Good Food
Coconut water: Should you keep drinking it?
Rihanna loves coconut water. Should you?
You can’t go to a yoga class in New York without spotting a sweaty someone sipping coconut water.
But after researchers at Consumerlab.com tested the three major retail brands of coconut water earlier this month and found that two of them—VitaCoco and O.N.E—had much lower electrolyte levels than they claimed, natural-leaning fitness junkies have been questioning their allegiance to the tropical hydration source.
So, should you leave the sweet nectar on the shelf and reach for a Powerade instead? Not necessarily, says Alexandra Jamieson, health and nutrition expert and author of The Great American Detox Diet.
“For one thing, coconut water doesn’t have the artificial colors and added sugars that most sports drinks do,” says Jamieson. “So it’s still a healthier choice.” (Just be aware that these brands contain 11–14 grams of natural sugar per serving.)
Fresh coconuts in the fridge at Juice Generation at Equinox
Second, most people don’t need to replenish their electrolytes immediately after sweating out the sodium unless they’re engaging in a high-intensity workout like Bikram yoga, interval training, or marathon running.
Even then, you can replenish by drinking water and eating healthy carbs with a reasonable amount of salt. “Most Americans don’t have trouble getting enough salt in their diet, so it’s rarely a problem,” explains Jamieson. “It can be as simple as eating whole grains, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or an avocado.”
The best way to get the most out of your coconut water? Up the fresh factor.
While we have no way of confirming their electrolyte levels (we gave the Well+Good chemists the rest of August off), boutique purveyors like Juice Generation and Organic Avenue carefully select their coconuts, and the time from tree to straw is much shorter.
“You’re getting a product that’s closest to what mother nature provides, so we know you’re getting something healthy,” says Denise Mari, founder of Organic Avenue, which stocks Indonesian coconut water in its signature glass bottles.
Juice Generation lets you pick your own Young Thai Coconut from the fridge at its stores and cafes, then cracks it open and pops a straw in for you to sip right away. Eric Helms, the company founder, says he employes a team of five devoted to the management of these coconuts. (That includes prep cooks who use the coconut meat in raw foods.)
What’s healthier about the fresh coconut water? Since the enzymes in the water haven’t been depleted by pasteurization, your body is likely to absorb the electrolytes more effectively, explains Jamieson. The best part? The taste is sweeter and infinitely more refreshing, especially when chunks of the fruit make their way through your straw, as you sip directly from the nut on a scalding city street. –Lisa Elaine Held
The are several incredibly important points that often do not get discussed when people talk about coconut water and its health benefits.
1) Almost all of the coconut water on the market is non-organic. This means that the product has very likely been sprayed with pesticides.
How healthy is a drink if it contains chemicals?
2) Most of the coconut water on the market is sold in plastic boxes, which are hormone disruptors.
3) When the actual young Thai coconuts are shipped from Asia, they are coated with formaldehyde to prevent mold.
4) When organic young Thai coconut water is shipped here, it is frozen and shipped in plastic bottles or bags. Then, you have the issue of plastic leeching into the coconut water.
There are many, many issues with coconut water and it raises one fundamental point for me.
If so many of these problems exist, maybe people in the U.S. weren’t meant to be drinking coconut water here. Maybe it was meant to be had in Thailand, in a very tropical climate.
Additionally, coconut water is 98% water. Does it really make a lot of sense to ship a 98%-water product half-way around the world?
At the end of the day, there is no denying that coconut water does taste fantastic. Hopefully, people will start to take into consideration these other factors when deciding to drink it.
Thanks for allowing me to share my opinion here.
Sincerely,
Max Goldberg
livingmaxwell.com
[...] still some confusion over whether you should really be drinking (and spending your money on) it. Well+Good NYC [...]
How healthy is a drink if it contains chemicals?
Headdesk.
[...] still some confusion over whether you should really be drinking (and spending your money on) it. Well+Good NYC investigates: More [...]
Check this out! I work with this company, we’ve just launched @ Whole Foods in the tri-state area. Hope you get a chance to try it! It’s 100% raw and organic coconut water. Will change your whole perspective on this topic!
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[...] Coconut water drama reached new heights when two class action lawsuits were filed against Vita Coco and O.N.E. on Monday, based on the ConsumerLab.com study that showed the brands overstated the amount of electrolytes in their products and exaggerated health benefits. [...]
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