Coconut water is the hot new health drink

Coconut water is the hot new health drink

Advocates say coconut water - the clear liquid inside a young coconut - is a nutritional goldmine.

Health claims

It's a low-fat health drink. Deemed a healthy alternative to sugar- and kilojoule-packed soft drinks and juices, pure coconut water is a natural beverage with no artificial additives or sweeteners. It's cholesterol free, 99 per cent fat free, low in carbohydrates and naturally occurring sugars and has less than 100 kilojoules per 100ml (most flavoured varieties use 100 per cent fruit extracts).

It also boasts zinc, selenium, iodine, sulfur, manganese, boron, molybdenum, ascorbic acid and B-group vitamins. But Hourigan says the latter two are not at a substantial level and Ferraretto warns that the bottled source may not be as good as the real deal. "What's the shelf life for all these components and are they still active when they've been on the shelf for a while?" she asks. She says you also need to remember that coconut water is not kilojoule free.

It's better than a sports drink

Dubbed "nature's Gatorade", coconut water is a natural isotonic drink that provides many of the same benefits as formulated sports drinks, including the electrolytes calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, sodium and potassium, but in their natural form.

"While it's a marketing advantage to say it's natural, in the real world your body doesn't distinguish between the electrolytes coming from coconut water or from a sports drink," says Ferraretto. And while a small Malaysian study found it caused less nausea, fullness and stomach upset than sports drinks, and could be used for whole-body rehydration after exercise, she would not yet recommend it for athletes.

"Although it does provide electrolytes and a little bit of carbohydrate, a sports drink is specifically formulated for athletes and the electrolytes and carbohydrates are at the right level." She says the rest of us get all the hydration and electrolytes we need from a healthy diet.