Vitamin Water is becoming more and more popular nowadays. This beverage is marketed as a healthy one, rich in vitamins and minerals, and ideal to boost your energy and enhance your overall health. That said, some people claim that Vitaminwater products are extremely unhealthy as they contain added sugar. What is Vitamin Water? Is Vitamin Water good for you? And can anyone drink it? Keep reading to answer all of these questions and find out the truth.
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What Is Vitamin Water?
Water is probably the most crucial nutrient element for the human body. It serves many purposes such as hydrating your body, regulating its temperature, carrying oxygen into your cells, and cleaning them from waste.
But, we are all familiar with water, and as we all know it does not come in different flavors. What is Vitaminwater then, and how is it different from water?
Vitaminwater is a beverage made by Coca-Cola. It can be considered as a water 2.0, an improved version of plain boring water, with more vitamins, minerals, and electrolytes. These “healthy” additives are naturally supposed to make the drink healthier and more beneficial to our bodies. But is that the truth?
Some people claim that the idea of these “nutritional” waters has nothing to do with improving people’s health and that it is just a powerful way to market water and sell it at a higher price. We might even say that this idea was a success, considering that the sales of bottled water have incredibly increased in the U.S. and that most of the profits are made through nutritional ones.
5 Reasons Why Vitamin Water Is A Bad Idea
Drinking Vitaminwater does not sound so bad, so why are we exactly against it? Is vitamin water good for you? Let’s find out.
1. It Is High In Liquid Added Sugar
We all heard of how drinking Coca-Cola is bad for your health as it has excessive amounts of liquid added sugar, which can be incredibly harmful. Well, guess what, Vitaminwater might contain just as much sugar!
If we take a bottle of Vitaminwater (591 ml), we will find that it contains:
- 120 calories
- 32 grams of sugar
Compared to a bottle of Coca-Cola of the same size:
- 230 calories
- 59 grams of sugar
We can say that Vitamin Water has 50% fewer calories and sugar than regular coke.
Nevertheless, the type of added sugar used in each beverage is different. For instance, Vitamin Water is usually sweetened using both crystalline fructose and sucrose (also known as table sugar and cane sugar), while Coca-Cola is sweetened with sucrose only.
Beverages sweetened with Crystalline Fructose can be very dangerous considering it is over 98% fructose (almost pure fructose). On the other hand, Sucrose (cane sugar) is considered a bit healthier as it is half glucose and half fructose.
So, even though Vitaminwater contains almost 50% less sugar than Coca-Cola, the fact that Vitaminwater is sweetened with Crystalline Fructose and Coca-Cola with Sucrose, means that they contain almost the same amount of fructose, which is considered the most dangerous added sugar.
2. It Is Highly Fattening
It is known that the main downsides of added sugar are weight gain and obesity, along with type 2 diabetes, heart diseases, and more.
This means that a healthy diet not only relies on healthy foods but also healthy drinks!
When you provide your body with high amounts of calories from sugar-sweetened beverages like Vitamin Water, you trick it into consuming less healthy foods as it already gets its needed calorie intake.
This results in the calories building up on top of all of the other nutrients, which eventually leads to weight gain and increases the risk of obesity.
It is no secret that sugar-sweetened beverages are one of the main reasons behind overweight and obesity in the US. And Vitaminwater is, unfortunately, no exception; just another sweetened drink high in calories and sugars!
3. It Increases The Risk Of Many Diseases
Excessive weight gain can easily lead to many diseases such as obesity and chronic diseases. In order to avoid these harmful consequences, it is advised not to exceed 5% of your calorie intake in the form of sugars. The ideal for your body’s health is to limit your consumption to no more than 24 grams per day for women and 36 grams per day for men.
As we said above, one bottle of Vitaminwater contains 120 calories, and 32 grams of added sugar, which exceeds the daily dose for women, and reaches almost 100% of its limit for men.
This can have a negative impact on the body by increasing the risk of multiple disorders such as type 2 diabetes, heart and kidney diseases, metabolic syndrome, cavities and tooth decay, and in some extreme cases cancer.
This is due to the metabolism of fructose, as the liver can only metabolize low amounts of it. The excess of consumed fructose disturbs numerous bodily functions and ends up increasing blood cholesterol, pressure (hypertension), triglycerides, and insulin resistance, eventually damaging your body.
That said, fructose is not all bad as it’s also found as a natural sweetener in fruits but only in small amounts. It is only when consumed in excess that it becomes harmful.
4. It Does Not Supply Necessary Nutrients
Even though Vitaminwater contains numerous vitamins, including:
And several minerals such as:
Providing your body with these vitamins through an unhealthy sugar-sweetened beverage remains a bad idea. You can always get enough amounts of vitamins and minerals by consuming natural healthy foods. Or, in case you lack a significant amount, you can always opt for vitamin supplements.
Not to mention that B vitamins and Vitamin C are rarely lacking from the human’s body, and considering they are water-soluble vitamins, consuming more than the needed intake is useless as they will only be excreted in the urine.
5. It Might Cause Harm
When it comes to nutrition, more is not always the best idea.
Even though nutrients and minerals are essential parts of a healthy diet, moderation is a must. In fact, nutrients that are consumed in excess can have a bad impact on your health.
Even though Vitaminwater alone does not contain exaggerated amounts of nutrients, it can end up increasing your daily intake to harmful levels and reach excessive amounts.
Which Vitamin Water Is The Healthiest?
Vitamin Water Zero is a calorie-free version of Vitaminwater, which is why it’s considered the healthiest. The bottle costs $1.49 and is available in seven flavors (Recoup, Rise, Revitalize…)
Since the original Vitaminwater is unhealthy due to the added sweeteners, Vitamin Water Zero is a better alternative considering it is calorie-free with no artificial sweeteners. This version uses Truvia, a natural stevia-based sweetener.
One bottle of Vitaminwater Zero contains:
- 100% of the daily value for vitamin C
- 40% of the daily value for B vitamins
- 10% of the daily value for other vitamins
Vitamin Water Zero might be lacking in some minerals such as sodium and potassium, but it’s still an acceptable alternative to boost your energy during the day.
The Best Way To Get Your Vitamins
The best way to get your daily intake of vitamins is through natural foods and drinks. What you need is a balanced and healthy meal plan with a variety of whole foods (fruits, vegetables, grains) that will provide your body with the needed dose of vitamins and minerals and meet its needs.
If you are lacking a nutrient, you can always consume a supplement to complete your diet. That said, keep in mind that supplements are never a substitute for a balanced diet, even though they will help your body get the needed substances to function. Getting the right intake of nutrients through supplements will also reduce the risk of several diseases.
Conclusion
We all agree that vitamins are good for you. They are necessary nutrients that will provide your body with numerous health benefits and prevent you from getting sick. Unfortunately, due to a poor diet, many people don’t get these crucial vitamins and end up with a deficiency. However, you can compensate for this by taking supplements which you can find easily in nutrition stores or just on the internet. You can find them mainly as pills or water-soluble capsules, but you can also get them as gummy bears.
Even though supplementing your body through sugar-sweetened beverages such as Vitaminwater might seem like a great addition to your diet, it can be very dangerous. Always make sure to read ingredient labels carefully to avoid any harmful products.
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