Is Coconut Water Good for You? We Asked Five Experts

Food and Agriculture


Is coconut water part of a healthy diet or should we just stick to good old water from the tap? Burcu Atalay Tankut / Moment / Getty Images

By Alexandra Hansen

In recent years coconut water has left the palm-treed shores of tropical islands where tourists on lounge chairs stick straws straight into the fruit, and exploded onto supermarket shelves – helped along by beverage giants such as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo.


Marketed as a natural health drink, brands spout various health claims promoting coconut water. So before we drank the Kool-Aid, we thought we’d check in with the experts whether the nutritional claims stack up. Is coconut water part of a healthy diet or should we just stick to good old water from the tap?

We asked five experts if coconut water is good for you.

Four out of Five Experts Said No


Here are their detailed responses:

Alexandra Hansen is the chief of staff of The Conversation.

Reposted with permission from our media associate The Conversation.

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