There is some confusion between coconut milk and coconut water. Inside a healthy fresh coconut you will find a watery, slightly cloudy, almost clear coconut water. It has a slight nutty taste, anyway this is not coconut milk it is coconut water. Many Asian recipes call for coconut milk which is a thick white liquid made from the flesh of the coconut.

Coconut water, its health benefits

It’s a perfect natural isotonic fluid with the same level of electrolytic balance as we have in our blood. Nature has provided us with the best isotonic, energy and hydrating drink. Coconut water contains more potassium than most sports or energy drinks. Coconut water has less sodium and small amount of sugars, whereas sports and
energy drinks are generally higher in both.

For centuries locals in tropical regions have been drinking coconut water to boost their immune systems and gain vitality. The water can help increase your metabolism, balance your pH levels, help your body detoxify, balance HDL cholesterol levels and replenish fluids after training. Coconut water is safe to give to children and babies.
Consistently drinking coconut water can help to improve the health of the intestines and the mono-laurin in coconut water acts as an antiviral and the mono-glyceride has the ability to kill an assortment of bacteria in the body, as well as fungal infections.

The best way to drink this would be fresh from a coconut and in some states this is possible. But for most people and for convenience coconut water can also be bought in bottles. So the next time you need a sports or energy drink instead go for the 100% natural drink, that will enhance your health, replenish your energy and hydrate you.

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One of the reasons for training or playing a sport is to become healthier and fitter. Don’t undo the good, by consuming the average unhealthy sports drinks. This doesn’t mean you can’t purchase natural healthy sports or power-drinks or make your own sports or power-drinks.

A lot of the sports drinks on the market contain large amounts of HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) for a sweetener, linked to many health problems, and dyes for colouring. The average sports drink such as Gatorade and Powerade are known to increase dehydrate and even increase thirst because of their high levels of concentrated sugars!!!!! They are also acid forming, not a health scenario.

You need to drink more alkaline forming drinks whether you are training or not. This makes it easier for your body to absorb valuable nutrients and herbal extracts essential for electrolyte replacement, which is the whole point of sports drinks after you have been sweating they should replace fluid loss, replace electrolyte and help muscles repair.

Second, health drinks that are formulated with natural ingredients are good for pH balance while most sport drinks are acid forming and create an alkaline/acid imbalance in the blood. With sports drinks that contain all those colourful dyes, “natural flavours”, isolated vitamins and harmful sweeteners found in many of the artificially enhanced vitamin waters and sports drinks on the market today are acid forming.

Want a convenient sports or power drink – choose the healthier options, don’t undermine your training and your health. Of course in our purpose build store we will be selling all sorts of natural and healthy products including healthy drinks in general be they sports, power or normal drinks for convenience. Convenient for times when you are in a rush and don’t have the time or can’t be bothered to make your own.

Coconut water (not the milk) is excellent for hydrating and replacing the electrolytes and more. I will be writing an article on the benefits of coconut water.

Making your own health power or sports drinks.

Good electrolytes are potassium and magnesium for healthy muscles. Fresh or frozen fruits are bursting with potassium and magnesium so make the perfect base for your drink.

(a) Banana and (b) any other fruits (strawberries, blue berries, papaya, pineapple etc) and a (c) protein in the form of a natural yogurt or spoon of protein powder, (d) water and (e) a pinch if you sweat a lot (only a small amount) of sea salt this is optional especially for those of you who are trying to avoid salt.

Place all the ingredients into a blender and zap until smooth. Drink after training.

OR

Bananas, fresh fruits – blend together, and then add fizzy soda water or sparkling mineral water.

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These drinks can include (they vary) methylxanthines (including caffeine), B vitamins, quarana ( a stimulant), taurine, ginseng (a mild stimulant), maltodextrin (a form of sugar), carbonated water, inositol, creatine, carnitine, glucuronolactone (a naturally occurring chemical compound produced by the metabolism of glucose in the liver).

How much sugar each one contains varies too – or they might come in a diet version with artificial chemical sweeteners.

These drinks are generally centered around stimulants such as caffeine.

An 8oz drink can contain anything from 80mg of caffeine upwards and the newer ones a much as 400mg of caffeine!

There have been reports of nausea, and abnormal heart rhythms.

The main thing about energy drinks is they cause problems due to the “crash” that follows the energy ‘high’ after consumption.

France and Demark there are warning about the popular energy drink Red Bull (we have all heard of) after the death of eighteen-year-old athlete Ross Cooney, who died after he played a basketball game after consuming four cans of the drink.

In Britain they warn pregnant women not to drink it.

In the US Red Bull was introduced in 1997 and is the dominant energy drink with a market share of about 47%. In the US the energy drink market has grown to $3 billion in 2005, $5.4 billion dollars in 2007, and predicted to reach $10 billion by 2010! That is a lot of money for a mixture of water, sugar (or artificial sweetener) and caffeine.

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