…Thanks to coconut water drinks, bottled, canned and delivered almost daily to all our GreenAcres Market stores. Coconut water is refreshing to some, not nearly sweet enough to others, but no matter, customers buy our coconut water as if it were going out of style.
This past summer we saw an increase in our senior population stocking up on coconut water. Many in our 80-year-old population were getting dehydrated in prolonged, humid weather and they didn’t know it until they began to have stroke-like symptoms of slurring speech and disorientation.
Rather than reach for day-glo-colored sports drinks (that are often infused with preservatives and other extraneous ingredients not always good for you), our senior customers came looking for coconut water as a quick way to replenish electrolytes to their systems. Some even said their doctors recommended it (!) Music to our ears.
Nutritionally speaking, coconut water is instant hydration. Naturally fat free and low in sugar, a cup of coconut water contains about 10 grams of natural sugar at only 45 calories. It’s also replete with potassium, calcium and magnesium, and low on sodium—only 40-60 mg. per 16 oz. can–great for a population that often has blood pressure problems and needs to limit sodium.
In Africa, India and South America, water from the tender, immature coconut is a natural alternative to tap water. After the coconut vendor splits the coconut for its water content, the delicate, sweet coconut meat is given to children who are big fans and beg for their favorite treat.
But, alas, here in the Midwest, we rely on our coconut water vendors and our produce vendors to supply us with this nutritious liquid and fruit. Judging from our customers, it looks like runners and bikers are the coconut’s biggest fans. “Don’t forget tennis players,” says one coconut water lover, “I used to get so dehydrated during a long game, I’d literally have to make a trip to the emergency room to get an IV to re-hydrate. Once I discovered coconut water, I never had to make that trip again!”
So what are the health benefits of coconut water? This is what one blogger on the Internet has to say:
- Research studies suggest that cytokinins in coconut water showed significant anti-ageing, anti-carcinogenic, and anti-thrombotic effects.
- Coconut water has been generally offered to patients with diarrhea in many tropical regions to replace the fluid loss from the gastrointestinal tract and reduce the need for intravenous therapy (just what our tennis customer had to say!)
- Coconut water is composed of many naturally-occurring bioactive enzymes such as acid phosphatase, catalase, dehydrogenase, diastase, peroxidase, RNA-polymerases In effect, these enzymes help in digestion and metabolism.
- Despite very light consistency, its water has much better composition of minerals like calcium, iron, manganese, magnesium, and zinc than some of the fruits like oranges.
Coconut water is also an excellent source of B-complex vitamins such as riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, pyridoxine, and folates. These vitamins are essential in the sense that the human body requires them from external sources to replenish.
Here’s a Youtube link to a group of friends from Bengladesh sharing a drink of fresh coconut water: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqsmuYk-GEE
Harmless Harvest Organic Coconut Water (non-GMO) is on sale this month: The 8.75 oz and the 16 oz are priced at $2.29 and $4.19 respectively. See which coconut water you like best!
