If you have trouble getting in extra water during the day — because you find water a bit, well, bland — you may want to look into flavored, “nutrient-enhanced” water to up your water intake. Although I’m all for “eating” your vitamins, I’m not totally against a little boost through water.

I had the chance to review 3 flavors from Aquafina’s revamped Alive line of nutrient-enhanced water.

Alive Protect - Berry Pomegranate - The theme here is “anti-oxidants.” Protect is calorie-free with 10% DV of Vitamin C and Vitamin E. (Keep in mind that Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin and you need fat in your diet to absorb this vitamin.) Taste-wise, I really liked the flavor of Protect, but it was a tad overly-sweet.

Alive Energize - Orange Lime - Energize is also calorie-free, and is enhanced with almost the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee. It also gives you 10% DV of Niacin and Vitamin B6. Taste-wise, my least favorite.

Alive Satisfy - Peach Mango — Now, this was an interesting one. 8oz of Satisfy contains 3g of fiber (about the same amount in a smooth-textured Metamucil). I made it a point to try the 20oz size (over 6g of fiber) later in the afternoon, and, dang, if I didn’t feel, um, satisfied. Could be the water, could be a placebo effect, but I liked the idea of getting a bit of extra fiber. Even though I’m not a big fan of peaches or mangos, I liked the peach/mango flavor — but, again, found it just a tad too sweet.

Some Things to Consider

• Watch out for the sodium in this line. An 8oz serving has 65mg of sodium, about 3% DV (based on a 2000 calorie diet). I did a quick search and this seems to be a lot more than other flavored/nutrient-enhanced water (Propel, for example).
• All 3 Alive flavors are sweetened with sucralose/Splenda. If you’re sensitive to Splenda or don’t like it’s after-taste, you’ll want to avoid Alive.
• Please drink bottled water responsibly: RECYCLE those plastic bottles!

Eat better, move more, and believe in yourself!

(About Me)