Enhanced Water

It’s more than just H2O!

In the old days, you didn’t really have much of a choice when it came to drinking water. There was spring water, fresh water from lakes, rivers and streams, and rain water if you went outside and stuck out your tongue.

These days, specialty water is raining down on the market – pun totally intended. You can get sparkling water, flavored water, purified water, mineral water and pure spring water in bottles in almost any town in North America. As a result, one of the newest and fastest-growing types of specialty water on the market is enhanced water, which is spring water that’s fortified with “healthy” ingredients such as oxygen, nutrients, herbs, vitamins, minerals, electrolytes and, in some cases, stimulants like ginseng and caffeine.

The idea behind enhanced water is that the ingredients will lead you along the path to a healthier lifestyle. Enhanced waters are available to boost your nutrition, hydration, bone health and energy levels. Enhanced water is just starting to gain momentum, especially in urban health-conscious hubs such as Los Angeles, Beverly Hills and Arizona.

Even though the waters have only been on the shelves for just over 10 years now, and only represent about 2 percent of total bottled water sales in the world, health and wellness experts are predicting that number of sales will double by 2008. Although the enhanced water market hasn’t quite reached the dog-eat-dog pace of the energy drink market, some of the big boys – such as Coca Cola and Pepsi Co. from the soft drink world – have already got their hands in the proverbial well.

The upsurge is due to the fact that experts are saying that the average North American diet doesn’t provide the adequate nutrients and vitamins that the body needs. Adding additional vitamins and nutrients is now the popular answer. However, many people don’t like popping pills, so infusing a bottle of spring water with a daily dose of essentials is a convenient way to maintain health.

There are all sorts of substances added to water to enhance it, and some of them – such as castor oil, caffeine, calcium and soy – may surprise you. If you aren’t too thrilled about castor oil-flavored water, don’t worry, as there’s a variety of flavors out there such as lemon, orange, berry, citrus, mandarin, apple, pineapple, watermelon, peach, grapefruit and cherry. In fact, there’s a lot to choose from as these waters range from lightly flavored, zero-calorie spring waters to waters that resemble fruit juices.

If there’s a problem with this type of water, it may be the fact that a lot of manufacturers aren’t really explaining the benefits of the product to the masses. You can get your hands on a bottle of enhanced water in just about any supermarket or health food store in North America and in many other parts of the world. You’ll find that if you’re thirsty, there’s no shortage of H2O to wet your whistle.