Myth or Not (Why Vitamin Water Works for Some and Not Others)

This past summer, I wrote about my two-year experience with gastrointestinal virus in Associated Content here. What I did not mention in that article was that prior to becoming ill on the second time, I had been relying on vitamin water from Costco. After the first stomach flu, I really thought that my issue was lack of vitamins, so vitamin water seemed like a perfect option for me.

It worked for fall semester, but on my spring semester of sophomore year, I became a victim of stomach flu again. Since then, I stopped drinking vitamin water. Now, I think I know why.

Does Vitamin Water Work?

This is a simple but a difficult question to answer. Honestly, no for the most part, but yes in some cases (see below).

Fact: Lawsuit Against Vitamin Water

On July 23, 2010, Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) brought a lawsuit against Coca-Cola for its vitamin water product on the grounds that Coca-Cola violated the rules of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by promoting this product as "healthy" when it really was not healthy. Coca-Cola defended itself by saying, "... no consumer could reasonably be misled into thinking vitamin water was a healthy beverage."¹

Personally, I found this lawsuit to be humorous because even though Coca-Cola clearly knew that the complaint was legitimate and that it was reprehensible for causing another source of obesity in America, it chose to essentially say, "Ah, too bad. Not our fault, but your fault for not thinking clearly about this product." In addition, here is the link to the 55-page summary of the case made available by CSPI.

So, then just what is this so-called vitamin water?

In the same article, Robbins answered this question, "In fact, the product is basically sugar-water, to which about a penny's worth of synthetic vitamins have been added. And the amount of sugar is not trivial. A bottle of vitaminwater contains 33 grams of sugar, making it more akin to a soft drink than to a healthy beverage."

In other words, if you were thinking about skipping that good old Dr. Pepper and drinking the vitamin water, you are not really becoming healthy with exception of not getting carbonated water part.

Theory: Placebo Effect on Vitamin Water

Referring back to the key question in this article, I can propose a theory that explains why vitamin water was working for me for several months. This theory is the placebo effect.

American Cancer Society defines a placebo as "a substance or other kind of treatment that looks just like a regular treatment or medicine, but it is not."² So, the placebo effect then refers to the relieving of symptoms after taking the placebo.

I think that for many people who drink vitamin water and feel that they become better (and perhaps, do become better), the key is not so much on the sugar-coated vitamin water, but on the placebo effect. It is only until this placebo effect is gone that the person realizes that the substance actually has no longer medical value, as it happened to me with my second stomach flu.

So, the choice is up to you. You can tell yourself that vitamin water has a magical effect of replenishing your body with needed vitamin and keep drinking it. Or, you may choose to not order Coke with the burger and instead, turn to a fruit salad (with minimum dressing) and water for more "healthy" meal with vitamins.

Works Cited

¹ John Robbins, "The Dark Side of Vitaminwater," The Huffington Post 5 Aug. 2010.

² Placebo Effect, American Cancer Society, 23 Aug. 2010, accessed 30 Nov. 2010, http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/TreatmentsandSideEffects/TreatmentTypes/placebo-effect