I started drinking Vitamin Water made by Glaceau and my daughter, who is very health conscious, tells me that it’s “Just Kool Aid for adults.” I am looking at the list of ingredients and this is what is says:
I quit drinking soda years ago and drink water or unsweetened iced tea, with nothing in it, when at home and when we dine out but drink this when I am out in my car running errands. What is the straight dope on my new drink of choice? Is it beneficial overall?
Thanks!
AD
“Beneficial”? Depends what you mean by that. If you tend to not drink enough and are chronically dehydrated, then it’s a great source of (expensive) water. But it’s not a great source of vitamins in meaningful quantities, nor does it have very many different vitamins - just a few B’s, really. There’s also a lot of sugar (pardon me, “crystalline fructose”) in there you don’t really need, and which may contribute to weight problems (if you have any). It is pretty much Kool-Aid for adults.
Water and a good quality multi-vitamin is a better choice, but if you like it and have no overweight issues (or money issues), then it’s not the worst choice ever.
If you eat a healthy diet, you get all the vitamins you need. Your daughter is absolutely correct.
This is the only part of your drink that is water. They are implying that it’s triple distilled. Conventional distillation, deionization and RO accomplish the same thing; water, without minerals.
Water, by definition, has no calories.
This is sugar.
These are flavorings and preservatives.
The rest are vitamins that are readily available in healthy food. It’s always best to get your vitamins from food rather than suppliments of any kind.
I drink Vitamin Water a lot…but not because I think it has any benefits for me. I do it because it tastes good, and that makes me stay better hydrated. It’s just about the least bad (in terms of calories) thing I can drink that has good flavor. It’s got a lot less sugar than soda, and less even than sports drinks. If I try to stick to anything lower, like the flavored waters or, of course, plain water, I just don’t drink as much.
It’s about a buck seventy five, but yesterday I bought a 12 pack at Sam’s and it was about a buck a bottle. That’s when she killed my buzz. Yea I know that crystalline fructose is sugar. I also know that high fructose corn syrup is in a lot of crap and it is a leading factor for type 2 diabetes. I figured she was correct, she usually is. I’m not a tub of goo, but I’ve only been drinking this stuff for a couple of months. I live in SW Florida and the tap water is almost undrinkable down here so I have a water cooler at home and drink a lot of water.
It’s like 89 cents a bottle if you buy it in bulk from Costco and has less than a third of the sugar of soda. I mostly drink filtered tap water but have a bottle of Vitamin water or Life water three or four times a week at the most. WhyNot pretty much nailed it. If that’s what it takes to keep you hydrated and you don’t have a weight problem, drink up.
Eh, a buck a bottle is about what I pay for bottled water (of course, then I refill the bottle from the tap until I lose the bottle.) There are far worse things you could be drinking, you’re right.