The role of nutrient water

Nutrient water is essentially flavored drinking water with added vitamins, minerals, electrolytes, dietary fiber and other nutrients. Its core function is to quickly replenish nutrients that are easily lacking in daily diet/metabolism for specific scenarios. It is neither a more advanced daily drinking water choice than boiled water, nor is it a completely useless IQ tax. The effect depends entirely on the scene in which you drink it.

I have been drinking nutrient water for five or six years, and the most polarizing comments I have heard are: either it is praised by fitness bloggers as a "life-extending water" that must be taken after exercise, or it is criticized by popular science accounts as a pure IQ tax, and drinking it is like spending money in vain. To be honest, I can sympathize with both of these statements. After all, I have indeed benefited from stepping on the pitfalls.

Last time I practiced glutes and legs, I only drank half a bottle of cold water between sets. After the exercise, I stood up and my eyes went dark. I squatted in the equipment area for ten minutes and still felt flustered. The convenience store boy handed me a bottle of nutrient water with B complex and electrolytes added. I drank most of the bottle, and the feeling of hairiness disappeared in less than 20 minutes. Later, I asked my friend in the nutrition department and found out that I sweated nearly a pound during that hour and a half of training. Not only did I lose sodium and potassium, but I also didn’t make up for the B vitamins I consumed. Drinking plain water alone was really not enough. The effect of drinking nutrient water at that time was indeed much faster than waiting for me to go home and cook a balanced meal.

But I completely agree that it is an IQ tax. When the VC epidemic hit two years ago, I drank nutrient water with 500 mg of VC as my daily water. After drinking it for three days, my urine turned yellow like concentrated orange juice. I was so scared that I ran to the hospital for a check-up. The doctor said that water-soluble VC cannot be stored in the body. If I take too much, it will be excreted in the urine. If I take too much for a long time, it may increase the risk of kidney stones. To put it bluntly, if you eat three meals regularly, eat one pound of vegetables and half a pound of fruits every day, don't exercise much, and don't stay up late, then drinking nutrient water is really the same as drinking cold water. Not only will the excess nutrients not be retained, but if you buy a model with a lot of white sugar, you will consume more unnecessary calories. It is not unfair to say that you have paid an IQ tax.

Moreover, different types of nutrient water have very different effects, so you really can’t buy them randomly. My mother usually doesn't like to eat whole grains and prefers soft vegetables. Her dietary fiber intake is seriously insufficient. She used to go to the toilet for three or four days. I bought her unsweetened dietary fiber nutrient water and drank one bottle every day. After half a month of drinking, her bowel movements became more regular. As a result, she later heard from the aunt in the community that this product can "scratch oil and lose weight", so she secretly switched to the sugar-added version. She drank two bottles a day and gained three pounds in a month. There is also the one with added taurine and a small amount of caffeine. When I stay up late working on a project, I will keep two bottles. It is milder than drinking coffee and does not make my heart beat as fast as drinking ordinary energy drinks. However, if I drink it after three o'clock in the afternoon, I will definitely keep my eyes open until dawn. I have stepped into this trap more than once.

The current attitude of the nutrition community towards nutrient water is not unified: one group believes that the amount of prepackaged nutrient water can be controlled, and it is safer than buying too much supplements by yourself. It is especially suitable for fast-paced office workers and people who often eat takeaways to supplement nutritional gaps; In fact, both of these statements are correct, it just depends on how much you are willing to spend for "convenience".

I always keep three or four bottles of different types in my locker at home. I take the electrolyte version after working out, the B-type version after staying up late, and the dietary fiber version when I get constipated after eating takeout for a few days. When I usually cook and eat a balanced meal at home, I definitely drink it cold and plain. After all, when it comes to drinking water, appropriateness is much more important than "high-end".