Green Tea-Flavored Coke - Would You Drink It?

Posted on Jun 17th 2009 4:00PM by Maggie Vink
glass of soda
Photo: Charlotte Kinzie/Flickr
If you take junk food and put something healthful in it, is it still junk food? Manufacturers seem to hope that you'll answer that question with a negative. Here in the states we've got Diet Coke Plus, where niacin, zinc, magnesium and vitamins B6 and B12 are added into the drink. And now they're releasing a green-tea flavored Diet Coke in Japan.

"We wanted to cater to people who are looking for something that tastes good but is also good for health and beauty," said Katsuya Sato, a representative from Coca Cola Co. in Japan.

So what's the bottom line? These drinks are soda. Though the addition of vitamins, minerals or antioxidants certainly isn't a bad thing, it doesn't change the fact that you're drinking soda. So whether they're beneficial depends on how you're using them. If you choose a Diet Coke with added ingredients instead of a regular Diet Coke, it's not a bad choice. However, if you choose a soda in place of water or (worse) use these fortified drinks as a replacement for getting nutrients through fresh, natural and nutrient-dense foods, then it's a very poor choice.

Green tea has been linked to many possible health benefits -- from reduced cancer risk, to better skin, to regulated blood sugar. But you're much better off drinking a cup of green tea than getting the antioxidants from a fortified soda.

Would you drink green tea-flavored Diet Coke?
 
 

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