If you are reading this website, then you are most likely not one of the millions of people who have been conned into thinking that Vitamin Water (and other similar “enhanced water” products-seriously, what’s wrong with just water???) is good for you; so here is a quick summary of what you are about to read in case you are holding a Vitamin Water in your hand right now: Skip it. Drink a Coke instead. And then eat an apple and you’ll probably be getting more vitamins AND still drinking fewer calories.
Many have turned to Vitamin Water as a healthy and thirst quenching alternative to their usual soda intake thinking it was a healthier choice. But researchers have proven that this Coca Cola product doesn’t actually contain any real health benefits. The drink is full of sugars, even exceeding the amounts that you’d consume in their regular Coca Cola products.
Since release, Health Canada has regulated Vitamin Water as a natural health product, not as a food product. The labeling requirements for such products are much looser than those for food. According to the federal Natural Health Products Regulations, labels for natural health products must contain a qualitative list of all non-medicinal ingredients which is preceded by the term “non-medicinal ingredients”. Since sugar is considered a non-medical ingredient, there is actually no requirement to list the actual amount of sugar within the Vitamin Water products.
For a product to been seen as a natural health product it will need to meet at least one of the three specific criteria’s listed below:
- A substance sold or represented for use in the diagnosis, treatment, mitigation or prevention of a disease
- Disorder or abnormal physical state or its symptoms in humans which assists restoring or correcting organic functions in humans
- Modifying organic functions in humans in a manner that maintains or promotes health.
According to the federal Liberal public health critic, Dr. Carolyn Bennett, that needs to change. But until the laws are officially changed, Vitamin Water products can still contain an excessive amount of calories compared to sodas and juices and the producers are not required by law to disclose the amount of sugar per bottle. Instead, they are only required to list that the sugar is a non-medical ingredient. “It is a loophole and it needs to be closed,” Dr. Carolyn Bennett says.
Here are the nutrition facts for Vitamin Water:
Vitamin Water Nutrition Facts:
Serving Size 8 fl oz; Servings per Container 2.5
Calories 50
Total Fat 0g
Sodium 0mg
Total Carbohydrate 13g
Total Sugar 13g
Protein 0g
Vitamin C 60%; vitamin B3 10%; vitamin B6 10%; vitamin B12 10%; vitamin B5 10%, Zinc 10%
Ingredients:
vapor distilled/deionized water, crystalline fructose, citric acid, vegetable juice (color), natural flavor, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), natural flavor, vitamin E acetate, magnesium lactate (elecrolyte), calcium lactate (electrolyte), zinc picolinate, monopotassium phosphate (electrolyte), niacin (B3), pantothenic acid (B5), pyridoxine hydrochloride (B6), cyanocobalamine (B12)
A bottle of Coke alone only has 30 grams of sugar per 591 ml bottle! So like I said-drink a coke and eat an apple instead!
Currently Coca Cola is facing a class action lawsuit within the U.S. filed by food-healthy advocacy group, the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The group claims Coca-Cola violates consumer protection laws. Last month, a federal U.S. judge rejected Coke’s motion to dismiss the case, and in a 55-page ruling, he pointed out that the third key ingredient, sugar, is absent from the drink’s title.“The potential for confusion is heightened by the presence of other statements in Vitaminwater’s labelling, such as the description of the product as a ‘vitamin enhanced water beverage’ and the phrases ‘vitamins + water + all you need’ and ‘vitamins + water + what’s in your hand,’ which have the potential to reinforce a consumer’s mistaken belief that the product is comprised of only vitamins and water,” Judge John Gleeson of the U.S. District Court wrote.
Want to know what vitamins you need on a daily basis—you know, like the ones you get from food, not Vitamin Water? Find out what essential vitamins your body needs now and find out what you should be consuming each day for proper health.
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