Vita Coco Coconut Water Health Benefits and Hydration Value

Vita Coco Coconut Water is one of the leading brands in the United States for this exceptionally healthy drink. As with its competitor, Zico, Vita Coco has terrific health benefits and is recognized by leading athletes and celebrities for its help in their performance. And it's a drink that comes with an interesting founding story. The founders of the company were at a bar in New York City in 2003 and encountered two beautiful Brazilian women. When they asked what they missed most about their home country, the answer was coconut water. An idea for a business was born! The company was soon underway -- using coconuts from the northern part of Brazil -- and one of the founders ultimately married one of the women visitors. Since then, the product's popularity has caused it to grow through the East Coast and to more than 10,000 stores across the United States plus big sales on Amazon.com.

This story emphasizes how much Brazilians value this drink and consume it nearly everyday. In fact, it is not uncommon for people to also use it for bathing, cooking, and in emergency medical situations when it can substitute for a blood transfusion (the only natural product with this characteristic). It really is an essential part of the daily nutrition for people from South America, Asia, India, along with Hawaii and other Pacific islands where it is indigenous -- counted in eighty-five countries overall.

Some of the core benefits include unique hydration properties, five crucial electrolytes -- including more potassium than two bananas -- while also containing no cholesterol or fat and very low acidity. Other widely reported benefits include calming stomach pain, detox assistance, increased circulation, and even facilitating your body's immune system. The drink has even been known to contribute to weight loss because of these properties.

Vita Coco is able to produce coconut water without the harmful characteristics of fat and cholesterol because they use only young coconuts -- just seven months old on average -- when they extract the coconut water. At this age, the coconuts are green, before their brown phase, and have not reached the maturity at which the fruits develop the fat that comes in coconut milk. Proponents of this brand assert that it is so fresh that they compare it to drinking directly from the coconut, just like locals do across the world.

Vita Coco also produces their drink without any additional sugar, leaving it completely natural as extracted from the plant, though they do pasteurize it. With this process, their custom "tetra pak" packaging is known to last for twelve months. Nonetheless, when you go beyond the natural flavor and reach flavors mixed with other fruits, you will get the natural sugars that come in those ingredient combinations. These additional flavors include peach and mango, tangerine, pineapple, tropical fruit, as well as acai and pomegranate. From this company, they are mostly sold in ½ liter amounts but can be found in larger and smaller sizes as well.

Celebrities in recent years have made coconut water a fairly prominent part of both their personal lives and in sponsored endorsements. While just being a celebrity coconut water drinker doesn't translate into clear medical benefits, it means a lot when it is consumed by professional athletes who care tremendously about their performance and hydration. Major League Baseball All-Stars such as Dustin Pedroia and Alex Rodriguez have supported Vita Coco, along with professional surfer Kelly Slater. Rachel Ray and Rhianna have also been supporters -- they know about nutritious food and staying active too! Certainly, you would see the same benefits even if your activities are less strenuous and less prominent.