Love Your Bottle, Drink More

A new study shows it’s not just what you drink that matters, but also what you drink from.

Past research has shown that athletes drink more and stay better hydrated when given access to a flavored sports drink than when provided with plain water. It has also been demonstrated that, in warm environments, athletes drink more and stay better hydrated when their drink is cold instead of warm. But does the type of bottle athletes drink from also affect the rate of fluid consumption? According to a new study, the answer to this question is yes, it does.

The study was conducted by Holden McRae and colleagues at Pepperdine University. Subjects were randomly assigned to drink water from one of four different types of bottles for four weeks and to monitor the amount of fluid they consumed. The four bottles were a reusable screw-cap plastic bottle, a reusable screw-cap metal bottle, a disposable screw-cap PET bottle, and a CamelBak Better Bottle with the Big Bite Valve mouthpiece.

The results showed that users of the CamelBak Better Bottle drank 24 percent more water than users of the 24 percent more water than users of the disposable bottle, 18 percent more water than users of the reusable metal bottle and 15 percent more than users of the reusable plastic bottle.

“Drinking water is one of the greatest gifts you can give your body – it’s essential for everything from heart health and fat metabolism to complex brain functions,” said Dr. MacRae.  “The results of this study were quite surprising in that a simple difference in design enabled people to do something that’s good for their bodies without any extra effort.”