Carbonated or non-carbonated, soft drink market in India is mostly dominated by the Colas - Pepsi and Coca-Cola. Tata Tea has entered the cold drink market with launch of its cold beverage ` t!ON '. The beverage is available in three flavors - Mango Rush, Peach Punch and Apple Buzz.

Tion is marketed as an energy drink. Although this product is fruit flavored, it is positioned as a tea-based cool drink. With the presence of ‘Green tea extract' and ‘Ginseng extract', which are the major differentiators for Tion from the other soft drinks, it is promoted to be healthier than the other soft drinks.

When any product in the market comes with a tag ‘Healthy', people tend to have them in excess thinking it would not cause any harm to them. Side effects of using ginseng in excess amounts that have been reported include diarrhea, high and low blood pressure, nausea, and in some cases, inability to sleep. While these may not occur in all individuals, it is something to be aware of.

When tea and fruits or fruit juices are taken together, the absorption of some nutrients from the fruit is hindered. Hence how much of nutrition we get from the fruit juice when a tea extract is added, one wonders. Instead a fresh fruit juice that contains no preservatives, no additives, no artificial antioxidants would still give all the nutrients that a fruit can provide including vitamins and minerals. Similarly, natural green tea benefits include helping with cancer, infections, impaired immune function, cardiovascular diseases and rheumatoid arthritis. Ginseng benefits include the ability to help in lowering cholesterol, stress relief, enhancing immunity, and reducing the signs of aging.

So if you ask me, "As a health expert what would you prefer?" I would definitely go for a glass of fresh fruit juice or a cup of pure green tea to get all the benefits of the nutrients and antioxidants in the natural form!

What would you choose?