How innocuous is Vitamin Water? Its water and vitamins, right? What is the harm? When you watch the comical commercials you would think Vitamin Water was some sort of miracle tonic from yesteryear. Up all night clubbing and drinking? Down a Vitamin Water. Playing hard on the court or ‘ye old’ ball field? Pep up with Vitamin Water. After all, the water hydrates you and all those vitamins are great for energy and rejuvenation. A closer look, however, reveals a beverage that is at best mediocre and at worst an outright detriment to health.
Let’s start with what should be obvious about any type of water. Water has no color yet Vitamin Water does. This fact is often overlooked but is very important. The Coca Cola Company, having made $700 million last year distributing Vitamin Water, adds artificial dyes to the water. These chemical dyes have been linked to ADD/ADHD and other adverse health conditions.
Then we come to the sugar content. Vitamin Water is sweetened with crystalline fructose, a version of High Fructose Corn Syrup. Consuming Vitamin Water can inevitably lead to spikes in blood sugar which ultimately crashes. It is the spike that makes you feel ‘energized’ giving you a false sense of energetic elevation. Unfortunately the crash leaves you needing another sugar fix or you must face the wrath of lethargy and poor performance. While we are on the subject of wrath, let us consider all of the sugar that is in Vitamin Water. It contains approximately 30 grams or 6 ½ teaspoons of sugar. By contrast a Hershey Bar has 24 grams of sugar. Along with the spikes and crashes the toxic nature of processed sugar must be considered. Over consumption of sugar hinders the body’s immune system by adversely interacting with the white blood cells changing their shape, number and function. Processed sugar has no place in a beverage that claims to be beneficial to the body.
Calorically Vitamin Water can sabotage a workout. The nutritional label, an oxymoron in regards to this product, explains that there are 50 calories per serving. Unfortunately, there are 2 ½ servings per bottle for a total of 125 sneaky calories. When you consider what processed sugar does to the immune system combined with blowing up your workout due to calories or adversely affecting your athletic performance (sugar crash) it hardly seems worth it.
In addition to everything that has been mentioned the true crime are the vitamins. People who think of Vitamin Water somehow think vitamins are in it. That’s probably because the name is ‘Vitamin Water’. In nature there are many vitamins ranging from A to K and the B complexes are numerous but Vitamin Water only contains five – C, B3, B5, B6, and B12. To add insult to injury these few vitamins (and the electrolytes as well) are synthetic. Synthetic vitamins are not always bioavailable. In other words, the body may not recognize the synthetics as vitamins. So, Coca Cola only uses five vitamins in their product and they may not be assimilated in the body. Brace yourself because the insults continue. If the body doesn’t recognize the synthetics as vitamins they are attacked by the immune system as a foreign substance. This taxes the immune system in addition to sugar’s role in adversely affecting it. No wonder chronic illness is so prevalent with the dubious nature of products marketed in a way that makes us think they nourish us.
If you are working out, playing hard or just wanting to recharge drink some purified water and eat a small healthy snack. You could also insist on an all-natural, non-toxic beverage. They do exist. Be aware of what you consume and let LeBron and 50 Cent (avid spokesmen for Vitamin Water) consume this nutritionally suspicious product.
For a great non-toxic, all natural and rejuvenating beverage checkout SISEL Splash at: http://www.mysisel.com/vip/thoughtfulhealth/productdetail.htm?id=2022
