Medwatch: Enviga Green Tea Drink

Product: Enviga sparkling green tea, about $6.59 for a six-pack of 12-ounce cans at various markets.

Key ingredients: caffeine, carbonated water, calcium and a green tea extract known as epigallocatechin gallate, or EGCG.

The pitch: Drinking three cans a day will help you burn more calories.

How it works: The Coca-Cola Co., in a joint venture with Nestle, claims that EGCG speeds up metabolism and increases energy use, especially when combined with caffeine.

Pros: Some studies show that caffeine and green tea extract increase metabolism. A 1999 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that caffeine and green tea combined have an even greater effect on calorie burning. Consuming three cans of Enviga daily burns 106 calories a day in healthy adults, according to a study by a physiology institute in Switzerland that partnered with Nestle Research Center.

Cons: Only a handful of studies have found that combining caffeine and green tea helps burn calories, while two studies have found it does not. One watchdog group has filed a false-advertising lawsuit against Coke and Nestle, and Connecticut’s attorney general is investigating the calorie-burning claim. The Nestle study was conducted on “healthy, normal-weight 18- to 35-year-olds,” so its impact on overweight people isn’t known. The 300 milligrams of caffeine in the recommended three cans of Enviga per day is the caffeine equivalent of nine cans of Coke and is at the upper limit of what experts consider safe for pregnant women. Eviga is sweetened with aspartame; some research suggests sugar substitutes may interfere with the body’s natural ability to regulate calorie intake.

Bottom line: Someone drinking three cans a day would spend at least $112 a month. Water is free and has zero calories _ five fewer than Enviga. Even if the claims are true, a brisk 15-minute walk each day would do the same trick.

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