Healthy beverages are an essential part of a wholesome, balanced, diet. When you choose to ditch unhealthy drinks like soda, sugary coffee beverages, and energy drinks and replace them with their healthy counterparts, you’ll immediately feel the benefits through better energy levels, smoother digestion, or just a general sense of well being. This is why we recommend that you consume these 7 different healthy beverages for each day of the week.
Nut Milks
Plant-based milks such as milked nut products are all the rage these days, and it’s not difficult to see why. Milk sourced from nuts like almonds, peanuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, and cashews are a good source of unsaturated fatty acids, which can improve heart health by reducing the levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol—aka “bad cholesterol”—in the body.
Aside from this, they also contain nutrients like potassium, sodium, iron, and some calcium, as well as omega-3 fatty acids, which also contribute to heart health by helping lowering triglyceride levels in the blood. Moreover, if you’re lactose intolerant and consuming dairy products tend to irritate your digestive system, nut milk is a safe bet for you.
Dairy Milk
Dairy milk is probably the first beverage that gained worldwide renown as a health drink—a product that started becoming very popular during the early 20th century. It’s understandable, of course, given the fact that dairy milk contains numerous essential nutrients that are important for the maintenance of good health.
It’s a very good source of calcium, vitamin D, and phosphorus, which are all very important for bone health, and it’s also rich in protein, which helps build and repair muscle tissues, aside from being a source of energy. Milk is also an excellent source of B vitamins, including vitamin B2, vitamin B3, and vitamin B12, which play very important roles in cell metabolism.
Fruit and Veggie Smoothie
Drinking fruit and vegetable smoothies is one of the best ways to consume your daily servings of fruits and vegetables. Smoothies are easy to prepare, children tend to love them, and they really pack a punch when it comes to nutrition because they contain all the wholesome goodness of whatever fruits and vegetables you’ve blended into them. Moreover, they contain all the non-digestible fiber from their source produce, which promotes better digestion.
To maximize the benefits of your smoothies, combine as many fruits and vegetables as you can, aiming for a “rainbow” of colors by combining berries, citrus fruits, drupes, and vegetable greens.
Probiotic Drinks
Probiotics are microorganisms that have been shown to provide health benefits to people. They are typically introduced to the body through the consumption of probiotic drinks and fermented dairy products, although many food items like kimchi and sauerkraut are also rich in probiotics.
Probiotic drinks and food items are usually fermented with bacteria that belong to the genera Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium. It has been observed since the early 20th century that human populations that consume large amounts of food products fermented with these bacteria lived extraordinarily long lives. For instance, Ukrainian scientist and Nobel laureate Élie Metchnikoff was struck by the fact that many residents of certain impoverished communities in Russia and the Balkan States lived up to the age of more than 100 years at a time when the average life expectancy in France was just 40 years. Metchnikoff postulated that their aging is being delayed by their consumption of yogurt with host-friendly bacteria, which is popular in those regions.
Recent studies on the longevity of Korean women also point to the consumption of probiotics in kimchi as the reason why South Korean women born in 2030 will likely be the first in the world to have an average life expectancy of 90 years.
Hot Dark Chocolate Drink
Chocolate is not only delicious, some studies also show that it may good for your health. For instance, researchers from Cornell University discovered that the antioxidant concentration in hot chocolate was twice as strong as that in red wine and two to three times stronger than in green tea. Moreover, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Barcelona, the cocoa flavanols in chocolate also offers cardio protective benefits by improving platelet and vascular function.
When choosing a chocolate drink, opt for the hot cocoa variant with no added sugars and other additives. This way, you can enjoy chocolate that is as close to its pure form as possible.
Green Tea
Green tea is another drink that is rich in antioxidants, particularly catechins, which help prevent cell damage. Moreover, regular green tea consumption has also been shown to help reduce the risk for diseases like high blood pressure, congestive heart failure, and even Alzheimer’s disease.
Consider drinking green tea an hour or two after breakfast to make the most of its caffeine punch. Moreover, not consuming green tea directly after your meal will also give your digestive system enough time to digest your food and absorb nutrients.
Fruit Juice
Similar to fruit smoothies, fruit juices also provide you with the health benefits of their source produce, but juices typically make the nutrients more readily available for your body because the indigestible fibers are largely removed by the juicing implement or machine. However, take care not to drink too much fruit juice because you’ll also typically get more sugar per serving. Remember that fruit sugars are still sugar, and they can spike your sugar levels just as much as regular table sugar does!
When it comes to food and nutrition, it is important not to limit your diet to just one or a few types of food products per day. The key is to consume a variety of food products and beverages in the right quantities to ensure that you are getting the right mix of nutrients from them.
