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Example article found with DDG: 8 Science-Based Health Benefits of Coconut Water

The Bottom Line

Coconut water is a delicious, nutritious and natural beverage that’s extremely good for you.

It may benefit your heart, blood sugar, kidney health and more.

Although controlled studies are needed to confirm many of these qualities, the research to date is encouraging.

If you start sipping away at this tropical drink, just be sure to avoid products with added sugar.

That sounds like magic. Is coconut water that really that good for your health?

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    I edited your question to remove the request for advice. Requests for advice are off topic here.
    – Carey Gregory is on strike ♦
    Sep 1, 2019 at 5:05
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    "Although controlled studies are needed to confirm many of these qualities, the research to date is encouraging." is actually a reasonably fair statement from this sort of site. Said another way, there isn't enough data to make a recommendation but there might be enough data to study further.
    – Bryan Krause is on strike ♦
    Sep 1, 2019 at 16:24
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    Coconut water is used in several communities because it's high in beneficial electrolytes and low in sugar. For example, endurance athletes, people who suffer from atrial fibrillation and hypokalemic partial paralysis often use it. Is it going to change anyone's life if they drink it every day? I'm guessing the answer is no. You can obtain the same benefits from a host of foods.
    – Carey Gregory is on strike ♦
    Sep 1, 2019 at 23:24

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The article linked from the question mentions several benefits of coconut water, such as high mineral content, antioxidant activity, preventative effect against diabetes, kidney stones and high cholesterol levels. It is clearly said in the article that the evidence comes from animal studies and that they haven't found any human studies that would confirm those results.

They mention a small and short human study (28 participants, 4 weeks) in which coconut water was associated with a decrease of blood pressure.

They link to two small studies (8 and 10 participants) in which the hydration status was not significantly different after drinking coconut water, a carbohydrate drink or plain water.

The search site:gov "coconut water" "systematic review" gives almost no relevant results, which suggests that very little research has been done about the effects of coconut water on human health.

One cup of coconut water can contain 400-600 mg of potassium (USDA: here and here), but a single serving of beans, potatoes, banana or other foods can provide more. Coconut water contains only a relatively small amount of other minerals and vitamins.

In conclusion, there seems to be no convincing evidence to say that drinking coconut water results in any specific health benefits or that it contains nutrients that couldn't be obtained from a variety of other foods.

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