So What is the Deal with Coconut Water?

This past week, I spent a lot of my time studying for a Human Biology midterm. I think I went outside twice. It was hard especially since it was so nice outside! However, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed reading about Oral Rehydration, which was one of the MANY MANY topics covered by the midterm. I won’t go into too much detail but I thought it was a pretty interesting topic. It explained why drinking products like Gatorade help you rehydrate faster than just drinking plain water (though only if you are severely dehydrated). So this got me thinking… what about other “health drinks”? Are those effective also? Are those healthy? I remember from taking a class last year with Dr. Gardner. He claimed that asking if something is healthy is a pretty ineffective question but I set out to find answers anyway. I decided I should tackle Coconut water. I see it everywhere especially among hip, young people.

I found an article called “Should I Drink Coconut Water”. I was unsure if Time Magazine was going to be able to do this question justice. But, all in all, I think this article is effective and informative for consumers even though it makes a pretty large claim by stating no, you should not drink coconut water. This sweeping generalization is effective because the article addresses alternatives to coconut water and also lists scenarios in which consumption would be extraneous versus effective. In other words, the piece does a good job addressing what coconut water could be replacing in someone’s diet instead of analyzing it in a dietary vacuum.

Throughout the piece, the author lists the alleged health benefits of coconut water and addresses how most of the alternatives offer more health and fiscal benefits. For example, the author admits that coconut water is a good source of potassium but points out that it has the same amount as a banana without any of the dietary fiber and still contains at least 15 grams of sugar per standard bottle. This is an important point since high fiber carbohydrates have numerous health benefits, including increased fecal weight, lower cholesterol, and slower absorption of glucose to name a few. Also, companies stress the hydration benefits of coconut water for exercise. Interestingly enough, the article informs the readers that a certain coconut water manufacturer was actually sued for $10 million dollars for over exaggerating its hydration benefits, and a study came out recently comparing the hydration efficiency of water and coconut water and did not find a difference. So hydration is a benefit but not a superpower of coconut water.

I think this article doesn’t adequately address some of the possible scenarios when drinking coconut water would be beneficial. One of the experts quoted in the article points out that it is important to keep in mind the increase in calorie intake if you were to replace regular water with coconut water. However, an increase of 100 calories a day doesn’t seem substantial enough to ward someone off of something, especially if it fills someone up and prevents them from snacking throughout the day. Also, coconut water might make sense for someone who doesn’t like drinking plain water and is looking for healthier, less sugary options than soda or juice.

Work Cited

Oaklander, Mandy. “Should I Drink Coconut Water.” Time. Time Magazine, 06 Nov. 2014. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.