A friend of mine recently turned me onto coconut water as a refreshing post-exercise drink. The taste is sweet but subtle, but what really wowed me was reading the ingredient label. Coconut water naturally has 650 mg of potassium (15x more than a banana), 25mg of magnesium, and 35 mg of sodium! All of this in a 10 oz, 60 calorie package. It's like nature's gatorade!
After digging around some more, I found that coconut water is similar to plasma and was even given to soldiers in WWII intravenously when plasma supplies were low (1). Some doctors give it to kids with digestive problems, similar to Pedialyte, since the stomach accepts it so well. And here's a bonus for your night time exercise - it's been shown to stimulate reproductive organs in men (bye-bye, Viagra) and increase libido in women over 60. Geez, why haven't I heard of this stuff before?
Coconut water really is "water", not "milk" even though it sometimes has a white color to it. It comes from the core of young green coconuts. I've noticed it can be hard to find in stores. I've been drinking the brands ONE (both the Natural and Acai flavors are nice) and Zico (turn your speakers down before clicking on this link) which I found at natural food stores. It appears you can also buy it online if you are interested.
I would recommend giving it a try, if anything just to add some variety to your drinks. I don't think it has quite enough sodium to be a race-ready electrolyte replacement drink, but it could certainly be part of your cocktail. And I think it would be a stellar hangover cure. ;-)
Happy running. I will see y'all at the Pony Express 100k on Sat!
- SD
Footnotes:
(1) Campbell – Falck, D., et al. The intravenous use of coconut water. Am J Emerg Med 2000; 18 (1):108:111.
A friend of mine recently turned me onto coconut water as a refreshing post-exercise drink. The taste is sweet but subtle, but what really wowed me was reading the ingredient label. Coconut water naturally has 650 mg of potassium (15x more than a banana), 25mg of magnesium, and 35 mg of sodium! All of this in a 10 oz, 60 calorie package. It's like nature's gatorade!
