42 replies to this topic

[Scylle]

The husdand & I are in a stand-off over V8FUSION~ Based on my chidlhood, even tho'my mom tried to be a food Nazi, I always got my 'cola. This is '80's. My husband is turning out to be dietarily food bipolar~he lets 'cola go, then, just yesterday, walking our kid to school, takes out our son's lunch & tosses the V8Fusion I've been packing in there for a month. ?what 'K I AGREE no high energy MONSTER drinks for kiddos~that V8 crap was me moderating~I've looked it all up~I don't see the issue~?any direction from you all? What'd you think??

V8 Fusion Energy Drink

http://www.caffeineinformer.com/caffeine-content/v8-fusion-energy-drink

[Wicked]

There's a story that's been going around for years and recently started on Facebook again that says energy drinks such as Monster contain Taurine.  Well, they do, but the facebook stories say taurine is literally bull semen. It's not .  Maybe your hubby read that story.

[Arei]

I'm with you. V8fusion is just fruit and veggie juice. As long as the kid isn't living on it (it does have plenty of sugar), I say it's pretty good stuff. It's FAR more nutrient rich than the nothing but empty calories soda. I haven't read the label up close, but I was unaware that V8fusion even had caffeine. All I saw was vitamins, and who can complain about that?

[Aduah]

Small amounts of caffeine per day will not hurt anyone. But keep in mind Caffeine is a drug. Its a very addictive one too. Honestly I'd be more worried about sugar and sodium intake that I would about caffeine intake. I'm not sure how old your kids are, but a can of coke or pepsi, or even v8 fusion hardly has enough caffeine to cause concern. Like I said I'd be more concerned about the amount of sugar in a cola than anything else.

I imbibe 420mg of caffeine a day, but I am an adult and for my weight its well within my limits to consume. A lot of Migraine/headache medicines also contain about as much caffeine in 1 pill as 1-2 cans of cola. But to put it into perspective I would have to consume something like 16,100mg of Caffeine in a day for it to be fatal.

So at the end of the day, I wouldn't worry about it, or over think it. The major concern you should have are a.) what reaction your child has to caffeine b.) is your child sensitive to caffeine. I'm not saying it shouldn't be of any concern at all, but as with anything as long as you or your child are consuming in moderation, you'll be just fine.

[Silvernis]

I'm not a nutritionist, but I tend to think that stuff made from actual natural ingredients is generally OK. Unpronounceable chemical cocktails make me a little nervous. Also, to echo what Fraani said, everything in moderation.

[Rimmy1a]

Hey Sil? "Natural" things do in fact tend to be unpronounceable chemical cocktails. Don't be a Luddite now.

To the OP - sugars and sodium are important to any human being, especially one that is still in the growing stage.

[Silvernis]

Rimmy1a, on 14 May 2015 - 11:44 AM, said:

Hey Sil? "Natural" things do in fact tend to be unpronounceable chemical cocktails. Don't be a Luddite now.

To the OP - sugar sand sodium are important to any human being, especially one that is still in the growing stage.

I was going to clarify what I meant, but I seem to have misplaced my quill and parchment.

Also: sand is important for growing humans? Dammit, there's where I went wrong. My mother never fed me sand.

[Rimmy1a]

Meatwad eats nothing but sand and he is a productive imaginary member of society.

Clearly your mother didn't consider you up for a career in cartoons.

Previous post edited to prevent other mothers from receiving sad complaints.

[Levik Greywind]

I drink too much caffeine because I work nights and free soda/tea/coffee in the break room. But if they had some V8 fruit juices there, I'd be as happy as can be. I don't know if they load it with extra sugar or not, but love some good juice.

Oh and didn't realize it was V8 energy drinks. Hell, I'd be happy with a normal V8 juice (as long as it was a mostly fruit one).

[Scylle]

~my gratitude all~The man~who would be a Necromancer quite frankly if he actually played ANY story~has capitulated`WOO`~I actually base my food value on India/Asia trends~the V8 uses the green tea concentration of the most loved caffeine (the man & I consume more than Aduah~yes we do). A'right, on with it then~

[Aduah]

Rimmy1a, on 14 May 2015 - 11:44 AM, said:

To the OP - sugars and sodium are important to any human being, especially one that is still in the growing stage.

Quite, However just about every processed food human's consume are processed with Sugar and Sodium. Overwhelmingly so. It also brings this video to mind.

Spoiler

But, everything in moderation.

[Rimmy1a]

Aduah, on 14 May 2015 - 05:47 PM, said:

Quite, However just about every processed food human's consume are processed with Sugar and Sodium. Overwhelmingly so. It also brings this video to mind.

