Snack Review: Enviga Sparkling Green Tea - The Guilty Snack Counter-Attack
I was thrilled to learn, a few days ago, that the Mighty Snackerrific Powers-that-be consider certain drinks to be snacks. This has several positive implications for me. First of all, as a fan and near-daily consumer of exotic sodas and energy drinks, there’s a whole category of reviewable snacks that will require no extra effort or purchase on my part. I’ll also have the opportunity to share products with the snacking public which I’ve been using for a while.
Third, this will aid my ability to eat more healthy. Recently, I stepped on the scale to find the number less than acceptable, and pledged to lessen my caloric intake. Most of my favorite (non-alcoholic) beverages are either calorie-free or close to it. Thus, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to share with this site’s readers a great soda which I’ve been drinking for some time now: Enviga Sparkling Green Tea.
In the wide world of “diet” sodas, this product has a unique gimmick. Not only is it super-low in calories (five per 12-ounce can), it actually speeds up the drinker’s metabolism and helps him or her to burn calories. That’s right - according to a scientific study (which constitutes the can’s sub-ingredient fine print), average-weight people who consume 3 cans of Enviga per day burn 100 more calories in that period than they would normally. Certainly results to brag about!
Nestle, the company which somewhat ironically produces Enviga, manages this feat by packing the cola with fat burning compounds. In addition to that old standby, caffeine (each can holds about the same amount as a typical cup of coffee), Enviga contains notorious metabolic boosters like L-Carnitine, Chromium Picolinate, and of course, the ever-popular Green Tea. The ingredient list reads like a combination diet drug and a soda, which might turn some people off - but suits my purposes just fine.
Three flavors of Enviga - Green Tea, Peach, and Berry - are available at virtually every supermarket and CVS. A fourth variety, “Tropical,” is available in a few locales. “Tropical” (I use quotes because this variety has a pomegranate flavor, and thus there’s very little “tropical” about it) is my favorite, followed by Berry.
Admittedly, “favorite” here is a relative term. I find the aforementioned two versions of Enviga refreshing and decent enough in taste, but it took me a while even to reach that point. The soda’s taste is an acquired one, with a VERY strong Matcha flavor which never recedes completely. One taste will remove all doubt - the folks at Nestle are using real green tea for this soda.
Although the particular claim has been challenged in Connecticut, gulping down a few cans of Enviga will take away any skepticism regarding the product’s calorie-burning properties. When I first tried the cola, following a heavy meal, I found myself hungry again within a few hours - perhaps not quite the usual aim of snacking, but the sure sign of a successful metabolic aid. Enviga’s price is reasonable, too - not only for a diet aid or energy drink, but for a soda. At CVS, each 12-ounce can runs only $1.49.
So, next time you feel guilty or weighted-down after one bag too many of flavored Chex Mix or Kozy Shack Truffle Rolls, and can’t make it to the gym, why not try some Enviga Green Tea Cola? Your conscience (to say nothing of your stomach) will thank you.
5 Comments
taish on October 23rd, 2008
actually, matcha is the green tea equivalent to instant coffee. it’s made of green tea leaves, but it’s concentrated and powdered.
so, technically, it wouldn’t be ‘real’ green tea, made by boiling tea leaves.
Linda on October 23rd, 2008
A soda that tastes like matcha and has as much caffeine as coffee
sounds like a great idea but the rest of this is kind of terrifying.
I can’t find a full ingredient list on the website, which makes me
wonder what they don’t want me to know… and the last thing I want
is a drink that makes me hungry again after a heavy meal!
Linda on October 24th, 2008
Also I have to disagree with the comparison of matcha to instant
coffee - that makes it sound inferior when it is actually far more
delicious!
Candy Addict » Snackerrific Roundup: The New Reese’s of the Snack World, How to Lose Weight Without Trying, and Japaenese Syllabic Poetry! on November 7th, 2008
[...] for those of you shying away from beer and/or chips, check out some healthy reviews, including a drink that makes you lose weight by consuming it! And no, it’s not [...]
john l on October 23rd, 2008
I’ve never tried this product. I’ll have to test it. Green tea is helping me shed wait consistently but i want to keep drinking tea and try mixing it with another product. I know someone that tried this and it made him burn weight at almost double the rate when he was drinking just one.