Energy drinks, sport drinks, fitness drinks, carbonated beverages, and fruit drinks may not be a healthy choice. Many are filled with excessive caffeine, sugar, or are high in fructose. As many health experts keep saying, "Drinking water is so important for good health."[1]
Why is water so important, because "your body is estimated to be about 60 to 70 percent water. Blood is mostly water, and your muscles, lungs, and brain all contain a lot of water."[1] It's also a know fact that "your body needs water to regulate body temperature and to provide the means for nutrients to travel to all your organs. Water also transports oxygen to your cells, removes waste, and protects your joints and organs."[1]
Brazos Minshew, TriVita's Chief Science Officer, in TriVita's Weekly Wellness Report, looks at all the alternatives to water. I've included the complete article below.
Are There Alternatives for Water? by
Healthy Living Essential #2 is Drink Water. Many people don't follow this Essential for one reason or another. Some use water "alternatives" instead. But I can tell you, with full conviction, that there are NO alternatives to water! You must drink water and you must drink it in abundance.
Pros and cons of water "alternatives"
Let's look at some of the positive and negative aspects of so-called alternatives to water:
- 100% fruit juice - contains some vitamins, minerals and a lot of sugar. In fact, a 16-ounce glass of fruit juice contains about 50 grams of sugar and 220 calories. Fructose, or fruit sugar, reduces the rate at which we absorb fluid and can actually make you thirstier, leading to over-consumption of calories from juice.
- Sport drinks - often contain fructose or sucrose syrups, flavorings and colorings. The electrolytes, sodium and potassium are helpful for endurance-type exercise or activity, but not necessary for everyday exercise. A 16 ounce sport drink has roughly 30 grams of sugar and over 100 calories.
- Energy drinks - contain vitamins, amino acids, a lot of sugar and caffeine. Although advertised as providing more energy, what they really provide is more calories and caffeine. Added caffeine can be temporarily energizing, but often leads to a rapid dip in energy and can be potentially habit forming. An eight ounce energy drink has about 115 calories and 80 milligrams of caffeine.
- Fitness waters - these waters are laced with an assortment of nutrients, herbs, flavorings and/or sweeteners. These enhancements are usually too insufficient to have any meaningful impact on your health; plus these waters can be costly. As for calories, they can contain anywhere from 10 to 100 or more calories in a 16 ounce drink.
- Carbonated beverages - such as regular or diet sodas can be high in sugar or artificial sweeteners and caffeine. Colas are also high in phosphates, which bind with calcium and weaken bones. Regular soda can contain up to 200 or more calories for 16 ounces.
- Coffee, tea and lattes - are also very popular. But along with the caffeine, they often contain added sugars and fats which can add up to as many as 450 calories for a 16 ounce drink. Since most caffeinated products provide very few nutrients, it is typically advised to keep intake low.
- Flavored waters - are waters with a touch of natural flavoring. By itself, this is fine. Unfortunately, however, many flavored waters contain sugar (some even have more than a can of soda pop) or caffeine and other additives, all of which should be avoided.
In contrast to the water alternatives above, we can get water that is good for us from food. Many fruits and vegetables, for example, are high in water content as well as antioxidants (which is a nice plus). The guideline for consuming the right amount of fruit and vegetables is 5, 7 or 9 servings daily, depending upon our size and gender.
Healthy ways to spice up your water
In summary, we now know two things. First, there are no real alternatives to water - they all have too many drawbacks. And second, water is essential to good health - it helps the body both detoxify and fuel metabolism for energy.
But these two findings present a problem for all of the people who feel that water is just too boring to drink on a regular basis. They are likely to wonder, "Are there ways to make my water taste better? And are there drinks besides water that can help support my body's detoxification and metabolic processes?" The answer is YES. You can use the recipes below to spice up your water while adding extra detoxification and metabolism support:
- Nopalea Splash: Take 6 ounces of naturally carbonated spring water and add 1 ounce of Nopalea™ to it for a hydrating, detoxifying and refreshing beverage that naturally helps reduce inflammation.
- Tea Time 10 Plus: Take 6 ounces of either hot or cold green tea and add 1 ounce of Adaptogen 10 Plus®. You can get the health benefits of green tea coupled with the stress-busting effects of adaptogens. Water: the life-essential beverage
At birth, water can make up as much as 80% of a baby's body weight. Yet at death, for adults in their 70s and 80s, water often makes up less than 40% of the body weight.
Water is life. And in a sense, dehydration equals death.
Drink Water - and claim the health benefits of this life-giving liquid!
*** End of Article ***
Do you still think alternative drinks are better for you than plain water? As Mr. Minshew mentioned, "there are no real alternatives to water." Many people may think so, but in all honesty, there is NOT. No matter how much a commercial may try to sell you on there alternative, you may be doing more harm than good (to your body) if you do not drink enough water.
So how much water should you be drinking a day. According to some sources, you can take your weight and divide it by two. That will give you a simple solution as to the amount of ounces of water you should be drinking every day. For example, if you weigh 180 pounds, divide that number in half, which equals 90, you should be drinking 90 ounces of water per day. And, if you exercise, you should drink another 8 ounces of water for every 20 minutes of exercise.
To learn more about TriVita's Nopalea or TriVita's health and wellness products (mentioned in the article) click on the previous links.
Jeffrey Sloe
TriVita Independent Business Affiliate, 12871028
440-725-3729
jeff@internetmarketingadvisors.net
Fighting Inflammation
Resources:
[1] http://nutrition.about.com/od/hydrationwater/a/waterarticle.htm
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