Is vitaminwater good for you?
- Asks Valerie from California
Christopher Intagliata • December 3, 2007
A rainbow of flavors. [Credit: Glaceau Vitamin Water]
Let’s face it – water is so dull. But vitaminwater, with its kaleidoscopic pinks, peaches and violets, is like Vegas in a bottle! Vitaminwater’s shimmering hues even seduced rapper 50 Cent, the inspiration for amethyst-tinged Formula 50. But aside from using star power and flashy colors, vitaminwater’s parent company, Glaceau (owned by Coca-Cola), markets the drink by emphasizing its nutritional value. Is there any science behind the marketing though?
A vitamin-fortified drink may sound like a swell idea, but there are two caveats to keep in mind. First, most Americans aren’t vitamin-deficient, according to Marion Nestle, a nutrition professor at New York University. A government survey in 1999 showed that the median American adult man or woman already consumes more than the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of vitamins thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, B6 and B12, and three-quarters of the RDA of vitamins C, B9 and A (including carotenes). In fact, vitamin E is the only surveyed vitamin Americans consume at less than half of the RDA – but it’s found in only a third of vitaminwater drinks.
If you want to drink your additional vitamin E, there’s a second caveat: your body may not absorb it. To understand why, it’s important to know that vitamins can be divided into two groups: water-soluble and fat-soluble. Vitamin C and the B complex group are water-soluble and can easily enter the bloodstream with water. Vitamins A, D, E and K are fat-soluble. That means they can only enter the bloodstream to carry out their functions if they are dissolved in dietary fat, like that found in a meal. An Italian study published by the American Heart Association in 2001 showed that subjects who took vitamin E for two weeks on an empty stomach increased their vitamin E concentration in blood little or not at all, compared to an 84 percent increase in subjects who took the vitamin E supplement during dinner. So unless you prefer vitaminwater to wine with your meal, vitamins A and E will pass largely unused into your city’s septic system.
Even if you were to absorb all the vitamins, vitaminwater might have trouble living up to its image as a salubrious alternative to sugary soft drinks: Each bottle of vitaminwater contains 32.5 grams, or two heaping tablespoons, of crystalline fructose. Fructose is a simple sugar that sweetens many fruits, although the crystalline fructose in vitaminwater is produced from cornstarch, not fruit, by crystallizing the fructose in fructose-enriched corn syrups. As one would expect, nobody needs these extra sugars, according to Nestle, the NYU nutritionist. One research team has even indicated that the intense sweetness of sugary drinks may be addictive.
“The way that vitaminwater is marketed and positioned it’s made to look more healthful than other sugary beverages, but it’s not – it’s still just a soft drink,” said Margo G. Wootan, Director of Nutrition Policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. “It has this aura of healthfulness that is not deserved. Adding vitamins and minerals to junk food doesn’t make it healthy.”
273 Comments
Damn you people. You don’t understand that if you don’t like a product that is marketed, don’t buy it! And also, there are no arsenic, lead or any other of that stuff. Besides, people shouldn’t be worrying about this stupid stuff when there are bigger problems in the world, like alcohol and smoking, air and water pollution, and stuff like poverty and world hunger. So shut your big fat mouths and do something productive for a change.
Also, with out calories we would die. The exact definition of “calorie” is heat energy that is used in the human body as(as it is) energy!!!! So if you’ve got no calories, well, you won’t gain or lose fat, but you will stay the way you are and you won’t be able to get out of bed and you will die the slowest recorded death in history, simply by not eating!
Vitamin water is nothing but sugar and water it contains No juice what so ever and it has artificial sweeteners and sugars and it contains 150 calories and 33 grams of sugar which is MORE then soda. They are good marketers calling them “energy” and “pure” yet they are far from either Im sorry but i wouldnt drink this crap. I would rather drink water or if you are craving somthing sweet add some lemon or lime to your water or add some stevia its awsome you should google it if you dont know what it is.
@okay: Did you read any other comments here? Have looked at Coke’s ingredients? It’s simple math.
20oz. bottle of Coke:
– calories: 239
– sugar: 66.5g
20oz. bottle of Vitamin Water:
– calories: 125
– sugar: 32.5g
Pretty obvious which has more sugar & calories. And regardless of how valuable any individual finds the vitamins in VW to be, they just plain ain’t there in Coke and the like.
