As I begin training for my Half Marathon in June, I’m doing some homework to get my nutrition in order as that has been one of my main struggles with previous long races. And as I’ve started my studies as a Health Coach, I’ve been working to improve my nutrition overall and stick to real food and clean eating. Which got me to thinking… Gatorade and other sports drinks are not natural. In my quest for a more natural sports drink, I recently crossed paths with Coconut Water – there were free samples of Zico at the Whidbey Island 10K I ran in last weekend (Race Debrief coming soon):
Here are three things I’ve learned about Coconut Water:
- It has 5 times more potassium than other sports drinks – potassium can help prevent muscle cramping
- It is found in young, green Coconuts found in the tropics – it is best straight from the source, but for those of us who don’t live on an island, we can find many different kinds in bottles and cans
- It has less sodium than other sports drinks, which can be a problem for intense exercise when you will sweat a lot – in those cases, add a pinch of salt to your Coconut Water
Here are an Infographic with some other health benefits of Coconut Water found in Pinterest:
I’m going to experiment with Coconut Water during my training. Due to the temperate Pacific Northwest climate, I don’t think the lower sodium will be an issue for me here…
Question for you: Have you tried Coconut Water? What do you think?
Cheers³
Reni
PS – I now have a Facebook page, where I’ll be linking my blog posts and sharing other health and fitness tips (and even occasional Greyhound photos). Check it out!
Cheers³ 
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I have never tried coconut water. I have heard it doesn’t taste good though by so many people. I guess I will have to give it a try one day soon. 🙂
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I’ve heard that too and the tip I received is to try one of the drinks with another fruit juice that you like mixed in – ie. I had coconut water with pineapple and it was great!
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I LOVE coconut water! I’ve been using it as a sports drink since I started running 2 years ago. It’s so refreshing and so much better for you than Gatorade!
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That is excellent to hear! Do you drink it during your runs or after (or both)?
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I usually drink it after. I’ve never used coconut water on a training run, but I’m sure it would be great. I don’t completely avoid Gatorade/sports drinks only because that is what most races offer along the course, but I think coconut water is so refreshing after a run!
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I recently just started using coconut water after long runs and I have to say that I really like it and find that it works well. Great post!
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Great to hear! Thanks Sarah.
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