# Coconut water: yummy, effective rehydration **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 23, 2006, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coconut-water-yummy-effective-rehydration/369910 "2006-08-23T17:43:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2006, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coconut-water-yummy-effective-rehydration/369910/1 "2006-08-23T17:43:53Z")
After seeing a few writeups in various outdoor adventure mags, Mrs. Dewgrrl and I decided to buy a case of [Zico](http://zico.com/) to take with us on our camping/hiking travels over the summer. Zico is one of the more recently publicized brands (that I’m aware of) of packaged coconut water being marketed as a sports drink. Of course the contents of green coconuts has long been a beverage of choice for tropical folks. And for good reason, with it’s high potassium and electrolyte content, no fat, no sugar, no cholesterol, and low calories. Heck, it can even be used intravenously in emergency situations. We found the drink to be a heavenly end to a long day on the trial. We’d leave a couple of them to chill in our cooler at camp, and take our usual water supply with us on the trail in our camelbacks. Tasty, refreshing, invigorating, and almost palpable in its recharging of bodily fluids. We both preferred the varieties that had a little fruit flavoring essence added. As we traveled around the states, sometimes we couldn’t find Zico, but we were always able to find tetrapacks of some variety of coconut water at healthfood stores. I looked, but I was not able to find a lime-flavored variety. You’re welcome for the earworm. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2006, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coconut-water-yummy-effective-rehydration/369910/2 "2006-08-23T21:39:13Z")
Speaking of “the trip”, how did it go? Where did you guys stop and camp? If you’ve already done a post trip thread, point me that direction. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2006, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coconut-water-yummy-effective-rehydration/369910/3 "2006-08-23T22:04:39Z")
When I lived on Oahu, one of my favorite treats when visiting Aloha Flea Market was the green coconuts. Guys would have 55 gallon drums of iced down green coconuts - you paid, he’d take one out, wack off the end with a machete and stick in a straw. Yummy! ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2006, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coconut-water-yummy-effective-rehydration/369910/4 "2006-08-23T22:31:59Z")
I’m unwilling to admit that the trip is over, so I’m still marinating in what I want to say in my post-trip post. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2006, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coconut-water-yummy-effective-rehydration/369910/5 "2006-08-23T22:33:18Z")
Ah, nature’s pedialyte. This is the only thing my parents let us drink on the road in India. You can stop and get someone to scamper up a tree, pick a fresh green mango for you, make a hole with a parent-proffered knife to protect the intestines of their foreign-raised young, stick in a straw and drift away to hydration. ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2006, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coconut-water-yummy-effective-rehydration/369910/6 "2006-08-23T22:52:12Z")
:smack: I meant to also mention that all of the varieties that we’ve encountered so far for sale in the states (and what I’ve seen advertised so far online) have been produced by Brazil. I’m assuming they have a corner on the coconut market… ---
**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2006, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coconut-water-yummy-effective-rehydration/369910/7 "2006-08-23T23:09:33Z")
[QUOTE=honeydewgrrl] Heck, it can even be used intravenously in emergency situations. [/QUOTE] Hmmmm… I’m rather skeptical about that claim. ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2006, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coconut-water-yummy-effective-rehydration/369910/8 "2006-08-23T23:40:10Z")
Something I’ve read here and there, I’ll try and find a cite. When taken directly from the interior of a coconut, the fluid is isotonic and sterile, among other desireable qualities. ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2006, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coconut-water-yummy-effective-rehydration/369910/9 "2006-08-23T23:55:36Z")
An excerpt from a published 1999 [study](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6W9K-4D0Y9K9-BY&_coverDate=01%2F31%2F2000&_alid=438391322&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_qd=1&_cdi=6685&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=aea4d61d1768d2ea691f6239d6f8d51e) … > [@](#): > > Abstract > > Medical resources routinely used for intravenous hydration and resuscitation of critically ill patients may be limited in remote regions of the world. When faced with these shortages, physicians have had to improvise with the available resources, or simply do without. We report the successful use of coconut water as a short-term intravenous hydration fluid for a Solomon Island patient, a laboratory analysis of the local coconuts, and a review of previously documented intravenous coconut use. ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2006, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coconut-water-yummy-effective-rehydration/369910/10 "2006-08-24T08:15:10Z")
After all these years, I’m still not close to the Marshallese in the use of a machete or a stake to get the goodness out of these miracles. Sorry, but tell you what, we got LOTS of 'em here on Kwaj. If you want to work on your own coconut, I’ll be glad to send you some. Just let me know. BTW, the slightly immature ones do not have a real coconut solid inside, it is more like a gelatinous glaze, but it is still nutritious and is often used as a supplement to baby food.