Calorie-burning drink alarms health experts

[Demi]

The Times
London, UK
13 October, 2006


COCA-COLA and Nestlé claim to have invented a drink that burns calories.
Enviga, which will be on sale in the U S next month, will be available in Britain next year.

The makers claim that a combination of extracts from green tea and caffeine speeds up the drinker’s metabolic rate, which helps the body to burn calories.



However, health experts fear that the drink could cause agitation in some consumers and that it may even pose a risk for people with heart conditions.

In clinical trials, 32 people drinking three 355ml (12fl oz) cans of the carbonated drink were found to burn an average of 106 calories.

Three cans of Enviga is the equivalent of drinking three cups of black coffee, the makers say. Rhoma Applebaum, chief scientist for the Coca-Cola Company, said: “We want to make clear that this is not a magic bullet to lose weight.

“But, this is a positive step that people can take to make a difference to their health with regular physical activity and a balanced, healthy diet.

Andrew Prentice, professor of international nutrition at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said that the marketing of the product would send the wrong message: “The implicit claim to the consumer is that [Enviga] will make them lose weight”.

He said that it was giving people the wrong idea, telling them to think that they can continue to be couch potatoes and buy a canned drink that will sort out their problems.

He also raised concerns about the safety of the drink for people with cardiac arrhythmic, and other conditions, who could have a bad reaction to an increased caffeine intake.

The drinks will be available in peach, green tea, berry and citrus flavours.



http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,174-2401635,00.html

[liddie01]

I drink about 10 cups of coffee a day, guess i don't need that stuff :lol:

[LC_Dave]

This is the dumbest product in a very long time!

[SunnyCarol]

“But, this is a positive step that people can take to make a difference to their health with regular physical activity and a balanced, healthy diet. The old "drink this expensive product and increase your physical activity and go on a diet and you will lose weight!" theory. Who would have thought? They will make a pile of money off the people looking for a magic bullet.

Sunny!

[Uliana]

Great, people don't have the motivation to try and lose weight naturally by changing their WOE and by exercise, so they turn to an expensive caffine-based drink. Why don't people just drink more diet coke or coffee if they want to go the 'easy way' and use caffine. It will save them money in any case, and if they actually drink green tea, they will have health benefits without the chemicals. The arrythmia thing is also something to worry about. I remember getting heart palpitations from drinking Mountain Dew. If that new "Enviga" stuff has more caffine than MD then people should avoid it.

[pennink]

Snake oil... nice.

I'm with your Uliana... people, just do the work. Why oh why do we all need a magic potion?

[kaypeeoh]

In this country it won't be popular unless they make is sweet enough. Since Cocacola owns it, I imagine it will have as much sugar as coke has.

[Ogden]

This is the dumbest product in a very long time!

Certainly from a health perspective it is. From a marketing perspective, unfortunately, it's probably very smart.

People want their shortcuts and magic bullets. "If 3 cans a day will burn 100 extra calories, then 6 cans a day must be better!"

It's a tragedy that it's probably going to take a few heart attacks and subsequent lawsuits before this product gets pulled.

[waywardsis]

It sickens me that they're even allowed to make such a claim about a soda, no less!

I recently saw an ad for "weight-loss oatmeal". And of course if you want to lower your cholesterol, you eat Cheerios. Jeez.

[Nancy LC]

Don't you burn calories drinking anything cold?

[KvonM]

Don't you burn calories drinking anything cold?

i'd heard this too... and i remember from high school physics that a calorie is the amount of energy needed to raise one gram of water up one degree celsius. so theoretically, drinking ice water would force your body to burn one calorie for every degree of differential between the temp of the water and your body temp (i'm estimating about 30 celsius degrees), and multiply that by how many cc's of water you drank. so by that logic, drinking 100 cc's of water would cause you to burn 3000 calories (30 x 100).

except the math doesn't work that way, and neither does the human body. heat transfer would warm up the water as it passed through your mouth and down your throat into your stomach, your body would regulate itself to compensate for the overall loss, which might only work out to be half a degree. and the calories that we associate with food are actually KILOcalories, meaning how much energy is required to raise one KILOgram of water one degree celsius.

so with all that, at the VERY best, your body would burn 3 calories ((30 x 100)/1000) after drinking 100 grams of ice water. i think i've burned more than that just typing this response ;).

[pennink]

mmmm, interesting. Do you burn more calories when it's freezing out then?

[potatofree]

It'll take the place of the Diet Coke that cancells out all the calories in a Big Mac! ;)

I'm going to bottle water dyed purple, market it as a weight-loss aid, with the fine print reading "When used in conjunction with a low-carb diet and exercise" and make millions, because it will actually WORK! It's magic!

[Nancy LC]

mmmm, interesting. Do you burn more calories when it's freezing out then?
Sure do, well... if you're cold your body has to expend energy to raise its temperature. Shivering uses a LOT of calories.http://www.naturalstrength.com/nutrition/detail.asp?ArticleID=227

http://health.howstuffworks.com/question447.htm

So in the case of a 16-ounce glass of ice water, your body must raise the temperature of 473.18 grams of water from zero to 37 degrees C. In doing so, your body burns 17,508 calories. But that's calories with a little "c." Your body only burns 17.5 Calories, and in the grand scheme of a 2,000-Calorie diet, that 17.5 isn't very significant.

