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| Spanier (2016) |
Among the healthier options that are available in Chase and Emerson, one of my favorites is the fruit-infused water. There are usually two dispensers, with two different flavored waters. I personally like the lemon mint or strawberry. Recently, I started wondering if there were actually any health benefits to fruit-infused water, being as you aren’t actually consuming the fruit itself. Googling fruit-infused water gets a lot of results from weight-loss blogs recommending “detoxes” and “cleanses”. Companies are even making specific products for drinking fruit water on the go.
Of course, none of this answers the question of the health benefits of this water. My (admittedly brief) perusal of google search results found no strong evidence of fruit-infused water containing high amounts of vitamins or anything of that sort- in essence it’s no replacement for eating fruit. But many sites made an interesting claim: fruit infused water is good for you because it’s an “interesting” choice that isn’t full of sugar. In other words, people who are attempting to drink less soft drinks for their health, but find “plain” water boring can still make a healthy choice. Having “fun” water might even encourage a person to be better hydrated.
I think I have found this to be true in my own life. We have a lot of drinking choices in Chase, and it’s easy to mindlessly choose Pepsi (without thinking about how much sugar or caffeine we are consuming). But, at least for me, the fruit water catches my eye and makes me reconsider. It may not be packed with vitamins, but if it’s encouraging us to drink more water, that’s not bad.
If we think deeper into it, this is due to the idea that as a college student we are in a time were we have our own authority so these tricks and health products will have a greater affect on us since we are still trying to figure out what works for us. What kind of water people drink surprisingly splits some students on wheaton as "the healthy" one and "regular" one.
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ReplyDeleteI would guess that the water does have added health benefit and vitamins, since the fruit has been soaking in it. I don't think that means it's a replacement for eating the whole fruit itself, but the water still has some amount of vitamins and benefits from the fruit, than if there was no fruit added at all.
ReplyDeleteInfusing fruits and herbs in water can have health benefits, in one of the health systems that my family and I follow, it's normal to infuse fruits and herbs in water but usually it's sipped while warm making a tea to add to easier digestion. Such as drinking lemon basil water (which Chase had last week) is known for improving digestion and inflammation. I would say that it's helpful because of whatever benefits the things that are infused are putting into the water and because it's not full of sugar as you mentioned.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this post because I too am a big fan of these infused waters and have heard of many different health benefits from them. From my knowledge the water does absorb some of the vitamins of the fruit or herbs soaking in it. Also in a lot of cases some of the pulp of the fruit comes out in the water when you dispense it which helps with gaining some of the nutrients. I personally enjoy it because it adds some flavor to water which is all I drink so having some flavor is always nice.
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