"Coconut Water for Athletic Performance vs. Sports Drinks"
So far, I’ve reviewed the evidence on coconut oil and coconut milk
that suggest neither is good for you,
but what about coconut water?
When I first learned about athletes
using coconut water as like natural Gatorade,
I did a medical literature search for athletes and coconut,
and only came up with this, a study of canine athletes.
(Turns out feeding drug or bomb sniffing dogs
coconut oil can sometimes wipe out
their ability to smell at all).
But what about coconut water and human athletes?
Studies on coconut water as an
electrolyte replacement beverage date back decades,
when coconut water was compared to other beverages
and found to be more suitable,
but the other beverages they compared it to
were like Pepsi, Coke, Sprite and 7-Up.
You don’t really know until you...
put it to the test.
It was found to help in cases of mild dehydration,
due to childhood diarrhea,
despite having an unbalanced electrolyte composition,
by which they meant the sodium/potassium ratio was off.
Coconut water has so much potassium
that people with kidney disease
can run into life-threatening hyperkalemia–
too much potassium in the blood,
if you drink like 2 quarts of coconut water
and don’t have normal kidney function,
which would otherwise just flush the excess away.
People may not realize coconut water
has so much potassium;
so, even if your doctor warned you
about staying away from high potassium foods,
you may not realize and run into problems.
Even one quart a day may be too much
for someone whose kidneys have been
compromised by diabetes, for example.
Cream of tartar is the same kind of thing.
People don't realize it’s like 20% pure potassium.
So, when they listen to websites
claiming it’s some natural remedy,
even young people with healthy kidneys
can run into problems,
if they take spoonfuls of the stuff,
with cream of tartar overdose deaths
dating back to the 1800s.
But, what about rehydration after exercise
with fresh young coconut water?
Yes, it can help replace fluid loss from diarrhea;
but what about fluid loss from heavy exercise?
We didn’t know...
until this study.
90 minutes at about 90 degrees Fahrenheit
until they lost up to 3% of their body weight.
And then, they had them drink coconut water,
versus a sports beverage, versus just plain water,
and no significant difference
in rehydration for any of them.
Subsequent study findings were more mixed.
Some showed a sports drink beat out water for hydration,
but coconut water didn’t.
Or, they both beat out water but not each other.
But the reason athletes care about rehydration
is that they care about performance,
but there had never been any studies
on not just measures of hydration,
but on physical performance until...this study.
They tested water, versus coconut water,
versus coconut water from concentrate,
versus a standard sports drink.
Then, they stuck people on a treadmill
and timed how long they could go before they collapsed.
And, they discovered no significant difference between any of them.
Plain water did just as good as coconut water,
in fact, even better, since those drinking
the coconut water felt more bloated with upset tummies.
Now, this was all done at room temperature,
about 70 degrees.
What about instead at over 90 degrees Fahrenheit?
Then, the coconut water did seem to beat out water,
but time to exhaustion isn‘t the same as performance.
That’s something that’s routinely used in laboratory studies,
but doing something like a time trial test
would actually measure speed and performance.
But, there’s never been a head-to-head
water versus coconut water time trial until...
now.
Drinking coconut water,
bikers make it 10k in 971 seconds,
and on plain water about 5 seconds faster,
in other words, no significant difference.
The first study on the use of coconut water during exercise,
and it looks like it’s no more beneficial
than plain water.
How’s the coconut water industry going to spin this?
They're the ones that funded this study.
They found no difference between plain water,
coconut water, and sports drinks.
So, did the authors conclude VitaCoco
is no better than water?
No, they said coconut water…
is just as good as sports beverages!
A finding athletes and coaches
will likely find of most importance,
failing to note that not only did plain water
do just as well, it did better,
because there was twice as much stomach upset
in the coconut water groups.
But wait...
if all the beverages did equally well,
then this isn’t just a refutation
of any special properties to coconut water,
but the sports drinks as well.
If they did no better than water,
are sports drinks just a waste of money?
We’ll find out...next.