"Stay up the night and drink the most water." Recently, the "staying up late water" of a convenience store is out of the circle.
At present, this late-night drinking water priced at about 20 yuan has been sold out offline stores in the Sichuan-Chongqing area.
For many shoppers, it can be quite difficult not to notice a drink on store shelves with a whole ginseng root soaking in every bottle.
"Stay up a whole night and drink the whole thing" is the botanical drink's advertising slogan, which claims that it can help people regain energy.
About a month ago, the drink, simply called "The Whole Thing", first retailed at Lawson convenience stores. Now it has become a trending topic on Chinese social media.
botanical /bəˈtænɪkl/ adj. Botanical (scientific).
The advertisement for this product is called "stay up all night to drink a whole root" and "1 bottle = 20 pieces of dried ginseng". However, a look at the drink's detailed ingredient list reveals that the ginseng in the drink is a ginseng that has been cultivated for less than five years.
Changbaishan specialty merchants who have been engaged in the industry for more than ten years said that the ginseng in the "whole root" is artificially planted rather than understory ginseng, and from the product picture, if you buy more than 50 ginseng of similar size and thickness at one time, the wholesale price of one piece is about 2 yuan.
According to the manufacturer, the ginseng used in the drink is farmed and less than five years old. Some trade insiders said that the wholesale price for such ginseng is only about two yuan each.
According to the product introduction of "one whole root", 1 bottle = 20 tablets of dried ginseng to solve the sequelae of staying up late; Puzzle, happy, blind, remove evil qi, stop palpitations, fix the soul, calm the spirit, and supplement the five internal organs; Regulates body metabolism.
So, is the "whole root" product effect really so magical?
Experts: stay up late less and sleep more
Industry insiders said, "It is more like a food ingredient, so its medicinal effects may be very limited." ”
And it's more like a food ingredient so its medicinal effect could be very limited.
According to cardiovascular physician Wang Xing, this product, which claims to help people fix the weakness caused by staying up late, is just a marketing gimmick.
He said: "The damage caused by staying up late is irreversible, such as the gradual feeling of weakness in the body. Staying up late only increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. "To avoid the physical harm of staying up late, all people need to do is sleep well.
Wang Xing, a doctor specializing in cardiovascular medicine, said marketing a product as something that can help people recover from burning the midnight oil is just a promotional stunt.
"The damage of staying up the whole night, such as feeling weak, is irreversible. It can only increase the risks of cardiovascular disease," Wang said. He added that all people need to do to avoid symptoms caused by staying up late is to have a good night's sleep.
stunt /stʌnt/n. gimmick, show
Cardiovascular disease: Cardiovascular disease
According to China News Weekly, Gu Zhongyi, director of the Beijing Dietitians Association, said that the overall nutritional value of ginseng is still insufficient. When treating diseases, ginseng is not enough to be recommended as a first-line drug. The main effect of ginseng is anti-fatigue, which is not very helpful for the repair of so-called late-staying injuries. "The key is to stay up less and get more sleep."
Zhu Yi, associate professor of the College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering of China Agricultural University, said that although ginseng water has a certain refreshing effect, it is not suitable for everyone to drink. "One whole root" also indicates on the product detail page of its online store that this product is not suitable for people with colds and fevers, infants and young children, pregnant women, lactating women and children under 14 years of age.
More importantly, "one whole root" is actually just an ordinary food, and in principle, it cannot be advertised for efficacy.