Is Smart Water Really Good For You? | Blog

First, it is important to read the ingredients on the bottled water label. If you find that there are added sugars or calories, then they probably aren’t going to help your hydration levels (and actually may take away from your performance). Vitamins and electrolytes do not add any calories, sugars or carbohydrates so if your bottled water has these extra elements added then it is probably for other benefits like taste and won’t serve the purpose of rehydration.

Second, it has been found that vitamins added to water aren’t absorbed through the body as well as they are when eaten with food. This is because water soluble vitamins are passed too quickly through the digestion system and cannot be absorbed in time. Also some bottled “enhanced smart water” does not have an adequate amount of electrolytes or vitamins to make any significant difference. Our bodies are very efficient at getting the nutrients and vitamins we need from our food sources. Enhanced smart water is not as effective working with the body processes as much as the absorption rate through food.

Third, while it has been shown that moderate amounts of minerals are found in regular drinking water and are good for you (like calcium) – these are already added to tap water. Buying bottled water with added minerals can be costly for the purchaser but good for the manufacturer. Keep reading, below we will discuss alternatives to buying smart, mineral enhanced water as a way to keep getting your vitamins and alleviate the strain on your wallet.

However, some users will swear that electrolytes or vitamins added to their water really do make a difference whether it is for performance or taste. This could be a perceived placebo effect where the consumer wants to feel like they are getting benefits from the water that they are spending so much money on. It has been found out that some bottled water brands simply filter out municipal water sources and add minerals to the water. They use a vapor distilled filtration process which removes all contaminants and heavy metals. After the water is filtered, companies add back minerals for taste and to balance out the distillation of the water. (See our other post on if Distilled Water is Healthy to Drink). So the consumer is not buying a special water, just one that has been filtered and enhanced. Some studies have found that enhanced water does help but it depends on the types of vitamins added and the health reasons that they are being consumed for.

Another thing to consider is that not all plastic water bottles are BPA free and some of the plastics used to make the bottles have harmful chemicals. These chemicals (especially when exposed to heat or sunlight) can leak into the water and can be toxic to the human body. When this happens it makes it redundant to be adding minerals or vitamins to water that could be influenced by chemicals leaking from the bottle. These chemicals can also influence the taste of the water, so how does the consumer know they are tasting minerals or toxins from the plastic?