Coconut Craze: Is Coconut Water Really As Healthy As People Think?

The Chicago Tribune:

Coconut has emerged as a hot flavor trend -- showing up in ice cream, chips, snack bars and even vodka.

Coconut water has been anointed nature's sports drink, and cartons of the electrolyte-laden liquid are appearing in gyms, yoga studios and the hands of the Hollywood elite.

Read the whole story: The Chicago Tribune

Comments

[thehoopoe]

07:24 PM on 07/19/2010

Where I come from we use the coconut for everything. Coconut water is more refreshing than plain water to me. But be ware the milk, fattening stuff, and can spike your cholestrol.

[Truye]

04:23 PM on 07/18/2010

Yes, this article is awful. It is more opinion than fact and was very short. It didn't seem like this guy did his research at all.

I have a really hard time believing that someone would suggest a sports drink over a natural substitute (other than the salt thing, so add some salt to something!). Those sports drinks are so heinous and full of crud atheletes probably shouldn't be putting in their bodies either.

And did anyone else find it odd that the doctor/scientist/nutrionist woman said after and hour or two of exercise. That can be pretty hard core. So is coconut water good for just regular people or the casual exerciser? (Well I think yes because I use it in conjuncture with water to keep me hydrated). Please article! Why aren't you better?

[Truye]

06:46 PM on 07/18/2010

P.S. "Is Coconut Water Really As Healthy As People Think?" Well it isn't un-healthy so why the beef with cocnut water?

[alieninvader]

11:26 AM on 07/18/2010

Lack of evidence is not synonymous with bogus. Science tends to be centuries behind what native cultures have always known. I'm not saying that coconut is a miracle cure. I might have to try it though.

There is only one type of food that is literally meant to be eaten...fruit, and it's been somewhat vilified in recent years, especially with the low carb types. It would be tough if not impossible to get a balanced diet from only fruit, but I have a hard time believing that something so natural, tasty and designed to be eaten could be bad for people.

[StoryTime]

02:05 PM on 07/18/2010

Right on Alieninvader.
I totally agree with you.
I suggest people do more research because coconuts are complexe and their fat is NOT as bad as this article wants you to think.
I hear you about fruits, I do feel the same but here is a very good video that explains that a coconut is actually....a seed! Or let's say the part that we eat is the seed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hvR8i0aTe0
You should try coconut water.
I don't think anything is a miracle cure, rather everything natural is designed for us, whereas sports drinks and such are not natural and were not designed for us.
Stay healthy, it's a journey

[saskatoonie]

02:47 PM on 07/16/2010

Coconut oil is supposed to be very beneficial as well.......something to do with the prevention of Alzheimer's.

[Scarlett PencilPoint]

12:34 PM on 07/16/2010

I'm very surprised that the article didn't mention coconut water's purported efficacy as a hangover cure. That was the context in which I first learned about it. Personally, I haven't found it all that effective. But perhaps that's because the first morning I tried it, I stumbled downstairs, grabbed the can, popped it open and started chugging--only to find that the coconut water had little chunks of coconut in it. Unexpectedly finding chunks in your hangover cure is unpleasant, to say the least.

[Truye]

04:19 PM on 07/18/2010

Whenever I am hungover I always go for coconut water. It works like a charm (with a healthy dose of water and some salty foods).

[Valda DeDieu]

11:25 AM on 07/16/2010

The Coconut is one of Nature's perfect foods. The milk (fresh -- not canned) is equally delicious in sweet or savory foods, has anti-viral, and anti-bacterial, properties. The water treats dehydration, the flesh is food. The shell, husk, leaves, and bark of the tree are all useful in various ways, including as furniture, mats, accessories...

Coconut milk also has been researched and proven to have a nutrient similar to mother's milk. But then, Caribbean people have known this for years. What is not proven by your "experts" does not necessarily not exist. I would prefer that this subject be properly researched rather than (having had) this lazy treatment it has received here. Google, anyone? Just going to a site like Dr. Mercola's of Mercola.com, the premier and well-respected, well-credentialed and certified physician, an expert in health matters, would be a starting point.

[JScott]

10:50 AM on 07/16/2010

So now coconut water is trendy....a fruit from the tropics that has to come from 3000 miles away to the mainland.........talk about carbon footprint and global warming.

[cabinetmaniac]

01:07 PM on 07/16/2010

I live in Florida and can get them right from the tree.

I shred and bake them with a little salt and lime juice.

Delicious snack.

☮

[liarsclub75]

11:05 PM on 07/15/2010

I love coconut water and young coconut meat. I wish it was more available in regular stores and not just Health food stores and Whole foods. Coconut oil is good for protecting hair from heat in summer. It is fine to cook with, but it will give the meal a coconut flavor.

[SlowBurn]

08:02 PM on 07/15/2010

I trust everything Prof. Applegate says, so I won't be looking to coconut water as a sports drink. On the other, it wasn't even on my radar before this article. I will, however, be re-evaluating my love for Pra Ram sauce, which consists of peanut butter and coconut milk.

[FunkyP]

04:15 PM on 07/15/2010

I once read where this coconut water is close enough to our blood plasma it can be used in transfusions!

[wm1066]

12:27 PM on 07/16/2010

I think I remember hearing about medics in the pacific giving guys coconut milk in their veins, for blood loss during WW2. It bought them time to get them back to a medical unit.

[Mirabai305]

01:08 PM on 07/16/2010

It has to be juvenile coconuts and yes, it does carry all the necessary electrolytes. What it doesn't have is oxygen-carrying capability, which is terribly unfortunate.

[Marioli]

04:01 PM on 07/15/2010

Coconut water is definitely healthier than some over-developed, overly-enriched chemical energy-drink concoction! But common sense isn´t something that the Food and Drug Adminsitration likes to exhibit at all times!

[crom14]

03:01 PM on 07/15/2010

The "So Coconut" Yogurt is very good. No dairy or soy.

[seehowtheyrun]

02:48 AM on 07/16/2010

So is Coconut Dream (coconut "ice cream"). And no dairy or soy either.

[StoryTime]

11:49 PM on 07/17/2010

Did you mean Coconut Bliss??
The best!!!! Oh my gosh!!

[wm1066]

02:35 PM on 07/15/2010

When I was on Cozumel, camped out on the beach in the 1970's, I got sunburned on my neck from snorkeling in the ocean. The coconuts milk from the trees on the beach sure helped sooth the burn. Ahhh, but then the Federales came and kicked us off the beach.