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Did You Drink Your Vitamins? |
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Wednesday, 26 September 2007 |
Take a trip down any grocery store's bottled water aisle, and your options seem endless.Oxygenated water. Mineral water. Fruit water. Minty water. Vitamin water. It's enough to make your head spin.
Enhanced waters are the latest and fastest-growing trend in the bottled water industry. The drinks come in an assortment of flavors from black cherry to strawberry kiwi and are packed with antioxidants, minerals and vitamins C, B6 and E. Even soft drinks have jumped on the trend. Coke released Diet Coke Plus, which is fortified with niacin, zinc and vitamins B12 and B6.
The health conscious consumers are snatching these drinks off store shelves in an effort to fulfill nutritional shortfalls. But the fortified-beverage movement isn't without critics.
Some health experts argue that the drinks don't do much for your overall health. And say the beverages could cause you to drink more calories than needed because some of them contain more than 100 calories per bottle.
Yet fortified foods, such as vitamin waters, can be useful, says Roberta Anding, a registered dietician and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, still, she says, eating fresh fruits and vegetables is always the best alternative.
"The impression is that we all don't get enough vitamins," she says. "If you eat a mixed diet, you probably don't need this."
Anding says she doesn't see a problem with vitamin waters, but warns not to get lulled into a false sense of security. "Don't think that you can skip eating whole foods just because your water has vitamins."
Dr. John Anderson, a professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, says there has been some question over the years aout how worthwhile supplements are in general. How much of a certain vitamin your body needs, he says, depends on a number of factors, including genetics.
"It's a very complicated issue," he says. "No one has a good handle on the supplements."
But as long as you don't over do it, taking supplements isn't harmful. And if you enjoy drinking vitamin water, well that's OK, too.
Copyright (c) 2007, The Fayetteville Observer, N.C. |
