Tender Coconut Water – Healthier and More Powerful Than Any Energy Drink

We are well into the tropical summer, here in Goa. There are only about three weeks left to go before the monsoon rains will hit. The earth is already waiting. Many trees are losing their leaves, turning parched and brittle. Another sure sign are the brain fever birds screaming early in the morning. They are getting louder by the day, more feverish. Yes, it is hot, but still bearable along the coast, with strong winds, sometimes coming from the northwest, especially at high tide, and sometimes from north northeasterly directions. With Buddha Purnima, or the full moon of the month of May behind us, the temperatures will surely soar during daytime and the nights will be less coo

So, you sweat more than usual… and need to drink more than usual. But what? Soft drinks? No, they contain much too much sugar, which in the heat lets you wilt even more. Alcoholic beverages? Worse than soft drinks! Energy or sports drinks? Too acidic, and not very healthy at all. Did you know that the acid in sports drinks erodes the teeth from the first sip until 45 minutes after the last sip, when the saliva returns the mouth to its normal ph balance?

Water, however, is good plenty of it, too, with some lime squeezed into the bottle, plus a pinch of salt; yes, salt – definitely not sugar. In the heat you need to replace the salt lost through sweating; you don’t need additional altered sugars.

But there is another drink, more appropriate than lime water actually, and even loaded with lots of electrolytes: tender coconut water. It immediately brings your energy levels up the moment you drink it. And fortunately, here in the south of India, tender coconuts are everywhere, like in other places in the tropics. There is no drink more refreshing in this hot weather than tender coconut water. But you have to consume it fresh, because once exposed to air, coconut water begins to ferment immediately and loses most of its organoleptic and nutritional qualities.

Mortin Satin was one of the previous chiefs of the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). He had this to say, “Coconut water is the very stuff of nature, biologically pure, full of natural salts, sugars, and vitamins to ward off fatigue, and is the next wave of energy drinks, BUT natural.” In terms of its health benefits, coconut water beats energy drinks in every aspect. According to www.knowledgebase-script.com

· Per 100ml natural coconut water contains more potassium (at about 294mg) than most sports drinks (117mg) and so-called energy drinks.

· Coconut water has less sodium (25mg), whereas sports drinks contain 41mg and so-called energy drinks about 200mg

· Coconut water contains absolutely no altered sugar, but 5mg natural sugars. Sports and energy drinks range from 10 to 25 mg of altered sugars.

One specific aspect makes coconut water ideal for human consumption, “It is an isotonic beverage, with the same level of electrolytic balance as we have in our blood… and it contains lauric acid which is found in no other than human mother’s milk.” Overall, coconut water is rich in natural sugars and amino acids, enzymes, minerals and fatty acids, which composition, indeed, makes it an ideal drink in dehydration conditions.

It goes without saying that traditional medicine in tropical countries has made use of this rehydration effect of coconut water in the treatment of diarrhea to replace fluid loss from the gastro-intestinal tract. And even modern medicine improvised with it in moments of dire need, when during World War II both Japanese and American doctors and paramedics regularly applied coconut water siphoned directly from the nut, in order to give plasma transfusions to wounded soldiers. Coconut water is a universal donor, as it is identical to human blood plasma.

The enzymes in coconut water are naturally occurring and bioactive, like phosphatase, catalase, dehydrgenase, diastase, peroxidase and others. All of these support digestion and a healthy metabolism. Furthermore, coconut water as a more ideal composition of minerals (including calcium, iron, manganese, magnesium and zinc) than some fruits, like oranges. And finally it adds to the body some of the B-complex vitamins that the body does not itself produce and which therefore need to be replenished from outside sources, such as: riboflavin, niacin, thiamine, folates and others.

So, when in the tropics: drink coconut water, iced if you wish – or just plain without additions. But don’t buy canned coconut water in colder climates at the supermarket. It has too many preservatives – and none of the nutritional qualities and benefits of fresh tender coconut water.