Healthy Beverages
cool refreshing drinks
to help you maintain good health

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What are healthy beverages? Is it okay to drink just one coke a day.  What about a nice milk shake?  When we were kids, every Friday we went to the local fast food place, "Foster's Freeze", and had a hamburger, french fries and a coke or a milk shake.  Was that healthy?  We were thin, we were active, and we lived in a different time.  Nothing was genetically modified.    

During the week we had an occasional coke or Dr. Pepper or any soda.  Sometimes we had Delaware Punch which seems to be no longer in existence.  We walked to the store to buy these drinks.  

We did not have them every day and we played outside for hours. We walked to school daily.  Two miles of walking each day probably helped us stay thin and healthy.  I know, I know, you have heard that before.  It wasn't uphill through the snow though.  

healthy beverages -
drinks to get you safely
through the day

Everything you take into your body affects your health.  If you drink healthy beverages, you will take in fewer calories and maintain a lower cholesterol.  Soft drinks and kool-aid do not fall into the healthy category.  I know, this makes me sad too.

Cooling Fruit Water

My container holds about a gallon.  Early in the day I boil and filter enough water to fill the container.  I pour in the water leaving room for fruits and vegetables.  The water pictured has the following ingredients added:

• 1 1/2      lemons, thinly sliced
• 1/2         lemon squeezed and juice poured into jar
• 1            pint raspberries
• 1/2         cucumber, thinly sliced
• 1           sprig rosemary

Mix together.  Refrigerate the water until the flavors have time to permeate the water.  I usually wait two to three hours.  That's it.

• The mixture is tasty, but healthful.
• You can make your own recipe by adding any ingredients you like to the water.
• My grandson says that they serve fruit water at his school with just cucumbers in it.  Refreshing drink!

A few years ago I did the master cleanse a few times. I loved the drink that was part of the cleanse and believe that it is healthy enough to drink even when you are not doing the cleanse. Recipe for lemon drink:

Juice of 1/2 lemon, use fresh organic lemons, 2 T grade B maple syrup, as much cayenne pepper as you like (at least 1/4 t) and one glass of boiled filtered water.  You can cool the water first and add a few ice cubes or lemon ice cubes to your drink.

Mix together.  Refrigerate the water until the flavors have time to permeate the water.  I usually wait two to three hours.  That's it.

Never use bottled lemon juice.  It often has preservatives. Years of eating and drinking preseratives has made people's internal organs less pliable. Years ago, I heard a lecture given by a doctor on the subject of preservatives.  I have read labels very carefully since that day.  If it says preservatives, I put it back on the shelf.

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Soft Drinks

harmful effects
of soft drinks

One of my grandchildren was recently told by his doctor that if he was drinking one soda a day, he would eventually be fat. Here are more reasons to not drink sodas.

• loaded with sugar
• made with plain tap water
• diet drinks contain aspartame which is linked with many health problems
• decays teeth
• caffeine in soft drinks can lead to unwelcome health conditions
• soft drinks can lead to dehydration
• people seem to get addicted to them
• may contain formaldehyde
• contain preservatives

How often you ever heard someone say, "I gotta have a coke"

I live in Texas and coke seems to be a  generic name for any soft drink. Many of us are addicted.  When I had not been drinking colas for about two months, I took a sip of a coke and was amazed that it didn't even taste good. I think it is an acquired taste.  At that time I kept "tasting", trying to see if it would taste like I remembered, and eventually it did.  I no longer drink soft drinks. I will probably be on an off the wagon forever.  sighhh - These are definitely not healthy beverages.

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more reasons not to drink coke

I found an article on the Huffington post listing reasons people shouldn't drink soft drinks.  They are

• "It builds fat around your organs
• "switching to diet doesn't help"
• "some contain toxic flame retardants"
• "It's polluting our water"
• increased risk of fatty liver disease
• "It's aging you, quickly"

The article suggests drinking seltzer water with a splash of 100% fruit juice in it.

To read the article go to Reasons to give up coke.

