When temperatures start rising, you probably start looking for something to cool you down. That’s especially true if you’re out playing sports, exercising, or spending your time by the beach. Your body relies on a steady supply of water and nutrients to stay hydrated and to function effectively. Many people think of hydration as the amount of water in your body, but it’s actually possible to be dehydrated with an abundant amount of water in the body. That happens when you sweat out electrolytes, or nutrients, and replace them with only water. You end up with a bunch of water that your body cannot properly absorb because you lack nutrients. That’s why so many sports drinks sell themselves as being full of electrolytes. These sports drinks are also usually full of artificial sugars. Companies add these sugars to make their drinks more palatable. All of that sugar isn’t healthy, though. That’s why so many people are waking up to the benefits of coconut water.
What Is Coconut Water?
Coconut water is often confused with coconut milk. They’re not the same thing, though. Coconut water is the clear liquid that’s present inside of young green coconuts. The major difference between the water and the milk is that coconut water contains the endosperm and nutrients that eventually deposit into the coconut meat to help it grow. This means the water actually contains more nutrients than coconut milk.
Why Is It So Great?
In tropical countries, people have been drinking coconut water for generations. They’ve been harvesting their own green coconuts that grow towards the end of the seasons and probably won’t develop into full coconuts. Now they’re building an entire industry around selling the water. Cooling coconut water for summer weather is more than just an island favorite, though.
The greatest aspect of coconut water is its high electrolyte content and a good balance of electrolytes. It has a very low level of calories, carbohydrates, and fat, while still maintaining a high level of nutrients. It also tastes pretty good. Moreover, the level of nutrients means that it has the capability of actually hydrating better than either water alone or many different kinds of sports drinks.
Who Drinks It?
One of the greatest endorsements of coconut water comes from a group of people known as ultra-marathoners. An ultramarathon is any running race that is longer than a marathon, which is 26.2 miles. Some ultramarathons are 50 kilometers, but many are 100 miles long. In many ultramarathons, the runners drink coconut water throughout the race. There is possibly no greater endorsement for a product than people running over 100 miles using it as a source of hydration. Ultra-marathoners have some the highest demands of hydration of any group of athletes.
Coconut water, the liquid that comes from young coconuts, is a very nutrient-rich mix of electrolytes with very low fat, carbohydrates, and sugar. The mix of electrolytes is also specifically suited to rehydrating better than water alone. Since it is a natural product, it’s renewable and very affordable.
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