Energy Drink Discussion: Can you handle the Monster?

So recently in the store downstairs they have been pushing energy drinks such as Red Bull and whatnot. One of these wonderful drinks is the Lo-Carb Monster Energy drink. This is 16oz of pure adrenaline-pumping, heart exploding power. It also works well as a follow up to the morning cup of coffee.

MONSTER!

The can contains the following warning:

"Consume Responsibly - Limit (3) cans per day. Not recommended for children, pregnant women, or people sensitive to caffeine."

Does anyone have an energy drink to top the Monster?

I urge everyone who takes any illegal drug to research, study, and know EXACTLY what the drug does to your body before even touching it.

Same goes for over-the-counter legal drugs.

Double goes for drugs sold as if they were mundane "drinks".

In this case you should investigate the effects on the body of taurine, l-carnitine, panax ginseng root extract, caffeine, sodium chloride, niacinamide, riboflavin, guarana seed extract, inositol, glucuronalactone, pyridoxine hydrochloride, and cyanobalmin.

I know sodium chloride and caffeine. Niacinamide and riboflavin are B-vitamins. I happen to remember that taurine is an amino acid and prevents blindness in cats.

Have a nice day in the library.

And by the way, this "low carb" drink contains a higher proportion of calories per ounce than Coke, Pepsi, or fruit juices. And if you drink it and sit at your desk job, it won't matter how fast your heart pounds, you aren't burning those calories off.

No way!

20 calories for 16oz, Coke and Pepsi can't beat that! Unless we are talking diet coke and diet Pepsi, then yes, the Monster is defeated. Now the regular Monster...yeah, that sucker has so much freakin' sugar.

And I base the safety of this product on the following picture: Monster is safe

Yeah, good that you included fruit juices. I was quite shocked when I found out that orange juice has as many calories as Pepsi. Not that I'm saying Orange Juice and Pepsi are equally worthwhile in terms of nutrition!! :)

Oh right, I was looking at the "regular" Monster when I noticed that...

But that means you have to add maltodextrin, potassium sorbate, sodium acid sulfate, sodium benzoate, sucralose (splenda®), acesulfame potassium, and pyridoxine to your research list.


MMMMmmmm, that's GREAT acesulfame potassium!

hahahaha ... Splenda

it sounds like a freakin' hair-care product to give my fly-ass weave some extra glow - Soul Glow

Maybe its both, kind of like that old SNL skit - New Shimmer

Jane Curtain - It's a floor wax!
Dan Akroyd - It's a dessert topping you cow!

Potassium sorbate: preservative, kills bacteria. Generally recognized as safe.

sodium acid sulfate: Artificial flavor. Generally recognized as safe.

http://www.jones-hamilton.com/sections/products/sas.html

sodium benzoate: another common preservative.

acesulfame potassium: artificial sweetener, in use since 1967 but only recently approved for soft drinks in the US.

pyridoxine is Vitamin B6

sucralose is another artificial sweetener, which some claim is toxic as it is a chlorinated organic compound.

l-carnitine is an amino acid (non essential) which is claimed (in rather dubious sources) to extend life and provide all sorts of wonderful benefits/

panax ginseng is a plant, so the extract contains god-knows-what.

guarana is another plant, apparently the extract contains mostly various xanthines (stimulants in the same family as caffeine). It also contains tannic acid, which is an astringent usually associated with tea.

inositol is necessary for the formation of cell formations, but it's not essential in the diet. In large doses it's reported (again in dubious sources) to be an anti-depressant.

glucuronalactone is a carbohydrate, a metabolite of glucose.

pyridoxine hydrochloride is good old B6 again.

cyanobalmin is B12.


So what you have here is a caffeinated (theobromated, theophyllated, etc), sweetened (artificially or otherwise, depending on the version) nutritional supplement, plus ginseng.

I'll stick to Coke, thank you.

i don't like the kind of 'energy' you get from said drinks. i like real stuff. real sugar, real butter, real salt. i don't trust garden burgers or low fat mayo. not big on medication....tylenol and marijuana...maybe nyquil, these are okay. twinkies scare me...i had a friend leave one on his nightstand for a month while he was at the beach...still moist and golden upon his return....you really want that in your body?

Originally posted by tonksy
i don't like the kind of 'energy' you get from said drinks. i like real stuff. real sugar, real butter, real salt. i don't trust garden burgers or low fat mayo. not big on medication....tylenol and marijuana...maybe nyquil, these are okay. twinkies scare me...i had a friend leave one on his nightstand for a month while he was at the beach...still moist and golden upon his return....you really want that in your body?

You'd be surprised what's in a lot of things that we eat/drink.It's downright scary and makes me want to make my own food! :D Just hope that you never *have* to give up that real butter, sugar, etc. But, some of the "fake" stuff isn't THAT bad...some of it is an "acquired taste" for sure.

And a big old EW to that Twinkie on the nightstand!! :eek:

i've heard reports that while the fake stuff may be better for your cholesterol or 'heart healthy' and that the fake sugar is better for diabetics but the fake stuff isn't really digested by your body and kida collects but i never really looked much into it.
i used to buy the tub of spread (and sometimes still do) but my pediatrician said that regular stick butter was better for the girls and that's enough for me. i have a butter dish and keep a stick in it on the counter instead of tub spread. *shrugs* makes for an outstanding grilled cheese sandwich.