Spoiler

But, everything in moderation.

Hard to *completely* avoid processed food unless you're some sort of self-sufficient farmer, but if you stay away from slurried meat (that means all of that deli meat you get at the supermarket), you'll probably be in good shape.

That said, it's good to be human. Almost every other species on the planet bigger than a bacterium will starve to death before a human goes hungry. Wide, WIDE range of stuff we can get away with eating, so don't sweat those long E-numbers.

[Wicked]

I have to put extra salt on my fries to make up for the salt they cut from my potato chips, what a crazy world we leave in.

[Arei]

I just finished my final for my nutrition class this afternoon, so I will be disengaging from any conversation about such topics for at least a week or so. There's only so much I can take. I might even go out and eat a slice of pizza followed by a can of DP (Dr. Pepper) just to feel normal again and to get those "needed" mgs of sodium, high fructose corn syrup, and caffeine. Oh and fat. Can't forget fat. Good ol' American diet  

[cassy]

What ingredient in the V-8 fusion did he have a problem with?
It looks like the caffeine is in the Green tea it contains, not all flavors have it.  But the ones that do have slightly less caffeine than green tea.  That isn't very much even for a child.  The sodium is a bit high, but here where Dehydration is an issue that can be helpful too.

Caffeine has a number of effects.  It is a diuretic, vascular dilator, and a stimulant to the central nervous system.  These can be beneficial or harmful depending on your own physiology, and how much you consume.  If you are on a long car ride or something though . . . diuretics are not the best drinks.

It is part of the reason that tea helps to make you feel better when you are sick, and coffee mitigates an asthma attack.  The vascular effects of caffeine are why it effects migraines.  

Too much can result in jitteriness, shakiness, palpitations, vomiting, in some cases heart problems, and even seizures.  I have actually seen people become seriously ill from overdosing on Caffeine, but it takes a heck of a lot.  Theoretically if you drink enough caffeine it can even kill you . . . but that would be like 50 redbulls.

I don't have access to nutritionist software any more, but I am pretty sure that you are more likely to get drunk drinking tea than you are to get sick from caffeine drinking a V-8.

However . . . sometimes it is best to let cranky husbands rest.  It isn't always helpful to point out that someone is wrong if they are still cranky in the pants.

[LannVouivre]

Just don't overdo it, like everyone said.  Mostly I'd worry about sodium and sugar, the two things Americans love most besides vague ingredients (such as natural flavor and pasteurized milk that could be from any mammal presumably). Probably sodas mostly have more caffeine anyway, but if it upsets your husband too much you can just drop it and find something else, since it's not too big of a deal to switch.  Especially if he has some sort of deep-set personal belief, or tends to take things as shots to his pride.

You could also try asking him about how he feels the V8 is a threat.  It could be he personally doesn't care for it or some other frivolous reason, or serious business.  My BF used to just throw my tea out if it was "expired," then I'd have to ask where it is, why he tossed it, and then explain it just loses a little flavor over time and that if he ever does it again I'll kill him destroy everything he loves get upset.

[Wicked]

Arei, on 15 May 2015 - 05:11 PM, said:

I just finished my final for my nutrition class this afternoon, so I will be disengaging from any conversation about such topics for at least a week or so. There's only so much I can take. I might even go out and eat a slice of pizza followed by a can of DP (Dr. Pepper) just to feel normal again and to get those "needed" mgs of sodium, high fructose corn syrup, and caffeine. Oh and fat. Can't forget fat. Good ol' American diet  

My great grandmother lived to be 103, lived by herself until she was 98 and drank DP everyday . Not saying DP is a life extender (although it does help with "blockage"), just depends on the person I suppose.

[Arei]

Wicked, on 16 May 2015 - 01:16 PM, said:

My great grandmother lived to be 103, lived by herself until she was 98 and drank DP everyday . Not saying DP is a life extender (although it does help with "blockage"), just depends on the person I suppose.

I would love to use this story as an excuse to drink it everyday. DP is like crack for me. Love the stuff, but tend to stay away from it with a general fear of becoming completely addicted.

[Rimmy1a]

LannVouivre, on 16 May 2015 - 10:31 AM, said:

pasteurized milk that could be from any mammal presumably

People are weird - they'll unthinkingly imbibe milk squirted out of a cow but will look disgusted and rapidly distance themselves from you if you ask if they've they've ever tried rat milk, or whale milk, or dog milk.

Speciesists!

[Rimmy1a]

Arei, on 15 May 2015 - 05:11 PM, said:

and to get those "needed" mgs of sodium

Regardless of what is more common, tell me I'm wrong when I say it's WAY more dangerous to be deficient in sodium than to have too much.