VW certainly isn’t the healthiest drink ever, but given it’s comparatively low sugar and the addition of vitamins, I wouldn’t call it “crap”.
soda has less sugar and calories than vitamin water? youre dumb. here try this test.
take 2 guys, have 1 drink soda all day and the other drink vitamin water all day. measure their weight and body fat %. make them eat the exact same meals a day.
“The Institute of Medicine advises that men consume roughly 3 liters (about 13 cups) of total beverages a day and women consume 2.2 liters (about 9 cups) of total beverages a day.”
3 liters is 101 ounces. so lets have those 2 guys drink their respective drink with a cap of 101 ounces a day.
let them keep doing that for a week, lets see who ends up being fatter and unhealthier in the end.
its insane that there are some people who are too dumb to even think soda is better than vitamin water
#
Imagine if someone figured out how to add vitamins to water without making it taste so horrible that they had to add all that sugar…
RB, February 12, 2008 at 6:29 pm
god did and called it toamtoe juice
vitamine water sucks it has caffeine which stunts your growth
To comment number 60 up there, 8 oz is equivalent to 240 ml. An ounce is roughly 30 ml. 8 x 30 = 240.
18 months later, just sayin’.
I’m amazed at the amount of illiterate youth these days. You’re all morons, and the future of our planet is in dire straits indeed should we have to depend on the likes of you for the growth of society.
Go youth!!
I’m a U.S. Marine, and I drink this stuff because the taste isn’t as intense as Gatorade, it’s not carbonated, and it (XXX specifically) has 250% RDA of Vitamin C… for a 2,000 calorie diet. In the feild we consume more than 4,000 calories a day and still run dry on nutrients sometimes. While I agree that any normal sedentary person shouldn’t be drinking this kind of stuff in excess, I love it in between gallons of real water.
I cannot believe how stupid the comments are out here on Vitamin Water
Here is their label
Serving size: 8 fl oz, Servings per container: 2.5;
Amount per serving: Calories: 50;
Total fat: 0g, Sodium: 0mg;
Total carbohydrates: 13g;
Sugar: 13g;
Protein: 0g;
Vitamin C: 100%;
Vitamin B3: 10%;
Vitamin B6: 10%;
Vitamin B12: 10%;
Vitamin B5: 10%
Now maybe you can learn how to read a label. This contains 2.5 servings per 8 oz. Multiple ALL ingredients by 2.5. WHY? Since you cannot read, there are 2 and one half COMPLETE servings in ONE 8 oz bottle.
So sugar is NOT 13 g but 13 * 2.5 or ~33g
Calories are 50*2.5 or 125 calories
BTW, 8 oz Coke = 27g – lower than Vitamin Water, and only 100 calories.
For Pete’s sake, math and reading skills are really pathetic in this country.
vitamn water is composed of red blood cells and cow urine. I drink it daily despite my massive heart attacks due to the vitamins in this “holy” water. me and my 46 kids LOVE boogers and sweaty socks for brunch
suck it dry
-Billy Bushmaster
ok i found this site looking to see if vt water is actualy good for you? im looking at it now and no one realy has an awnser. in my opoion if you drink it and it conitans vitamns its good for you.weather your getting a mass amount or not. i only drink it cuz im sick of everything els out there but it being good is just a plus. as far as the calories are concernd not every one wants low cal stuff. personaly i belive that it is good not the best but good. well water is proly the best for you but if your moving around all the time and sweating like i do when skateing and snowboarding you want the electolights that it provides the vitamsn are just a plus.
Many seem to be concerned with calorie counting and sugar measuring. Pure sugar is healthier and less fattening than artificial sweeteners because your body can digest it. As one person said above, calories can be burned. Diets should be evaluated on content, nutrition, and common sense, not calories. I am appalled that diets actually cut out fruits or veggies to avoid the natural sugar content. It’s a fallacy to think that our bodies can easier digest man-made artificial chemical components better than straight natural fibrous and digestable foods. Also, anyone looking to lose weight, try adding between 1 apple or up to a pound of apples a day to your routine diet. Also add a few liters of water a day to your normal diet. When I did this, I lost 40 pounds of fat in about a month, without changing the rest of my diet. That’s a little rapid, but all that weight was just built-up toxic undigestable preservatives, fat and ten pounds water weight. Sodium, preservatives and other chemical compounds that do not grow out of the ground generally cannot be digested properly by our natural enzymes contained in our body, which are excellent at digesting natural foods sans preservatives and artificial ingredients.
