If you haven’t tried coconut water yet, you should! Coconut water has been around for quite some time but now it is seemingly becoming more popular and more available. There has been a saying that coconut water is ‘Mother Nature’s sports drink’. What do you think?
ZICO coconut water is my personal favorite, just in case you were wondering! (Shout out to my step dad for buying me boxes of this!) In 2004 the founder of ZICO, Mark Rampolla, started selling the product out of a van, and now ZICO has traveled across seas! Vita Coco is another one of the companies that brought all natural coconut water to the United States just 12 years ago and the company is widespread across seas as well. In fact, both companies have made coconut water so popular that the drink is available in all different types of flavors and mixtures that you could imagine! Of course, there are plenty of other choices, but those are my top two choices.
Even though the drink is starting to become more expansive and popular, drinking fresh water out of a coconut has been done for ages. I remember as a kid my grandparents had brought my brother and myself coconuts from Florida and they chopped it open, and we drank straight from the source.
One of the best benefits of drinking coconut water is that you can drink a large amount of coconut water without having to worry about all the fat gain! Drinking this consistently compared to water – it will make you full much quicker! (And satisfy the taste buds!)
Coconut water has an outstanding amount of potassium and a very low amount of sugars compared to sports and energy drinks that are loaded with processed sugars! Ounce for ounce, most fruit juices will have twice as many calories as coconut water. Same goes with the amount of sodium; which is almost doubled in sports and energy drinks! The amount of potassium and sugars, of course, will vary based off of the company, but there are a total of 5 different electrolytes in each! These include; calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, and sodium. And if you’re like me and don’t tend to eat your daily fruits and vegetables then coconut water will make up for the areas that you’re lacking. Coconut water has at least the same amount of potassium as bananas! Of course, this varies based on the company and the size of the drink. Most people also lack the daily amount of potassium intake that their diet requires. Well, coconut water can surely help with this issue! And even better if you are vegan! Coconut water will give you a great amount of nutrition that you may be missing out on. It has also been proven to help patients in the hospital get re-energized or even if you’re feeling a little under the weather, the drink will lift you up!
Another positive is it helps with anti-aging! Coconut water is rich in antioxidants that work against the damaged skin which means if you are a constant drinker, your overall skin health will improve. It will also hydrate your skin, giving it more life! (You can also try other coconut products.)
One downfall is that, if you are an athlete, you are better off with sticking to a sports drink because they have the sodium and carbohydrates that you need. Coconut does contain essential electrolytes, but unfortunately not enough to be your everyday sports drink. But then again, it varies for the type of exercise you have done or if you’re not active at all. Doctors recommend not to over drink unless you have an active lifestyle because the calories will add up and in that case, it will cause weight gain!
At the end of it all; drink water, drink coconut water as well! It’s all good for you, but just like anything else, do not over do it. Too much of anything can do more harm than good!
