What are Healthy Drinks Besides Water?
Deciding what to drink can be a daunting task at times. You know about the benefits of drinking plain water, and ever so often, you wonder whether that is all there is to quench your unrelenting thirst, or there are other options available. Sometimes you will be spoilt for choice. Here are some of the healthy drinks you might want to try out.
1. Beet Juice
Beet contains magnesium, folate, and nitrates, the latter of which, when converted to nitric oxide, improves your blood flow, and lowers your blood pressure. It also has antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals as well as betalains, from which they derive their distinctive color. Find some beet juice recipe websites to make your next juice taste delicious.
Betalains can fight cancer and inflammation and keep the liver healthy. There are also phytochemicals found in beets, and this is from whence the flavor of your drink and stimulation of your immune system comes. If you are into sports, you will find your exercise efficiency improving once you start taking beet juice.
2. Coconut Water
When you are looking for a drink that contains less sugar than fruit juice or soda, coconut water would be the right choice. It is a sports drink that occurs naturally, with fewer calories and sodium than your run-of-the-mill sports drink, albeit with more potassium.
However, if you sweat a lot during your workouts, you might want to consider supplementing it with other naturally occurring sources of energy and nutrients. Most often, though, you will find that your exercise routine is not strenuous enough to warrant coconut water or a sports drink. If you are a fan of the fountain of youth, the antiaging properties of coconut water will help with your campaign. Coconut water will help your skin stay fresh and free of cellulite and other skin conditions.
3. Lemon Juice
Another alternative to drinking water is plain old lemon juice. Lemon juice differs from lemonade, which has water and sugar added to taste. To obtain lemon juice, on the other hand, you just squeeze lemons. Taking lemon juice with warm water on an empty stomach can help you lose weight.
Lemon juice also has a variety of benefits apart from quenching your thirst, including reducing your risk of heart disease, fighting the common cold, and reducing joint and muscle pain.
The fiber obtained from lemons also has an impact on your digestive health. For example, it modulates sugar absorption in your gut and thereby controls the amount of sugar in your blood.
4. Red Wine
You may also quell your thirst with a glass of red wine. Some authorities recommend red wine over white wine because red wine contains resveratrol, antioxidants that confer protection to blood vessels and prevents blood clots. Compared to white wine, red wine also has higher levels of vitamins and minerals.
Whether your preference for wine leans on the red side or not, take it with moderation as the excessive use of wine can be detrimental to your health. Your body also produces oxidants, which cause oxidative stress in your body. Resveratrol reduces this stress and protects your body against heart disease and cancer.
5. Cranberry Juice
When you drink water regularly, it dilutes your urine while also flushing your urinary tract so that an infection does not establish itself. Drinking cranberry juice has a similar benefit but also improves your immune function, among other benefits.
Like beet juice, cranberry juice also prevents you from getting cancer, but it also gives you a youthful look. You may also want to try it out during a spell of the cold and flu and see how fast you will recover.
Conclusion
There are many other options besides these, which you might substitute for water. The advantage of taking other fluids apart from water lies in the fact that each of them has its inherent health advantages, which you might not find when you only take water.