Airborne Effervescent Health Formula, Original Orange, 10 Tablets (Pack of 3)
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Our Price: $21.00 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Health Care See more product details |
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Product Reviews of Airborne Effervescent Health Formula, Original Orange, 10 Tablets (Pack of 3)
Product Review: Great Product! Works as Advertised!
Summary: 5 Stars
My wife and I have been using this product since Fall '06 and I can say without a doubt that it has helped us ward off several colds! The product doesn't taste as bad as you might think. Highly recommended.Product Review: vitamin a toxicity
Summary: 2 Stars
I'm not sure if this helped with my cold or not. Started taking it as soon as I felt a scratchy throat. That progressed to viral bronchitis and a full blown cold. (I have been sick all winter - newly around school age kids, go figure.) On top of that, I noticed about three days after I started taking it, I developed angular cheilitis, or cracked corners of my mouth. In the past, this indicated a vitamin deficiency for me. I did some research and realized that this is related to too much vitamin A. I was taking four or five tablets a day (one every three hours, as the label says), along with my normal multi. Whoa! Too risky. Please watch out for other signs of vitamin A toxicity. Tolerance seems to vary between individuals.Product Review: It really works *and* is safe if taken properly.
Summary: 5 Stars
I was introduced to this 5 days ago, when I have been exposed to various bugs as I was traveling. Normally I get so sick I cannot move. Though the first day, I slept a lot -- the symptoms were much abated and the next day I was almost normal.
There are 2 concerns that people raise here -- and apparently on the Today show (I do not have a TV.) One is the quantity of Vitamin A and the other is that it uses the artificial sweetener, sucralose -- which is the main ingredient found in Splenda.
1. The Vitamin A in Airborne is 100% of Daily Value based on 2000 calorie diet. This is not the same as the Recommended Daily Allowance. But what is of meaningful concern is the number of IU's. 10,000IU's of vitamin A is considered quite safe. Going over 25,000IU's is considered potentially toxic and in extreme cases can cause death.
One tablet of Airborne contains 5,000 IU, half of what is considered perfectly safe to consume.
Almost all cold medicines etc. put Vitamin A in their formula because it is so effective in battling colds. I don't believe I can provide a link in Amazon's post but if you google toxic Vitamin A, one of the first websites coming up is from the University of Maryland Medical Center -- which is one of the top in the country -- and they explain in plenty of detail the pro's and risks of Vitamin A.
So though one would probably be safe taking the Airborne as prescribed at 3 times a day at 15,000 IU's, I personally just used it 2 x a day -- giving 10,000 IU's of Vitamin A. I found it perfectly effective that way.
2. Artificial sweetener: Sucralose is not the same thing as Aspartame, as an earlier poster said. Aspartame is what is found in Equal, Sucralose is what is found in Splenda. Aspartame is an artificial ingredient. Sucralose is made from actual sugar in which the sugar molecule nucleus has chlorine atoms replacing hydrogen-oxygen atoms. Doing so makes the sugar insoluble in the body passes through without being absorbed. (Note that Splenda is a combination of dextrose, maltodextrin and sucralose -- so the dextrose, which is part of sugar causes Splenda to have actual calories.)
There is no evidence that sucralose in small quantities is risky for human beings. It has been approved and used in Canada for many years before the US.
Of course, as with everything, there is some form of risk. Drinking coffee, beer, a mixture of prescribed medicines can cause under certain circumstances, death.
The question one needs to ask -- and one does this everyday whether you are conscious or not -- do the potential benefits outweigh the risk of harm. One of the important factors is the probability and circumstances that create the risk of harm. The studies on Splenda indicate one would have to consume 5000 packages or more in a day before there would be harmful effects.
Product Review: Useless
Summary: 1 Stars
I refer you to the column in the last Scientific American entitled "Airborne Baloney" - need I say more??? Save your money.Product Review: Are you afraid of artificial sweeteners ?
Summary: 2 Stars
I have been using Airborne for sometime now whenever I feel a cold coming on and I know it can stop my cold or at least make it very mild. But then this morning I visited Amazon to read reviews after seeing Airborne on the Today show - they were reviewing cold products. And just a single dose of Airborne has 100% (5,000 IU) of the daily requirements for vitamin A (25,000 IU is toxic levels). And then I read a review here that says it has Splenda. So I looked up "sucralose" and it is the same as Splenda - meaning it is the same as "aspartame", which if you investigate that you will soon learn that it is extremely toxic to the body. So now I will just keep vitamin C on hand for colds.