Question: Is it safe to drink Vitamin Water Zero if I want to lose weight?

This question came up just this morning. As I am the go-to-guy for weight-loss and emergency-weight-loss the natural way, here is information that you shouldn’t be without.

What’s inside the bottle (Recoup flavor):

Reverse Osmosis water, less than 1% of: (rebiana (stevia extract) and crystalline fructose and erythritiol (natural sweeteners), magnesium lactate and calcium lactate and potassium phosphate (electrolyte sources), natural flavors, citric acid, vitamin C (ascorbic acid), vitamin B5 (calcium pantothenate), natural flavors, vitamin B3 (niacinamide), vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride), vitamin B12, beta-carotene (color).

Nutrition facts on the bottle:

Servings Per Container 2.5

Amount Per Serving

Calories 0

Total Fat 0g 0%

Sodium 0mg 0%

Potassium  Not a significant source

Total Carbohydrate 3g 1%

Sugar <1g

Protein 0g

Okay, but what does all this mean?  Here is a brief summary about some of the key ingredients:

Reverse Osmosis Water –That’s filtered tap water. Nope, you’re not getting some natural mineral water from a secret spring in an exotic-sounding island/mountain locale. On the other hand, osmosis does sound quite interesting, no?

Crystalline Fructose –a processed sweetener. It is derived from corn, just like High Fructose Corn Syrup, but is enriched with fructose. The fructose is crystallized, dried, and milled, then used as a sweetener in beverages. It doesn’t have the negative reputation that high fructose corn syrup does and less of it is required to create a sweet taste.

Erythritol –a natural sugar alcohol occurring naturally in fruits. However, it is much cheaper to produce it industrially from glucose by fermentation with a yeast with a scary name of Moniliella pollinis. Erythritol is only 60% as sweet as regular sugar. It is however almost calorie-free, with only 0.2 calories per gram vs. 4 calories for sugar (20 times less calories). An advantage Erythritol has over other sugar alcohols is that it is absorbed by the body and therefore does not cause cramps or bloating. It also has a cooling effect on the mouth.

Erythritol has 0 calories per gram for food labeling purposes in the United States, Europe and Japan. This 0 calorie value is based on Erythritol’s unique absorption and elimination process.

Rebiana (Stevia Extract) –Rebiana is the trade name for a stevia-derived sweetener developed jointly by the Coca Cola Company and Cargill. According to Cargill, Rebiana is “the best tasting part of the stevia leaf”. Personally, I like stevia over white sugar. Yet, don’t overlook the European study in early 2006 that showed effects in the male reproductive system. Female hamsters had fewer and smaller offspring, and some preliminary studies have linked it to cancer (white sugar and high fructose corn syrup as well).   For more information go to Truvia

On the bottle label, you will find that it has 0 calories but 3 grams of carbohydrates and sugar, less then 1gram. How does this work? Doesn’t 1 gram of carbohydrates contain 4 calories? Yes, it does. So, theoretically, there are 30 calories in each bottle. Not quite, however,  as Erythritol is almost non-caloric, with only 0.2 calories per gram vs. 4 calories for sugar (20 times fewer calories). Thus, Erythritol is uniquely qualified as a zero calorie bulk sweetener for formulating “reduced calorie” and “light” products which require a 25 percent or more calorie reduction from the standard formulation. Under U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) labeling requirements, it has a caloric value of 0.2 calories per gram. That’s why the Vitamin Water Zero can be labeled as zero calorie, although it doesn’t have really zero calories. (Look at the label again. 1 gram of sugar is listed. Sugar is a carbohydrate. And each gram of it has 4  calories.) There are 2.5 servings in 1 bottle. Hence, there are at least 8 calories in each bottle.

From a nutritional perspective, this drink seems to be better than competing vitamin waters that are laden with sugar, and are therefore doing more harm than good.

And for the vitamins? Well, it is always best to get your vitamins from food first as you might get benefits from other ingredients that have not been identified yet.

Ask me again if I recommend vitamin water when you are on a weight loss program? Definitely not, because the water tastes extremely sweet. If you taste sweet, then you want more sweet. When you are on a weight loss program, it is too easy to fall off the wagon and indulge in more sweets: chocolate, cake, ice cream, and others you can probably think of.

Water is the best hydration system on the planet. Period. But the decision is yours.

Stay focused.

Stefan

Your Weight Loss Coach

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