Well, it is derived from young green coconuts and has many benefits to your health. Some people call it 'mother natures sports drink', and has been promoted by athletes and celebrities. It contains easily digested carbohydrates in the form of sugar and electrolytes. It has less calories and sodium than many of the current, well known sports drinks on the market today, but has more potassium. Here are some stats from a study I found between coconut water and Gatorade:
1 ounce of:
Coconut water - 5.45 calories, 1.3g sugar, 61mg of potassium, 5.45mg of sodium.
Gatorade - 6.25 calories, 1.75g sugar, 3.75mg potassium, 13.75mg of sodium.
Drinking coconut water is very good, but it does contain calories, unlike water, so just be careful not to drink too much.
Because of its hydrating benefits, it has now become a very popular 'post exercise' drink, to ensure good hydration after exercise. The only draw back of drinking it after exercise, is that we actually lose more sodium than potassium during exercise, and as you can see above, Gatorade has more sodium. But you can combat this by adding a little sodium into your drink, or, as a friend of mine does, combine coconut water and Gatorade into one drink. You can always add a little sodium into the coconut water if you wish.
But overall, coconut water is far better for you, I have only found one draw back and that's the smaller sodium content, and that only matters if you use it post exercise. But, the amazing thing about coconut water, is that it is NATURAL, whereas other sport drinks are artificially made. Natural is always better.
Give it a try, it can really benefit you and is a great substitute for sports drinks that tend to have a lot of added 'garbage' in them.
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