A Refreshing Start to the New Year
The 411 on H2O
by the bhf buyer
Understanding health and bone issues is one thing. Translating that knowledge into a shopping list you can take to the store with you is another. With that in mind, I decided to stroll into my local supermarket and see what some companies are offering. Grab your shopping list and a cart and come along.
Buy a Water systeme (USA)
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New Year’s resolutions, blah, blah, blah. Why set goals that we don’t even remember them by March? You may actually think the beginning of the year helps to refocus your priorities and make changes for the better, however incremental they may be. With all the hype about resolutions, renewal and making a clean start, I decided to make just one resolution for 2006, drink more water. Water is one of the most basic needs we have in life, but how does this relate to calcium, vitamins and bone health?
Buy a Water systeme (USA)Buy a Water systeme (CAN)Calcium is abundant in nature. We already know that calcium is a leading mineral in our body, serving as a foundational building block for our skeletal system. In addition, calcium is the fifth most abundant element in the earth's crust residing mainly in limestone, gypsum and flourite1. Remember those caves with stalagmites and stalactites? Chock full of calcium carbonate! As water moves through the rocks and soil in the earths crust, it picks up many of the minerals along the way. Most of the bottled waters we drink are from natural springs and pools, so they often contain calcium in them as a result of moving through the earth.
Bottled waters offered on grocery shelves today are very different from the waters offered when we grew up. Remember years ago when we first began to see bottled water on the shelves in stores? You could have easily walked down the aisle and heard “why would someone buy water when it is free at home?” Our times are certainly more sophisticated now and the volume and varieties of waters available reflect this.
Buy a Water systeme (USA)Buy a Water systeme (CAN)Have you seen the water section lately? It has exploded like “Old Faithful” on a warm summer day. You have the spring waters in all sizes and forms; imported premium waters; mineral waters; flavored waters and sparkling waters. Add to those the newer versions of H2O with added vitamins, minerals, electrolytes, flavors and nutrients. By the way, if I wanted a fruity, lightly effervescent, GatoradeTM-like, energy, multivitamin water beverage, I would have asked for it. All kidding aside, these new “psuedo-waters” or “water beverages” have been making their ways to the shelves over the past few years, backed by some of the largest food and beverage companies in the world. Thirsty yet?
As I looked across the sea of waters, I tried to find ones with Calcium, Vitamin D, Vitamin K and Magnesium or as I deemed them, the Bone Health Friendly Nutrients (“BHF Nutrients”). The first two waters I was drawn to were Vitamin Water and Smart Water. While Smart Water focuses on using electrolytes for re-hydratation, Vitamin Water was full of vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants. A few of them (Essential, Balance and Multi-V) turned out to have 10% of the Recommended Daily Allowance of Calcium although none seemed to have the other BHF Nutrients.
Buy a Water systeme (USA)Buy a Water systeme (CAN)Likewise, Water+ and Trinity’s Multi-Essential “Nutrient Enhanced Water Beverage” both contained 10% Calcium with no other BHF Nutrients. Moving down the shelf, I found Sanfaustino (self-titled “The Calcium Water”) to be the calcium king with 450mg of calcium per liter (almost 50% RDA). Others that placed well included San Pellegrino (208mg/lt), Perrier (147mg/lt), Evian (78mg/lt), and then it goes down fast from there.
Although some of the vitamin waters have multiple nutrients, I realized that Vitamin D, Vitamin K and Magnesium aren’t particularly welcome in this area of the store. So, I suppose the water aisle isn’t the “one stop shopping” place for the BHF Nutrients, after all. However, we still need water, so shop smart!
Buy a Water systeme (USA)Buy a Water systeme (CAN)As for me, once I finished my in-store research, I walked back to my car and took a long drink from my fancy-schmancy Norwegian VOSS bottle. Needless to say, I have had that bottle for two weeks, continually refilling it at the water cooler at work. SHH, don't tell! (Who said drinking water wasn’t vane?)
