It’s higher in sugar

Most packaged coconut water has a high sugar content and it’s not necessarily because they’ve added sugar to it. Sometimes it’s just a very concentrated form of coconut water and it can contain up to 15g of sugar per 330ml carton.
That’s almost 4 teaspoons of sugar.

Crazy right? Keep your eye out for brands that have less than 2g of sugar per 100ml.

The flavoured varieties are junk

Once you start adding flavours into coconut water you can just forget the health benefits, you’re pretty much drinking a glorified fruit drink.
To receive the full benefits of coconut water the best thing you can do is crack upon a fresh coconut and consume immediately. But we say this with a caveat:

If you are going to drink the water from a fresh coconut it’s important that you make use of the flesh as well. It is a waste to be discarding it. Throw it in smoothies, eat it as a snack, put it in chocolate mousses, cut it up and include it in a fruit salad or make our delicious Apple Cobbler (in a coconut).

It’s pasteurised

No matter the quality, sugar content or health benefits touted across the packaging, if the water has been packed into a carton or can it, by Australian law, has to be pasteurised. This is essential for our safety. Once a coconut is cracked open it begins to oxidise and is open to bacteria. Pasteurisation removes this potential bacteria, but unfortunately also kills off the nutrients and electrolytes that can only be obtained from fresh, raw coconut water.

What to look for when buying coconut water?

Minimum pasteurisation time
To remove bacteria the water only needs to be heated for a matter of seconds, but some brands will heat their water for up to 4 minutes. Ask the questions. It’s important to know.

No added sugar
This one is a biggie. Coconut water is already sweet enough, there is no need to add any extra.

Avoid flavours
See above.