If your goal is the continue improving your health for the long term, you must optimize the drinks you drink. I can tell you that this is an easier fix than changing all of the foods you eat, which is great news, right?
There are so many things available at the grocery store to buy and drink. There are several options. My goal in this article is to pick 5 of the most popular drinks and tell you why you should avoid them at all costs.
I’ll also share with you what you SHOULD be drinking on a regular basis too. Are you ready to see the 5 drinks to avoid?
Drink #1 to Avoid: Diet and Regular Soda
Diet soda has surprisingly been shown in some research to cause more weight gain than regular soda. We strongly recommend reducing any consumption of diet soda because it contains a high concentration of artificial sweeteners, which are FAKE.
You should also cut ties with regular soda because it contains a lot of sugar. Too much sugar can raise bad cholesterol and lower good cholesterol.
The type of sugar used in soda is known as High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). This type of sugar goes straight to your liver, causing a condition called a fatty liver.
Drink #2 to Avoid: Spots Drinks
As healthy as they look, and as fit as the athletes drinking them seem, you should still avoid sports drinks. High performance pro athletes burn thousands of calories each day, so sports drinks will not affect their waistlines as much as the person sitting at a desk working each day.
Drink #3 to Avoid: Flavored Water
Are you surprised? The flavored raspberry water at the drugstore should be avoided. It’s sweetened with natural flavors. Their is actually no real raspberry in the water. A natural flavor can be made from anything found in nature.
Natural flavors can be derived from animals, things in the forest, or anything for that matter. It’s a secret ingredient that is proprietary to the manufacturer. Avoid natural flavored drinks as much as possible.
Drink #4 to Avoid: Sweetened Iced Tea
You likely saw this ones coming… Again, drinks that are sweetened with sugar and artificial sweeteners are not healthy choices for a healthy lifestyle. Sweetened tea is very processed.
Drink manufacturers want you to enjoy their iced tea. So it will be sweetened to make you crave more and more of it.
Drink $5 to Avoid: Excessive Alcohol
Alcohol can cause lots of harm to your body. It can cause weight gain and mess with your liver. Some alcoholic beverages have sugar in them too. If you decide to drink alcohol, do it sparingly.
Once a week max for drinking is sufficient. This doesn’t mean you can’t go hang out with friends. It just means you should watch your consumption of alcohol.
Now that you know the drinks that you should be avoiding, here are the drinks that you should be drinking. This easy list to remember will help keep you on track. There are some important details for each drink too.
Drink #1 Water
Water should be your main choice during the day. It’s important to keep your body hydrated. Our bodies need lots of water to help prevent join pain and stiffness too. If you’re not a huge fan of plain water there are some options…
1. You can add lemon to your water for extra flavor.
2. You can infuse your water with fresh fruits and vegetables. (avoid fruit juices because they contain too much sugar)
Try to drink close to half your body weight in ounces of water each day.
Drink #2 Tea
Another fantastic drink you should be drinking regularly. Avoid sugary tea from the store and make fresh unsweetened iced or hot tea to enjoy.
There are lots of antioxidants in tea to help fight off free radicals. Free radicals need to be fought off because they can permanently damage our DNA cells, resulting in the acceleration of aging.
Avoid adding any processed sugar or artificial sweeteners to your tea. You may add lemon, stevia, honey, or coconut palm sugar.
Drink #3 Coffee
Coffee is another drink you may enjoy in the morning. There are some things to watch our for though. You must avoid adding coffee creamers, processed sugar, and artificial sweeteners.
You may use coconut milk, almond milk, a tsp of organic butter, or some organic half and half.
Drink #4 Red Wine
Red wine in moderation is great. The reason red wine can be good in moderation is because it contains resveratrol. Resveratrol is an antioxidant that can fight free radicals and slow down the aging process.
Resveratrol is found in the skin of red grapes, and other sources include peanuts, berries, and chocolate.
You know what you need to reduce from your drinking routine now. Pick one of the bad drinks that you’re drinking and start reducing it from your routine.
Instead of drinking soda or sports drinks everyday, drink these drinks every other day.
That would decrease your soda consumption by 50% instantly. You would see an improvement in your health very quickly by reducing your consumption of bad drinks on a regular basis.
Since sugar can lower HDL (good) cholesterol and raise LDL (bad) cholesterol, you should also see an improvement with your cholesterol numbers when reducing your consumption of sugary drinks.
Do you like any of the 5 drinks you should never drink? How are you reducing your consumption of drinks that contain unhealthy ingredients and processed sugar? ')}
