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When I recently returned from a running session at my domestic parklands I was looking forward to kill a young coconut to slake my thirst. It was not only refreshing and had a superb taste, I also felt nourished from its white flesh. Hence, as they are very suitable to help restoring energy levels after brisk walking workouts, I thought to teach myself and share some of its nutritional values at Walking DVD and Books.

Young coconuts are also called tender coconuts and will be harvested before they are fully mature, literally when the coconut is still green. Its meat is soft, easy to spoon out and contains less sugar and more protein than fruits such as bananas, apples or oranges. Flesh and water deliver important nutrients and minerals such as iron, phosphorus and zinc. It actually doesn’t look like, but a coconut can host up to 750 ml of water, which is lots of water to drink.

Coconut water restores fluid levels after walking or running

After physical exercise the body has lost water through perspiration. Usually, I drink water to replenish levels, but the body also has lost smaller amounts of electrolyte minerals such as sodium or potassium as well as carbohydrates. An isotonic drink will do a better job than just water as it contains a mix of electrolytes, minerals, vitamins, sugars or amino acids. Well, coconut water is known to be isotonic too; hence it is so refreshing after walking or sports.

An article from the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Department even reads that coconut water comes with the same level of electrolytic balance as human blood. While researching the site I learned that during the Pacific War of 1941-45 coconut water was used to ‘give emergency plasma transfusions to wounded soldiers’. Luckily, we can be more interested in drinking it, so here are the benefits.

Nutritional Benefits at a glance

• natural isotonic beverage / high in electrolytes, vitamins and amino acids
• good source of potassium (2.1mg/100ml)
• source of magnesium (10mg/100ml)
• source of phosphorous (10mg/100ml)
• water is low in sugar, fat and carbohydrates (2,100mg/100ml)
• contains medium chain fatty acids and raw saturated fat
• no cholesterol
• water is free from harmful bacteria or fungus
• cooling properties, ideal after brisk walking and running

Things to consider

Of course the biggest barrier to get at the water and flesh is to open the coconut first. You will experience less hassle than with opening brown coconuts. Some websites provide practical instructions, but consider all precautions before starting as a knife is needed.
Once a coconut is open and exposed to air nutrients rapidly will oxidize as well as the water begins to ferment and loses flavor. So, I recommend drinking it quickly or at least to fridge leftovers. Last but not least, go organic and buy only fresh coconuts as a whole. The alternative would be processed sports drinks. However, pasteurization or thermal processing may eliminate the risk of bacteria, but these processes will also destroy nutrients and much of its flavor.

Want to know more? This video shares a refreshing juice recipe using a young coconut as ingredient. It’s good and it is raw.

Further reading and sources:

• Opening instructions from Raw Guru
• How to bottle coconut water from Agriculture and Consumer protection Department
• New sports drink: coconut water from Agriculture and Consumer protection Department
• Coconut information at Wikipedia
• Coconut water article at Wikipedia
• stainlesssteeljuicers.net offers another Young coconut water recipe
• Photography: FlickR/Yazmapaz & Ace_Heart

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