Vitamin Enriched Drinks May Do More Harm Than Good
In response to consumer demands, companies are continually adding superfluous amounts of vitamins and minerals to bottled water, juices, and sports drinks that may be more harmful than nutritionally beneficial, according to a recent study.
“This study assessed the micronutrient composition of energy drinks, vitamin waters, and novel juices sold in Canadian supermarkets, and critically examined their on-package marketing at 2 time points: 2010-2011, when they were regulated as Natural Health Products, and 2014, when they fell under food regulations,” said the authors of the study.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
RELATED CONTENT
Diabetes Risk: Sugar-Sweetened vs Artificially Sweetened Beverages
Diet Soda Drinkers Not Safe From Heart Disease Risk
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Overall, researchers found that 18 of the beverages contained more than 3 times the daily requirement for Vitamin B6, 11 drinks had more than 3 times the daily requirement for B12, and 6 of the drinks had more than 3 times the requirement for niacin or riboflavin.
Vitamins were just as likely to be abundant in sugar-sweetened beverages as in sugar-free beverages, and the nutrients most commonly added to the beverages were vitamins that were already abundant in a standard diet.
Researchers also warned that the inclusion of high levels of antioxidants—marketed for their ability to remove free radicals from the body—might be doing more harm than good. While free radicals are known to cause damage to cells and their DNA, the body also uses them to combat infections and cancer cells. Excess antioxidants may decrease the body’s supply of free radicals to the extent that it can no longer use them effectively.
The complete study is published in the January issue of Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism.
-Michelle Canales
Reference:
Dachner N, Mendelson R, Sacco J, Tarasuk V. An examination of the nutrient content and on-package marketing of novel beverages. App Physiol Nut Metab. 2015 January [epub ahead of print]. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25577949.