Diabetes InfoHealth

What Is BVO?

Healthy Living With Type 1 Diabetes What Is BVOLets just say that I’ve never been much of a soda drinker or over the counter sports drinks such as Gatorade and after finding out about BVO (aka Brominated Vegetable Oil) I am very happy about that! Brominated Vegetable oil is a vegetable oil that has the element Bromine(35 on the periodic table, second column from the right 3 rows down) added to it to increase the density of the oil. The food manufacturer most likely uses this over regular vegetable oil to prevent the oil from floating to the top of the product.

Why Is BVO Used In Soda?

Brominated vegetable oil is vegetable oil, derived from corn or soy, bonded with the element bromine. It’s added as an emulsifier, to prevent the flavoring from separating and floating to the surface. The FDA limits the amount of BVO allowed in fruit-flavored beverages to 15 parts per million.

Bromines are common endocrine disruptors, and are part of the halide family, a group of elements that includes fluorine, chlorine and iodine. What makes it so dangerous is that it competes for the same receptors that are used to capture iodine. If you are exposed to a lot of bromine, your body will not hold on to the iodine that it needs. And iodine affects every tissue in your body, not just your thyroid.

Side Effects Of BVO!

As we know, the element bromine is a halogen and thus, it is known to displace iodine. So, consuming products which have this vegetable oil as one of its ingredients may hamper the function and health of the thyroid glands. It may also cause the development of depression, memory disorders, mental disorder symptoms such as hallucinations, seizures, tremors, confusion, slurred speech, photo-phobia, fatigue and lethargy, just to name a few.

Many cases of BVO side effects have been diagnosed by doctors which showed that people consuming BVO-based drinks exhibited symptoms of loss of muscle coordination, headache, elevated serum chloride, abnormal tendency of being violent and acutely irritable, psychosis, cerebral atrophy, ataxia, loss of peripheral vision, stupor and tendon reflex changes. So you see a lot of side effects you may invite to affect your health and well-being by making BVO based soft drinks as a regular part of your lifestyle. Furthermore, when this oil was tested upon animals, results were not quite pleasing to the ears. Heart and kidney damage, increased deposition of fat in these organs, damage to the testicular and inferior quality of growth, were obtained as the results. Doesn’t sound so good, does it?

Drinks That Contain BVO:

Gatorade may be moving to eliminate BVO, but you can still find it in many soft drinks, especially ones that are citrus flavored. It’s tricky to compile a complete list because there are so many generic brands whose ingredients are hard to track. Check the label of any soft drinks or sports drinks you’re thinking of buying to be sure.

Healthy Living With Type 1 Diabetes What Is BVO?Drinks Known to Contain BVO:

  • Amp Energy Drink
  • Fanta
  • Fresca
  • Mountain Dew
  • Powerade (some flavors, including Strawberry Lemonade)
  • Squirt
  • Sun Drop
  • Sunkist Pineapple

and, until new versions hit the shelves, some flavors of Gatorade, including Orange.

The Bottom Line With BVO:

This is just one more reason to avoid sodas and sports drinks, which are also full of sugar (or artificial sweeteners) and empty calories. If you stick to natural drinks like water, tea, or coffee, you don’t need to worry about the latest chemical ingredient scare. If this article on BVO was helpful, please leave a comment right below my bio or hit the share button to share with your friends 😀

Thanks for Reading!

Chris

Chris - The Organic Diabetic

As a type 1 diabetic, I made the switch to an organic lifestyle several years ago after being diagnosed with Diabetes in 2006. Living with diabetes is hard enough, why make it more difficult by consuming products with chemicals, toxins and other harmful, unhealthy ingredients. To me, the choice was easy and just made sense. We hope you enjoy our blog! Feel free to look around and check out all of our products by clicking through the tabs above! Thanks for stopping by and also please be sure to check us out on Facebook and Twitter by liking our pages below! You never know what freebies we will be giving away!! Don't forget to check out the website as well at www.theorganicdiabetic.org

2 thoughts on “What Is BVO?

  • Very informative post.Thanks Again. BVO is definitely something that should be banned!!!!

    Reply
  • A big thank you for your post. Time to make some changes in our house! Yikes!!

    Reply

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