Water sucks, right? No taste, no color, it runs free everywhere but companies still charge $1.50 for a bottle of it. With so many manufactured drinks chock-full of vitamins, it should be the wise choice to stock up on Gatorade and Red Bull instead of drinking water. Yet, with all the reassurance of having your entire day's worth of nutritional needs packed into a bottle of sugary goodness, it is actually too good to be true.

For the weekend warrior, vitamin and energy drinks are great o have while watching a football game at home where you can see all the athletes in their Gatorade commercials. And with this kind of motivation, one can assume a boost in mental and physical prowess can be achieved by just chugging down a delicious beverage. It is this kind of motivation that makes people drink sports drinks whether they're just relaxing or actually working out.

The sugar from high fructose corn syrup in most sports drinks definitely outweighs the electrolyte and hydration benefits of a sports drink. In fact, this sugar actually dehydrates you if you're working out.

The average sports drink may have its setbacks because of the obvious overdose of sugar in them, but Vitamin Water is pretty much flavored water, so it should be a healthier alternative to Gatorade while still avoiding water. I would like to believe so because it is in fact a tasty drink, but unfortunately the crystalline fructose that is added to Vitamin Water for its flavor is actually unhealthier and more harmful to your liver than high fructose corn syrup. You may be getting more vitamins but you're putting your liver at risk if you try to use it as a supplement for water.

It is amazing to see how much work is put in the industry today to try and shift consumers away from water. We have worked so hard to make drinks that mimic or replace water just so that we can have some taste in our beverage.

Do yourself a favor and give up trying to avoid water when you want a drink. There are fountains everywhere, there are faucets and cups everywhere, so why put them to waste? Save some money; better yet, save your liver. You don't need a supplemental beverage for all your precious vitamins. Drink water, not Vitamin Water.