Coconut Water; Super Food; Super Nutrition

Coconut water is a superfood filled with minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, amino acids, enzymes, and growth factors. ~ Dr. Bruce Fife; a certified nutritionist and naturopathic physician. He is the author of 20 books including the recently released “Coconut Water for Health and Healing”. 

 Green Coconut Water (the liquid endosperm of the coconut) – locally called “jelly water” – is a traditional Dominican beverage. It is the clear liquid from the tender young coconut before the nut has matured and hardened.

Farmers fill the back of their pick ups or wheelbarrows with these huge green yellow nuts and stop along the road to take up cutlass and dispense this refreshing, cooling drink. We drink it right out of the coconut; then eat the jelly inside with a coconut spoon cut off the side of the nut!

I like to pay the farmers more than they ask for this delicious nutritious beverage! They have to climb the tree, carry these huge heavy nuts and then work hard for hours in the sun dispensing coconuts and smiles. We think nothing of paying 3 or 4 dollars for a bottled beverage often containing harmful ingredients; let’s support the coconut water industry in the same way!

A true connoisseur of coconut water knows whether they want young coconut with little or no jelly (less sweet) or perhaps a little more mature with soft jelly (my favourite) or more mature still where the jelly has turned to nut. The biochemical profile of coconut water varies – the mineral content remains fairly constant but the sugar and protein concentrations increase as the nut matures – so there are a variety of delicate subtle flavors. 

Fresh out of the nut is the very best way to get your coconut water; there is no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives added and freshness and purity are ensured as the liquid rapidly loses most of its nutritional characteristics and begins to ferment once exposed to air.

In 2004 FAO was granted a UK patent for a cold sterilization processing method that will allow manufacturers to bottle coconut water without losing its flavour and nutritional characteristics. They are making the patented process available to all interested companies.

This beverage is a tropical super food. In addition to natural sugars, it contains a complex array of vitamins and minerals, including Vitamin C and traces of B Vitamins. It is high in potassium, phosphorous, chlorides, calcium, and magnesium; with traces of iron and a modest amount of sodium, sugar, and protein.[1]

This refreshing liquid is the best diet drink around low in carbs, fat and sugar.

 The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations are promoting coconut water as the next wave of natural sports/energy drinks. “It’s a natural isotonic beverage with the same level of electrolytic balance as we have in our blood.” – Mr. Morton Satin, FAO.[2]

 It is said that during the Pacific War of 1941-45, both sides in the conflict regularly used coconut water – siphoned directly from the nut – to give emergency plasma transfusions to wounded soldiers. Studies released in 2000 from Universities in the United States [3] and Germany [4] as well as Malaysia report the successful use of coconut water as a short-term intravenous hydration fluid.

 Initial studies show coconut water can aid the quick absorption of some drugs and makes their peak concentration in the blood easier by its electrolytic effect. [5]

 In Jamaica coconut water has traditionally been used as a heart tonic and modern studies at the University of West Indies are proving this is true.[6]

Other studies indicate that both tender and mature coconut water has beneficial effects on serum and tissue lipid parameters in rats fed a cholesterol-containing diet. [7]

This local drink is said to be one of the richest sources of cytokinins; plant hormones which are being studied for their anti-aging effect on human cells. [8]

 Jelly water is an excellent oral re-hydration medium that can replace fluids lost when ill with fever, vomiting, diarrhea or dysentery. [9]

A School of Medical Science and Technology study shows coconut water shows remarkable potential to contribute in the development of novel antibiotics from natural sources.[10]

Some cultures feel that applying coconut water jelly to the skin has healing softening properties. Recent studies are showing this may be true.

 Coconut water has a host of yet scientifically unproven but traditional uses for coconut water in cultures all over the world:

* as an aphrodisiac and to promote fertility.

* for intestinal gas, acidity or gastric ulcer .

* as a tonic; easily digested for the infirm or sick.

* for its cooling properties throughout the tropics. It can even ease the heat of menopausal symptoms.

* applied externally to soothe heat rash, measles and chicken pox.

 * pregnant women traditionally use coconut water to: combat nausea and fatigue; keep cool; make themselves and their babies strong and promote lactation.

* as a safe, nutritious water for babies to drink.

 * as a diuretic - recommended for kidney stones and urinary tract infections.

I am looking forward to new studies in the future but to me the greatest proof of coconut water’s benefits are the Centenarians of Dominica!

 Eat local; eat healthy; drink coconut water; eat like our centenarians did!

 –        by Trudy Scott Prevost. For more information; 245-2474, rainbowyoga@yahoo.com. This is a researched not copied article. For a fee an article with links can be provided. 

Warning: Coconut water is best avoided in patients with hyperkala

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