Originally posted by tonksy
i've heard reports that while the fake stuff may be better for your cholesterol or 'heart healthy' and that the fake sugar is better for diabetics but the fake stuff isn't really digested by your body and kida collects but i never really looked much into it.

As a type 2 diabetic, I know all too well about the fake sugar (or Aspartame/NutraSweet). From what I've read, no that's not good for long term consumption:
Aspartame (Nutrasweet) Toxicity Information Center

Stevia is said to be a much safer alternative:
The Stevia Story

I guess when I said "fake stuff" I really meant more along the lines of "natural alternatives" that anything chemical, much like following a whole foods or Macrobiotic diet. :)

I also exist on a anti-sugar diet (hypoglycemia.) I have found that some sugar free products out there have something called sorbital. Have you heard of this, Lady Sycamore? It seems that most things made with this are intented for diabetics, so I make the assumption it would probably work for me. But I dunno. I suppose I should google it.

Also, I have found that I generally *feel* so much better when I stay away from weird chemicals and stuff...I use to shop at the whole foods store. Unfortunately, convenience and price seem to outweigh that value for me a lot of the time. :/

Originally posted by case
I also exist on a anti-sugar diet (hypoglycemia.) I have found that some sugar free products out there have something called sorbital. Have you heard of this, Lady Sycamore? It seems that most things made with this are intented for diabetics, so I make the assumption it would probably work for me. But I dunno. I suppose I should google it.

Yes I have heard of it...it's a type of sugar alcohol from what I understand.

Also, I have found that I generally *feel* so much better when I stay away from weird chemicals and stuff...I use to shop at the whole foods store. Unfortunately, convenience and price seem to outweigh that value for me a lot of the time. :/

Sadly, that is true (about the costs). I suppose you could get some products at a "regular" market, but I personally wouldn't trust it (meaning if they don't specialize in it, then is it "for real"). Fortunately, I only go to the health food market for me, and I don't buy a whole heck of a lot anyway.

Originally posted by tonksy
twinkies scare me...i had a friend leave one on his nightstand for a month while he was at the beach...still moist and golden upon his return....you really want that in your body?

Yea twinkies and other little debbie/hostess snacks contain some pretty scary stuff (even though their so good!). The cream filling in twinkies is esentially curdled milk, sugar, and loads of preservatives.

On another note, does anyone know of a good site with unbiased research about herbal supplements and their true merits? A lot of sites give you definitions and uses but they also sell these same supplements. I doubt they would downplay a product their selling. If anyone can point me in a good direction it would be greatly appreciated.

My mother always told me Twinkies were made out of bugs and worms.

They are some mighty fine bugs and worms then!

Mmmm...Twinkies...*drools*

Well, stuff that isn't digested by your body usually doesn't collect... rather, it ends up being excreted. Hence the "anal leakage" reported from large quantities of Olestra.

The people who have the big scarey websites about acesulfame K, sucralose, and aspartame tend to be people who have a problem with just about everything (e.g. the Center for Science in the Public Interest). Doesn't mean they're wrong, just means they're no more credible than Monsanto or other corporate enemy of the day. Personally, I find that aspartame gives me a headache.

Stevia extract, being a plant product, could be as safe as grape juice or as bitter almond oil. Well, if it was the latter we'd probably know by now :-)

I actually had some lemonade sweeted with stevia while at a party with some birkie wearing new age hippie treehuggers this past summer.

It was a stealth offering. Nobody mentioned the stevia until it was too late. (It was part of the plot, apparently).

It was okay, slightly funny aftertaste, but not as bad as that of artificial sweetners.

But I didn't finish the glass, based on taste rather than on fear of side effects.

(i get the nutrasweet headache too ... and the abcramps. not a good time. I'm better off than a friend, though, who is violently allergic to nutrasweet ... ER visit allergic. One day she accidentally had some (package labelling was for aspartame, way down in ingredients list instead of the NS Swirl that you get on most products. She started feeling funny while driving, checked the labelling and found the aspartame ... I grubbed around in her car for some children's benadryl SHE asked for. She took it. Then I read the label ... "um, Shadow ..." "Yeah?" "I think you better pull over." "Why?" "You never read the ingredients in this stuff did you ... " "How can you tell?" "It's got more nutrasweet in it." Luckily the benadryl trumped the additional dosage of aspartame and we made it to our destination without medical intervention.)

I don't drink soda all that often anymore, so it's not that big a deal. Coffee black, tea 1 tsp. of sugar.

I figure 16 calories from 1 tsp. of sugar ain't gonna kill me. What I really need, though, is for someone to produce a commercial unsweetened ice tea. 200 calories per serving (2 servings per container) is ridiculous for an amount of product that I ordinarily would add 2-3 teaspoons of sugar to. It's all part of a greater conspiracy, isn't it.

THIS stuff is the real deal. I discovered it at a Korean grocery store (Han Ah Rheum - or Super H). Its a $1.49 and it is much more effective than Red Bull (which isn't that nutritional). When it comes to being completely nutritionless, MountainDew's AMP takes the cake. No vitamin enhancements at all.

I limit myself to four per week because you can get used to these things and they stop working.