飲料推薦:揭祕“神奇”的椰汁飲料
When coconut water broke into the American market 10 years ago, it was billed as a miracle drink able to fight viruses, kidney disease and other ailments like osteoporosis. Global sales now reach $400 million a year, and many consumers believe that the beverage has a wide variety of health benefits. But they may be unaware that the drink's marketers have sharply scaled back their claims.
十年前，椰汁打入美國市場時被宣傳成是能抵抗病毒、治療腎病和其他像骨質疏鬆這樣的小恙的神奇飲料。而今它的全球年銷售額達4億美元，很多消費者認爲這種飲料有多種保健作用。但是他們可能沒有察覺到，賣家們急劇降低了這樣的宣傳。
Young and Green
幼嫩，綠色
Not to be confused with coconut milk (the milky-white liquid made from coconut meat), coconut water is the clear fluid from young, still-green coconuts, packaged in angular Tetra Paks, as well as in bottles and faux coconut shells.
不要把椰奶和椰汁混爲一談。椰奶是用椰肉做成的乳白色液體；椰汁是幼嫩的綠色椰子裏的透明液體，裝在有棱角的利樂包、瓶子或假椰殼裏。
An Acquired Taste
後天養成的嗜好
The flavor is an unusual mix of salty and sweet. The typical coconut water has 30 to 70 milligrams of sodium and 9 to 12 grams of sugar per 11.2-ounce container — saltier but much less sweet than most fruit juices. The same amount of apple juice has 10 milligrams of sodium and three times as much sugar: 33 grams.
椰汁的味道很奇特，是鹹味和甜味的結合。常見的一盒11.2盎司的椰汁中含30至70毫克鈉、9至12克糖——比大多數果汁鹹，遠沒有大多數果汁甜。等量的蘋果汁含10毫克納和33克糖——是椰汁糖分含量的三倍。
Essential Elements
基本成分
The minerals in coconut water are what prompted the early claims of curative power, but their amounts are quite modest and they are widely found in other foods. A banana, for example, has 422 milligrams of potassium, compared with 660 milligrams in a typical container of coconut water. The water's big three minerals are potassium (19 percent of the daily recommended intake), calcium (4 percent) and magnesium (4 percent).
最初的宣傳稱，椰汁中的礦物質有治療作用，但是它們的含量很小，而且在其他食物中也廣泛存在。比如，一根香蕉含422毫克鉀，一盒常見的椰汁含660毫克鉀。椰汁含有的三大礦物質是鉀（佔每日推薦攝入量的19%），鈣（4%）和鎂（4%）。
A Sports Loss
與運動飲料相比
Vita Coco, a leading brand, once boasted that it had 15 times the electrolytes — substances like sodium and potassium that are lost in sweat — in sports drinks. Then a 2011 class-action lawsuit contended that some of the mineral sums on its packages were exaggerated; as part of a settlement, Vita Coco agreed to stop saying that it rehydrated better than sports drinks. "We don't try to compare ourselves to much of anything anymore," said Arthur Gallego, the company's publicist.
Vita Coco是椰汁領導品牌，它曾吹噓說它的椰汁中的電解質含量是運動飲料的15倍。電解質指的是出汗時流失的鈉和鉀等物質。2011年的一場集體訴訟聲稱，該公司的椰汁包裝上的一些礦物質含量被誇大了；作爲一項和解條件，Vita Coco公司同意不再說它比運動飲料更能補水。“我們不再試圖把自己與其他大部分飲料相比較，”該公司的公關亞瑟·加萊戈(Arthur Gallego)說。
One Last Comparison
最後一項比較
These days, coconut water's big rival may be plain old water. How do they compare? Scientists are still wrestling with the question, and while their findings vary, water is starting to look just fine for most people. A 2012 study (funded by Vita Coco) in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition found that neither coconut water nor sports drinks were better than water in hydrating young men after hourlong workouts.
如今，椰汁最大的對手可能是普通的水。它們比較起來又如何呢？科學家們仍在爭論這個問題，雖然他們的研究結果不太一樣，但是對大部分人來說，喝水就夠了。2012年一項發表在國際運動營養協會學刊(Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition)上的研究（由Vita Coco公司資助）發現，年輕男子在一小時的鍛鍊之後，椰汁和運動飲料的補水效果並不比水更好。
So What's the Appeal?
那麼它的吸引力是什麼？
Coconut water taps into a "deep consumer vein," Tom Pirko, a beverage industry analyst, wrote in an email. "It is not seen as a ‘manufactured' concoction, but rather the issue of Mother Earth." And it seems poised to become just the first in a wave of natural waters; already for sale are bottled waters from maple and birch trees, barley, cactus and artichokes, with their own exuberant promotions.
飲料行業分析師湯姆·珀克(Tom Pirko)在郵件中說，椰汁進入了“消費者的血液深處”，“人們不認爲它是‘加工出來的'混合物，而是大地母親的汁液”。它似乎以自然之水浪潮中的第一位而泰然自居；其他在售的還有楓樹、樺樹、大麥、仙人掌和洋薊的瓶裝汁液，各自都有華麗的宣傳。
More Than a Drink
不只是飲料
Meanwhile, coconut water flows on. Best-selling cookbooks are using it as an additive in soups and smoothies. And it's not just for drinking: Dial has released a soap and a body wash that use coconut water as a hydrating agent — and as a powerful image on the package.
與此同時，椰汁還有其他用途。最暢銷的食譜把它用作湯和冰沙的調味劑。它不只可以用來喝：Dial公司推出了用椰汁做保溼劑的香皂和浴液——其包裝盒上醒目地點出這一成分。
