A beverage called Vitaminwater has been very popular in recent years.
It contains added vitamins and minerals, and is marketed as healthy.
However, what is left out of the marketing claims, is that Vitaminwater is loaded with added sugar.
As you may know, sugar can cause severe harm when consumed in excess.
Additionally, almost no one actually needs more of the nutrients added to Vitaminwater.
This article lists 5 reasons why Vitaminwater is actually bad for your health.
What is Vitaminwater?
Vitaminwater is a beverage brand owned by the Coca-Cola company.
There are many varieties, each with an attractive name like “focus,” “endurance,” “refresh,” “defence” and “essential.”
As is reflected in the name, it is water that is enriched with vitamins and minerals. It is also claimed to contain natural colors and flavors.
However, Vitaminwater is also loaded with
added sugar, particularly
fructose, which is linked to all sorts of health problems when consumed in excess.
Vitaminwater also has a “Zero” product line, with no added sugar. Instead, it is sweetened with erythritol and a refined sweet compound extracted from the steviaplant. The first three reasons do not apply to Vitaminwater Zero
1. Vitaminwater is High in Liquid Sugar, and May Contain Just as Much Fructose as Coca-Cola
One 20 oz (591 ml) bottle of Vitaminwater contains about 120
calories and 32 grams of sugar, just about 50% less than a regular Coke.
However, it differs between countries which “type” of sugar is used.
In the US, they sweeten Vitaminwater with crystalline fructose and cane sugar, but in other countries they use mainly cane sugar (fancy word for sugar).
Crystalline fructose is the worst, being almost pure fructose (over 98%), while cane sugar is 50/50 of glucose and fructose.
If we look more closely, we can see that a bottle of Vitaminwater (in the US) may contain about the same amount of fructose as a bottle of regular Coke.
That is because the majority of the sugar in US Vitaminwater is in the form of pure fructose, while fructose comprises only half of the sugar content of Coke.
Many studies show that fructose is the main harmful component of added sugar, not glucose (
1,
2).
2. Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Are Highly Fattening
When it comes to weight gain/loss, what you drink is just as important as what you eat.
When you drink liquid sugar calories, your body does not compensate by making you eat less of other foods instead.
The calories coming from these sugar-sweetened drinks are then added on top of everything you eat.
Over time, this can lead to
weight gain and increased risk of obesity and other related diseases
Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is among the world’s strongest risk factors for obesity, some studies showing up to a 60% increased risk of obesity in children, for each daily serving
There is no reason why Vitaminwater should be any different. It is just another sugary beverage.
3. Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Raise Your Risk of All Sorts of Diseases
Almost all health experts agree that added sugar plays a key role in the epidemics of obesity and chronic diseases (
5,
8).
It is recommended to keep the intake of added sugars below 10% of total calories, preferably below 5%.
For a 2500 calorie diet, 10% of calories amounts to 62 grams of sugar, and 5% amounts to 31 grams of sugar.
As mentioned above, one bottle of Vitaminwater contains 32 grams of added sugar. That is 50-100% of the recommended upper limit.
Added sugar is strongly associated with type 2 diabetes, tooth decay, heart disease, the metabolic syndrome and even cancer
This applies mainly to fructose, which can only be metabolized by the liver in significant amounts.
Excess fructose consumption may cause high blood cholesterol and triglycerides, increased blood pressure, increased insulin resistance, fat build-up around the organs, and increased risk of fatty liver disease.
These are major risk factors for heart disease, diabetes and obesity
It should be noted that this does not apply to the fructose we get from
fruit. Fruit contains water and fiber, and has a low energy density, so it is very h
4. Vitaminwater Contains Micronutrients That Most People are Already Getting Enough of
All types of Vitaminwater contain B-vitamins (50-120% of the RDI) and vitamin C (50-150% of the RDI).
Some types also contain smaller amounts of vitamins A and E, and the minerals potassium, magnesium, manganese, zinc and chromium.
Vitamins B and C are water soluble vitamins that are almost never lacking in the average person’s diet
Consuming excess amounts of these vitamins does not provide any sort of health benefit. They are not stored, but are simply washed out of the body via urine.
That being said, there are subgroups of people who may be lacking in some of these vitamins and minerals (especially B12 and folate).
However, it makes absolutely no sense to drink a harmful sugary beverage to get these nutrients.
Eat whole foods instead, or take a supplement if you are truly lacking in something.ard to eat too much of it.
5. In Some Cases, Excess Micronutrients in Supplement Form Can Cause Harm
When it comes to nutrition, more is not always better.
Vitamins, minerals and antioxidants are absolutely crucial as part of a healthy, real food-based diet.
They may improve health and help prevent a range of diseases, including heart disease and cancer
However, supplementing with vitamins or
antioxidants has not been linked with the same health benefits.
Supplementation with some antioxidants and vitamins, such as vitamins A and E, has actually been associated with increased risk of premature death in some studies
Although Vitaminwater does not provide excessive amounts of these vitamins on its own, it does contain considerable amounts (25-50% of the recommended daily intake).
When you add 25-50% of the recommended daily intake on top of what you’re alrea
dy getting from food, then it is possible that all of this will add up to reach excessive amounts.
So not only are the micronutrients in Vitaminwater not beneficial, they may even be downright harmful if they are increasing your intake to harmful levels.
Vitaminwater is Not Healthy – It is Just Another Harmful Sugary Beverage
The owners (The Coca-Cola Company) have actually been sued for deceptive and unsubstantiated health claims about Vitaminwater.
Their
response was interesting:
“no reasonable person would be misled into thinking that Vitaminwater was a healthy beverage”.
They are actually trying to defend themselves by saying that the health promoting claims are so far fetched that people couldn’t possibly believe them.
The problem is that many people do actually fall for marketing claims.
Most people don’t read ingredient labels, and don’t realize how unethical and ruthless the junk food companies can be.
Despite the fancy marketing, Vitaminwater is a harmful,
disease-promoting beverage that most people should be avoiding as much as possible.
At best, it is just a slightly “less bad” version of Coke.