There must be something in the water

THE SEEDS FOR this story were planted a few months ago when Ayala's Herbal Water of Wynnewood sent the

Daily News

Food Section a selection of 0-calorie waters with flavors we would have never thought to put in water.

Shortly thereafter, "The View" featured the new diet soda Zevia, sweetened with Stevia, a natural sweetener new to soft drinks.

Our e-mail, meanwhile, has been inundated with health claims from juice manufacturers who find fruits we'd never heard of in the world's most hidden places, and sell their death-defying elixirs like Amway.

What the heck is going on here in the land of Welch's and Tropicana? What is Stevia? And Noni, Goji, Acai and Mangosteen? Are bitter pomegranates really good for you? Will Limu help you live longer? Should "Purple" be your favorite color? Is life really just a bottle of cherries?

Most importantly: Are these health-enhancing drinks merely another form of snake oil?

"A lot of these claims are just claims," said Tara Gidus, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. "They're not backed up by medical research."

In fact, mangosteen research published by Paul M. Gross, PhD ("The Berry Doctor") and Ian Crown says, "The most remarkable nutritional characteristic of mangosteen aril is its relative absence of essential macro- or micronutrients."

That's not to say the exotic fruit is bad for you (although it is bad for your wallet), but that many of the reported health properties of mangosteen juice aren't coming from the mangosteen.

As for the health properties in the xanthones of mangosteens, research is under way, so you mangosteen drinkers could end up ahead of the curve.

Limu, an algae found in the South Pacific, is getting buzz now due to its Fucoidan, which some believe offers relatively safe benefits for a variety of health woes. If you believe that, a supplement is more likely to have a higher grade concentration of Fucoidan than a juice.

Berries, on the other hand, or in the other hand, are very good for you. And while acai berries and goji berries (aka wolfberries) may be the two most nutrient-filled, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries also have lots of antioxidant and phytonutrient power and are a lot cheaper and easier to find. They also taste a lot better than oxidant-rich pomegranates and noni.

While noni fruit offers a wide-range of worthwhile phytonutrients, "Most commercial noni preparations are extremely sweet and tasty, while the actual noni fruit has a pungent smell and taste that resembles a soft French cheese," says epidemiologist and widely published author, Barbara Wexler. "In making the unique and powerful nutrients of noni palatable for the typical consumer, large amounts of sugar and other flavorings are added."

So what's a good way to discern what type of health benefits a fruit may provide? Color.

"Blue and purple fruits including blackberries, black currants, blueberries, elderberries, plums, purple figs and grapes contain anthocyanins, ellagic acid and phenolics, which, along with helping to protect against cancer, also support memory and cognition and urinary tract health," according to Wexler. "Orange and yellow fruits contain beta carotene, hesperidin, limonene and tangeritin, which, along with supporting heart health and helping to prevent cancer, also support vision and the immune system."

While Gidus recommends eating the whole fruit as opposed to drinking a juice or extract, juices can provide health benefits (along with a lot of natural sugar) if they are properly prepared with no additives.

We sampled a lot of fluid for this article and here are some of the best:

Purple: It calls itself "The most powerful antioxidant beverage on the planet," and its 10 oz. bottles are filled with acai juice plus black cherry, pomegranate, black currant, apple, purple plum, cranberry and blueberry juices from concentrate. It's a tad tart and a little pricey (upwards of $2.50 per 10 oz. bottle), but acai berries from the Amazon have a high level of antioxidants, and Purple is not loaded down with added sugars. (Drinkpurple.com)

Cherry Pharm: Currently only available by mail order, Cherry Pharm is a potent cherry juice, "harnessing the natural power of cherries." The company says that 50 cherries go into an 8 oz. bottle (around $2) and the juice does taste like cherry pie. There's no sugar added, just some reconstituted apple juice, but cherries are sweet enough to hold their own and they're loaded with phytonutrients believed to help muscles (protect them, not build them). In season we eat cherries by the pound. Out of season, Cherry Pharm may be the way to go. (cherrypharm.com)

Adina: This San Francisco-based fruit-drink company has a line simply called "Miracle Fruits," with drinks featuring super acai and purple corn and pomegranates and mangosteen.

The acai bottle says that the berry has 10 times the antioxidants of red grapes (more study is needed, although red grapes - and red wine - are good) and twice the antioxidants of blueberries. If only you could find acai berries at the grocery store instead of the rainforest.

While it's difficult to determine how much "miracle fruit" has made its way into a bottle, with a juice content of 60 to 89 percent, Adina does give you some bang for your two bucks. (adinaworld.com)

Zevia: Not a juice, and not trying to trick you with unsubstantiated health claims except that Stevia is better for you than chemical sweeteners (which may or may not be true). Billed as "the only all-natural sugar-free alternative to diet soda," Zevia doesn't have that diet-soda aftertaste, but it doesn't taste like sugar-sweetened soda either. It does grow on you (and we're not diet-soda drinkers).

Zevia comes in three flavors - cola, orange and lemon-lime - and is sweetened with the aforementioned Stevia, extracted from a plant originally found in South America but now grown almost everywhere. Stevia is 200-300 times sweeter than sugar and is safe for diabetics. It does not seem to have any side effects, and at least one recent study shows that it may have some antioxidant benefits.

Zevia comes in 12 oz. cans and is making its way east from Seattle. If you're interested, ask your local health-food store to carry it.

One concern, said Gidus, is that Stevia has not yet been approved as a food product by the Food and Drug Administration. The popular sweetener can only be sold as a dietary supplement. "That makes me a little nervous," she said, although she does believe Stevia will be approved at some point. (Zevia.com)

Snapple: The "made from the best things on earth" company makes a tasty product, but their new line of exotic "Immunity" juice drinks is not much more than colorful sugar water with added vitamins.

The Goji Punch and the Peach-Mangosteen contain only 10 percent juice, so it's doubtful that they have enough nutrients to make you immune from anything.

All that sugar, however, does make them tasty. (snapple.com)

Which brings us back to the beginning and Ayala's Herbal Water. Unlike sweetened, flavored waters, Ayala's has no calories and nothing artificial. What it does have is a selection of offbeat flavors that may take some getting used to. Cloves cardamom cinnamon? Lavendar mint lemongrass thyme? Jasmine vanilla? Served cold they're refreshing and palate-cleansing, and certainly different.

So eat your fruit, read your juice labels and drink your water. *