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!

Red Bull Ban Upheld

While doing some research for this blog I came across an article that stated that France tired to put a ban in effect against Red Bull. The country was concerned about the number of deaths in Europe that was linked to the energy drink and did not want its products sold. However, the European Commission challenged the ban because "they complained it was imhibiting imports". The European Court of Justice then told France they must remove the ban until health risks could be proven. Only 2 other countries have banned this drink: Denmark and Norway.

My take on this is that I do not beleive France has a right to ban Red Bull. I feel as though the government could have gone another route and requested that warning labels be placed on the cans and then leave it up to the public to decide. If people want to risk their health while drinking Red Bull, then as long as they know the potential consequences, then that is their choice. It was definitely an interesting article though!

Rethink energy drinks!

Tonight I came across some youtube videos that advise against drinking energy drinks. They are a little weird but are pretty amusing too. The first one's slogan is "Energy drinks cause 11 times more harm to your teeth than pop. Don't be a dummy, stick with water". The first "commercial" is kind of lame, it is just a dentist working on a dummy's teeth that are perfect, then she goes and drinks some amp and her teeth are destroyed. Then the dummy calls her a dummy for drinking energy drinks. It's pretty silly. Here is the link to this one if you wanna watch! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k6PuZsWb0Y&feature=related

The second "ad" is a little bit better than the first. I shows how much energy drinks can really damage your dental health. It shows a man putting a tooth inside a cup of water, a cup of milk, a cup of V8 and a cup of red bull. As soon as the tooth hits the red bull it immediately dissolves as if it is an alka seltzer tablet. It is obviously a bit extreme, but gets the point across. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CUgQwI26GQ&feature=related

The third ad (there are 4) is also pretty clever. It shows a guy who wants to race another guy in a car. The music goes up and one kid begins drinking his Nos energy drink, and without finishing it, adds the rest of the can to his gas tank to give his car an "extra boost". When the race begins, the other guy takes off, and the kid with the energy drink's car just dies. The ad then says "Nos: as good for your teeth as it is for your car". This is my personal fave.. heres the link! :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03eNRxTBCsw

The fourth of the videos is a little gross. It shows some guys teeth bleeding all over the place as if it is a trailer for a horror movie and when the fridge opens to show the bad guy it is a can of Monster. This one was my least favorite because it is disgusting! Here's the link.. I hope all of these work.. you guys should check out one of them! (or all of them!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qNf3pIokFE

Sugar Free Energy Drinks

I never really understood the concept of a sugar free energy drink. I don't imagine them to taste very good! However, I decided to do some research on them (particularly Amp Sugar Free because Amp makes my favorite energy drink) because they contain different levels of ingredients, and even some different ingredients altogether than some of the regular energy drinks do. According to Amp's website, this drink contains only 5 calories, no carbs or sugars, and only 71 mg of caffeine, as compared to the 80 mg in your average can. I have never tried this drink because I am not usually a huge fan of sugar free drinks, but according to most web reviews, it tastes almost exact to the original and still is considered a tasty drink, minus the calories! However, this drink also contains phosphoric acid, which your average amp does not. According to studies, phosphoric acid is known to lower bone density, and has even been linked to kidney stones and kidney disease. Reading up on this, I found that drinking an average of 2 soft drinks containing phosphoric acid per day more than doubled your chance of contacting kidney problems. The drink also contains sucralose which is an artificial sweetener. I also did some research on this, but the food and drug administration have found no links with sucralose causing adverse health effects when consumed over a lifetime on a daily basis. Well, at least that's good! So, I don't really think I am interested in ever trying Amp Sugar Free (and I;m sure my kidneys will appreciate that!), but i wanted to research it since it contains so many "new"ingredients.

"More Power to You!"

There is a new energy drink to hit the shelves recently! It is called Amp Lightning and is packages in a yellow can to represent it's "lemonade" flavor. The slogan for their newest drink is "More Power to You", which I have used as my blog heading. Personally, I decided to give this energy drink a try on Friday and I must say it was pretty good! It has a citrus kick to it, and I am not a huge lemon fan but I liked it, despite the fact that the color of the drink looks like someone let a highlighter explode inside. It is bright yellow, just like the color of this font!However, red amp still has my heart, I really don't think they could make another energy drin k as good. I compared some of the nutrition facts of this amp compared to others It still contains the same amount of caffeine, sodium, sugar, and carbs as Amp Overdirve (my favorite), but contains less sodium than Amp's orange drink "relaunch", so I guess that's a good thing! According to some of the other reviews on this drink it taste's like "Mike's Hard mixed with 7-up". Overall, there are definitely better energy drinks out there, but if you're interested, give this one a try!