They took human tooth enamel and dunked it in either an energy or a sports drink for 15 minutes at a time. Then they “rinsed” the enamel with artificial saliva for two hours.
They did this four times a day for five days to simulate the normal way people drink the canned and bottled drinks you can buy at the store.
Both kinds caused damage to the enamel, which cannot be fixed. But the irreversible damage to tooth enamel from energy drinks was twice as bad.1
You would think that something that has been designed to go into your mouth, and considered safe to drink by the USDA, wouldn’t cause damage no matter how long you exposed your teeth to it.
I’m glad that someone is exposing the dangers of these energy drinks, but the study was published in a dentistry journal, so they’re only going to be focused on your teeth.
But there are other problems. That’s why I’ve been writing about the dangers from these sugary creations for more than 10 years, ever since the drinks came out.
Because the damage is only starting once the liquid hits your teeth. Then the other ingredients go to work damaging the rest of your body.
The energy drinks you see on store shelves – especially the tiny “shots” at the convenience store that promise to get rid of your “2:30 feeling” – are pumped full of synthetic caffeine. This “fake” caffeine does not come from any of Mother Nature’s sources. It comes from a chemistry lab.
Manufacturers love the fake stuff because it’s potent. And much cheaper than the real thing.
Even worse are the lab chemicals themselves. One of the popular ways to make synthetic caffeine uses a highly toxic cocktail of chemicals, including:
- Trichloroethylene (TCE) – a chlorinated hydrocarbon commonly used as an industrial solvent. It’s so powerful, the Air Force uses it to clean jet engines. Banned in Europe as a known cancer-causing chemical, it is perfectly legal to use in the United States.
- Sodium cyanide – a highly toxic, colorless salt used in gold mining to strip gold from rock.
- Sulfuric acid – a strong mineral acid used in car batteries, ore processing, fertilizer manufacturing and oil refining.
- Benzene – a known cancer-causing chemical used as an industrial solvent and in the production of drugs, plastics, synthetic rubber and dyes.
But it’s not only the processing chemicals you have to worry about…
High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is another lab-created problem. It’s a processed product made from corn that itself isn’t even “natural” any more. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 86% of all corn grown in America is genetically engineered.2
One animal study found that a diet high in HFCS resulted in elevated levels of triglycerides and LDL cholesterol, plus lower levels of superoxide dismutase, your body’s number one antioxidant powerhouse. And deficiencies of iron, calcium, magnesium and zinc.
That means HFCS can wreak havoc on your immune system, diminish bone and muscle strength, make you impotent, and increase your risk of certain kinds of cancer, including prostate and colon cancer.
And when these energy drinks claim “zero calories,” that means they’re using artificial sweeteners instead of sugar.
Artificial sweeteners are also cooked up in labs. Aspartame, for example, does not exist anywhere in nature. It is a synthetic composite of three naturally occurring compounds. Laboratories synthesize it out of aspartic acid (40%), phenylalanine (50%), and methanol (10%).
Aspartic acid is an amino acid that acts as a neurotransmitter. Too much aspartic acid over stimulates your nerve cells to death. Methanol is highly toxic. It breaks down into formic acid and formaldehyde in your body. Once your body absorbs this poison, it doesn’t leave easily.
It’s the worst conceivable way to approach the problem of being tired and worn out… to just put artificial sweeteners, artificial caffeine and artificial flavors together. They couldn’t be worse for your body.
All of the problems with these energy drinks led me to create my own natural solution. Because the truth is, you don’t need these dangerous chemicals to get a lasting burst of energy. There are natural ways to stay alert and keep focused.
You can use Better Than Coffee, which you can mix easily right at home or in the office. The benefit of using Better Than Coffee is that the energizing effect increases over a period of hours. It doesn’t pick you up and throw you down like quick-release synthetic caffeine. And there are no side effects – especially not tooth damage.*
I also created an on-the-go energy mix I call Primal Surge. It combines 15 natural herbs and nutrients in a portable stick pack to give you a quick boost of energy that lasts long and tastes great. The advantage of Primal Surge is that you can take the sticks anywhere and get that little pick-me-up any time you need it. Just pour the mix into a bottle of water and drink for a boost of energy that lasts – without feeling nervous, jittery or worn out.*
1. “Sports and Energy Drinks Responsible for Irreversible Damage to Teeth.” Academy of General Dentistry. www.agd.org. Retrieved May 4, 2012.
2. Economic Research Service. “Adoption of Genetically Engineered Crops in the U.S.: Corn Varieties.” USDA 2010 www.ers.usda.gov. Retrieved May 3, 2012.
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* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. |