Is Vitamin Water Healthy? Plus a Recipe to Make Your Own!

What is Vitamin Water?

This really shouldn’t be an issue. A drink is labeled ‘vitamin water’. So why are we wondering what it is?!? Shouldn’t it be water with vitamins? Well…. I’m sorry to break it to you, but food marketing is mostly about deceiving you!

Here’s the list of ingredients: Vapor distilled water, crystalline fructose, citric acid, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), gum Arabic, electrolytes (calcium, magnesium, and potassium), vitamin E acetate, gum ester, vitamin A palmitate, niacin (B3), pantothenic acid (B5), gotu kola, siberian ginseng and ginkgo biloba extracts, cyanocobalamin (B12), pyridoxine hydrochloride (B6)Coca Cola owns the vitamin water brand.

Notice anything? It’s mostly SUGAR WATER!

Lies … all Lies!

What do you think of when you hear vitamin water? The Center for Science in the Public Interest says that there are deceptive and unsubstantiated claims on Coca Cola’s “vitaminwater” line of soft drinks. What Coca Cola wants  you to think about vitamin water is not what it actually is.

The “Vitamin Water” brand is actually water, sugar and then synthetic vitamins added to that. No, they are not vitamins that come from real food, they are man-made synthetic versions. Synthetic versions aren’t all bad. They are sometimes necessary and helpful for people with certain deficiencies. But the bottom line is that your body is fueled best by vitamins that come from REAL FOOD!

How You Can Make Your Own Vitamin Water:

I shared this a few weeks ago, and had great feedback from readers! I even got more ideas for how to make your own, so thought i would share those too.

1. choose your vitamin water flavor – cucumber, peach, orange, lemon, lime, strawberry
2. cut fruit or vegetable into slices
3. add to pitcher of water and let soak overnight.

That’s it! You have your own flavored “vitamin water” to enjoy. No, it will not be flavored with sugar, artificial sweeteners, corn syrup or honey. You can add those if you want! However, I think you’ll find it is quite tasty as is. Plus, you can eat the fruit or vegetable when you’re done for an extra “vitamin boost”!

Other Lies!

You might be interested to know about other food misleading food items that have been the focus of litigation, including Gerber’s “fruit juice” snacks, Kelloggs, McDonalds, Airborne and Enviga. As the Center for Science in the Public Interest says – “reasonable consumers should [not] be expected to look beyond misleading representations on the front of the box to discover the truth from the ingredient list in small print on the side of the box.”

I AGREE!!

For more on the lawsuit, check out this page.

– Julie