Vitamin Waters: Are they Really Worth It?
I recently became aware of a new type of product called “vitamin enhanced water beverages.” There are quite a few of them too, and they all seem to make a pitch about how healthful they are, being laced with antioxidants and vitamins. Implicit in the concept is that water is improved by adding these nutrients. But it makes me wonder: Isn’t water already a healthy beverage?
It doesn’t take much effort to see that these “enhanced” versions of H2O are actually sugary pop in disguise. Just look at the ingredients list and you will notice that the second ingredient (meaning the second highest amount) is always sugar. I’ve made it even easier for you by tabulating the ingredients myself, from all of the brands on sale at my local supermarket. In no particular order:
Snapple® antioxidant water: “Purified water, sugar …”
Sobe® lifewater: “”Filtered water, sugar …”
Glacéau vitamin water: “Reverse osmosis water [read: water], fructose (natural sweetener) …” (Natural or not, sucrose is sugar.)
Talking Rain ActivWater™: “Water, organic cane sugar …” This one boosts its antioxidants with tea extract, begging the question: Why not just have tea?
Propel®: “Water, high-fructose corn syrup …” Starting to see a pattern here …
So what about the vitamins and antioxidants? Firstly, it is highly doubtful that the extra vitamins are doing any good. Despite the common perception that they fight off colds, boost the immune system, and are generally magic in myriad ways, every major study of vitamin supplementation has failed to find a measurable benefit, and the consensus among experts is that they probably do more harm than good. So while there are some instances (such as vitamin D) where a case can be made for extra dosing, the view that “enhancing” your liquid refreshment with vitamins doesn’t hold water.
The addition of botanical antioxidants (acai, pomegranate, blueberry) makes more sense. As a rule, they are much more potent as dietary antioxidants than vitamins. But here’s what makes more sense: drink regular water, and spend your money on acai or pomegranate juice or blueberries. Somewhere along the line we seem to have bought into the idea that the good nutritional aspects of healthy foods can be extracted, then added to a sugary drink to make it into a healthy one. You’re smarter than that.