SmartWater has hit a home run with their marketing and packaging efforts. The simple but elegant blue and transparent bottles, the anecdotes on the label, the talk of electrolytes – there is a lot to convince the average consumer that they are buying a superior product. But are any of their claims true? Not exactly.
In fact, there are two major issues to explore with SmartWater. One of them concerns hydration, and the other deals with the quality of the water itself.
Where are all those electrolytes?
SmartWater claims to be smart because of the electrolytes supplied by the water. Of course, these electrolytes are not naturally occurring, and SmartWater says that they add them as part of the fabrication process. However, they mention in the nutrition facts that the electrolytes are added for taste. Why would I want electrolytes for taste? I want them for hydration!
A closer analysis of the label reveals that there is 0mg of sodium in SmartWater. Ok, so if there is no sodium in the SmartWater, where are the electrolytes? SmartWater adds about 4 milligrams of magnesium and two and a half milligrams of potassium and calcium. This is nothing. In other electrolyte based drinks, you will see up to 7-10 times more electrolytes. For electrolytes to provide meaningful hydration they have to be present in a precise ratio to the water itself. SmartWater fails miserably on this front.
Conclusion: SmartWater does not do anything to provide more hydration than regular water.
Where does the water in SmartWater come from?
You may think that SmartWater is spring water. It’s not. They dress up the water with terms like “vapor-distilled,” but really it’s just filtered tap water. Yep, that’s right.
Read the last paragraph carefully. Most SmartWater comes from municipal water supplies! (you can read the whole pdf on their site). Ok, sure, they filter and distill the water, but that’s something you can actually do yourself in your own home.
Don’t get me wrong. Filtered and distilled water is better than what you are getting out of your tap. The water will be free of many of the contaminants that we are concerned about. If you are stuck in the middle of nowhere and the lone gas station has a choice between SmartWater and something like Dasani, go with the SmartWater without thinking twice.
SmartWater has a pretty bottle and a slick marketing campaign. They make it seem like you are consuming some magical elixir that will contribute to longevity and overall wellbeing. But if you buy a bottle you are just paying for dressed up tap water that has an insignificant quantity of electrolytes. You may still be inclined to do that. Hey, maybe a pretty bottle goes a long way for you. But hopefully you are at least more informed after reading this article.
If you have any thoughts about this product or any other that makes similar claims, sound off in the comments below. As always, if you have proof to the contrary of what we have said above, please share that, too.
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