Plant Waters

Now that the weather is taking a turn for the better, you may find yourself a little parched while you are “studying” outside…

Let’s be honest…I have been there and played that game too. You are all really just on Facebook, Twitter, or watching Netflix. Anyways, back to being parched. As you vigorously study away you become thirsty, but ponder, “What should I drink?” Now, you want to be a little healthy so sodas are out, but what about this new line of plant waters? Better yet, what about this diet water? No wonder why you couldn’t lose those last five pounds; for the last 20 some years of your life you have just been drinking plain water!  Silly you!

Luckily you have me to help sort out if you should or shouldn't be buying these fancy new waters.

What are plant waters?

Well, that they are not really water, but more like juice. Some of the more known types of plant waters include coconut water and aloe water. (Un

(Un)Luckily for us,  we have newer ones that have popped up on the scene that include artichoke water, cactus water, and maple water. As hip and trendy as I like to think of myself as being, I had never really heard much about any of these new waters until I stumbled upon this video… (Warning: it is a tad dry and the host has a British accent)

Video: https://youtu.be/TJi_s0GsfTc

Should I be drinking these?

Well none of these drinks actually have any research or science behind them. Do they contain some vitamins and minerals? Sure. Are they going to miraculously help with weight or whatever else they are purporting? Unlikely.  Do they taste good? Does it really sound like they would taste good? Whatever happened to just plain old water? If you want the benefits of plant waters, add your own sliced up vegetables and throw them in your water. If you really want the health benefits touted by these drinks, why don’t you just eat said plant?!? For example, instead of being a fancy Nancy and paying $5 for artichoke water, you could either... 

A-buy artichokes and put them in your water or 

B-eat an actual artichoke.  

Now I know that being a Dietitian, everybody wants to know what I do. Do I drink artichoke water or maple syrup water? No. Do I infuse my water with fruits, vegetables, or herbs? No, but only because I am too lazy. I drink good old plain water (out of a filter).

Also of note is that typically products like these have other stuff added to them. For example, one of these plant waters proudly claimed that it contains organic blue agave…which is still sugar. Which brings me to my next topic…

Nutrition Mumbo Jumbo

I have written a little bit about this nutrition mumbo jumbo before, but upon a little perusing of some plant water websites I found even more gems that I couldn't resist sharing. I knew I had found gold when I saw the following statement…

 “Targeted for daily hydration…X Plant Water is vegan, low-glycemic, lactose-free, gluten-free and cholesterol-free. No added colorant, flavoring agent, or caffeine is contained in X Plant Water. Just the good stuff!”

Hmm…it’s almost like its regular water! Another good one I found on one of the websites were some “celebrity” endorsements. I use the quotation marks because these “celebrities” are people I have never heard of. Just for fun let's pretend I were a marketer for just plain old water. If I wanted to use some celebrity endorsements my list would include:  George Washington, Albert Einstein, Beyonce, and Nemo. I am somewhat surprised that these plant water companies have not started using this for advertising…

Anyways, for more information on proper hydration check out this blog I did a while back. Well I am off to go take some selfies…

Until next time!