Don't be duped by Enviga® — it's all about caffeine

By Barbara Day, M.S., R.D., C.N.

There's a new drink on the market called Enviga®. The drink is a lightly sparkling green tea with a unique combination of active ingredients proven to help you burn calories. Enviga® is available in three sparkling flavors – regular green tea, peach and berry. The Coca-Cola Co. suggests if a person consumes three, 12-ounce cans over a 24-hour period they could burn off between 60 to 100 calories. Each can is supposed to retail for $1.29-$1.49 per can. So that calorie burn is going to cost you $3.87 per day or $1412.55 per year.

Green tea contains EGCG and caffeine. Green tea naturally has some caffeine. However, Enviga has had additional caffeine added to increase the calorie burn effect. A 12-ounce serving contains 100 mg of caffeine or about the same amount found in a normal cup of coffee. In addition to caffeine, Enviga contains EGCG — epigallocatechin gallate —, which is an antioxidant. The Coca-Cola Co. maintains that the green tea used in this drink comes from a plantation in India that grows teas that are naturally higher in ECGC. For comparison, Lipton Green tea contains 4.44 mg/100 grams and Enviga contains 28.10 mg/100 grams or 90 mg per 12-ounce serving. Just for grins, the Coca-Cola Co. added 200 mg of calcium per serving since one study has suggested that calcium might help with weight control.

When the mass marketing begins, I am assuming consumers will think that Enviga is the equivalent of drinking a glass of milk. So, with the extra added caffeine and the higher levels of EGCG, the Coca-Cola Co. maintains that you can burn, baby, burn. The good news is that Enviga contains only 5 calories per 12 ounces. My advice — save your money.

Barbara Day, M.S., R.D., C.N., is a nutritionist with a masters degree in clinical nutrition who is also registered dietitian and has over 30 years of experience in promoting healthy active lifestyles to consumers.