Multi-Purpose Coconut...Water

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From the BETCHA DON'T KNOW section: Multi-Purpose Coconut...Water

By Drew Crosby

We all have memories of our childhood that stick out (destacan) for one reason or another. One of mine is when I was 7 years old and my aunt Kathy took me to the A&P grocery store in my neighborhood to buy a coconut.

“We’ll bring it home, crack it open and drink the coconut milk,” she said.

Wow! A coconut. This sounded like a great plan. I had never eaten a coconut before, let alone (y mucho menos) drink its milk.



But wait a minute. Was my aunt right in calling it coconut “milk?”

No! The liquid inside a coconut is actually called coconut water.

And it just so happens to be pretty good for you.

For starters (para empezar), it’s isotonic, meaning that it has the same balance of salts as human blood. In fact, the Brazilians are using it to market sports drinks.

Coconut water is also 100% sterile. That’s good information to have. Who knows? One day you may find yourself hospitalized in some developing country with an abundance of coconut palm trees, but lacking proper medical supplies.

No problem! Coconut water can also be used in place of a saline drip (gotas de suero fisiológico).

And if you ever found yourself on a remote desert island (hmm, I wish that sometimes), you could survive by eating and drinking only coconut.