Local Examiner nearly Drowns in Thermogenic Storm

Picking my wife up from the local gym, I came across a bunch of these new drinks I had not seen in the soda aisle of my local supermarket chain. I spied this O.C. Chopper/Racing Fan/ GNC musclemilk sport drink bottle of Worldwide "extreme thermo rush" and knew I absolutely had to try it out. This is crafted by the same people that put out the Pure Protein bars found everywhere, and that I ingest on a fairly regular basis before going to the gym. Not only was it in this fantasically fast hard edged but still serious looking bottle, a quick glance at the packaging  informed me there was a couple hundred milligrams of caffeine and some other esoteric ingredients in it.  I considered giving it a shot before working out the next day and figured it would be a nice relatively mellow buzz.

On further inspection:
"WARNINGS: Not for long term use. Not for use by pregnant or lactating women. Not for those under 18. do not combine with ephedra. Do not consume additional sources of Synephrine ( uh oh - whats that?). After drinking, do not expose yourself to sunlight. Do not take if you are under St. Johns wort or any other anti-depressants, or any other over the counter drug, including asthma , cough/cold and allergy medicine."
Egad - what did I buy?  should this be an over the counter drink anyone could buy?
But wait, theres more!
"Avoid this product if you have high blood pressure. OR glaucoma, or siezures, difficulty urinating, enlarged prostate, thyroid, blood or liver condition or eating disorder. Stay away from if you have a psychiatric condition. Discontinue use if you experience dizziness, shortness of breat nausea, irregular heartbeat or experience Loss of Consciousness(!!!)."

Uh - ok - for you my constant readers, I would put more than my taste buds on the line for you and give it a try. And like Redline, I knew this drink was going to be a rite of passage more than just downing any old  energy drink. Fortunately, the bottle provided "directions for use" so I would not be left to take this thing on all by myself:

Suggested use: drink one 20oz bottle per workout session as follows: 1/2 before and the balance during the course of your workout. Do not exceed 1 serving per workout session and/or more often than every 3-4 hours. Limit use to no more than two bottles in a 24 hour period.

And I tried to follow this to a T, downing half the bottle about 10 minutes before getting on the cardo.

Forget this only having 200mg of caffeine - I was on the treadmill sweating and shivering, getting woozy and my hands were trembling. So posting be damned - my constant readers are still not quite risking my life for the sake of a post. I got about halfway through sipping the rest of the bottle and gave up. This super sour and violently potent drink was poured down the sink - though I heard a hiss from the pipes on its way down.

Buzz/Nutrition:0
This (deadly) blend of over six ingredients - including Yerba Mate and Bitter Orange added the thermogenic calorie-burning power that made me shudder, get hot and cold at the same time, and feel tremors through my fingernails.
 http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov: stated that drinking thermogenic drinks, it significantly helped promote weight loss and improve body composition; however, these long term findings are currently unknown as are the general safety and efficacy of prolonged consumption. In other words, while it can work for you short term to lose weight and get a more effective workout, they don't have any clue what effect this would have on your body if you drank this all the time.
This drink also has:
  - 250mg of Yerbe Mate (llex paraguayensis) (leaf), has matene - like caffeine but not. People say this helps everyting from alertness to male pattern baldness. Mate is the new hot drink ingredient right now.
200mg of artifical caffeine - in powdered form - so your body ingests it faster and you get the jitter effect.
250mg of Green Tea Extract (Camellia sinensis) (leaf)
 - Syneplex - Citrus Aurantium (fruit) 200mg (containing 12mg Synephrine and n-methythyromine, hordenine, and octopamine) - while this has been used in stackers and other GNC ish supplements, some reports have indicated that such diet pills cause numerous harmful effects. The Mayo Clinic published a report that suggested a link between Stacker 2 pills and increased risk of ischemic stroke, increased blood pressure, cardiac infarcts and arrhythmias. Yikes!!

Taste: 3
Back in college, I used to drive around the backcountry in New Mexico, where thieves would siphon crude gas from the oil wells in the area.  At the time I could not imagine the horror of sucking in gas fumes through a garden hose, but now I know at least a part of what they have to be tasting.  When I took gulps, it tasted just like fruit punch and gasoline (not that I drink much gasoline) - so I brought it over to a friend, who upon tasting, thought it tasted like  of Kool-Aid and Gas too - so I know it is not just my imagination. Only one of the half dozen people around the office thought it did not taste like it had kerosene in it.You almost expect your mouth to be gritty after taking a gulp.

Packaging:8
This has got to be the most warnings I have ever seen on a bottle. They truly scared me well before I even tried it. I wonder if I would have been so curious as to my resting heart rate if it were not the hypochondriac in me feeling the urge to check it every 2 minutes.  The package itself looks mean, with Chopper designed barbs covering it and Nascar-style fonts, it is a shame that I am NEVER going near this stuff again.

 

 

 
Topics: sports/endurance energy drink , The worst and the best