Why is functional water the healthier alternative in the ready-to-drink beverage market
People have always looked for ways to make the water they drank healthier, at first simply by trying to remove as many harmful bacteria as possible, but later they also started adding different herb and fruit compounds, such as green tea, coffee, or lemon juice, to make it even healthier or simply more fun to drink.

Because preparation of beverages like coffee or tea takes time and in some cases a lot of expertise — we all know how complicated it is to make really good coffee, right? — the beverage market started looking for more and more convenient drinks that still carried health and other benefits but was easier to prepare. Now the beverage market is increasingly dominated by ready to drink (RTD) beverages, which come in several forms and a can boast a diverse spectrum of tastes, from alcoholic beverages to dairy and non-dairy drinks.
They may have several functionalities. Energy drinks that give the customers an energy boost when ingested are very popular among athletes and work-out enthusiasts, protein drinks meet the dietary needs of the customers who often consume nutrient RTD beverages as a replacement for regular meals, and many RTD beverages focus on weight loss as they contain few or zero calories but give a feeling of fullness and satiety. But health benefits of RTD beverages are the most often cited reason why customers reach for them.
More and more people in the West nowadays believe the way they take care of their health is unsatisfactory. On top of that they often mistrust not only the ingredients in the food they consume but they also scrutinize the processing of the food. They are worried about the calories in the croissant they eat for breakfast and the fat in the sandwich they secretly wolfed down the previous evening.
Functional water has become one of the most popular forms of non-dairy RTD beverages. It cannot serve as a replacement for regular, sit-down-and-eat meals, like some dairy RTD beverages can, but they are nonetheless widely popular because of their numerous health benefits. Customers buying functional water brands are looking for satiety, energy, or hydration too, but it is different health benefits that are cited as the most common reason for consuming functional water.
Functional water is supposed to offer a large range of health benefits. Better hydration is the first and most common, but amongst the many cited health benefits functional waters carry are prevention of heart diseases, stopping different inflammations, lowering blood pressure, preventing cancer, shutting down seasonal allergies, skin care benefits, anti-ageing properties, enhanced bone health, improved cognitive functions, and many others.
Functional water is believed to have all these health benefits because of the compounds that are added to pure drinking water or the changes on the molecular level that have been induced. It is well known that different vitamins serve as antioxidants and help rein in free radicals which damage healthy cells in our bodies. It also efficiently hydrates the inner and outer layer of our skin, thus making it look soft and smooth. Minerals and vitamins are necessary to maintain bone and muscle health. Nootropics, which are a growing trend in the functional beverage market, improve our cognitive functions and enhance our sharpness and alertness. The changes in the molecular structure of the functional water make it wetter and thus a more efficient hydrator.
Whatever the health benefit customers are looking for, there will always be a functional water out there that will cater to their specific taste. The beverage market is forever evolving and changing, but one thing seems to be constant — its pursuit of health and natural energy. And with new breakthrough scientific discoveries happening almost on a daily basis, the sky’s the limit in what the beverage market can offer in the future.
