There's something in the water

Last night as I flipped through my latest delivery of mags, I saw an ad in Vanity Fair for a new drink called VitaminWater Zero. Hmm. So I got online and did some snooping and I'm less than impressed. As one might expect, I have a few serious issues with this and I'm going to lay them all out here. Right, so..

* They're owned by Coca-Cola. There's a big clue peeps!

* It's cordial. Water with colouring, flavouring and sugar is cordial. Yes they managed to get some teeny tiny amounts of vitamins in there, but honestly, your body will not benefit in any way from them because it won't know what on earth to do with them! Try eating fruits and vegetables instead, tonnes more vitamins there.

* They're harping on about their stevia extract because it's a natural source of sweetener and it's been approved by the big guns (FDA, WHO), but the results are still inconclusive. In fact, about 20 years ago stevia was linked to cancer and infertility in rats. Oh and they don't mention the fructose you can see in the ingredients below. Interesting. If you need sugar, have it in its raw form: maple syrup, rapadura sugar or fruit. But don't go for the latest marketing fad thinking you can eat and drink all the sweetness you want because they promise you won't gain weight or experience any adverse affects. Puh-leese. Everything you put in your body has an effect whether Coco-Cola say so or not. They. Just. Want. To. Make. $quillions.

* This is the full, scary list of ingredients:
Reverse Osmosis Water, Less than 1% of: Rebiana (Stevia Extract) and Crystalline Fructose and Erythritol (Natural Sweeteners), Calcium Lactate and Potassium Phosphate and Calcium Chloride and Magnesium Lactate (Electrolyte Sources), Citric Acid, Natural Flavors, Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid), Gum Acacia, Beta-Carotene, Sorbitol, Modified/Food Starch, Vitamin B3 (Niacinamide), Vitamin E (Alpha-Tocopheryl Acetate), Vitamin B5 (Calcium Pantothenate), Glyceryl Ester of Rosin, Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine Hydrochloride), Vitamin B12.

* Drink filtered water instead (buy a water filter and a SIGG bottle or two and you'll save a fortune in the long run). If you're hooked on bottled juices and bright-coloured waters and way-too-sweet iced teas, it might take you a few weeks of major self-control to make it happen. But your taste buds will come back to life when you've ditched all that excess sugar. Plus, you won't crave that afternoon chockie bar as much.