Why you should skip the newest gimmick in “flavored” water

I’ve seen some pretty far out trends at the Food Expos and conferences I go to.

And, apparently, for 2016, water is all the rage.

Water? Really?

Yes, I wholeheartedly agree that water is essential. In fact, I recommend drinking half your body weight in ounces every day.

But when I read about a scented plastic cup that simulates flavored water, I thought…

Wow. What will they think up next?

This new invention, called “The Right Cup” is for people who don’t drink enough water for whatever reason.

The developer of this new gimmick was actually diagnosed with diabetes at age 30, and was ordered by his doctor to drink nothing but water (a shockingly good dietary recommendation from a mainstream doc…but I digress). Turns out, he hated plain water.  So he came up with this brainchild.

He took aromatic fruit flavors — the same ones beverage companies use in their drinks — and infused them directly into a specially designed plastic cup. So when you drink out of this cup, instead of swallowing the flavoring, your inhale it. Thus tricking your brain into thinking it is actually ingesting something sweet.

Pretty ingenious.

Except for a few fairly large problems:

#1 – Even though the flavors may be called “natural” they are not derived from nature. In fact, they’re made entirely from synthetic ingredients. And we still don’t know the effects artificial flavorings have on the body.

#2 – Even though the cup is “BPA free” it’s still plastic. And we don’t yet know what risks other chemicals in plastic have on our endocrine system.

#3 – Even though the sense of smell is powerful, you can only fool Mother Nature for so long.

When you get right down to it, you don’t need any of these gimmicks to give your body the benefits of good old H2O.

If you want to jazz up your water, go ahead and add some real-deal, organic, natural ingredients to it. A few slices of lemon or lime go a long way in adding flavor to otherwise “boring” water.

You can also use crushed strawberries, cantaloupe, pulverized cucumber, mint, or basil to get the same effect.

When it comes to your health — and drinking water — it’s always better to opt for natural over man-made any day of the week.

Resources:

http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/R-D/The-Right-Cup-positions-plain-water-as-alternative-to-sugary-drinks/?utm_source=newsletter_daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=07-Dec-2015&c=8NYHla7O5OIeDrfJ6PAEIzr%2BpjVtmWRh&p2=

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-right-cup-trick-your-brain-drink-more-water#/