Zico Pure Coconut Water

Posted By elissa on Nov 26, 2008 | 2 comments

Zico is the brainchild of founder Mark Rampolla, who was turned on to coconut water as a Peace Corps volunteer in Central America. In 2004, he left his corporate career to “pursue his dream of bringing the healthy, natural benefits of coconut water to consumers across the world.” Zico is being marketed as a “better sports drink” that can also “can become an important alternative agricultural product for the developing world.”

Manufacturer’s Description: For more than 4,000 years, coconut water has been revered as a natural source of nutrition, wellness, beauty and hydration. In times of famine and war, coconut water has been used as an intravenous fluid and saved many lives. It’s the only natural substance that can be safely injected into the human blood stream. Now modern science has validated its effectiveness, especially as a natural sports drink.

ZICO contains the five essential electrolytes your body needs to keep nerves firing, muscles moving and to help manage stress. One ZICO has more potassium than a banana – 15 times more than most sports drinks – to prevent cramping and promote recovery. Drink ZICO before or during a workout for the natural energy you need for optimal performance. After a workout, ZICO replenishes and re-hydrates you to speed recovery.

Product Label:

Comments: Zico Pure Coconut Water is a bit unusual for a “Functional Food” as it has no added nutraceuticals – it IS a food, not unlike milk or orange juice. I’ve included it here in this section for two reasons, however: a) it’s targeted to the sports/nutrition market vs. general use; b) it’s an outstanding source of potassium: an element that is lacking in many Western diets.

It also helps that it’s relatively low in calories and tastes pretty good, too – without added sweeteners or many other additives.

I tried both the Zico Natural and Mango flavor. While I’m not a big fan of coconut in general, the Natural had a very mild taste, with a pleasant, slight sweetness to it. I liked it well enough, although I liked the Mango even better…the fruit flavor complemented the coconut and enhanced the natural sweetness a bit too. I downed the latter following a cardio session, and found it quite refreshing.

One 11 oz. container provides 670 mg of potassium, which puts it in a class by itself as a sports drink. Most sports drinks provide only small amounts of this electrolyte, since relatively little potassium is lost in sweat (potassium found primarily inside cells). Most people don’t come close to the recommended 4700 mg potassium per day, though, so even small losses can be critical. Zico could certainly help pick up some of the slack.

It’s not particularly cheap: the lowest price I found online was $21.94 (US) for a case of 12 ($1.83 each). This is perhaps to be expected, as Zico is a natural product manufactured in Brazil, but the cost means it’s not the sort of drink you’re going to be knocking back throughout the day.

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