at a few Amp commercials. In one of them, this guy (formerly Donkey Lips on Salute Your Shorts hah!) decides to give his car a jump when its battery dies by drinking a can of Amp and attaching the jumper cables to his nipples. The message of this commercial was so obviously that Amp can give you immense power. All of the commercials are the same: energy drinks can make you do the impossible (like Red Bull gives you wings, Amp allows you to jump your car battery through your nipples, and Full Throttle gives you that extra manliness). However, what I feel these commercials fail to do is to alert younger crowds that these should not be consumed on a daily basis, or that the consumption of these drinks will not make you into a stronger, better person. Kids take these messages seriously sometimes, and I do not think that these commercials should be allowed to air if their is no advisory for them.

VERVE

"An insanely healthy energy drink!" According to verve.com, their energy drink is one of the first energy drinks which is a groundbreaking HEALTHY energy drink. It consists of only vitamins, minerals, and natural sugars to give your body the natural boost that other energy drinks can't give you. They have both the 8 ounce beverage and the energy shot containing just as much caffeine (the energy shot contains 125 mg of caffeine) as any "normal" energy drink so I don't see as how that can be much healthier? However, unlike the average energy drink it contains only 72 calories, vitamin A, C, D, and E. Yet.. even still.. it contains taurine and guarana? So my question is.. what makes this energy drink the "healthiest energy drink out there". To me, all energy drinks, aside from sports drinks, are all the same! They all advertise themselves as being the best (and now the "healthiest") but
I don't see how this energy drink can really be healthier than any other. The only thing I really found appealing about this drink was its can and its name which is kind of catchy!