All About Water – Enhanced Water

Have you noticed something lately? Go to your nearest convenience store and look at the bottled water section. You are going to be hard pressed to find a plain bottle of water. Instead you are going to see all different types of water. From vitamin infused, so called smart waters, energy waters, fitness waters, and much more. We’re going to take a look at a few specific types of these waters and also let you know what to watch out for.
Usually we grab a bottle of water to rehydrate ourselves and provide our bodies with something good for us. Many of these waters have hidden calories, sugars, and other additives that our bodies simply don’t need. A lot of the marketing and label claims are hype and gimmicks. Let’s take a look at some of what’s available out there and what you should be watching for.


Smart Water

One of the first types of waters you may notice on the shelf is something called Smart Water. Smart Water is basically plain water with some electrolytes added in. For purity the water comes from a spring, is distilled, and then has some electrolytes added in. The extra minerals in this water give it a little better taste that some find more appealing. You can’t really go wrong with this water, it has no calories, no sweeteners, and the only additives are a few minerals.


Vitamin Water

The fastest growing water seller is Vitamin Water. You see Vitamin Water just about everywhere. And from the name you may think this one is going to be just as good for you as the Smart Water we just talked about. The second ingredient in these waters is sugar right after the main ingredient of water. So you’re basically drinking a flavored sugar water. Calorie wise you are taking in about as many calories as a soft drink. Sure it has vitamins, but at the cost of extra sugar. There is a zero calorie vitamin water available, but you are getting the artificial sweetener.


Fitness Waters

There are another line of waters referred to as fitness waters. The main contender in this category is Gatorade’s Propel. Propel is a calorie free water, with added vitamins and minerals, and sweetened with Splenda. If you don’t mind Splenda this is a decent alternative. You get a few vitamins and minerals (nothing significant) and a flavored water.


Energy Waters

Still another line of waters you may see are so called energy waters. These waters come in all shapes and sizes, calorie, calorie free, vitamins, minerals, and the one common denominator caffeine. If you are drinking water to rehydrate I would stay away from this one. Caffeine can act as a diuretic and you really don’t want that when trying to stay hydrated. Also, like some of the others pay attention to hidden calories here.


Flavored Diet Waters

And finally one of the last line of waters you may see are flavored diet waters. One of the big sellers in this area is Crystal Light. These are all calorie free, and usually have no added minerals or vitamins to speak of. The one thing they all share is artificial sweeteners.

As we mentioned in the start of the article the number of available bottled waters to you are dizzying to say the least. Many have additives in them you probably just don’t care for or want to have. Many have more sugar than a can of soda. If you are OK with artificial sweeteners then some of these are OK on occasion if you want a break from plain water.