Coconut water trend put to test

David Herbert takes sweating seriously -- in a 105-degree room with 50 percent humidity

“I teach Bikram yoga,” said Herbert, owner of Bikram Yoga Mile High in Denver. "In one class, it’s almost a gallon of water you sweat out."

In studios like his, coconut water achieved an image of enlightenment.

"I love it! It's my favorite drink," said Herbert. "They call it the Tree of life and there's probably a reason for that."

But the drink first marketed to yogis now appears in every major grocery store in the Denver metro area.

Coconut water, the juice of fruit too young to form milk, is now touted as a low-calorie, low-sugar hangover cure, natural energy drunk, and even “identical to human blood plasma.”

With the coconut water claims stacking up, 7NEWS wanted to find out what's healthy and what's hype.

Dr. Sourav Poddar, a CU Sports Medicine Specialist said coconut water to quench thirst is nothing new.

He remembered when stomach issues left him dehydrated while visiting India as a child: “I remember my grandmother used to have someone go and buy a young coconut," Poddar said. "My grandparents used to give me that and I got better."

And there are reports of the sterile liquid used as IV fluid during World War II.

“It can be used intravenously relatively safely, in small amounts, obviously," said Poddar.

But one independent reviewer said not all coconut water is what it seems.

Dr. Tod Cooperman with ConsumerLab.com tested the top three brands of coconut water last year, and found two of the three failed to provide the amount of electrolytes claimed.

O.N.E. and Vita Coco had substantially less sodium than advertised, Cooperman said.

"The labels on two of these products were clearly misleading, we double checked these in another independent lab and found the same problem," said Cooperman. “If people like how coconut water tastes, it's fine. We just found labels on a couple of products to be misleading, in that they wouldn't provide good hydration after serious exercise."

In a statement to 7NEWS, a spokesman for O.N.E stated that because it’s a natural product, “it is not unusual for there to be a natural variation in nutritional content."

Vita Coco’s spokesman agreed, but stated that the company will soon introduce some “minor pack changes.”

In fact, Vita Coco recently settled a class action lawsuit for $10 million dollars. The company denied wrongdoing, but agreed to provide refunds, change its labeling and initiate independent testing.

Dr. Poddar said some small studies have shown coconut water hydrates just as well as traditional sports drinks, such as Gatorade, though even with those drinks, “extreme athletes” might need to supplement salt intake.

"I think it's a viable alternative. Is it vastly superior to what we have available? I don't think so," said Poddar.

For Herbert, nothing else works in this kind of heat.

"Your body just soaks it up without having to work too hard to digest it," said Herbert.

Considering Coke and Pepsi have stakes in coconut water companies, it seems water from the tree of life is branching out.

"It has been around for thousands of years. It's not going anywhere," said Herbert.

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