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Don't Drink the (Vitamin) Water!

By The Calorista

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 24Feb2009 Word count: 991 Viewed: 1035 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

VitaminWater really, really chaps my hide. Over and over again, I see people getting tricked by its sneaky, deceptive ways. Because it's called "VitaminWater" and is sold as a health drink, everyone assumes it is great. It also doesn't help that it says "50 calories" on the package...but there are actually 2.5 servings in the small bottle (bringing the calories to 125 total). It also has 33g of sugar! I checked 4 times to make sure that was right. It's a total sugar bomb! And by the way, other drinks list the whole bottle as 1 serving size, why, suddenly, is this one 2.5 servings?

There are several new vitamin enhanced waters with FAR fewer calories hitting the shelves. Get the skinny on these beverages below:

Skinny Water: Per bottle: Calories: 0, Fat: 0g, Sodium: 0mg, Carbs: 0g, Fiber: 0g, Protein: 0g, WW PTS: 0, Cals/mL: 0, Contains Artificial Sweeteners

Here's a drink with a new twist: these have 0 calories and are enhanced with acai berry extract, tea extracts, ginseng, B vitamins and minerals (calcium, potassium, chromium, niacin) to give you an energy boost. One bonus of Skinny Waters is that they contain higher levels of vitamins compared to many other vitamin waters (100% of the recommended daily intake for certain vitamins in each bottle). They also contain EGCG, the active ingredient in green tea, which is thought to suppress appetite (their website claims that Skinny Water improves weight loss by 350%). These also claim to have "0 sugars" which almost tricked me, but listed on the ingredients is sucralose (or brand name "Splenda"). Zero sugars only means no real sugar. Don't let the package fool you. As far as flavors go, Skinny Water currently has 5 flavors, and the 3 I tried had a tiny bit of a bitter after-taste. This acai flavor was the best one I had out of passionfruit lemonade (just OK) and raspberry pomegranate (gross). Given all of the great things it has going for it - packed with more vitamins, minerals, EGCG & other wellness additives than any other zero calorie vitamin water I have found - I'll drink this acai variety if I drink any "vitamin water".

Archer Farms (Target) Fortified Waters: Per bottle: Calories: 5, Fat: 0g, Sodium: 15mg, Carbs: 1g, Fiber: 0g, Protein: 0g, WW PTS: 0, Cals/mL: 0.01, Contains Artificial Sweeteners

Because I love the Lavender berry flavor, I decided to feature this drink from Archer Farms (or Target brand). However, they have a variety of fortified flavors: one for "beauty", one for "motion" that helps joints. You have to wonder though, do these waters live up to their billing? They contain relatively low levels of vitamins (around 20% of the recommended daily intake), much less than you would get in a multivitamin. Can that really relax or beautify you? One certain downside is that these contain artificial sweeteners. That said, if you are going to go with a low calorie vitamin water, I do love the flavor of these - it is a very mellow, subtle taste which is a nice change from some others that are SO overpowering.

Alive Water: Per bottle: Calories: 0, Fat: 0g, Sodium: 65mg, Carbs: 0g, Fiber: 0g, Protein: 0g, WW PTS: 0, Cals/mL: 0, Contains Artificial Sweeteners

Stayin' alive. Stayin' alive. Ah-Ah-Ah-Ah, Stayin' ALLLLIIIVVVE. This water tastes good, and this "protect" variety has Vit A & C (although only 25% of the recommended daily value per bottle). I do like the Dasani Plus vitamin waters better than Alive, because they taste better in my opinion. This water does contain sucralose and sodium, so if you are avoiding those in your beverages, this isn't for you.

Dasani Plus Waters: Per bottle: Calories: 0, Fat: 0g, Sodium: 62.5mg, Carbs: 0g, Fiber: 0g, Protein: 0g, WW PTS: 0, Cals/mL: 0, Contains Artificial Sweeteners

Dasani flavored waters always seem to have a very nice flavor and these are no exception. They have 4 different varieties and flavors for different vitamin, mineral, tea and ginseng combinations. They have defend + protect (orange tangerine, which is tasty), cleanse + restore (pomegranate blackberry, which is YUM), refresh + revive (which is kiwi strawberry, not my favorite) and a new calm + relax variety (lemon lime flavor, which is good). Each of them have varying B vitamins and minerals and of course, zero calories. However, like the Archer Farms fortified beverages, the amounts of vitamins in these Dasani waters are relatively low (about 25% of the recommended daily value per bottle). This has to make you question whether these waters can really calm, relax, defend, protect, cleanse, restore, refresh or revive you? These also contain artificial sweeteners which is a downside.

Joint Juice Waters: Per bottle: Calories: 10, Fat: 0g, Sodium: 55mg, Carbs: 1g, Fiber: 0g, Protein: 0g, WW PTS: 0, Cals/mL: 0.02, Contains Artificial Sweeteners

This glucosamine and vitamin enhanced water is specifically designed to be a supplement to those who are looking for greater mobility or improved joint function, and the vitamins are there for the energy boost. It tasted pretty good, no complaints there (I tried the berry and lemon flavors and definitely liked the berry flavor best). This does contain sodium and artificial sweeteners.

Propel Fitness Waters: Per bottle: Calories: 25, Fat: 0g, Sodium: 88mg, Carbs: 7.5g, Fiber: 0g, Protein: 0g, WW PTS: 0, Cals/mL: 0.02, Contains Artificial Sweeteners

Propel has been around forever and it's a good option. There are zillions of flavors, and they are a good source of vitamin B6 and niacin (about 75% of the recommended daily allowance) and an ok source of vitamins B12, C and E (about 25% of the daily recommended allowance) in the average 20 fl. oz water bottle. Basically, these are meant to provide energy and antioxidants. There is a new calcium version that provides 25% of the daily recommended amount of calcium, but I could not find this one to try yet. And all of these contain artificial sweeteners and sodium.

All this being said, remember that simply taking a multi-vitamin provides you with 100% of your daily allowance of many vitamins and minerals, and has zero calories and NO artificial flavors, sweeteners or sodium!

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