A Healthy Solution to Your Typical Energy Drink

If you simply cannot ween yourself off of energy drinks, despite their negative effects, I have an alternative for you. A new product by Nestle and Coca-Cola called Enviga. According to Enviga.com, Enviga is a light, sparkling green tea beverage with a combination of ingredients to not only perk you up, but help you burn a few extra calories. Also because it is green tea, it is packed with natural antioxidants, unlike ordinary energy drinks. Along with antioxidants, the makers of Enviga add 20% of the daily recommendation of Calcium to each can. Not a fan of the regular green tea flavor? Enviga comes in two other flavors, Berry and Peach. Personally, I prefer the Peach.

Still not convinced? Let's look at some of the benefits of drinking Enviga versus a typical energy drink.

-Enviga contains only 5 calories compared to 110 or more of energy drinks. The motto of Enviga "Be positive. Drink negative." refers to the low calorie content. The slogan infers that you burn more calories than you consume, resulting in "drinking negative".

-Enviga contains no sugar. A drink containing no sugar is a plus from many aspects. The major one being its just plain better for your health!

-Enviga contains natural antioxidants. The antioxidant EGCG is found in green tea and has been found to be beneficial to a person's health. Antioxidants aide in cardiovascular health and ridding the body of free radicals. Ninety milligrams of EGCG can be found in each can of Enviga. That's five times more than the other leading brands of green tea. (Lipton 4.4mg and Arizona 3.95mg) As a side note, RedBull has zero milligrams of EGCG.

-Enviga contains 20% of the daily recommendation of calcium. Americans tend to forget that calcium is essential to our overall health and can help prevent crippling diseases such as osteoporosis.

-Enviga contains caffeine. The amount of caffeine in Enviga is just the right amount to boost energy without making you feel unable to focus or jittery. Each serving is equivalent to a cup of coffee, or about 100 grams.

-Enviga burns calories. Don't get your hopes up, the drink will not burn a significant amount of calories or at least not enough to lose weight. However, each can is said to burn an additional 30 calories by slightly boosting your metabolism, hence "drinking negative". Incorporating Enviga into an already balanced lifestyle of eating right and exercising will give you that extra boost. Like I said, 30 calories isn't a lot, but if you drink 4 Enviga's per week, that's an additional 120 burned calories. If you drink 4 regular energy drinks in one week, you could be gaining anywhere from 440 calories to 1000 calories, depending on the energy drink of choice. Wow!

-I have found that Enviga does not have the "crashing" effect like most energy drinks. I typically only need to drink one to keep me alert for the rest of the day and into the night.

Now here's the big question everyone asks about a new product, "What's it taste like?!". I decided to give Enviga a try one night when I was studying for an exam, not really knowing exactly what it entailed. Since I didn't know what to expect, I went for the original Green Tea flavor. I popped open the can and took a sip. I remember thinking it was alright, but nothing awesome. The taste wasn't overly sweet like some artifically sweetend drinks tend to be. I kept drinking it anyway because I liked the fact that it was lightly carbonated. Also, the more I drank it the more the taste grew on me, an aquired taste I guess you could call it. Next, I tried the Berry and then finally the Peach. Peach ended up being my flavor of choice.
So, the next time you are in the aisle deciding on a pick-me-upper to keep you alert and awake, don't go for the typical energy drink, try something new, Enviga!