The next time you reach for Gatorade or juice, consider coconut water. Your Badass body will thank you for it.
Most juices are more high fructose corn syrup than actual juice, and if you drink a lot of it before and after a workout, those calories will add up fast -- maybe faster than what you're burning. Then there's Gatorade, which contains not just high fructose corn syrup but ingredients like sodium citrate, mono-potassium sulfate, modified food starch, "red 40," and glycerol ester of rosin (which apparently gives it that characteristic coloring.)
Coconut water, however, comes from inside the coconut and has been used as a healthy drink for literally thousands of years. Through wars and famine, it's even been used as intravenous fluid for soldiers. Remember that Michael Pollan book about eating "real food" that your grandmothers and ancestors would recognize -- food that comes from a plant, not stuff that's made in an industrial plant? Well, coconut water fits the bill.
On my friend and fellow Badass Kirsten's urging, I bought a passion fruit-flavored Zico coconut water at the health food store in town on Saturday in between teaching Spinning and taking a 90-minute hot yoga class. Kirsten was right. It helped keep me hydrated and energized far better than any sports drink or plain water.
The yoga room reached more than 100 degrees and 73 percent humidity, (as evidenced by our post-yoga sweaty picture from my camera fogged up with humidity!) But I drank half the coconut water before class and finished it off after, and I have to say it felt awesome.
VitaCoco, O.N.E. Coconut Water and Zico are just a few of the brands out there now that beverage companies including Pepsi are catching on to the Badass qualities of coconut water. The drink is typically sold in 11-ounce containers, and the calories range from 60 to 80 per container. Sugars are naturally occuring from the fruit varieties, and sugars and carbs are all about 20 grams or less. There's also just plain coconut water.
Compare that to Gatorade, which has 50 calories for 8 ounces and contains high fructose corn syrup in addition to space age-sounding ingredients like sodium citrate, mono-potassium sulfate, modified food starch, "red 40," and glycerol ester of rosin (which apparently gives it that characteristic coloring.)
To summarize the health benefits of coconut water:
- It is real food, not some heavily processed nuclear-colored liquid filled with ingredients you can't pronounce.
- It is naturally low in carbs and sugars, and it has no fat or added sugar. Also: zero cholesterol.
- With electrolytes and more potassium than a banana, it works to naturally replenish your body after exercise. Potassium is key to preventing muscle cramps and helping speed up muscle recovery.
- Rich in lauric acid, it boosts your body's immune system and helps naturally detoxify it.
So before that next run or long cycle or yoga class, quench your Badass selves with coconut water. I'm curious to know what you think of it. If you've already tried it, let us know, too!
Coming up tomorrow: Meet Badass Kim Bibeau, 75 pounds lighter and a Tour de France later.
