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Apr 04, 2023

What Is Watertok? What to Know About Sugar

Registered dietitians weigh in on the recent trend. If you have trouble

Registered dietitians weigh in on the recent trend.

If you have trouble drinking the daily recommended amounts of water each day—which starts at about 91 ounces for women and 125 ounces for men—then adding some flavor to your glass may sound appealing. And that's basically the gist of a new TikTok nutrition trend, dubbed "watertok"—though some might argue watertok-ers take their flavors to the extreme.

As you’ll see in the viral videos, users mix in a sugar-free, low-calorie powder or syrup, featuring flavors like "Skittles original punch," with ice and water. Some people even create a full water bar (yes, that's like a liquor bar but with water), featuring flavors like "Jolly Rancher watermelon," "mermaid," a tropical citrus with coconut, or "unicorn," a tart blue raspberry with a hint of cotton candy (now you can see the extreme). Users blend up these watertok recipes all in hopes of encouraging more H2O consumption.

Another popular reason users join the trend: to help with diet changes after bariatric (or weight loss) surgery. "After someone has had weight loss surgery, there is a progression for eating," explains Kristy Baumann, R.D.N., L.D.N., registered dietitian, which means you start on clear liquids only and then slowly progress to purees and solids. However, this diet is only temporary and definitely isn't for everyone, considering drinking water in place of a meal can lead to malnourishment, Baumann says.

As runners, most of us would benefit from drinking more water. After all, you have to drink enough for your body's basic needs, plus to replace any fluids you lost from sweating during a long run or workout. And sure, adding unique flavors to H2O could give you some much-needed encouragement to drink up. But are sugar-free flavors the way to go to support your overall health?

To answer that question, we break down the watertok trend and what it means for runners in particular.

To an extent, drinking more water can benefit most people, especially runners. Research shows dehydration, particularly in hot weather, can increase your body's core temperature and may make you feel more fatigued.

Staying well-hydrated, on the other hand, will not only support performance but it has been proven to help prevent and slow the development of chronic disease.

Drinking more H2O may also mean drinking less of the beverages that contain high amounts of sugar, which can lead to weight gain, a host of chronic illnesses, like heart disease and type 2 diabetes, tooth decay, and more.

For all these reasons, if adding some flavor to your water gets you to drink more, then go ahead and add some of that kicked up taste. But there is a catch with the watertok trend: It encourages use of sugar-free and low-calorie powders and syrups that don't always include ingredients runners need.

"When running in the summer and the heat, we’re losing sweat, and we need to replace electrolytes [lost in that sweat]. These powders [used in watertok videos] don't necessarily have electrolytes that we might need and benefit from replacing," says Baumann. So if you’re going to add flavored powders to your water, it might be best to grab some electrolyte packets, rather than sugar-free, calorie-free, and nutrient-free options.

There's more to the sugar-free sweetener story. Experts previously believed low-calorie sweeteners, artificial sweeteners, and noncaloric sweeteners—such as saccharin, sucralose, aspartame, neotame, stevia—to be non-nutritive because they don't offer any nutritional value, like as vitamins and minerals.

Experts believed these kinds of sweeteners had no effect on the digestive system or glycemic responses (or how your blood sugar levels respond to food or drink). Therefore, products containing these sweeteners were thought to provide a taste similar to sugar without the harmful health effects that sugar may bring.

However, newer research says it isn't quite clear how artificial sweeteners, like the ones often found in products used on watertok, can affect one's health. For example, one study published in Cell found the four non-nutritive sweeteners—saccharin, sucralose, aspartame, and stevia—altered gut microbiome and researchers called out saccharin and sucralose for significantly impairing glycemic responses.

Also, the World Health Organization (WHO) cautions against anyone using non-sugar sweeteners (except prediabetics) to control body weight. Based on a systematic review, WHO states use of common non-nutritive sweeteners, such as acesulfame K, aspartame, advantame, cyclamates, neotame, saccharin, sucralose, and stevia can actually increase risk for type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and may increase risk of early mortality.

The watertok trend encourages heavy daily consumption of flavored water and the use of sugar-free powders and syrups, rather than just plain old H20, which isn't ideal, says Chrissy Carroll, M.P.H., R.D., USAT level I triathlon coach, RRCA-certified running coach, and NASM-certified personal trainer.

As a runner, if you consume too many of these substitutes, it can also lead to some GI upset, especially if you’re consuming other products that contain similar ingredients, such as low-calorie or sugar-free protein bars, sugar-free gum, low-carb options like tortillas, and sugar free syrups at coffee shops, says Baumann.

If your goal is to simply drink more water, then there are a ton of fruit and vegetable combinations you can add to your water for flavor. A few that Baumann and Carroll suggest trying:

Also, there are plenty of other ways to get more water in your system so you can reach your hydration goals, including eating more fruits and vegetables that contain lots of water, including produce like watermelon and cucumbers. You can also add variety throughout the day by swapping a glass of regular H2O with a bit of seltzer water or herbal teas, says Carroll.

For more focused daily hydration goals, aim to drink half of your body weight in ounces of water. For example, a 150-pound runner would aim for 75 fluid ounces of water per day, says Baumann.

The bottom line: If you’re going to use powders and syrups to help you reach adequate hydration levels, just make sure you’re not over doing it.

Monique LeBrun joined the editorial staff in October 2021 as the associate health and fitness editor. She has a master's degree in journalism and has previously worked for ABC news and Scholastic. She is an avid runner who loves spending time outside.

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