Also, consider sodium content when doing drink comparisons. Soda, energy drinks, and sports drinks have astounding amounts of sodium which cause water retention/bloating in addition to other undesirable long-term symptoms. Other key factors to include are the addition of other ingredients. Drinks and snacks laiden with monosodiumglutamate(MSG), preservatives and names that sound like they belong on a shampoo bottle do not mesh well with our organic bodies which are made of the same materials as other life on earth, not yellow #5 and the array of other man-made chemical compounds. In studying the chemical makeup of ingredients, one can see how nature’s finest foods break down into what our bodies need to regenerate and function.
He is a beverage…holy cow, it tastes good, it quenches your thirst. It has calories….wow, it is a beverage with some sugar and some calories, I think I am in shock!!
You drink it because you like it, like you would a glass of sweet tea or lemonade.
It has a little nutrition, okay, good, like enriched white bread. I do not think anyone eats enriched white bread because of its health benefits, but because they like how it tastes!
You know, sometimes we eat things and drink things because we simply LIKE THEM!
Okay? It’s a drink with calories. Oh my god, I think I might die! Give me a break. If you are against calories and carbs or whatever, drink water and live your boring as hell life. :) I’ll be enjoying my life with a bottle of VITAMIN WATER!
I’m not sure what vitamin water everyone else is drinking but, the one I have only has 10 calories per serving at 2.5 servings, so 25 calories total. So what’s the verdict on this crystalline fructose stuff?
I personally love vitamin water (lemonade!). The lemonade kind has 120 calories per bottle, which some complain is too high. Though if you think about it, it’s actually not that bad at all. One tropicana orange juice box contains 120 calories and it’s not nearly as much liquid as a whole bottle of vitamin water. Other juice boxes usually contain at least 100 calories and that’s for 120 ml only. Where as with vitamin water, your getting to drink a WHOLE bottle which is like 500 and something ML for the same amount of calories or less even. Plus along with that, you are getting nutritional value (vitamins). I wouldn’t use it as a replacement of water obviously, but when you’re wanting something healthy with a bit more flavour then water, I’d opt for this… yum.
To clarify a point… Vitamin Water isn’t 50 cent’s product.Smart water, a sister product of VW is his product.
I’ve seen alot of very valid points in this thread, and I’ve seen alot of BS… BUT, based on my research on the ingredients, there ARE some risks involved. However, I highly doubt that it would have any serious effects unless taken in MASS quanities. Our bodies composition is all different, as far as VW causing headaches, stomach aches, ect, I guess it’s how your body components reacts to certain chemicals or ingredients involved. I enjoy a VW every now and then, so, I would just say it’s just about as ‘dangerous’ as any other drink out there. Feel me?
to pathetic, post #211. Maybe you need to learn how to read a nutrition label. There are 20 oz. in a bottle of vitamin water. 8oz per serving x 2.5 servings per bottle = 20oz. By the way, there are less calories in an 8oz. serving of VW than an 8oz. serving of Coke.
‘A poor man’s filler’ is all you are left with re additives (vitamins etc.) in water etc.. No wonder there are wars in the world..such passion and no thought processes…Article: understanding there is a MATRIX involved with natural products (something natural therapists know)..i.e. regarding additives and pills (medication) in nature (salicylate-rich willow bark) there is no damage as the matrix includes a ‘quencher’ but if you isolate and chemically synthesizes the active ingredient and call it say ‘pain relief’ then you may get haemorrhage in the stomach”… i.e. Natural “oranges, vitamin C is part of a MATRIX involving many beneficial phytochemicals (for example, cyanidin-3-glucoside, flavanones and carotenoids)..But how they are interacting is still anyone’s guess”.
