Getting Punk Fed in the Age of Nutritionism

In an earlier post I praised In Defense of Food in which its author Michael Pollan exposes the fraud behind our current Age of Nutritionism, an industry devoted to telling us how to fortify our diets with highly processed and high-profit food of dubious value. 

One such fraudulent product, which I saw my office mate drinking, is the popular Monster Energy Drink. It competes against another useless product, Red Bull. These drinks are chemicals, caffeine, water, and sugar or sugar substitute. They cost over $2 for a 16 oz can. It wouldn't surprise me if regular users spend $350 to $700 on sweetened caffeine water. 

Talk about getting punked. These products have been marketed with cliches, like "bring your A game" and "be the best you can be." The consumer's gullibility and hunger of convenience and hyperbole is bottomless. 

Another appeal of these drinks, which I posted a while back, is that their hyper-masculine names appeal to man's Apex Predator Fantasies. These supposed virility cocktails come with names like 

Pinnacle, Attack, Formadrol,  Higher Power, Universal Animal, PrimaForce, Beast Sports Nutrition, Goliath Labs Ejaculoid, and Horny Goat Weed, to name a few. These brand names appeal to man's desire to transform himself into a Hairy Muscle-Plated Satyr. 

Of course, these products are worthless. A healthier and more effective beverage would be a home-brewed cup of coffee or tea. It would be cheaper to buy a thermos and pour your own beverage as you transit from work to the gym. But people continue to eagerly let marketers punk them and I doubt there's little I or anyone can do to stop it. 

Comments

[Angelo]

But what about the Taurine? How do you get that in your coffee?

[jeffrey McMahon]

I'm no nutritionist, but I'd bet a million dollars that the "benefits" of Taurine are at best negligible.