PSA: Most Coconut Water Sucks

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I was having trouble hitting potassium requirements, so I started using coconut water and potatoes, but I noticed I may have been having issues with coconut water. As per usual, most coconut water at the store sucks, like zico, one, vita coco, they are all trash and processed and probably contain intestinal irritants. I did some research and found this blog post.

the brand to use is called harmless coconut water that is sold at many stores nationwide. it is straight from coconut to bottle with no processing. it comes at a price at 4.50 though per 16oz which is a lot, but i can't handle other brands. it also has to be refrigerated, so that tells you a lot, never thought to realize all the others were sitting on a shelf and what could be in it.

read more here: How To Buy The Healthiest Coconut Water And Avoid The Worst!

coconut_water.jpg
 

schultz

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When I lived in the States I used to get Amy and Brians which I remember being quite good, but that was over 4 years ago.

There is a quality and taste difference between the stuff from somewhere like Brazil and the stuff from Thailand. The Brazilian coconut water usually sucks whereas I have pretty good success with the stuff from Thailand (generally). I tend to pick the sweetest tasting ones. The two brands I like the most that are available to me in Canada are "UFC" and "Malee". Malee is quite smooth whereas UFC tastes unrefined to me, but in a good way. They are both sweet.

Canadians dont have nearly as much choice in foods as Americans. It was one of the best things about living in the States. Also same day free shipping from Amazon. The price of cheese was way lower too. In Canada its like triple the price for cheese because of ridiculous tarrifs on imported cheese. Canada has really terrible rules regarding dairy, egg and meat production. Its why I wanted Maxime Bernier to be the conservative leader because he was going to get rid of those idiotic laws. Like egg quota... Are you freaking kidding me? You Americans should appreciate your country. There is a lot to be thankful for.

I may have gone off topic... What were we talking about? Coconut water?
 
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mayweatherking
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When I lived in the States I used to get Amy and Brians which I remember being quite good, but that was over 4 years ago.

There is a quality and taste difference between the stuff from somewhere like Brazil and the stuff from Thailand. The Brazilian coconut water usually sucks whereas I have pretty good success with the stuff from Thailand (generally). I tend to pick the sweetest tasting ones. The two brands I like the most that are available to me in Canada are "UFC" and "Malee". Malee is quite smooth whereas UFC tastes unrefined to me, but in a good way. They are both sweet.

Canadians dont have nearly as much choice in foods as Americans. It was one of the best things about living in the States. Also same day free shipping from Amazon. The price of cheese was way lower too. In Canada its like triple the price for cheese because of ridiculous tarrifs on imported cheese. Canada has really terrible rules regarding dairy, egg and meat production. Its why I wanted Maxime Bernier to be the conservative leader because he was going to get rid of those idiotic laws. Like egg quota... Are you freaking kidding me? You Americans should appreciate your country. There is a lot to be thankful for.

I may have gone off topic... What were we talking about? Coconut water?

justin trudeau tho
 

squanch

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I think the main problem would be using water from mature coconuts instead of young, green coconuts. It's just a lot cheaper because it's essentially a by-product of coconut oil production. Water from mature coconuts usually tastes like ****, so most companies using it will probably add some kind of "natural coconut flavor", which could be potentially allergenic. They might not even have to list it on the ingredients list, just like the "flavor packs" thing in orange juice.

In my opinion, unless you are in a coconut producing country, coconut water just isn't worth it. It's a good source of potassium and magnesium, but even the cheapest brands are still relatively expensive.

I don't really understand why you are having trouble hitting potassium requirements though. If you get most of your carbs from fruits and tubers it shouldn't be a problem.
 
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mayweatherking
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I think the main problem would be using water from mature coconuts instead of young, green coconuts. It's just a lot cheaper because it's essentially a by-product of coconut oil production. Water from mature coconuts usually tastes like ****, so most companies using it will probably add some kind of "natural coconut flavor", which could be potentially allergenic. They might not even have to list it on the ingredients list, just like the "flavor packs" thing in orange juice.

In my opinion, unless you are in a coconut producing country, coconut water just isn't worth it. It's a good source of potassium and magnesium, but even the cheapest brands are still relatively expensive.

I don't really understand why you are having trouble hitting potassium requirements though. If you get most of your carbs from fruits and tubers it shouldn't be a problem.

yeah you make a good point. i'm leaning more towards coconut water as a better source of potassium compared to potatoes due to the starch content of potatoes and the potential of endotoxin. but i'm still getting one potato in a day. might bump it to two actually. i'm not drinking milk RN and opting for cheese, so milk was a pretty significant source of potassium. coconut water is kind of like my milk replacement for potassium.

the harmless stuff is really good though. you can taste the difference.
 
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mayweatherking
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The problem with that brand is the high phosphorus content. Much higher than Zico or Vita, I’m not sure why?
View attachment 8646

good point. didnt think about that one. the one i have is 16oz bottle and it says it has 15% phosphurus, 4% calcium in it. i drink it with a meal that will all ready have calcium and sugar in it, so i feel like it isn't too damaging. maybe a similar thing to how mexican coke is?
 
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Mito

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good point. didnt think about that one. the one i have is 16oz bottle and it says it has 15% phosphurus in it. i drink it with a meal that will all ready have calcium and sugar in it, so i feel like it isn't too damaging. maybe a similar thing to how mexican coke is?
The strange thing is that Zico and Vita are only 2%. Makes you wonder if the Harmless Coconut Water label is correct?
 
