Can You Sip Away Your Stress?
It’s been called "Weed in a Can," by FOX News and dubbed, "A Can of Drag Ass," by Playboy, and now it’s coming to Chicago.
drank, the world’s first and most popular extreme relaxation beverage, is now available (as of today) throughout the Chicago-area, distributed by Central Beverage. Grape flavored and comprised of melatonin, valerian root, and rose hips, drank is essentially the opposite of a Red Bull, Monster, Amp, and the rest of the energy beverage group out there. Also available nationally throughout 7-11, as well as distributed through independent distributors in over 35 states. It’s edgy marketing and design has led to quite a cult following, resulting in features stories from Time Magazine, Playboy, Wall Street Journal and national television segments on Good Morning America, The View, Weekend Today and The Tonight Show.
I was contacted to review samples of drank, a relaxation beverage and of course received promotional items including copies of articles appearing in The New York Times Magazine, Time and Woman’s World. The piece in The New York Times Magazine asked many of the same questions that were rattling around my head. I won’t get into specifics because I don’t want to taint my review – I just love to consider all the marketing possibilities, outcomes and tangents that manufacturers might have come up with when naming and choosing marketing for their products.
So what is drank all about? Well from what I can tell by the can and the description given to the New York Times Magazine by CEO Peter Bianchi its supposed to be “more of an urban approach, a hip approach” to herbal-remedy relaxation. Obviously Innovative Beverage Group, Inc was trying to tap the hip-hop, urban culture market with a name that is synonymous with a slang term used in the rap scene and a logo very reminiscent of Beyonce’s Dereon line.
The use of “slow your roll” as a tagline shows how far removed from this market the company truly is, “slow your roll” went out in the 90s, you don’t hear that or “I’m Audi 5000 G” much anymore unless it is from suburbanites trying in a vain attempt to gain “street cred”.
But what about the product you may ask? Well of course you won’t let me keep talking about the exploitation of the hip hop culture so lets talk about the contents of the can. Before I received the can I was not too sure what the ingredients were. Although drank’s reps claim it “is now available throughout the Chicago-area, distributed by Central Beverage” I have never seen it on a shelf where I shop. Their description of the drink is “Grape flavored and comprised of melatonin, valerian root, and rose hips, drank is essentially the opposite of a Red Bull, Monster, Amp, and the rest of the energy beverage group out there.”
Here is where my dilemma starts. I don’t drink sodas, carbonated beverages and even steer clear of juices. I don’t need the extra sugar and my family has a history of Type II Diabetes. The main ingredient on the can is High Fructose Corn Syrup which I don’t allow in my house. If drank is meant to be an herbal-remedy for relaxation and we are to believe that quality ingredients go into it, you lost me drank. You should use cane juice or even better – agave which has many of its own healing properties and doesn’t raise your glycemic index (ie: no sugar high and crash). Moving on to the other ingredients. With a husband who is proliferate in herbs and their uses he strongly suggested that he be the one to physically drink the drank as I am still breastfeeding. Valerian root is a known medicinal herb used to sedate and has tranquilizing properties. I am a big proponent of nursing and pregnant women staying away from all drugs – even herbal supplements – since there is little to no long term research on side effects.
David DiPersio, clinical pharmacist at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center agreed with me in an article in Time in which he was quoted to say, “I would not recommend it. Valerian root and rose hips are not really reviewed by the FDA. You can’t be certain of the safety and efficacy of the drink.” DiPersio also added that valerian root withdrawal can cause seizures. Actually, the FDA doesn’t regulate supplements or herbs at all. This is outside of their scope, since these products are not sold as food and always claim not to be sold as drugs. I was disappointed to find nowhere on the can a warning about women who are breastfeeding or pregnant.
Let’s say we move past all the skepticism and harsh criticism of capitalists looking to make a long term “quick buck” by urbanizing sugar laden herbal remedies in a can and talk about the actual product. Here we go then.
Typical Monday night in my house- I teach a boat load of fitness and yoga classes, husband watches the two crazy monkey boys of ours (want to talk about need for sedation), we hit the gym for an hour, come home and stay up until 3 am. My husband sleeps poorly. He gets up on average two to three times a night for many reasons: our littlest co-sleeps and kicks like Rooney, Beckham and Pena combined, our eldest likes to turn our TV on and watch Drake and Josh on Netflix until he passes out – super loud, our dogs hear a sound audible only to them and possibly bats.
This past Monday I tell him I need to review the drank product. I usually review things the same day I receive them – he offers to give it a try and stops on the way home from the gym at my yoga studio to pick a can up. He sips it before bed and comments on its “lightly carbonated grape soda” taste. Next morning he mentions how he slept through the night uninterrupted. Coincidence? I doubt it. An online query into Valerian root turned up research from a number of studies which have shown that Valerian root extract can improve sleep quality and reduce insomnia. Is it safe? Is it effective? Maybe, maybe not. But I would believe that High Fructose Corn Syrup and the herbs in drank have to be safer than some of the man-made designer sleep drugs on the market.
WANT TO TRY A CAN OF DRANK?? We have an extra can at the studio, if you are in the area stop by and mention this article to try a sip!
