Is Yanga Water actually good for you? I visited my local PureGym to find out
Win a supplement bundle worth £200!
We're working with CBDIABLO to give our readers a chance at winning a £200 supplement bundle! Prizes will include CBD balm, magnesium capsules, & more.
Answer the question below and enter your email for a chance to win:
Which CBD oil from the CBDIABLO range contains 2000mg of CBD?
I recently upgraded my PureGym membership to a 'Plus' account, which gives me access to some nice new benefits. For starters, I can access pretty much any PureGym in the UK now, which is handy as I travel quite a bit for work.
But I'll be honest - the real reason I wanted to upgrade my PureGym membership is because I wanted access to the Yanga Water machine. I always felt a pang of jealousy whenever I saw a fellow gym-goer filling up their bottle with Yanga Water.
Just look at this machine:
But now, readers, I am one of those gym-goers.
There's no denying that I really enjoy the taste of Yanga Water. My "go-to" flavour so far is the Lemon Zing (1 droplet, I like it quite weak), and it's very refreshing. But what I really want to know is - is this Yanga Water actually good for me, and is it helping or hindering my workout? I did some research, and I'd say that yes - Yanga Water is pretty healthy, because it's low in calories, sugar free, and packed with B vitamins.
But it's a bit more complicated than that, and how healthy your Yanga Water seems to depend on what flavour you choose, and the strength you choose. Let's take a deeper look at Yanga Water:
What does PureGym say about Yanga Water?
I think it's pretty safe to say that if Yanga Water was really unhealthy, it's unlikely that Pure Gym would offer it in its gyms. And certainly when you use the Yanga Water machine, you're reminded of how healthy it is. Screens like this pop up:
Describing the Yanga Water as "full of vitamins" and containing "zero additives", which all sounds great, but without any specific information about what actually is in the water. At least, not explicitly. There is a QR code you can scan if you press the little 'i' symbol on the machine, which takes you to the Yanga Water official website.
What does the Yanga Water official website say?
Luckily, there is lots more information about Yanga Water on the official Yanga Water website. According to the homepage of the website, Yanga Water contains
- fewer than 10 calories per serving
- The added vitamins are Vitamin B1, B3, B5, and B6
- the flavourings are natural
- and it's free from allergens
It's not quite as vitamin-dense as heul or a green powder, but all of this is pretty great, especially the addition of the vitamins. Vitamin B1 helps to convert nutrients into energy, Vitamin B6 helps with red blood cell production, and Vitamin B8 helps to break down carbohydrates and fats, so this is a really useful mix of vitamins to get from Yanga Water.
More specific ingredients and nutritional information are given for every single Yanga Water flavour available (there are 9 flavours) on the website.
Every flavour contains both sucralose and acesulfame K for sweetness, which is how the water manages to taste sweet without any sugar added. Sucralose is generally regarded to be safe to consume without any side effects, but a study showed that acesulfame K led to weight gain in mice, as well as shifts in the gut microbiome. Obviously, if you're into your fitness then these are side effects you'd want to avoid.
Although, I'm happy that the team at Yanga Water has opted not to use aspartame as a sweetener, as there is quite a bit of evidence to suggest that aspartame is not very good for you.
The 'Berry Boost' flavour has added caffeine, something which isn't found in any of the other flavours, so that's definitely something to be aware of. When I used the Yanga Water machine at my local PureGym, there was no indication that this flavour contained caffeine when I selected it. According to the Yanga Water website, there's around 116mg of caffeine in 500ml of the Berry Boost flavour. That's quite a lot - to put that into perspective, a shot of espresso contains about 70mg of caffeine.
Almost every flavour is listed as containing 1 calorie per 100ml, apart from Prickly Pear and Orange - for some reason, these flavours are listed as containing <5 calories per 100ml. It could be that they still contain 1 calorie per 100ml, but it's an odd choice from the team at Yanga to list the calorie content like this for these flavours only. If you're concerned about adding too many calories to your workout drink, you might want to avoid these flavours just to be on the safe side.
I found quite a bit online about the electrolytes found in Yanga Water, but there is actually no mention of electrolytes on the official Yanga Water website. So if you're drinking Yanga Water to get more electrolytes into your system, I'm not sure it's going to help.
Anything else to mention?
I think it's worth mentioning that instead of storing the Yanga Water concentrate in plastic containers, the team at Yanga Water instead chose to store it in plasti-free bags, to prevent any plastic contamination. This is a nice touch and will definitely make a difference for people who are worried about plastic contamination.
Also, when you use a Yanga Water machine, you can choose from different strengths of each flavour, ranging from 1 droplet (weakest taste) to 3 droplets (strongest taste). I couldn't find any information about how that changes the calorie content of Yanga Water apart from a mention in the FAQs of the website which says 'A 500 ml bottle contains less than 10 calories, even if you choose the strongest intensity'.
Final thoughts
So I think it's safe to say that Yanga Water is quite a healthy choice, as it's low in calories, sugar free, and packed with B vitamins. But to be safe, I'd avoid the Berry Boost flavour which has the added caffeine, and I'd also always choose the 1 droplet strength water as the higher strengths may contain slightly more calories.
Let me know in the comments what you think of Yanga Water and if you've switched your normal water for Yanga Water!
Finn H
Finn is the editor of You Well and has been writing about travel, health, and more for over 10 years.