Are Trendy Treats Killing Your Health? 

Many products brand themselves as an instant cure or immediate fix, but nowadays these scams have gotten more sneaky. Many people don’t have the time to research a product fully, or when they do, the information is a company sponsored opinions marketed as real reviews. 

Many products that do little to nothing have risen in popularity. Or even worse, some products are marketed as healthy even if they are potentially harmful. 

So here’s the real deal on trending food and drinks.

Celcsius

Many people claim the popular drink Celsius helps them think, stay focused and study. But how true is that?

A 12 ounce can of Celsius gives you around 200 mg worth of caffeine. This is around double the caffeine you’d get from a cup of coffee.

Around 32% of the teenage population struggles with anxiety. The caffeine in Celsius can not only worsen anxiety but also school performance. Anxiety, lack of sleep and overstimulation are all symptoms of excessive caffeine and can have a negative impact on students. 

Celsius also contains green tea extract, which isn’t bad in small quantities. However, many students drink several Celsiuses a day, and the green tea extract can seriously add up to unhealthy levels.  

In addition, artificial sweeteners can seriously mess up your stomach. The main artificial sweetener used is sucralose which is almost 600 times sweeter table sugar. There are benefits to sucralose as it does help with dental health and is safe for diabetics; however, sucralose is an irritant to your gut, and with heavy consumption, it can be just as dangerous as regular sugar.

With people drinking multiple Celsius drinks a day to cram for tests or to feel smarter, it can provide a temporary boost, but can ultimately be a genuine detriment to your health.

Crumbl Cookies

Crumbl Cookie is a fast growing bakery business founded in Utah in 2017, known for their unique cookie flavors and their rotating weekly menu.  Although this brand has grown in popularity due to their unique flavors and aesthetic appeal, the average Crumbl cookie is 650 to 880 calories, with many cookies exceeding this range. 

Let’s analyze one of the products: the Chocolate Brownie Cookie, which comes in at 1200 calories, almost half of your daily calories.

With people online promoting an unhealthy habit of eating one Crumbl cookie per day, it can lead many impressionable people to think eating that amount is okay, and the excessive calories is not the only concern.

The Dirt Cake cookie includes many unhealthy ingredients including canola oil, bleached white flour and red #40.

Bleached white flour lacks natural nutrients and includes chemicals used to bleach the flour which can cause inflammation in your body. Canola oil in large quantities can leave you at high risk for medical conditions, including but not limited to heart disease, Alzheimer’s and obesity. 

Red #40 and other similar dyes can have behavioral effects like hyperactivity. As well as hives and asthma also being a possible side effects, even if you’re not allergic to red 40#.

If you’re still craving cookies after this, because let’s be real, we all are, there are great local alternatives. 

Eileen’s Cookies has multiple stores in Edmond, and they are healthier than Crumbl. A three inch cookie from Crumbl has around 530 while a three inch from Eileen’s has 194 calories. Eileen’s still does have some similar ingredients, but they contain a lot more healthier alternatives, like malted barley flour which is rich in fiber and helps your body’s digestion.

It’s important to note that Eileen’s does contain some red 40# and similar dyes, but those are exclusive to their M&M cookies.

Bloom 

If the Crumbl cookies made you worry about your gut health, you may see Bloom as a perfect helper. 

Bloom markets itself as an energy drink meant to support your gut health, reduce your bloating and help boost your energy. Although if you value your health, all those “benefits” don’t really add up to much.

This is a new product marketed for people 18 and up; however, it is seen frequently in the halls at Edmond North. 

Any energy drink can cause adverse effects to your body, mainly your sleeping patterns. Teens whose brains are still developing require quality and regular sleep for optimal brain growth and functioning. Because there are many teens drinking Bloom, it can have a negative impact on health. 

But if you still crave energy, any water that’s rich in electrolytes is not only healthy but natural to your body. Coconut water, milk and fruit-based smoothies are all proven to have electrolytes which boost energy.

Feel Free 

Feel Free is a mysterious blue drink popping up at gas stations and going viral on social media. This drink has been stirring up controversy online, but what’s all the fuss about? Let’s take a look.

Feel Free is marketed as an alternative to alcohol, but many teens are experimenting with this drink for fun.

With the key ingredients of Feel Free being kava root extract and leaf kratom, both known to be anxiety suppressors, this drink might seem good. But the amount of both found in Feel Free can lead to liver toxicity, psychosis, muscle weakness, tremors and even seizures.

Kava root worsens motor skills. This ingredient has a similar effect on the body as alcohol, and drivers under the influence could be dangerous on the road and potentially charged with a DUI. 

Feel Free’s main ingredients also function similarly to opioids. With leaf kratom increasing dopamine and serotonin, it is similar to opioids in that it can lead to addictions in adolescents, even from just one dose.

Overall, there are a lot of products out there marketed to be beneficial, but you can’t trust all of them. Just because a product claims it is healthy doesn’t mean you’ll get actual benefits…and it may be really harmful. Be an informed consumer and do your own research before you buy a product to make sure you stay healthy.  

If there’s any popular food or drink you’re suspicious about, leave a comment. Or if you see a trending product you know is bad, let us know.