“Enhanced water” is gaining popularity and is helping companies such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi to turn a tidy profit. Many of these trendy drinks contain an array of ingredients and claim a variety of health benefits. Newsweek and the Center for Science in the Public Interest, an advocacy group that focuses on nutrition, say that the science behind many of these health claims is weak. They have assembled a small list of four “enhanced water” drinks which are probably doing little more than keeping you hydrated.
VitaminWater B-Relaxed Jackfruit-Guava with vitamins B and theanine
Coca Cola claims that vitamins B and theanine help fight stress. The CSPI says there is no evidence that the vitamins in this water have a calming effect. Theanine can reduce blood pressure but doesn’t have an effect on mood, according to studies in the Journal of Psychopharmacology. Additionally, this drink contains no jackfruit or guava, just flavors.
Dasani Plus Defend + Protect with zinc and vitamin E
Vitamin E typically only boosts immunity in large quantities in people who have a deficiency. There is evidence that zinc lozenges may shorten the duration colds, but there is no evidence to suggest that drinking zinc in water has an effect on cold duration.
Sobe Life Water Challenge Your Life with taurine and ginseng
This beverage’s label doesn’t say how much taurine and ginseng is in the bottle. Newsweek asked Sobe about the quantities to which they replied, “We allow customers to decide what ‘challenge’ means to them.”
Aquafina Alive Satisfy with maltodextrin
Maltodextrin is a fiber, but not a soluble fiber, so it may do nothing to keep you regular, if that is your goal.
A Healthy Drink? Try Plain Water [Newsweek]
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If you’re going to get “water”, just get propel. It’s got less sugar than Vitamin water/// and yes, the commericals are true.
I just drink water. With nothing in it. It’s 100% fat and sugar free!
Are we discounting the pretty and varied colors? That’s got to be worth something, right?
@beavis88: must be an east coast thing. I live in the *desert* (Tucson) and I pay less than $20 a month for water.
@linus: Most filters are bacteria breeding heaven, so it actually worsens your water quality.
And in some buildings pipes are so old, that water smells/tastes funny. That’s where bottled water comes in.
@ErinYay: I has a flavor! So I just drink my water and then lick my wrist. Sort of the reverse of tequila shots.
Incidentally, my tap water is so ridiculously hard that it DEFINITELY has a flavor. Once I got used to it, I really liked it. I love mineral water, and my tap water’s just as good as any bottled mineral water I’ve ever had.
I always tell people who bitch about our tap water, if this were Europe instead of Peoria, we’d be bottling and selling our tap water for its spectacular mineraly qualities and sense of terroir. But since it’s America we just bitch about it.
I’m just happy to see jackfruit’s name in print.
these things taste like the sweat i aqueeze out of my sweat socks after a hard work out.
@linus:
Because city water tastes like shit. My gallons only cost 50-70 cents each. Not sure where you’re getting yours from, but I can get mine for as low as 0 cents if I’m not lazy. I have a problem with buying a filter that costs 30 bucks + replacement filters that may or may not work very well (who knows until you buy it and test it, at which point returning it isn’t an option).
Also, I think most people on this site recycle. I definitely do.
@sean77:
I grew up in Tucson on the water and it was fine for a long time. Then they decided to introduce the CAP. Then I moved to Chicago, where there must be more dirt than water in the water, because that shit tastes like shit. When I went back to Tucson I definitely noticed the distinctive CAP taste.
I like my water to taste like nothing. Not dirt, not chlorine, not “weird,” just nothing.
Not to mention sneaking calories into your diet since many contain a high amount of sugar.
@FitJulie: lol If they add more oxygen they will end up with hydronium. Plus, if I remember my chemistry right, they’re very reactive and dissolve in…wait for it…water. hee
@ravensfire: I realized this one scorching Texas summer when I had traipsed several miles in the sun and bought a Dasani. I guzzled it and felt even thirstier. Then I realized it had salt in it. argh!
@AMetamorphosis: so true and so funny. want to eat healthy? don’t eat or drink stuff that you see fat people eating and drinking.
@linus: I bought water the other day when I was on a road trip and my three-year old son was thirsty. The choices at the stop’n'sip were coffee, sodas, fake-fruit drinks loaded with high fructose corn syrup (which, latest research suggests, may promote obesity and glucose-insensitivity), or bottled water. Hence, bottled water for the Least Loser.
Otherwise, yeah, filter tap water.
@incognit000: Where do you get your information? I know a lot about the safety of Texas’ tap water. There have not been any instances of major violations in the last six years. In fact most water systems in the state meet or exceed EPA standards. Why don’t you call the TCEQ and get the consumer confidence reports before you go mouthing off about things you don’t understand. And we are not in a drought, in the 80′s we were in a drought, my creek hasn’t been dry in 20 years and we’re not rationing water. In fact it hasn’t even lost flow in about 7 years. And I live in one of the more arid areas of Texas. Not that the water in the creek belongs to me, but that’s a whole other argument.
@suburbancowboy:
The microbrain already does.
Okay, cheap easy water with actual vitamins. Ready?
(1) blender or juicer
(1) strainer (might be included in your juicer)
(1) glass or bottle of tap-water, filtered if you’re picky
(1) small portion of one or more fruits and/or veggies
Procedure: Juice fruits/veggies, or blend-and-strain. (Use the leftover pulp in pies or cookies, or as compost or fertilizer, or feed it to the animals in your yard if you want.) Just one fruit is fine, or try tasty combos like orange/carrot, apple/orange, grapefruit/pineapple, etc. Add small amounts of green veggies to any mix to make it even healthier — things like wheatgrass, celery, cabbage and kale don’t taste very strong, and citrusy fruits will cover their taste.
Add 1-5 tablespoons of the juice to some water — more if you like it “fruiter”.
Put the rest of the juice in the fridge, OR freeze it in ice-cube trays for double-badassness. (You’ll have enough from one “serving” of fruits/veggies to make up to 10 bottles of water).
THERE. IS THAT SO FREAKING HARD, PEOPLE.
Total cost: Under a dollar to make several servings
JD + Seven works well for me. Plenty ‘o’ vitamins in there.