Why I Love Coconut Water

We all know that healthy means well-hydrated. You can feel the difference when you’ve been drinking plenty of fresh liquids and sweating it out via exercise – the whole world feels bright, alive, and exciting. Dehydration, beyond being bad for your health, just doesn’t feel good. Neither does being inactive and crunched over your keyboard. You don’t really need a ton of scientific research hyper-analyzing if you should workout and drink fresh juice and water – just do it and your body will tell you it was the right move. That being said, the science is overwhelmingly in favor of getting off your butt, moving around, ditching the soft drinks and juicing up. You’ll just enjoy life more.

One of my favorite ways to hydrate is coconut water it tastes ahhhhmazing and has so many nutrients hidden inside it’s tasty juice that it has even been recommended as a treatment for blood loss and extreme dehydration and in some instances even used as an alternative IV drip for emergency situations when traditional IV drips were unavailable. While coconut water drips wont become the newest medical treatment of choice, it is an indicator of just how much this juice has going on.

 

Nutrients

One serving of coconut water provides 5.8 milligrams of vitamin C, along with folate, riboflavin, thiamin, niacin and vitamin B-6. Coconut water is also a great source of other key minerals including calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus and zinc. Magnesium helps with metabolism and copper help with collagen production and keeping bones strong. It also contains manganese and potassium, these two help with wound healing and maintaining a healthy electrolyte balance. Coconut water contains the electrolytes calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and sodium. It also oddly enough contains fiber. Although it’s typical to think of crunchy veggies and heavy grains as the main source of fiber you can also find it in this magical liquid. Fiber helps people suffering from diabetes by lower blood sugar levels and helps to lower cholesterol levels keeping your heart healthy.

Ditch the sports drinks.

Especially when choosing this over a typical sports drink, it is an epicenter of wellness. Most energy drinks, even those that boast their electrolyte content, are saturated with tablespoons of liquid sugar and unnatural color as well as preservatives. Most stores are selling coconut water in cartons that are easy to grab and go if you don’t have the luxury of sipping directly out of a freshly lobbed open coconut.

Smoothieville

The water, because of it’s coco-nutty sweetness, goes incredibly well blended with almost any fruit, especially tropical ones. Try this Pina Colada smoothie recipe or this Watermelon Daquiri one if you need some inspiration for what to toss in the blender along with your fresh juice. You can also just add a hint of lime and an ice cube or two and start singing the lime in the coconut song – it actually does taste really good. Song worthy.

What’s your favorite coconut water recipe?

Grab a coconut and say cheers & let us know in the comments below! : )