But let's say you adhere to the "eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day" nutritional recommendation. In 64 ounces of water, there are 1,892.72 grams. So to warm up all that water in the course of a day, your body burns 70,030 calories, or 70 Calories. And over time, that 70 Calories a day adds up. So, while you definitely shouldn't depend on ice water consumption to replace exercise or a healthy diet, drinking cold water instead of warm water does, in fact, burn some extra Calories!

[kaypeeoh]

When the military is training in cold places like Leadville, Colorado, the grunts are fed over 5000 calories per day just to stay alive.

[betnich]

Sure do, well... if you're cold your body has to expend energy to raise its temperature. Shivering uses a LOT of calories.


I can just see it now.... an ICE SPA, perhaps by the makers of the Ice Hotel, set up as a seasonal weight-loss camp...

:lol:

[KvonM]

*snipping info about how the body burns calories from drinking cold liquids*

yeah, that's about what i figured... i just used smaller amounts and smaller temperature differential. multiply my numbers by 4 and add the additional 7 degrees in, that works :).

[pennink]

When the military is training in cold places like Leadville, Colorado, the grunts are fed over 5000 calories per day just to stay alive.

Well, considering we've just had a huge snowfall here, I guess I'll go stand outside in my skivvies for a few minutes... HAHAHAHAHA

[Rachel1]

In clinical trials, 32 people drinking three 355ml (12fl oz) cans of the carbonated drink were found to burn an average of 106 calories.

Presumably the drink is sugar-free, if not, you'd be ingesting, say, 100 calories per can to burn 30.

Whether it's sugar-free or not, what a scam! I'll stick to my coffee and chai tea.

Rachel

[ReginaW]

mmmm, interesting. Do you burn more calories when it's freezing out then?

Actually you do in an effort to keep your internal body temperature at a constant range - one reason why those who go on arctic expeditions need to make sure they'll have access to an excess of 5,000 calories a day to meet energy needs and requirements to maintain body temp!

[Demi]

Have just read this, and thought it might be of interest to readers of this thread:

Why the only place Coca-Cola’s Enviga is likely to leave you lighter is in the pocket (http://www.drbriffa.com/blog/2006/10/13/why-the-only-place-coca-colas-enviga-is-likely-to-leave-you-lighter-is-in-the-pocket/) by Dr John Briffa

[Svetlana]

I don't see this product as a bad thing. I don't like green tea or coffee, but I've heard of green tea's weight-loss properties. This product gives people like me the option to get the benefits in a drink I might enjoy more.

As for the concerns about safety, it's just caffeine. Masses of people drink coffee and colas everyday and you don't hear health experts getting worked up about the risk to people with cardiac conditions... All it would take is a warning on the can... people who can't tolerate high amounts of caffeine can steer clear or drink less...

It's also obviously not a magic pill. At 106 calories for 3 cans, the average person wouldn't even burn the 3500 calories you need for a pound of weight loss in a month of drinking 3 cans daily. But every little bit helps. If someone is already exercising and eating right, and wants to add this as another tool in his regime, why not? It's not any different from the person who exercises, eats right, AND drinks green tea for the weight loss benefits.

As for all this worrying about "the marketing of the product would send the wrong message" and making people think "they can continue to be couch potatoes and buy a canned drink that will sort out their problems", anyone silly enough to think they can just drink this for miraculous weight loss is going to be cured of their delusion in a hurry anyway. Not a problem.

Which isn't necessarily to say I would buy this. It would depend on the sugar or artificial sweetener content, and the price too, of course.

[pennink]

I don't see this product as a bad thing. I don't like green tea or coffee, but I've heard of green tea's weight-loss properties. This product gives people like me the option to get the benefits in a drink I might enjoy more.

As for the concerns about safety, it's just caffeine. Masses of people drink coffee and colas everyday and you don't hear health experts getting worked up about the risk to people with cardiac conditions... All it would take is a warning on the can... people who can't tolerate high amounts of caffeine can steer clear or drink less...

It's also obviously not a magic pill. At 106 calories for 3 cans, the average person wouldn't even burn the 3500 calories you need for a pound of weight loss in a month of drinking 3 cans daily. But every little bit helps. If someone is already exercising and eating right, and wants to add this as another tool in his regime, why not? It's not any different from the person who exercises, eats right, AND drinks green tea for the weight loss benefits.

As for all this worrying about "the marketing of the product would send the wrong message" and making people think "they can continue to be couch potatoes and buy a canned drink that will sort out their problems", anyone silly enough to think they can just drink this for miraculous weight loss is going to be cured of their delusion in a hurry anyway. Not a problem.

Which isn't necessarily to say I would buy this. It would depend on the sugar or artificial sweetener content, and the price too, of course.

the problem is so many people have NO idea they have weak hearts. I'm sure lawyers are sharpening their pencils as this drink get stocked on the shelves.

[Nancy LC]

I don't see this product as a bad thing. I don't like green tea or coffee, but I've heard of green tea's weight-loss properties. This product gives people like me the option to get the benefits in a drink I might enjoy more.

I guess I don't understand why someone would spend the money on such a trivial effect.