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coffee tea or milk?

When I was a child it seems that everyone smoked.  I can close my eyes and see my mother sitting at the table doing a crossword puzzle with a cigarette and a cup of coffee.  Coffee was a drink for adults only in those days.  It smelled so good brewing in the kitchen.  Mom even used a little coffee in icing on spice cakes and it was delicious.

I wanted that grown up cup of coffee, but children were not given coffee. They told us it would stunt our growth. I begged.  One day Mom said, "Okay I will give you a taste, but you won't like it."  She drank her coffee black.  She was right, it tasted nasty.  That was the last time I ever wanted it.

I have seen the controversial sites about coffee.  Some say it is good, some say it is bad. The same is true for tea.

My feeling is that if something has to be doctored to make it taste good, you don't need it.  I would need a ton of sugar and cream to drink a cup of coffee.  Then there are are lattes.  They are full of sugar and such.

Evidently there is something called cafestol in coffee which is a stimulator of ldl.  That makes it even more certain that I won't drink coffee. I don't want to encourage cholesterol building.

Tea has the same dilemma as coffee.  Some studies say it is bad for you, others say it is good.  For me it is the same as coffee.  If you have to add sugar then it is beginning to be not such a good idea to drink it.

I'll stick with my water and fruit juice.  I don't even drink milk.  I like it if it has chocolate in it, and, that is the same reason for me not to drink it that I have presented for tea and coffee.

The doctor told me a few years ago that the milk we drink should be skim milk.  Vivian Goldsmith, MA, has studied milk consumption and states that milk is for calves, not humans.  Milk has become a processed food and it has not been proven that the calcium in milk is assimilated by the body.

I have rarely drunk milk in my lifetime. Our parents made us drink it as children, but I didn't like the taste.  I am 75 years old and have osteopenia, but I do not have osteoporosis.  I would be interested to see in a study of long time milk drinkers to know how many of them get osteoporosis.  My diet will help me with bone building. There is plenty of calcium in the foods I am eating.

Bottom line, everyone has to make their own decisions about what they take into their bodies.  As for me, I am trying to drink only water and fruit based drinks.  Nothing processed. Nothing that only tastes good if sugar and cream and other additives are needed.

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Mango Raspberry water

This morning I had the Budwig protocol for breakfast with banana and raspberries and mangos.  The raspberries and mangos were frozen so I put them in a clean bowl and covered them with about 8 oz of water while I was infusing my cottage cheese and flax seed oil.  When I was ready to use the fruit, I saved the water the fruit had soaked in.  I added some more mashed mangos and added some ice cubes and a sprig of mint.  It was a refreshing, tasty and healthy drink and pretty too.

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Maintain a healthy PH balance in your body

Many people have a PH balance these days that is acidic which can lead to health problems. It is important to aim for a PH balance that is more alkaline than acidic. One way to help this along is to drink lemon water or fruit drinks instead of the typical soft drink.

Apple cider vinegar and lemon are good choices to maintain a good balance. Drinking a glass of water each morning with apple cider vinegar or lemon is thought to be a healthy way to start the day. Try my healthy lemon-limeade or the alkaline drink below. You will notice the difference in how you feel.

healthy lemon-limeade

This is a simple refreezing drink with only a few ingredients.

Peel one lemon and one lime and put them into the blender container  The picture shows a bullet container.  Add water to the fill line.  Add maple syrup or honey as preferred.  Blend it.  

Recipe for Lemon-limeade

Place the following in a blender container.  A bullet is just the right size.

1 lemon, peeled
1 lime, peeled
Add water to the fill line
2 1/2 T of maple syrup or honey (or amount you prefer)
If you like you can add a little peel.  

Blend the mixture until combined.  It has a nice foam on top. 

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I found this healthy refreshing alkaline drink recipe on everydayhealth.com

ingredients:

• 1 cucumber
• inch slice of ginger
• handful of parsley
• 3 stalks of celery
• 1 lemon

choose juice cycle in your blender