Opening the tap on top enhanced waters

Bottled water, one of the most popular beverages on the market, now comes purified, remineralized, electrolyte-enhanced and infused with vitamins, minerals, herbs and oxygen. Are these souped-up products worth it?

We asked several registered dietitians, who agreed that the health claims for enhanced waters are "iffy" and that food is a far better source of nutrients. Consumers, meanwhile, should watch out for added sweeteners and calories.

"None of the ingredients are harmful," said Kris Clark, director of sports nutrition and assistant professor of nutrition at Penn State University. "The question consumers should ask themselves include: Are the ingredients useful to me? Do I need these ingredients? Or do I just need water?"

Chances are, you just need plain old water.

VitaminWater

Stats: (per 20-ounce bottle): 125 calories, 32 grams of sugar (crystalline fructose).

Boost: Fruit Punch flavor contains vitamins B-3 (niacin), B-6, B-12, B-5, potassium.

Claim/slogan: "It's got potassium and B vitamins to help you recover and feel refreshed."

Bottom line: Watch the sugar. An 8-ounce drink would have 52 calories from sugar. (The same amount of regular soda would have a little more than 100 calories from sugar.) The added potassium can help replace electrolytes lost through sweating or illness, but most healthy people don't need to supplement B vitamins. Strict vegans and people older than 50 have a higher risk of a deficiency of vitamin B-12, which is found in food and animal products. Foods high in protein, including meat, poultry, fish, nuts and beans, are better sources of B vitamins, said registered dietitian Roberta Duyff, author of "The American Dietetic Association's Complete Food and Nutrition Guide" (Wiley, $24.95). Bananas, milk, kidney beans, haddock, potatoes and tomatoes are high in potassium.

Propel Fitness Water (vitamin-enhanced

water beverage)

Stats: (per 23.7-ounce bottle): 30 calories, 6 grams sugar (sucrose syrup).

Boost: Vitamins C, E and B.

Claim/slogan: "Nourishes your active body with a splash of fruit flavors and essential vitamins." Has antioxidant vitamins that "aid in energy metabolism."

Bottom line: Propel is Gatorade's water for the less intense health-club crowd. Unlike Gatorade, it's free of high-fructose corn syrup. It also has fewer calories than Gatorade, but again, whole-food sources of vitamins C, E and B are better. You can get vitamin C by eating citrus fruits — oranges, grapefruits — red and green bell peppers, guava, papaya and broccoli. Vitamin E is found in vegetable oils (but is destroyed in frying), nuts, seeds, salad dressings, margarine and other processed foods made with vegetable oil, Duyff said.

Dasani Plus (vitamin-enhanced flavored water beverage)

Stats: (per 20-ounce bottle) 0 calories, 0 grams sugar (sweetened with sucralose).

Boost: Vitamins B-3, B-6 and B-12 plus chromium, guarana and ginseng.

Claim/slogan: "Refresh and Revive."

Bottom line: No added calories, but healthy non-vegans don't need any of these added vitamins. Meat, eggs, whole-grain products and cheeses are all good sources of chromium, which works with insulin to help the body use glucose, or blood sugar. Women of childbearing age need 25 micrograms of chromium a day. One ounce of cheese (48 micrograms) provides almost twice the amount. Herbs such as guarana and ginseng should be taken in appropriate doses for effect.

SmartWater (electrolyte-enhanced water)

Stats: (per 32-ounce bottle) 0 calories, 0 grams sugar.

Boost: Vapor-distilled water plus electrolytes (calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, potassium bicarbonate).

Claim/slogan: "Purity you can taste, hydration you can feel."

Bottom line: Electrolytes (chloride, potassium and sodium) can make water taste better and are important for those who have lost fluids through illness or longer workouts. But they will not raise your IQ, and the general public gets enough. Chloride can be found in salt and salty foods; potassium is in bananas, milk, kidney beans, baked potatoes, salted pretzels, tomatoes, oranges and almonds.

Metromint (peppermint water)

Stats: (per 16.9-oz. bottle) 0 calories, 0 grams sugar.

Boost: Peppermint.

Claim/slogan: "The real mint naturally stimulates the nerves, instantly opening your senses to send a fresh, cool feeling throughout your body. The all-natural combination of pure water and real peppermint relieves your thirst, soothes your body and revives your soul."

Bottom line: Plain water does this too. Or, you could drink a hot or cold cup of mint tea. "Peppermint is a digestive help," said Alexa Fleckenstein, author of "Health2O: Tap Into the Healing Powers of Water to Fight Disease, Look Younger and Feel Your Best" (McGraw-Hill, $16.95). "But essential oils should be taken with caution. There's no reason to drink pepperminted water." We did, however, like the taste.

Evamore (alkaline artesian water beverage)

Stats: (per 16.9-ounce bottle) 0 calories, 0 grams sugar.

Boost: Artesian water, potassium, chromium, molybdenum, selenium, vanadium.

Claim/slogan: "Naturally alkaline artesian water enhanced with antioxidants and key minerals because research shows that neutralizing acid to balance your body's pH can help maintain overall health."

Bottom line: The body does a respectable job of maintaining your pH level on its own; otherwise you'd feel pretty sick. And artesian water is a mechanical way to get water from a deep source; it does not render the water more healthy, Fleckenstein said. "We are too acidic because of too many meat and dairy products," she said. "The remedy would be better nutrition — fruit and vegetables are alkalinizing."

Aloe Breeze Organics

Stats: (per 16.9-ounce bottle) 0 calories, 0 grams sugar (sweetened with stevia leaf).

Boost: Purified water, organic aloe vera juice.

Claim /slogan: "Purity you can taste, hydration you can feel." And: "Restore, help boost immune-system response, improve digestion, promote cell health and tone skin with every life-enhancing drop."

Bottom line: Aloe vera, an extract from a cactus, is considered a healing herb for the digestive tract and taken internally for inflammatory bowel disease, ulcers, candida, intestinal infection, constipation and other digestive-tract disorders. But it's not clear how much aloe vera is actually in the product. "There's no known benefit to adding it to water," Duyff said.