“Taste Or Health: A Study Of Water Preferences Of Today’s Youth”

5 Pages 1372 Words

When concerning the mineral content in non-carbonated, spring, bottled water, which priority influences the consumption of that water for today’s teenager: taste or health?


In this age, bottled water is more popular than ever before. Soda giants Pepsi and Coca Cola both jumped the bandwagon in 1999 with the creation of Dasani (Coca Cola) and Aquafina (Pepsi). The FDA stringently regulates the content, production, and distribution of bottled water throughout the nation. If the bottle claims to be “naturally sparkling”, then it has to come from a naturally carbonated spring. The minerals in water affect its taste. Certain companies add minerals to change the water’s taste. People seem to prefer the taste of water with a high calcium content and low sodium content, based upon their popularity in sales. (Web-“Marketing”) Other companies add minerals because of who their consumers are. Water targeted at athletic customers tend to have a higher sodium content when compared with other waters on the market, because the sodium in the water replaces the sodium lost through perspiration. Even with all the added health benefits of minerals, many teenage consumers select bottled water based upon taste rather than health concerns.

Minerals have certain nutritional values. There are five minerals commonly found in almost all non-carbonated spring waters. Depending upon where the spring was tapped, the concentration of those minerals varies. There is a recommended daily intake (RDI) for calcium, magnesium, sodium, chloride, and potassium. As with drugs, there are good and bad qualities that go along with the consumption of these minerals.

The RDI of calcium is 1,200 mg per day for both mend and women. (RDA-126) The good effects of maintaining this daily intake is calcium reduce chance of osteoporosis. It influences muscle contractions and aids in the secretion of hormones and digestive enzymes. Calcium also aids in...