Coconut water: What you need to know

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  • A coconut sits on the grass in Alofi, Niue. (Associated Press archive)
    Billed as a miracle drink

    When coconut water broke into the U.S. market 10 years ago, it was billed as a miracle drink able to fight viruses, kidney disease and other ailments like osteoporosis. Global sales now reach $400 million a year, and many consumers believe that the beverage has a wide variety of health benefits. But they may be unaware that the drink’s marketers have sharply scaled back their claims.

  • Supporters of the Indian Federal Democratic Party hold banners and coconut during a demonstration against Coca-Cola and PepsiCo in New Delhi, India, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2003. (Associated Press archive)
    Essential elements?

    The minerals in coconut water are what prompted the early claims of curative power, but their amounts are quite modest and they are widely found in other foods. A banana, for example, has 422 milligrams of potassium, compared with 660 milligrams in a typical container of coconut water. The water’s big three minerals are potassium (19 percent of the daily recommended intake), calcium (4 percent) and magnesium (4 percent).

  • Zico coconut is sold and marketed by Coca-Cola. (Associated Press archive)
    A sports loss

    Vita Coco, a leading brand, once boasted that it had 15 times the electrolytes — substances like sodium and potassium that are lost in sweat — in sports drinks. Then a 2011 class-action lawsuit contended that some of the mineral sums on its packages were exaggerated; as part of a settlement, Vita Coco agreed to stop saying that it rehydrated better than sports drinks. “We don’t try to compare ourselves to much of anything anymore,” said Arthur Gallego, the company’s publicist.

  • West Indies' captain Darren Sammy drinks coconut water as he takes a break during a training session ahead of their ICC Twenty20 Cricket World Cup match against Pakistan in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on March 31, 2014. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
    An acquired taste: Salty and sweet

    The flavor is an unusual mix of salty and sweet. The typical coconut water has 30 to 70 milligrams of sodium and 9 to 12 grams of sugar per 11.2-ounce container — saltier but much less sweet than most fruit juices. The same amount of apple juice has 10 milligrams of sodium and three times as much sugar: 33 grams.

  • Coconut palms in Longbeach, Longboat Key. (Herald-Tribune archive / 2012 /Harold Bubil)
    Young and green

    Not to be confused with coconut milk (the milky-white liquid made from coconut meat), coconut water is the clear fluid from young, still-green coconuts, packaged in angular Tetra Paks, as well as in bottles and faux coconut shells.

  • Runners reach out for a sports drink near the 14 mile marker, during the Inaugural Albritton Fruit Sarasota Marathon and Half Marathon in Sarasota on March 5, 2006. (Herald-Tribune archive)
    One Last Comparison

    These days, coconut water’s big rival may be plain old water. How do they compare? Scientists are still wrestling with the question, and while their findings vary, water is starting to look just fine for most people. A 2012 study (funded by Vita Coco) in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition found that neither coconut water nor sports drinks were better than water in hydrating young men after hourlong workouts.

  • (Herald-Tribune archive)
    More than a drink

    Meanwhile, coconut water flows on. Best-selling cookbooks are using it as an additive in soups and smoothies. And it’s not just for drinking: Dial has released a soap and a body wash that use coconut wateras a hydrating agent — and as a powerful image on the package.

  • Avocado also boasts health claims. (Herald-Tribune archive
    So what's the appeal?

    Coconut water taps into a “deep consumer vein,” Tom Pirko, a beverage industry analyst, wrote in an email. “It is not seen as a ‘manufactured’ concoction, but rather the issue of Mother Earth.” And it seems poised to become just the first in a wave of natural waters; already for sale are bottled waters from maple and birch trees, barley, cactus and artichokes, with their own exuberant promotions.