Tropical Cooking with Travel Man: 3rd Beverage: Coconut Juice

Coconut Juice is a natural isotonic beverage that is high in potassium and other electrolytes.

Isotonic, meaning, it has equal osmotic pressure in order to assist athletes in rehydrating while balancing electrolytes.

Asians and other tropical nations around the world are happy to introduce it to more progressive nations, like UK, USA and Canada as a beverage and health drink.

My initial observation when our ship was transiting in the US waters is that there was no coconut juice or buko juice that you can find at any gourmet store.

Even in Europe, when we discharge our cargoes in UK, all you can drink is beer at the seaman's center.

Now the turn of the sports drink campaign centers to coconut juice these days.

Since Year 2011, the Philippine national government, through President Benigno S. Aquino III, announced the export of coconut juice at the American market, thereby generating interest and additional jobs to coconut farmers and Filipino businessmen.

Now, even the iconic American singer Madonna is now endorsing the health benefits that we can get by drinking coconut juice.

The coconut juice is a nutritious refreshing drink especially for those people with kidney problems. Coconut juice is highly alkaline.

Here in the Philippines, most drunkards will detoxify their bodies by drinking coconut morning the next morning.

Most of the time, with the sprouting of small businesses, like the cart-type buko juice stand, you can see people in all walks of life (from professional to ordinary ones) sipping or drinking buko juice along the streets.

From my point of view, it is now the most affordable health drink of the masses in the city. Or if you don't want to spend a single cent on it, you can go to the countryside of the country. And there, the rural folks will gladly welcome you with freshly gathered young coconut with its succulent pulp and refreshing buko (coconut) juice.

Tourists that are flocking the city of Manila, or even Cebu or Davao are now lured to have a buko juice refreshment along the streets.

It's a tourism-hype of another kind!Or maybe, it will last as long as the farmers are supplying the market with coconut juice.

Since I was a struggling fourth year high school student, coconut juice or water had started to be tapped as a major component in the production of intravenous liquid for patient's use at the hospital in order to balance one's electrolyte.

Another thing is when the coconut is still young, it contains a large amount of fluid or juice, can be added with milk for a nutritional drink.

I also observed that the Filipino minorities who cannot afford to buy milk, use the buko juice as feeding supplement to their babies.

And just recently, positive report reverberates:

" Coconut water exports jumped 315 percent in the first half of the year to 7.5 million liters, after the popularity of the refreshing beverage started to take off overseas, the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) said." (with reports from Kristine L. Alave of Philippine Daily Inquirer, Oct. 17, 2011)

The news: Americans were the biggest consumers, downing 6.19 million liters this year for a 387-percent increase over last year’s 1.27-million liters.(Year 2011)

Don't be confused about the difference between coconut milk (from pulp) and coconut water (or juice). It is fat-free, good news to health-conscious individual.

According to EverydayHealth, a channel from YouTube (wherein this video came from with their permission), coconut water has been dubbed as the 'fluid of life', that is similar to human blood.

Trivia: It was used by wounded soldiers as intravenous liquid during World War II in order to keep them alive!

To top it all: Coconut juice is now being claimed to help control diabetes, helps rapid weight loss, prevents cancer and other bodily miracles once you drink it.Coconut water is full of minerals, which are important in fighting viruses. It helps against diseases such as cholera, dysentery and typhoid among others.

Testimony: My mother suffered a urinary tract infection (UTI) way back year 2011. We encouraged her to drink the water of young coconut. Well, the UTI was gone for just a day of coconut water therapy!

To us, islanders in the Philippines, it is an ordinary thing to see people sipping or drinking buko juice everyday.

And it helps me keep healthy, away from serious sickness and obesity.

I recently concocted a cocktail mix with coconut water.

I poured one part of the spirit (it's gin made from sugar cane) in the shot glass, transferred it to the tall-highball glass and two-parts of coconut juice. I added a teaspoon of sugar, then a drizzle of lemon juice plus the crushed ice.

It's a refreshing drink, a coconut water tonic.

Try it, you'll be relaxed as you eradicate stressful bout of office works and job-hunting episode.

Or even after publishing a hub on HubPages.

You can also mix yours.

Share it with me. I'll try it for sure.

The remaining days of February 2013, right after my official embarkation from my latest ship's contract prompted me to enjoy a shore leave at home.

My mom, who's recuperating from pneumonia decided to let a able child to climb the coconut trees in order to get the mature coconuts and some buko or young coconuts, too.

The ideal time of climbing the coconut tree (palm) is in the morning, as its trunk is not slippery yet.

The rest of the photos are some of the episodes that happened during the last week of the month at home.

Even my dog, Brownie, seemed to enjoy the taste of young coconut meat and of course, its coconut water or buko juice.