The Health Benefits of Coconut Water

If you’ve been paying attention to popular trends, you will have no doubt noticed that coconut water is getting a lot of play. Coconut water, not to be confused with coconut milk or coconut meat, is the water that is contained within young, not-yet ripened, coconuts. The drink has been popular in Asia and the tropics for several hundred years, but its popularity in the US is still in its infancy. Why is this drink so popular? The easiest way to answer that question is to explain that coconut water has lots of health benefits.

Coconut water contains relatively few calories, which makes it a popular drink among those who are trying to diet and take in fewer calories. It is widely known that one of the best ways to cut down on the calories you take in is by cutting out the sodas, fruit juices, coffee and tea that you drink in a day. Replacing these with regular water can help you cut down your diet by hundreds of calories a day. Of course, not everybody enjoys drinking plain water (most of us like our drinks to have a little bit of taste). Coconut water is a great compromise for this: it (usually) has a light nutty taste and contains very few calories per serving. It has other health benefits as well.

Of course, the main benefit of coconut water is that it keeps you hydrated. Staying hydrated, no matter how much exercise you get each day, is important. Everybody is familiar with the rule of “at least eight glasses of water” every day. Coconut water is a great way to accomplish this while getting much needed potassium. The water also contains many of the healthful elements that can be found in the coconut’s meat. This happens because, as coconuts ripen, the water contained within them solidifies and becomes the milk and meat that so many are already familiar with.

Perhaps the biggest health benefit associated with coconut milk is the potassium contained within it. Many people’s potassium levels are less than ideal due to the average person’s aversion to eating enough fruits and vegetables. A typical serving of coconut milk contains roughly twice as much potassium as you would get from eating an average sized banana. The benefits of potassium are many: it helps regulate your blood pressure, prevents strokes and prevents heart attacks. One very popular benefit of potassium is its helpfulness in warding off hangovers. This feature alone can make coconut water the morning beverage of choice amongst college students everywhere!

If you’ve been reading the hype, there are some who believe that coconut water is a better alternative to sports drinks, that it can help manage diabetes and that it reduces a person’s risk of getting cancer. While the jury is still out on some of these claims, there are a number of provable benefits to drinking coconut water: its low caloric content, its high levels of potassium and its ability to keep you hydrated.