Italian researchers in the Division of Human Nutrition at the University of Milan, Italy (Guarnieri S, Riso P, et al., British Journal of Nutrition). http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=37
All bottled drinks containing sugar (i.e. Vitamin water)and sports drinks dentists warn leave a legacy of tooth decay and therefore a very large hidden cost, thousand of dollars…no one wants a ‘gummy’ or’ rotten teeth’ smile.. very ugly; tooth erosion, teeth discolouration, structural weakness and tooth sensitivity are the visible side effects. Have a ‘water chaser’ after sipping a bottled ‘sugar water’ could help minimize damage; better still have a sip from unique ‘ChiH20’ – get real! essential water…http://www.chih20water.com (follow link for science and info).
Just another crappy drink from another crappy
big multinational company who only care about big
time profit and couldn’t care less about anyone’s health!!
Does anyone out there actually drink just plain water (not from
a bottle) I know I do and I don’t need this junk in my body!!!
I have read all of the posts here and can not believe everyone is in such an uproar. If you want to drink VW go for it, personally, it helped me kick the addiction I had to soda for about 8 months. I had soda running through my veins since I was 8 yrs old (if not younger). But to say that tap water is best…um….you might want to take a sample of it to your local health department, and have them test it but don’t tell them that you got it from your tap water that you drink everyday. I bet they will tell you to close your pool down because it has too much chlorine in it. I’ll take my chances with VW and not on tap.
And as for making rich people richer…….your buying filtration systems for your faucets and homes. Duh, your spending hundreds of $$$$$. who’s getting richer there? YOU? If so, let me know cuz I will go that route.
Everything we do makes rich people richer. Use the bathroom, rich dude gets richer. make dinner, Lots of rich people get richer. Here’s a good one, drink tap water….guess what, the rich get richer AGAIN!!! Imagine that. The statement “We’re just making rich people richer” is just dumb. We all know we are making rich people richer because WE aren’t any richer.
As for the taste…It tastes an heck of alot better than gatorade does. How about harping on their ingreidients and what it does to you. I have had no problems with VW but if I drink gatorade I get stomach aches that you would not believe.
Have a wonderful day.
Vitamin water is my most favorite drink ever! It is fantastic with good vitamins for you. It doesn’t give Cancer if it did it wouldn’t be on the market. Just because the economy is bad doesn’t mean the FDA is! And if it did give cancer I would probably have it…and I don’t!
Screw vitamin water, mountain dew is the best drink ever.
Face it; AT is the one being misleading here by comparing a 20 oz drink to a 12 oz drink and leaving out the fact that one has vitamins and minierals while the other is completely devoid of either.
If you’re going to compare the two different sized drinks then you need to break it down to a per oz comparison.
Vit. Water: 50 calories * 2.5 servings = 125 calories for 20 oz drink.
Mt. Dew: 170 calories * 1 serving = 170 calories for 12 oz drink
Vit. Water: 125 calories / 20 oz = 6.25 calories per oz
Mt. Dew: 170 calories / 12 oz = 14.16 calories per oz
Is it really that hard? You tell me which has more calories… ND was right; it’s more than twice as many. It’s largely a moot point anymore now that they have a product line out now with hardly any calories.
Mt. Dew has no vitamins and minerals while Vit. Water his packed with them (especially the Multi-V falvor)
I still prefer Mt. Dew. Sweet…. green…. necter…. =)
Simple as this: it’s not truly good for you, but certainly not bad for you – I just drink it because they taste good and aren’t cloying and sugary like a lot of stuff on the market.
Calories, calories, calories. Too vague a thing to worry about so much. Complex carbs, simple carbs? Calories from fat, or protein? You can’t just say it has calories and that’s bad. Shut up about the calories already.
Hey!
My dad is going for a bike “journey” tomorrow and it’s a lot of miles. My mum bought him Isostar and 2 Vitamin Waters: the lemon one and the potassium one.
What do you think it’s better for him to take on his journey, besides water and fruit, of course, and why?
Please, answer quick. Thank you
VITAMIN WATER IS THE SEX.
all ya’ll mad uptight & this is yo mama talkin DEAL.
It’s amazing how much extremism there is and how the media works off people’s extremist nature. Is sugar bad for you? Not at all. Is 300 grams of sugar a day bad for you? Certainly. But guess what? A can of soda or a Vitamin Water a day isn’t going to put anyone in the hospital or make anyone’s butt as big and disgusting as a Kardashian sisters’. I think for a workout drink Vitamin Water is excellent since the sodium and potassium are much needed electrolytes lost through sweat. The low sugar content also makes it both palatable and helps with glycogen levels. Interesting how Christopher Intagliata sets up a straw man by referring to Margo G. Wootan’s comments. Wootan NEVER directly commented on Vitamin Water but rather made a general claim regarding adding vitamins to junk food. So a hot dog with vitamins isn’t healthful but what the hell does that have to do with a sports drink? Mr. Intagliata go back to J school, you write like a child.
