With #WaterTok, We’re Micromanaging Flavored Water – Why The Internet Is Obsessed
Meredith Holser is B+C's resident affiliate writer. Meredith enjoys writing about a range of topics, but she's adopted e-commerce writing in all its many facets. Outside of work, you can catch Meredith hiking, trying new recipes, and dreaming about having a yummy little treat.
People are adding weird sh*t to their water, and the internet is furious.
The highly contested #WaterTok trend seems an apt solution for our boredom with plain water – users are adding flavored drink mixes and syrups to their H2O, raving about how it’s completely transformed their hydration habits.
The current debate within #WaterTok surrounds its hypocrisy – while water hydrates, some users worry that the addition of dyes and artificial sweeteners have an unfavorable impact on health.
Fundamentally (and personally), once you add something to water, especially those eclectically colored, deathly sweet powdered drink mixes, it’s not really water anymore. Others disagree, though, which is why we’re diving deep into the drink phenomenon to see if this sip is actually worth savoring.
What is #WaterTok?
@beccers_gordonn Do you guys still consider this water? #watertok #water #skinnysyrups #oceanwater #watertok2023 ♬ COLLIDE X HOLD YUH BY ALTÉGO - ALTÉGO
#WaterTok drinks are wild – they remind me of a combo between the “potions” I mixed with shampoo and soap in my childhood bathroom, and just about any sippable item you could order at the Sonic drive-thru.
Scrolling through the 135 million-view #WaterTok hashtag, you’ll see creators doctor up their water with flavored mixes, powders, and syrups to inside their heralded Stanley cups and other assorted vessels. Skittles, Nerds, KoolAid, and Welch’s-branded mixes are all sugar-free solutions involved in the routine. The result is an extremely non-water water concoction, with flavors ranging from sweet Cotton Candy to a truly chaotic Salted Caramel Apple.@kaleighfinch Like girl grow up and drink plain water😭 “0 calories 0 sugar” imagine what is in it then😭 sorry yall im just baffled #watertok2023 ♬ Bombastic Side Eye Criminal Offensive Side Eye - CasaDi
There are essentially two sides to #WaterTok: one side categorizes the drinks as water, and one doesn’t. The latter group is simultaneously preoccupied with the potential health consequences of the trend – and that’s honestly…fair.
Artificial colors and sweeteners found in most drink powders like Red 40 and aspartame (the stuff that makes Diet Coke “diet”) are suggested to cause allergic reactions and can affect gut health. It’s been long hypothesized that aspartame causes cancer, but connections between the two are still weak and remain scientifically unsubstantiated.
Despite the facts, the health-and-wellness sphere is still concerned it’s detrimentally carcinogenic. This could be why strangers have the audacity to drop hate comments on #WaterTok enthusiasts’ posts – “Cotton Candy water” equals “bad,” so flavored water-drinkers are bad, too. More notably, strangers are equally perturbed by #WaterTok’s fluidity with diet culture.
#WaterTok and Diet Culture
We (especially as women) have experienced the cultural expectation for “diet” foods to aid us in our journey towards peak health, which we discovered in most cases meant peak skinniness.
The concerns that users have about #WaterTok are valid – the trend reflects a lot of the same mentalities and verbiage that supported OG diet culture (think the Weight Watchers and crunches during TV commercials era). Indulging in artificially flavored water can be extra alarming when it’s presented on a platform that’s recycling 2014 Tumblr’s #thinspo values. I mean, I grew up in a WW household, and discovering the trend gave me PTSD from adding Crystal Light packets to my water bottles for a satisfying “snack” as a kid.@eatwithlis somewhere inbetween #edrecocery #esrecovery #healing ♬ anchor - -
#WaterTok does walk the line of being ED-affirming, and essentially feeds into our collective rebranding of diet culture. Beyond straight-up confusion about whether it’s water or not, discussions about users’ lifestyle choices and eating habits closely follow most of the videos in the trend – and the thing is, it’s not necessary.
The reality is that health is not a one-size-fits-all thing anymore, and how you treat your body and view your health should be what works for you. Diet choices shouldn’t diminish your livelihood, they should enhance it. Be brave enough to let zoodles become pasta, SkinnyPop become potato chips, and black coffees become lattes.
If that flavored water is giving you life, stick with it. We are little people living on a floating rock. If it seems terrible to you, who even cares? Don’t be a hater.
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Illustration by Claire Shadomy
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Meredith Holser is B+C's resident affiliate writer. Meredith enjoys writing about a range of topics, but she's adopted e-commerce writing in all its many facets. Outside of work, you can catch Meredith hiking, trying new recipes, and dreaming about having a yummy little treat.
