Coconut Water as a sports drink
Coconut water is perfect to be known as nature’s sports drink.
According to a new scientific analysis, it is concluded that the much-hyped natural drink is perfect for those who are involved in light exercises.
However, the research team led by Dr Chhandashri Bhattacharya warned that people taking part in strenuous exercise might want to take it all with a grain of salt – literally – or stick with a more traditional sports drink like Gatorade.
Bhattacharya said: “Coconut water is a natural drink that has everything your average sports drink has and more.
“It has five times more potassium than Gatorade or Powerade. Whenever you get cramps in your muscles, potassium will help you to get rid of the cramps. It’s a healthy drink that replenishes the nutrients that your body has lost during a moderate workout”.
Bhattacharya’s team analysed coconut water, Gatorade and Powerade and discovered that coconut water contained up to 1,500 mg/litre of potassium, compared to up to 300 mg/litre for Powerade and Gatorade.
Coconut water, however, had 400 mg/litre of sodium compared to 600 for the other two drinks. It had comparable quantities of magnesium and carbohydrates as the other drinks. The price for all three beverages ranged from $2 to $3 for 8-12-oz containers.
Coconut water’s lower sodium content is where it fails as a good sports drink for people who engage in strenuous exercise that causes a lot of sweating.
Sweating makes people lose more sodium than potassium and coconut water alone cannot replace that lost sodium.