Vitamin water is good 4 u or as they say =^$!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ok whats the need for the dig at the Kardashain sisters? They are beautiful and embrace their curves which is inspirational for young women all over the world.
Just like anything else in this world, there are pros and cons. If you over use something, it is going to be, without a doubt, hazardous. For the people drinking 20 bottles of Vitamin Water a day, you are obviously going to have health problems.
However, this does not excuse CocaCola for putting harmful chemicals into drink. Not only are these vitamins in ratio to chemicals minimal, but this horrid company is giving this illusion and false hope that you are drinking something healthy.
Whether or not this drink is good for you or not seems to be irrelevant, because people will still consume it, no matter how outrageous the stats are going to be. The problem with this drink is the moral point. That being if you are going to put cancer in a bottle, at least give fair warning.
I love Vitamin Water. It gives me a feeling of hydration, and seems to keep me alert during a long work day, but does not keep me up at night. To me, tastes better than soda as well
I used to drink Vitamin Water Muli V because I liked the lemony flavor. Then it occurred to me – Duh, I can add lemon to my own water. For those drinking Vitamin Water because it tastes better than regular water, try adding a squeeze of lemon, a sprig of mint, or a few slices of cucumber to regular or filtered tap water. It is easy. After seeing the movie Thirst http://www.thirstthemovie.org/index.html and learning about all the plastic in the Pacific Garbage Patch, I stopped drinking Vitamin Water and bottled water in general.
“No consumer could reasonably be misled into thinking Vitaminwater was a healthy beverage”. -Coca-Cola
This is the oral argument Coke lawyers offered after being sued for mislabeling the drink as healthy. So I don’t think it’s necessary or appropriate to dance around the question you pose, Mr. Intagliata. NO, it is not good for you.
Brad at #233, junk food has to do with a sport drink because “sport drinks” are junk food. The real truth is there’s no such thing as a “sport drink”- it was a term made up by soda companies to generate a new consumer base for non-carbonated soft drinks. I guess we’d all like to think people should know how to read the fine print in labels effectively- God knows that’s the only way we ever get any semblance of the truth these days. HELLO. Read Coke’s argument. They are essentially calling any one of you that defended the healthiness of Vitaminwater STUPID. They market one thing and legally claim the opposite? WHAT???? People are so GD ignorant and Coke laps it up.
http://themoderatevoice.com/82165/coca-cola-no-consumer-could-reasonably-think-vitaminwater-is-healthy/
I think Vitamin Water is the derivative of good marketing: making us believe it’s a great alternative to a healthier lifestyle, but it really isn’t. Drinks like Swing Juice are more beneficial, but because of good marketing, Vitamin water drowns the healthier alternatives out. I’d rather go for something that taste good and is healthier: Swing Juice.
I think that drinks like Swing Juice are healthier and better for you, and not to mention it taste 1000x better than your water with vitamins crap. Good Marketing is all it is: something appealing that causes all us to act like zombies and go out and buy. I don’t deal with Vitamin water at all, especially since I found out about Swing Juice. Do yourself a favor and find something better than Vitamin Water, because it’s a Coke product.
I LOVE MY VITAMIN WATER! it always makes me feel better after drinking it. It is refreshing and hydrating! IT HAS NO CAFFIENE, and i would hardly drink any water anyway!
It is better than drinking multiple amounts of cola or lemonade! Its definately good to have some vitamins rather than none! It is a hell of alot lower in sugars than other drinks!
Now cmon people VITAMIN WATER WONT MAKE YOU FAT! YOU MAKE YOU FAT!!!
EVERYTHING IS GOOD IN MODERATION AND A LITTLE SUGAR IN YOUR DIET IS HEALTHY IT GIVES YOU ENERGY!!!
so i think you should all get a life enjoy a VITAMIN WATER but please think about the environment and RECYCLE your empty bottle!!!
