The new 20-calorie beverage, called FATwater, was developed by entrepreneur Dave Asprey, creator of the Bulletproof Coffee craze that still has people adding large amounts of butter and oil to their coffee in the hopes of losing weight. Asprey says he uses a patented process to take purified water and mix in tiny droplets of “Bulletproof XCT Oil”: medium chain triglycerides (MCTs) derived from coconut oil. MORE: Bamboo Water Is Now a Thing 
 
 The hype: Asprey says FATwater is more hydrating than plain water because the nanoparticles of fat “bring the water into the cells more effectively.” He adds: “Drink a glass of water, and some of it will absorb and some of it won’t. But when your body sees that fat, it says, ‘Oh, come on in, this is pure energy.’ It brings the water in with the fat.” 
 
 Plus, he says, “you get a little bump of energy.” 
 
 The bottle says this: “XCTs follow a special metabolic pathway to burn fat instead of storing it,” the label reads, while giving your body “the clean, high quality fuel it needs—and nothing else.” The bottle also includes this disclaimer, which is required by federal law: “These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.” 
 
 The research: It is true that medium chain triglycerides are digested differently than other fats, says Marie-Pierre St-Onge, PhD, assistant professor in the department of medicine at Columbia University’s Institute of Human Nutrition and a researcher of MCTs. Instead of being stored into fatty tissue to be used for energy later, they’re typically just burned off. Meanwhile, the fats in the oil provide a temporary energy boost and does not get stored as body fat in the way sugar does, he adds. “It’s actually the opposite,” St-Onge says. Oil and water don’t mix — so why are there drops of fat in the newest bottle of H2O? “The type of fat that’s used in FATwater increases overall thermogenesis, which is fat-burning in the body,” Asprey says. When asked about it, Asprey says he’s aware of the lack of research. We sent a bottle of lemon and berry flavors of FATwater into the Daily News Taste Kitchen — and about the nicest thing anyone said is that FATwater is an acquired taste. One reporter thought it tasted “like lotion”; another thought it tasted like the sweet innards of liquid-filled chewing gum; and another said it tasted like “sweetened room water”—a glass of water that’s been sitting out and collects dust or other particulates from the air. “This is a disruptive technology for beverages.” 
 
 This is the only kind of water you should drink, some experts say.
– Remember that guy who started the Bulletproof Coffee fad, where people add butter and oil to their cups of joe in the hopes of losing weight? Well he's at it again, this time with what the Silicon Valley techie calls "a disruptive technology for beverages," reports the New York Daily News. It's called FATwater, and creator Dave Asprey swears it's better than real water because it is infused with tiny droplets of fat extracted from coconut oil (he's patented this) that improve both hydration and fat burning. The cloud computing pioneer calls it "biohacking," or "taking control of the environment around you so you have control of your biology," he says. "You are less stressed and recover better and are a nicer person. I am making it easier for people to make those little changes and feel good all the time." Not so fast, say the experts. "It is just getting crazier and crazier," one nutritionist says. "If you’re thirsty, drink water; if you’re hungry, eat food," Dr. Marie-Pierre St-Onge, who researches medium chain triglycerides (MCTs) at Columbia University’s Institute of Human Nutrition, tells Time. Asprey himself concedes that there isn't much research in this area, but he says he's got plenty of anecdotal evidence that because MCTs are digested differently than other fats, you do "get a little bump of energy." But St-Onge says he's actually got it backward because they're just burned off. "It's not useful energy." She adds that the 2 grams of fat in a bottle isn't close to enough to improve fat-burning. Meanwhile taste testers at both the Daily News and Time were unimpressed, describing the water as tasting like "lotion," "sweetened room water" that's gotten dusty from sitting around, and "liquid soap." FATwater is currently being sold in Santa Monica and Los Angeles. (Even asparagus water was a thing this summer.)