Vitamin water: Is it really that good?

I love Glaceau's Vitamin Water. Many people do. Just the name is enough to make people think that "hey, this is good for me, and it tastes great." But really, how good is vitamin water for the body?

The article "Confused in the beverage aisle? Here's some help," kind of clears some questions up. It explains that while Vitamin Water is tasty, it's not exactly a low-calorie drink. It does contain all kinds of vitamins and may even excuse you from taking a multivitamin every day; it also contains 150 calories and it does not use artificial sweetners.

Another article, "Ask Dr. Sears: Is Vitamin Water safe for kids?" really goes into detail about why vitamin or flavored waters in general are not really all they are cracked up to be. While Vitamin water may contain lots of vitamins, you are still getting a better package when you eat them in nutritious foods, and they may not be quite as beneficial when you are drinking them all in one drink.

Another thought that Dr. Sears brings up is that drinking lots of sweetened drinks can "depress the immune system, just the opposite of what you hope to achieve when consuming vitamins."

The first article points out the last point I want discuss. It explains how sports drinks are made for athletes to give them more energy to go while they are working out or doing their thing. Thus, they are loaded with carbs and sugars to give them that extra energy. So for the person who drinks them because they taste good and not because they are working out, they are consuming a large dose of carbs and sugars they don't need.

Vitamin Water probably isn't classified under a sports drink, but it does carry most of the same stuff. So for those of you like me, who drink Vitamin Water because it tastses good or after a work out, it is probably not the greatest thing for a diet.