The Wonderful Coconut

Posted on April 30, 2013  Comments (7)

One of the treats of living in a tropical climate is drinking coconut water. I love drinking the water from fresh coconuts. This video provides insight into the many uses of all parts of the coconut tree.

The Truth About Coconut Water by Kathleen M. Zelman, MPH, RD, LD – WebMD

[coconut water] has fewer calories, less sodium, and more potassium than a sports drink. Ounce per ounce, most unflavored coconut water contains 5.45 calories, 1.3 grams sugar, 61 milligrams (mg) of potassium, and 5.45 mg of sodium compared to Gatorade, which has 6.25 calories, 1.75 grams of sugar, 3.75 mg of potassium, and 13.75 mg of sodium.

There are some health benefits to consuming coconut water. It’s an all-natural way to hydrate, reduce sodium, and add potassium to diets. Most Americans don’t get enough potassium in their diets because they don’t eat enough fruits, vegetables, or dairy, so coconut water can help fill in the nutritional gaps.

Beyond that, the scientific literature does not support the hype that it will help with a laundry list of diseases. “There is a lot of hype about coconut water, yet the research is just not there to support many of the claims and much more research is needed,” says Cheung.

I have tried bottled coconut water which was pitiful. I don’t know if that was just a bad type and good options exist or the fresh stuff is just much much better. But I’ll stick to fresh coconut water as long as I can.

Related: Does Diet Soda Result in Weight Gain?Can You Effectively Burn Calories by Drinking Cold Water?How do Plants Grow Into the Sunlight?Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

7 Responses to “The Wonderful Coconut”

  1. Emmett
    May 1st, 2013 @ 10:20 am

    Besides being healthy, it just flat out tastes great. It is refreshing and great as long as it is not bottled. Like you I have had the same unpleasant taste with a bottle variety.

  2. bryn braughton
    May 2nd, 2013 @ 1:25 am

    I often use coconut water for health reasons just reading about its properties its nice to see. someone aknowledge.

  3. nelson sitompul
    May 8th, 2013 @ 10:07 am

    Yes, I agree with you about benefit for health. In my country Indonesia, woman drink water of coconut to get skin clear for baby when she’s pregnant.

  4. Carmine
    June 2nd, 2013 @ 8:54 pm

    This is very true, I never paid much attention to coconut water until I traveled to South America and tried one at the beach… It was so refreshing, I was hooked. I also learned that it is a great hang over helper because it helps you hydrate after drinking alcohol.

  5. Rok
    July 28th, 2013 @ 8:33 pm

    The only problem with coconut water as a sports drink replacement is that it is high in potassium and low in sodium, which is the exact opposite of sweat, through wich we supposedly lose 10 times as much sodium as potassium. But this is only applicable to extreme sports, normally it can provide sufficient rehydration.

  6. How Healthy Is Squid for Us? » Curious Cat Science Blog
    April 19th, 2014 @ 9:52 am

    In my searching I have decided it seems I can use squid as a substitute for fish…

  7. Anonymous
    May 24th, 2014 @ 3:15 pm

    Coconut water is awesome as long as its fresh and not canned or bottled. Virgin coconut oil is also very healthy as well. It has all those MCT fats. Getting the water fresh from the coconut has some of the MCT’s in it. There is a lot of research coming out showing MCT’s having an impact on weight loss and positively affecting brain function

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