A new energy drink from Sweden has been launched in the US with the aim of attracting female drinkers keen to reduce their wrinkles. The US launch of the drink, which is called Sankt Olav, is being handled by Beverage Marketing USA, which calls it a 'Scandinavian beauty secret'.
The drink contains marine polysaccharides, caffeine, chitosan, monomeric silicic acid, dimethylaminoethanol, vitamin C and zinc and calcium gluconates. Its anti-wrinkle claims are based on studies of 30 women with sun-damaged skin conducted by Helsinki dermatologist Allan Lassus and published in The Journal of International Medical Research. The studies concluded that marine polysaccharides (extracts of lobster, crab and shrimp shells) had a measurable "repairing effect on degenerated elastic and collagen tissue in the dermis" and cured brittle nails and hair with no side effects.
The marine polysaccharides contained in the drink are similar to the skin's own natural moisturisers, the most important being NaPCA, said Beverage Marketing USA. As people grow older, their skin loses a large quantity of these moisturisers, and products such as Sankt Olav can help restore some of this balance, the company claimed.
"Sankt Olav is positioned as a premium brand as part of the European spa treatment," said Mildred Norderhus, president of Sankt Olav Spring Water. "European women know that beautiful skin is easy to achieve - you simply eat lots of seafood, like sardines and caviar, drink pure spring water every day and splash your face with ice cold spring mineral water. This encourages the skin's own natural functions, so it regulates itself without the aid of expensive exfoliating and rejuvenating lotions."
The recommended dosage of Sankt Olav is two bottles a day for the first two to three months and one bottle a day thereafter.
"Let's be realistic - predicting what kind of energy drink women will be drinking is still more art than science," said Richard H. Davis, president of Beverage Marketing USA. "It's the ultimate luxury - drinking Sankt Olav is like going to an expensive European spa. Only now you don't have to travel to Europe to get that supermodel look, just open a bottle of Sankt Olav."