This blog may help people explore some of the 'hidden' issues involved in certain media treatments of environmental and scientific issues. Using personal digital images, it's also intended to emphasise seasonal (and other) changes in natural history of the Swansea (South Wales) area. The material should help participants in field-based modules and people generally interested in the natural world. The views are wholly those of the author.
Tuesday 19 October 2021
An Eco Friendly Caffeine Drink?
I appreciate that people selling beverages have to make their product sound as tasty as possible. Now, they also seem to have to cite environmental issues. Tenzing is marketed as 'Natural Energy: Purely From Plants'. It makes a virtue of being made using 'natural caffeine' from 'nature's most powerful plants'. Caffeine is a legal stimulant. Artificial caffeine can be made in the laboratory, using urea and chloroacetic acid as ingredients. Having said that, cocoa, coffee and tea are all potent and relatively cheap sources of 'natural caffeine'. It would actually be unusual for a manufacturer to opt to use the synthetic version. It seems a fairly innocuous drink but describing it, as the result of a 'botanical quest', is perhaps, pushing its 'green' credentials too far. Describing the can's contents as 'Energy good for mind, body and planet' also appears to be a bit over the top. It's basically a mix of carbonated water, green tea and lemon juice, with a pinch of Himalayan rock salt (hence the name?) and some beet sugar. It is certainly likely to be better for the drinker than many of the current 'energy drinks'.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
That's Not Science?
Decades after the scandal, the UK's 'Infected Blood Inquiry' is considering the evidence. Much will hinge on who knew what and ...
-
The UK government continue their quest to turn England's rivers back into sewers. They first facilitated the privatised water companies...
-
Garden plants in France, The Netherlands, The UK and Sikkim (NE India).
1 comment:
Don't get me wrong. I am more than happy to accept that the ingredients of Tenzing make it a much healthier option than the big name caffeine-based 'energy drinks' like Red Bull. However, caffeine is a stimulant. It may make you feel more energetic but it doesn't provide any energy. The sugars in drinks are the energy sources but they often produce reactive hypoglycaemia (available energy is lowered by stimulating insulin release). Interestingly, reactive hypoglyaemia produces negative mood changes, as the brain has no glucose stores.
Post a Comment