Coconut water vs. sports drinks, opinions?

not a med student wrote:

chocolate milk is NOT a good recovery drink. The dairy industry does a good job of promoting it as such. they brainwash kids into thinking milk is good for bones and recovery. nothing could be further from the truth. it is all propaganda.

THIS is true.

drink coconut water.

or

drink water, eat a banana and some nuts

or

drink water, eat a steak, an egg and a sweat potato

...

just because us western folks can tollerate milk doesn't mean it's good for us.

And the chocolate in chocolate milk is mostly sugar or (worse) HFCS, and maybe 20% cacao.

good point! the problem with the baked potato and steak is it will take way too long for all those nutrients to absorb into the cells and repair. that is why we want quick absorbable protein from plant sources. i like the banana and nut idea though. the baked potato is starchy and your body won't get the sugars in time to recover because it takes a while to break all that down.

Plus we have to stick to the original point. Typically we use coconut water to restore electrolyte balance in the body during a long workout. coconut water itself is not a recovery drink as it has very very little protein what so ever.

not a med student wrote:

agreed. I am crazy. I also love to study and read nutritional things.

"Things" is probably an accurate description. Blogs and sketchy research would all fall under that. Peer reviewed, verifiable scientific research wouldn't.

People crack me up. You know what else is "toxic" (toxic - gasp!) - water.

"Water, just like any other substance, can be considered a poison when over-consumed in a specific period of time."

You better not have too much water, or it might "build up over time" in your body.

LOL - yeah I know about water intoxication. But it is actually due to an imbalance of electrolytes with the water. Not the water itself. Your body has to maintain a certain level of balance between the minerals and water level. if that gets out of balance - then water intoxication can happen. That is another reason coconut water would be good to drink. it assures you get all the minerals and won't get this in balance.

Also, the problem with just sticking to peer reviewed journals and such is that they are often not done independently. That is the dairy industry does research and tries to prove that milk is good for you. Same with aspartame, GMOS, and other things. I agree with you that many of my resources are controversial and would not hold much water in the mainstream,..but let me ask you a few things...

Do you know when the food pyramid first came out...in 1916....fats and sugar were 2 of the 5 groups?

Do you know in the 1930s that the medical doctors agreed smoking was not the cause of lung cancer? In fact many docs told people to smoke.

Those are just 2 of the many many examples. In our country..the issue of credibility versus INDEPENDENT RESEARCH will always be there. I for one enjoy the freedom of researching many issues and not getting skewed versions like we get in nutrition classes and medical school. The only thing between a degree and a person is 3 things: lots of money, a piece of paper, and lots of homework.

and by the way since we are on the topic...the quality of the water we drink does make a difference. it is a good idea to filter out your water or use reverse-osmosis. also, the fluoride in the water is also questionable in the possible effects to the body. but i won't go into that.

oh and one more thing...you tell me about scientific research and credible sources and then link me to WIKIPEDIA...baaaahhaaaaahahahahahahahahahhahahaha......thats funny!

peace!

Absolutely, I don't disagree with the premise of what you say. However, when certain crowds go around citing these questionable studies as fact I have a problem.

I understand the basics of the physiology of water intoxication. My point is that just because something can be "toxic" doesn't mean much at all. You need the context. Earlier, someone tried to provide context on dosage. That was instantly shot down by a dope who claimed that you shouldn't have any "toxin" at all because it'll "build up over time". Some chemicals do build up, but he's clearly applying this as a blanket statement.

not a med student wrote:

oh and one more thing...you tell me about scientific research and credible sources and then link me to WIKIPEDIA...baaaahhaaaaahahahahahahahahahhahahaha......thats funny!

peace!

I feel better KNOWING you're a troll.

industries will always argue that the toxins do not accumulate in significant amounts. the farmers tell us that round up will be in our bodies when we eat their sprayed crops..but say it won't be enough. the dentists tell us that mercury vapor won't be in our blood at high enough levels either when they put mercury in our teeth. my problem with this is a few things...

1. medications work on very very small doses and completely alter the certain functions of the body.

2. it may affect two people differently

And by the way...i was not trying to be a jerk about the wikipedia thing..i just thought it was kind of funny. peace!

I drink coconut water, I never noticed any good or bad effects with it though there are many facts about its health benefits, in this article for example http://coconutjuice.co/coconut-water-nutrition-facts-and-benefits-for-health/, but anyway I like the taste and it really quenches the thirst.

not a med student wrote:

The Kenyans drink very little milk - other than mothers milk at birth and rarely get stress fractures? Why?

I'm sure it has something to do with Kenyans not pounding 100 mile weeks on asphalt like we do in America

Do what you can afford, don't let others try to convince you what is good and what's not. Like anything, moderation is key and if you can find a sports drink w/less sugar and less price then nothing wrong with it. Main thing, hydrate yourself well.

I really hate the taste of coconut water by itself, I prefer to mix w/it something else. I only use it during long or hard workouts--especially in the warm/hot months. Other times, I will drink a sports drink w/little to no sugar. In the winter/cooler months, I drink just water.

As for the person saying toxins, etc, etc...running outside and breathing the air can be toxic. I think if we worry about every aspect of what we eat/drink and breath then we are not truly living, are we?

Listen, when I grew up all we ate was processed, not wholesome foods, and ate out at fast foods a lot and I drank tons of milk/ice cream and yet, I never broke a bone in my body (even to this date--40+years later) and I was VERY active in sports/exercise. I still weight about the same as when I was a young adult and have been healthy ever since.

Kenyans drink a lot of milk... well, a lot as in several ounces a day, everyday in their tea as cream.

HeyHay wrote:

Dude, you are REALLY stretching....my dad is a MD.

Sorry... we'll type more slowly.

Every time I've drank coconut water I've been sick afterwards.

Does anyone have any idea why?

It's actually the only time I've been sick in the past few years.

I don't really want to try it again.

not a med student wrote:

chocolate milk is NOT a good recovery drink. The dairy i....but the the problem with it is all of the live enzymes have been killed and so have much of the vitamins that was originally in the milk before pasteurization. Then they put vitamins in it. There is something called vitamin synergy which means that it is the interaction of all the vitamins and enzymes.

You realize all the "enzymes" dont do anything once they reach your stomach, except get digested like any other protein you consume. Right? So why does it matter if they are active or inactive?

I'm just glad I'm not a paranoid fool like half the people posting on here. To run around fretting over "toxins" in gatorade like it's going to kill you is insane.

Look, we have folks like Keith Richards that shot poison directly into his veins-FOR YEARS!!! What is he, 75 yrs old? And you think drinking an occasional soft drink or gatorade is going to take you down??

Drink water, coconut water, gatorade, coke cola.. whatever. Just dont be thirsty. You'll be just fine. You'll probably live to be 80-85 and die- just like everybody else.

I've heard some information that coconut water can be substitute for sports drinks, like in this article for example http://juicycoco.com/coconut-water-as-a-part-of-fitness-diet-plan/ but there isn't enough scientific evidence that it's effective sports drink, so I personally just drink regular sports drinks cause I tried coconut water and I didn't even like the taste.