soft drinks: New soda

Tuesday 17 July 2012

New soda

Drank is a grape flavored soft drink sold in the United States and Canada. It is marketed as a "Non-Energy" drink which causes relaxation as opposed to a sugar or caffeine jolt.The Drank Website lists three active ingredients: melatonin, rose hip and Valerian root. Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone which can be used as a sleep aid; the others are herbs which purportedly cause relaxation.Some distributors of Drank suggest it is an alternative to the illicit purple drankHealth experts have warned that the herbal ingredients in Drank and similar beverages induce drowsiness and sedation, which can be dangerous when combined with medications or products that do similar things, such as alcohol or anti-depressants.^[ Gregory Carter, a neurologist on the clinical staff of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center told the Dallas Morning News that there is enough melatonin in Drank to induce sleepiness, and that this effect could occur quickly because the melatonin is in dissolved form. Regarding Valerian, Carter found that the content was probably "not enough to have a strong effect"