(a little trick i do is re-fill the bottle with water from the tap and put them in the fridge the flavour left in the bottle infuses your water for like the next 10 re-fills)
RECYCLE PLEASE PEOPLE SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT AND STOP Being so childish bickering about something so pathetic!
All y’all saying “Butbutbut 20 oz. vs. 12!!” need to tell us right now – do you ever JUST drink 12 ounces of a bottle of Vitamin Water? No, you drink the whole bottle. Case closed, now shut up already – Vitamin Water is nothing but water with sugar in it. Have a nice glass of WATER from the FILTER on the TAP. It costs about 6/10ths of a cent per glass.
Hi it was mentioned that it is better to “take” vitamins with water.
Another waste of money if your intention is to improve or maintain your health.
We are blessed with a bounty of naturally occurring foods from which if eaten in a balanced way provide all requirements needed by the body.
Boring I know but it had to be said.
I am a huge water connoisseur and never have drank much of anything else until I tried the glaceau vitamin water. I really like it, but do not consume the whole bottle when drinking it. I want to know though if it is bad for me while i am taking comedian, and will it make my blood thicker being it has some vitamin K in it? I can not get an answer from all the searches about this, and hope I can find out something from here. I am very good about taking my med on time, and not eating anything with a lot of Vitamin K, green veggies etc, and or, drink anything with green tea.. I am just wanting to be sure this is OK to drink, because by left leg swells when my blood gets thick, and sense I have been drinking it I have had a bit of puffiness in my feet and ankle and want to know if it could be the Vitamin Water. If anyone can give me an answer I would appreciate it.. Thank you
The zero water should be fine. I am diabetic and use it as a substitute for juice or soda. See this published article I came across
http://www.nola.com/health/index.ssf/2010/03/post_29.html
Ohh my goodness!
This is new to me, I mean I guess thats just the teenager in me.
See vitamins and water, holy! We’ve got a match!! Alsoo, they are amazing! My favorite one is “Dragon Fruit” … and the last part of this article is so true..I’m addicted to the Dragon Fruit water, I crave it all the time, and when I can I buy it. I finally got curious and desided to do some research, turns out they aren’t what I thought they were..imposter!! I mean, I looked at the label, and seen the sugar and thought, well if thats the only thing “bad” in this.. why not? Now, it’s a once in a while thing.. finding something else to drink is in my best interest.
I hate vitamin water. My friend was killed in the great vitamin water war of 05. Godamned dragonfruit got him right between the eyes. Also I heard once some guy was killed by a vitamin water vending machine when it crushed him to death. He was angry because it ate his change and began to shake it vigorously. On the bright side as it fell some vitamin water leaked out and he was able to absorb some of the vitamin b through his wounds easing his pain before dying an awful death. Did you know you could also drown in vitamin water? Doesn’t really matter what flavor you just need a lot of it. Except xxx… if you try to drown yourself in that it will actually fill your lungs and allow you to swim freely under water like ed harris in that movie the abyss. But causing cancer? Hah that’s retarted!
I ended up here because my friend made the ridiculous claim to me that vitamin water causes cancer. Being experienced in te chemistry of sugars, I knew that wasn’t the case but wanted to find something to prove it. I ended up here, and after reading the comments I see that the vitamin water causes cancer idea is an urban legend that has taken hold.
I don’t even drink any sweetened beverages, but I can’t stand it when people are too stupid to research things. Food science is just another topic where the general public doesn’t know its ass from a hole in the ground.
Crystalline fructose currently has no link to cancer. Most of the other ingredients are vitamins. Think about it, the myth states that it causes cancer. But which ingredient is it supposedly? Why couldn’t they just remove that ingredient? If they don’t remove it, wouldn’t they be sued?
The corn syrup vs sugar debate is a serious one though. Sucrose (table sugar) is made up of glucose and fructose that must be separated by your body. But why am I trying to explain this, it is something everyone should have learned in school.
YOU ARE ALL TOO FUCKING STUPID TO UNDERSTAND ANYTHING SCIENTIFIC, AND THE SOONER YOU LEARN THAT THE BETTER OFF YOU WILL BE
Everyone is talking about how much sugar is in vitamim water but if it bothers you then why not get the SUGARFREE Zero calorie vitamin water. It’s good!