This is a full guide to your daily drinks. They can all be healthy if you choose wisely and combine them well. An easy way to get your vitamins and antioxidants! See below for more details on how to to tell which store bought juice is good, why smoothies are more nutritional than juices and which tea and coffee are the healthiest. You will also find a couple of Friday night drinks suggestions!
WATER
Water comes before any other drink so no matter what you do, try to have at least 3L of water every day. It’s not always easy to reach this goal but your metabolism needs water in order to function and you will feel much more active and fresh if you keep hydrated! You will rarely have any headaches as dehydration is what often causes headaches for many people. Even if you don’t feel thirsty, your body might be dehydrated if you haven’t had any water in the last hour or so. Try and have a glass of water first thing in the morning to activate your metabolism and then continue drinking regularly throughout the day, a glass at least every hour. Another tip is to always keep a large bottle of water just for you on your desk or where you work, so that you can easily monitor how much you drink. If you are trying to lose weight, lots of water daily can definitely help achieve that goal!
JUICES
Everyone loves juice, it’s refreshing and tasty! However as you probably know not all store bought juices are a good drink and most have added sugar and other additives that should be avoided, so always read the label! Aim to buy freshly squeezed juice not from concentrate or best, buy fruits and vegetables and do the juice yourself. Freshly squeezed juices are vitamin bombs but they are also high in fruit sugar so always keep that in mind too.
What does “Juice from concentrate” mean?
If on the ingredients list you see: “Orange Juice from Concentrate (100%) “, the juice is clean from any additives. But what is fruit concentrate? Juice from concentrate means that the fruits were condensed or frozen to allow easy transportation from the country of origin. It’s much more difficult to transport fresh oranges. After that the concentrate is mixed with water which basically means that most of the vitamins in your juice have been lost.
SMOOTHIES
What is the difference between juicing and blending your fruits and vegetables?
The difference is that all of the fibres are lost during the juicing process, if you want to get more fibre out of your drink, choose a smoothie. This way you are not losing any nutrition from your fruits and vegetables. Smoothies are a really good way to easily have your portion of fruits without eating them, try and have a smoothie every day that is a mixture of your favourite fruits and veggies for a healthy kick. Have a look at my smoothie recipes for some inspiration.
HOT DRINKS
TEA & the difference between black, green & white tea
Well who doesn’t like a cuppa! Most commonly in the UK people drink BLACK TEA which has some healthy polyphenols or more known as antioxidants, but we must not forget that black tea is high in caffeine as well so if you are a black tea fan, try not to go over 3 cups a day.
GREEN TEA comes from the same plant as black tea – ‘Camellia senesis’. Because of the way it is produced, it actually has much more antioxidants and less caffeine. Most of the antioxidants found in it are missing in black tea. Green tea is also renowned as a great metabolism booster and there is very solid proof that it helps burn body fat. Having a cup of green tea after every meal can really help you burn fat in time. Most people prefer black tea because of its rich flavour but you can improve the taste of green tea by just adding a couple of drops of lemon juice. You don’t even have to have it hot, you can cool it and have it as a refreshing after-meal drink with some ice and lemon!
Clipper Fairtrade Organic Green
WHITE TEA also comes from the same plant and it’s the winner in the ‘antioxidants category’. It contains the same antioxidants as the green tea but in greater amounts and it also has less caffeine.
Clipper Organic White Tea
Because white and green tea are less processed than the black tea (which is fully fermented), they retain most of their antioxidants. So why not try and switch to green and/or white tea and get some of those fat burning healthy antioxidants?
There are lots of tea brands that use different chemicals, ‘natural’ and artificial flavours in the production of their tea. Such brands are Lipton and Twinings. Many contain pesticides as well. Always research you brand and make sure there are no added ingredients and when possible choose organic tea.
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COFFEE
Coffee is part of many people’s morning routine and in my opinion unless you have any health problems, there is no need for you to give it up. Tea of course will be a healthier option but if you are a coffee lover, that’s fine. Many argue that coffee is bad but many other studies suggest that it actually has some health benefits. You make your own choice but having too much of anything is never good so try to have a balanced coffee intake if you do drink it.
However it does matter what type of coffee you drink. Avoid having those large Starbucks coffees with lots of cream, sugar and milk. A lot of people also drink instant coffee, which is basically low quality, heavily processed coffee that should be avoided. It is cheaper and easier to make but it’s not good quality coffee. Invest in a coffee machine (espresso maker if you can) and enjoy real coffee every morning.
ALCOHOLIC DRINKS
Well alcoholic drinks don’t classify as healthy, but the occasional social drink will not do you too much harm. If you are one of those sensible drinkers that think about what they are putting in their glass on a Friday night, here is some useful information.
Generally, avoid any mixed colourful cocktails as most of them contain flavoured syrups that are very high in sugar. Beer also has low nutritional value and can really work against your dream flat belly.
Probably the “healthiest” drink is WINE. Wine actually has some good nutritional value, it contains potassium, iron and magnesium and it can also help lower cholesterol (in moderation).
If you are making home made cocktails, try to use real fruits to add flavour to them. It will also give them an amazing fresh look!
