Thirsty Thursday #4

Coconut Water

For this week's Thirsty Thursday, I decided to explore the hype around Coconut Water.  What is coconut water?  It's the clear liquid in the center of a coconut -- usually young green coconuts.  It has a sweet and almost nutty taste (supposedly) and contains electrolytes, sugars, some sodium and a good serving of potassium.

It's being hailed at the Holy Grail in the world of sports drinks since it is (1) all natural, (2) full of the good stuff, and (3) "safe" for most diets like Paleo, Vegan, etc...  All of this varies by brand, but for the most part Coconut water is supposed to be the bomb.com...

So I dug in and did some research...

Research says...

I found an article from WebMD called, "The Truth About Coconut Water" and I found it answered most of my questions.  First for some stats:

"Ounce per ounce, most unflavored coconut water contains 5.45 calories, 1.3 grams sugar, 61 milligrams (mg) of potassium, and 5.45 mg of sodium compared to Gatorade, which has 6.25 calories, 1.75 grams of sugar, 3.75 mg of potassium, and 13.75 mg of sodium."

That's a lot of potassium -- and not so much sodium, which is what I need since I sweat like mad when I'm running...

So why is it better than plain old water?  Well just like sports drinks, coconut water can help replenish more than fluids.  Since it contains sugars and sodium -- it could provide a bit of energy and replace missing electrolytes.

The verdict

To me, Coconut water just isn't living up to the hype.  It does provide a natural alternative to sports drinks -- and some athletes swear by it -- but I'm just not convinced enough to put it into my routine.

If you're watching your weight like me then you have to take this into account... A single container contains anywhere from 50 - 100 calories -- just like most other juices and sport drinks.  So Coconut water can't be a full blow water replacement.

However, if you're low in potassium (and don't want to include potatoes, spinach, or bananas into your diet) than this might be an easy thing to toss into your shopping cart.