They’re splashed across the label in bold colors — words like “revive,” “energy,” “focus” and, most importantly, “vitamin”— but in truth, the biggest thing beverages like the popular Vitamin Water are doing is boosting your sugar intake. Marketed as a health-conscious while still-delicious alternative to soda or Gatorade, these brightly branded drinks promise wellness in a bottle. But that promise doesn’t seem to hold much water.
Vitamin Water has long been a drink frequently consumed by U-High students, largely because of its wide availability both in the drink fridge in Café Lab and the Lab Grind coffee shop. Several flavor options are available, including Power-C: Dragonfruit, Açai Blueberry Pomegranate and Focus: Kiwi Strawberry — and students often reach for a $4 bottle during lunch or passing period.
“It seems like the healthiest option in that case,” junior Asher Dennis said of the Café Lab beverage array. “And it seems like the best bang for your buck, too, because the bottles are bigger.”
Melinda Ring, a holistic medicine practitioner at Northwestern University, stressed the dishonest nature of companies like Vitamin Water marketing their beverages as healthy in any way.
“Vitamin Water may sound like a smart choice, but nutritionally it can be misleading,” Dr. Ring said. “A standard bottle can contain 31–34 grams of added sugar, which is about the same as a regular soda.”
Many U-High students who drink it wouldn’t be surprised to hear that. It seems to be a price they’re willing to pay, in fact, for the benefit of taste and energy, especially for those who participate in sports. In Asher’s case, Vitamin Water can boost his energy and make for a good hydrator before squash practice — and it’s true that some extra vitamins won’t hurt you. But it’s questionable whether or not the pros outweigh the cons for a drink like this.
“It’s a good drink, except it makes me feel like I’m being healthy, even though I know that the stuff in there is definitely not good for me,” Asher said. “They call it Vitamin Water, but like, I can’t pronounce half of the ingredients.”
Lisa Oldson, a clinical instructor who specializes in internal medicine at Northwestern, detailed the immense sugar content of one Vitamin Water flavor.
“There’s a flavor called orange-orange, which I selected as an example, thinking it might be a popular flavor,” Dr. Oldson said. “It contains 27 grams of added sugar, which means that in just that one 20-ounce bottle, there are almost seven teaspoons of sugar. Just pause and think about that — seven spoonfuls of sugar in that orange drink, that some teens might think is healthy!”
Dr. Oldson also emphasized that students who are seeking a healthy method of hydration should stick with the simplest and decidedly healthiest option — plain, unflavored water.
“There is absolutely no data, except for perhaps some paid for by Coca-Cola, who owns the Vitamin Water brand, that drinking water with added vitamins improves health,” Dr. Oldson said. “Teens don’t need that, adults don’t need that. Plain old filtered water is fine. No one is dying of vitamin malnutrition around here.”
