Not until the other day at my work, a local community pool at which I lifeguard, was it brought to my attention that six flavors of VitaminWater contain banned substances by the NCAA. Being a Division 1 college athlete, I was shocked at this comment by a fellow co-worker. Almost every time I walk into my local Wawa or convenience store, I go first to the glass cased refrigerator and pick out a VitaminWater. No I actually don’t believe nor feel that the Tropical Citrus Energy drink gives you a boost of energy or the Dragonfruit Power-C drink gives you a jolt of power or the Jackfruit-Guava B-relaxed drink allows you calm your nerves or the Green Tea Rescue drink gives your body actual Green Tea health effects or the Lemon Tea Vital-T drink is actually “vital” for your body OR the Cran-Grapefruit Balance drink balances your chemical make up of your body, but I still do enjoy all the flavors. From my understanding ever since my mom told me to take my vitamins everyday when I was a younger kid running out the door to catch the bus, vitamins were actually good for you. WELL, these drinks may have some good in them, but not for NCAA student athletes because the six drinks I named all contain banned substances by the NCAA. Two of my favorite VW drinks are Energy and Power-C which I would get on a regular basis. But now knowing that these drinks could get me suspended or even banned from my NCAA season, shocked me and turned me away from them.
I did some research on the VW brand and saw that Coca Cola, the parent brand, signed a multi-year contract with the NCAA to only advertise the Fruit Punch Revive drink on the sidelines of every NCAA championship game. Yet a month later on the NCAA website, the VW brand was mentioned that six of their fifteen flavors contained banned substances and could lead to a failed drug test. The NCAA website at the time said that the six flavors that contain these banned or impermissible substances were not related at all to the NCAA. The NCAA then came back and released a statement saying that “in fact, normal daily consumption of any of the 13 VitaminWater varieties will not place a student-athlete at risk for testing positive for banned substances.” Im getting mixed ideas here…Can I still drink my favorite Tropical Citrus Energy drink? I think this is a bad image for VitaminWater and more action needs to be taken because I was completely unaware.

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