Inhaled culinary products are growing in popularity and can be purchased online or in various convenience stores, liquor stores, and small groceries. How dangerous is inhaling caffeine by puffing on a lipstick-size caffeine fix instead of a large cup of coffee? See the February 11, 2012 USA Today article, by the Associated Press "Take a breath: You can get a caffeine fix from an inhaler." Or see the article, Getting caffeine fix as easy as taking deep breath.
The product, in use in Europe is called AeroShot. Besides being available in France, it's also on the market in New York and Massachusetts for around $2.99 in convenience stores, small groceries, and liquor stores. You can buy it online. See the site, AeroShot Pure Energy.
Reports indicate that the price of coffee is heading up due to bad weather in coffee-growing regions, increased demand from developing countries and speculation in the commodities markets. So now there's a product that you inhale--caffeine powder equal to what you'd get in a large cup of coffee, about 100 mg of caffeine powder plus B vitamins.
You need energy and plenty of it. But you're probably so sleep deprived that you need to stimulate your autonomic nervous system, or do you? Maybe you have an underaroused nervous system. People with an overaroused nervous system who suffer from chronic anxiety wouldn't want the effects of caffeine to start them trembling.
Those with underaroused or 'normal' nervous systems sometimes have a caffeine addiction where they need a daily caffeine 'fix' to get up and work. Without a noontime siesta to catch up on that cat nap, some turn to caffeine. You've heard that other ad about how you're supposed to feel at 2:30 and instead of exercising at your desk, you are showed a caffeinated product to take.
Products are built around sleep-deprived societies that don't practice siestas where businesses close in the afternoon for a few hours and re-open later in the day. Some people go home and take a nap or have a slow, relaxing lunch break. No such luck in the USA for most. Here, people run on the caffeine fixes.
The coffee shops are doing well as the price of coffee rises. Perhaps some turn to caffeine in other forms to get their fix. How many Americans and Europeans are addicted to caffeine to keep them alert at work? Compare that to the green tea preference in Asia.
What are the risks of inhaling a lemon-lime tasting shot airborne? You are supposed to get energy from it like an energy drink. Only you inhale it. You puff it. It's a quick boost of caffeine mixed with B vitamins that's ready anytime, anyplace.
The risk is when the grey-and-yellow plastic canister contains 100 milligrams of caffeine powder, about the amount in a large cup of coffee, plus B vitamins, there's the problem of people ingesting too much. After all a large cup of coffee is hot and takes time to drink. But inhaling a whiff of caffeine can be done quickly.
Once a user shoots a puff of calorie-free AeroShot into his or her mouth, the lemon-lime powder begins dissolving almost instantly. Each single-use container has up to six puffs. At least scientists know it does not contain taurine which is used to amplify the caffeine side effects that you find in energy drinks.
Will people abuse the caffeine by mixing it with alcohol and then blacking out? Caffeine is not supposed to be mixed with alcohol. Will inhaled caffeine by misused more like a drug than a quick energy boost? There's the danger of taking too much. AeroShot is not marketing to the under age 18 group. The caffeine goes into your mouth. But why inhale it?
Why do scientists invent breathable caffeine? Perhaps for the same reason that scientists and food develops come out with a product such as breathable chocolate.
How many people really keep track of the amount of caffeine they're ingesting? And why a canister to inhale caffeine?
If you keep puffing, you'll end up with caffeine overdose. Product packaging warns people not to consume more than three AeroShots per day. The product is marketed to those in a position when liquid coffee is not convenient.
AeroShot is manufactured in France and the flagship product of Cambridge-based Breathable Foods. The word 'culinary' can be applied to almost any word that follows it from culinary ethnobotany to culinary travel.
As if there isn't enough creativity in cooking among chefs these days, now there's a trend of products to follow touting breathable foods. Did the idea come from combing cuisine with medical aerosols? Is this product okay with the ozone layer surrounding Earth? How do you feel about breathable foods and medical aerosols?
What happens when scientists working with developing medical aerosols meet chefs working with breathable foods or foods that can hit you like a drug at certain levels such as caffeine or chocolate? Some people are sensitive to caffeine's effects. And others get caffeine nerves eating dark chocolate. It's an individual preference.
The breathable chocolate is called Le Whif. There's also LeWhaf coming up which is about food and drinks in glass bowls turned into clouds that are eaten for the flavor because they're low-calorie. Want breathable chocolate without the calories? Check out Le Whif Breathable Chocolate | Incredible Things.
View the site, ThinkGeek: Le Whif Breathable Chocolate and see, The Lab Store. View the uTube video, Harvard professor unveils "breathable chocolate" in Cambridge. Looking for Le Whaf clouds of low-calorie food scents in futuristic glass bowls? See the site, Le Whaf makes an appearance on Huffington Post! | The Laboratory. Also check out, Le Whaf: Now there's food you don't eat but inhale | Mail Online.
See the site, Le Whaf. The site tells you to forget about eating, and chewing your food. The future is inhaling. And if you want AeroShot in order to inhale caffeine in your mouth, check out the sites, AeroShot Pure Energy and see the online Aeroshot shop online if you want to buy.
It' sold as a dry energy supplement. The site notes, "Puff in. Be on." Would you want your college-age kid to inhale caffeine or chocolate whether it's in a powder, flavor, or a low-calorie cloud?
What's the risk of caffeine in any form being abused when people mix any caffeine product with alcohol and possibly black out or drink alcohol until they collapse mistakenly thinking the caffeine will protect them from the alcohol abuse? And how will caffeine affect some people's heart rate if they drink more than they're supposed to or are sensitive to caffeine at any dose?
Is there the risk that someone might do what had been done to some energy drinks of the past and mix caffeine in any form with alcohol to amplify the effects? Think about this idea because it's spreading among college-age 'kids' over 18. And if you choose caffeine this way, be sure you're not sensitive to caffeine, that is you don't panic and start trembling from caffeine with just one cup of coffee.
Know the effects of caffeine or chocolate or any other inhaled food going into your mouth when you puff away on a lipstick-sized culinary sensation. Then again, the product is growing popular. So you choose for yourself. But be aware of the effects of caffeine on your body.
Also check out all my nutrition, health, or cultural media columns such as my Sacramento Nutrition Examiner Column, Sacramento Healthy Trends Examiner Column, Sacramento Holistic Family Health Examiner Column, Sacramento Media & Culture Examiner Column, and my national columns: National Senior Health Examiner column, National Children's Nutrition Examiner Column, and National One-Pot Meals Examiner column.
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