Better than a vitamin shot?

Today, for the first time ever, I tried a Glaceau Vitamin Water.
These “nutrient enhanced water beverages” come in several flavors, and I opted for the essential (vitamin c + calcium) orange-orange flavor. For the 32-ounce size, it cost about two dollars, which is slightly more than I like to pay for a 32-ounce sports drink. But, then again, I was thirsty, so it seemed like a good idea at the time.
The packaging is what I call minimalist, but it does feature the following somewhat humorous paragraph.
“If you ask us, it’s no coincidence that ‘morning’ and ‘mourning’ are only one letter apart. OK sure, there are a few good things about mornings (we’re looking at you, pancakes). Otherwise, forget it. Not only does a 15-minute snooze pass in what feels like a blink, but let’s be honest, the sound of birds chirping is a bit overrated. So to help get your day started off right, we added calcium and 120 percent of your daily value of vitamin c per serving. We think it’ll brighten your day. But don’t worry, not rip-open-curtains-with-no-warning kind of brighter.”
If nothing else, the good folks at the Glaceau home office in Whitestone, N.Y. seem to have a sense of humor.
In addition to the drink's claims of being a good source for vitamin C, it also claims to be a great source of Vitamin B. Each serving contains 40 percent of your recommended daily values of B3, B5, B6 and B12.
I’ll spare you the long list of ingredients in the drink, but I will tell you that the label says that the drink includes “reverse osmosis water.” I don’t know what this is, but it’s got to be fancy. (No wonder it cost over $2!)
Anytime I try a new drink like this, I look at the Nutrition Facts label to see how many calories it contains. The 32-ounce size contains four servings, which comes to about 200 calories for the whole drink. In other words, you’d have to drink a little over 2-1/2 of them to get the same calories that you’d get in the average Big Mac.
How does it taste? Not bad, but it comes up way short of tasting as good as regular orange juice or even orange flavored Gatorade. It has a tart taste, but it didn’t leave any kind of weird aftertaste like some sports drinks. It also didn’t leave me with that syrupy mouth feeling that I get after a Powerade.
In the end, I would recommend that you try these drinks. You might like it or one of the other flavors that Glaceau offers. In any case, it’s bound to be healthier for you than most soft drinks on the market. Try it and let me know what you think.