New Water is Hard to Swallow

Are you pouring your money down the drain, drinking vitamin water?

You know you need to drink water during your workout. You know you need to take a daily vitamin. So it seems natural to combine the two. Maximum Fitness goes to the experts to find out if the latest hydration trend—vitamin-enhanced water, or “fitness water”—is worth your money.

What’s In It

Water is typically calorie-free. But a serving of H2ydro Pomegranate has 20 calories and 5 grams of sugar, and Glaceau VitaminWater Multi-V packs 50 calories and 13 grams of sugar per serving. Not much, but a bottle of fitness water can contain anywhere from two to four servings, and the calories and sugar add up.

These drinks can counteract what you’re doing in the gym in other ways, too. “Drinking sugar will activate the appetite center and likely lead to an increase in calories consumed,” says David L. Katz, MD, MPH, associate professor of public health practice at Yale University School of Medicine and author of The Flavor Point Diet. Sweetened vitamin water can be the slippery slide that lands you in a bag of Doritos after your workout.

To B or Not to B

Many fitness waters contain B vitamins, components that, as the label for Gatorade’s Propel Fitness Water states, “[aid] in energy metabolism.” The perfect formula to ensure a kick-ass workout, right? Not quite.

Getting that extra dose of B vitamins will make a difference in your energy levels only if you’re B-deficient. “A lack of B12 is associated with a type of anemia which is associated with energy, but anyone who eats animal products is unlikely to be deficient,” says sports nutritionist and author Nancy Clark, MS, RD. And your body stores enough B12 to last for years, so getting vitamins in your water during your workout doesn’t make a difference, says Clark.

Bottle Vs. Pill

“A vitamin [in pill form] has a higher concentration of nutrients [than fitness waters], so it’s a far more reliable way to make sure you get the amount you need,” says Katz. “It’s also far more comprehensive.” For instance, a serving of VitaZest contains only 2 to 25 per cent of the daily value of the vitamins it offers. And each kind of fitness water contains its own unique profile—some contain A, some don’t, some have calcium, others don’t—making it harder to get everything you need.

The pill form is easier on the wallet, too. A bottle of H2ydro costs $1.50, so at two servings per bottle, that’s 75 cents each. You can get a bottle of 100 CVS Multivitamin and Mineral tablets for $6.50—less than seven cents per serving.