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mayweatherking
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The strange thing is that Zico and Vita are only 2%. Makes you wonder if the Harmless Coconut Water label is correct?

i checked out wikipedia for coconut water in general, this is for 3.5oz. so the bottle has 16 oz, that would be rougly 12% daily phosphorus, but the calcium would be a bit higher than only 4% as displayed by this, considering it says they have 2% in 3.5oz.

so the phosphorus makes sense according to a normal coconut, but only 4% in zico seems really low. maybe the processing they do cuts out a lot of stuff?

Coconut water - Wikipedia

t3huCTt.png
 

schultz

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The strange thing is that Zico and Vita are only 2%. Makes you wonder if the Harmless Coconut Water label is correct?

Yah thats a strange amount of phosphorus for 1 cup... Cronometer lists calcium at 56mg and phosphorus at 48mg. Not sure what country of origin is of the coconut water they are testing.

Usually if I am skeptical of a nutritional analysis I check pubmed to see if I can get some clarification or to see if it jives with another nutrition database. I had to do this with coffee since the information on something like cronometer is confusing given the differences between instant, espresso and regular brew.
 

RobertJM

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If you've ever just bought a coconut and smashed it open, the water inside of it tastes nothing like that crap that is sold in the stores. So I have to agree!
 

Jennifer

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I go through at least 6 liters of coconut water a week. Like schultz, I haven't had the best of luck with coconut waters from Brazil. I look for coconut water from Thai coconuts because they tend to be the sweetest IME. Of the brands I've tried, my favorite raw CW is Exotic Superfoods, my favorite almost raw CW is Harmless Harvest and my favorite pasteurized CW is Taste Nirvana. I go between the Exotic Superfoods and Harmless Harvest brands. I would stick with just the Exotic Superfoods' CW but with shipping, the cost is a bit insane.
 

belcanto

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They sell four-packs of Harmless Harvest at Costco; it's worth the membership just for the price of their gasoline.
 

Mito

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Coco Community is another option with a low phosphorus content.
 
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yerrag

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The water or juice from mature coconut has higher potassium content than the young coconut. The mature coconut is where coconut oil comes from- from its flesh. The public markets in Manila both sell the young and the mature coconut. Most people drink the young coconut water, and the water from the mature coconut is not valued as much. Sometimes it is just thrown away, but the vendor I buy mature coconuts from says he sells the mature coconut juice for the equivalent of 20 cents (US$) for a liter. I'm considering buying from him about 4 liters a week. Since they may be slightly contaminated, I'll just pasteurize it first before I drink it.
 
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Dave Clark

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I was having trouble hitting potassium requirements, so I started using coconut water and potatoes, but I noticed I may have been having issues with coconut water. As per usual, most coconut water at the store sucks, like zico, one, vita coco, they are all trash and processed and probably contain intestinal irritants. I did some research and found this blog post.

the brand to use is called harmless coconut water that is sold at many stores nationwide. it is straight from coconut to bottle with no processing. it comes at a price at 4.50 though per 16oz which is a lot, but i can't handle other brands. it also has to be refrigerated, so that tells you a lot, never thought to realize all the others were sitting on a shelf and what could be in it.

read more here: How To Buy The Healthiest Coconut Water And Avoid The Worst!

coconut_water.jpg
I have the Naked brand, it has 'organic' labels all over it.
 

BigChad

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They sell four-packs of Harmless Harvest at Costco; it's worth the membership just for the price of their gasoline.

costco also sells their own kirkland brand, organic coconut water.

The problem with that brand is the high phosphorus content. Much higher than Zico or Vita, I’m not sure why?
View attachment 8646

in this case it looks like the processing for coconut water is actually a positive thing? the zico, vita coco etc seem to have the same amount of calcium, potassium, and magnesium as that brand, but have much less phosphorus. I wouldn't want to regularly drink high phosphorus coconut water, calcium phosphate ratio can be tough to get if you consume meat on a regular basis. kirklands own brand seems to be priced cheapest and is also organic. it does have some vitamin c and organic sugar added to it
 

Yody

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I drink at least 16oz everyday. mostly Vita-Coco organic. Naked is disgusting with the added 'natural' flavoring. Trader Joe's has been the most delicious I've had, though I haven't tried Harmless in a while, I suspect TJ's may have the same high phosphorus of Harmless due to its flavor and short shelf life. Oddly, Zico tastes better than VitaCoco, but its inorganic. I'll stick with Vita-Coco for the price and convenience. Been hittin 6-7g of potassium/day now for a few months after such a long keto mistake.

Heh, Harmless is ironically harmful with a calcium/phosphorus ratio like that, poor kidneys!
 
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Watch out for gums in coconut water. I've seen them listed in the ingredients of at least one brand (maybe Vita Coco?). RP has said they irritate the intestine.

I like Sprouts' coconut water. No additives, good taste, reasonable price, reasonable phosphorus content. Unfortunately, I've been getting an allergic reaction to it recently, but the problem may be more my deteriorating health than the product. I recall liking Costco's coconut water, too. (Edit to add that I think the brand I liked at Costco was Real Coco.)
 
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