Say you start a weight loss, calorie burning diet. What will that imply for you? Most people would say: careful eating and a strict sport routine. However, they are omitting an important part in the everyday quest for nutrients: what you drink is equally important to the above-mentioned suggestions.
Researchers say that in America, a fifth of the daily calories come from drinks; most of them are soft drinks or energy drinks, which provide little to no nutritional benefits and a high caloric intake for the body.
There are also other high-caloric beverages like large, fancy coffees or the so-called healthy drinks, like fruit juice, smoothies or milkshakes, which can sometimes amount to the equivalent of a meal in terms of calories and fat percentage. They are usually teeming with sugar and fat from all the flavours, sweeteners, syrups and ice-cream. Best not to go near them even with a 10 foot pole.
“But, what are the alternatives?” some of you may ask. Thankfully, there are quite a few natural, healthy choices that’ll go well with just about anybody. Find out five drinks that we recommend for you this summer, that will help you easily scare some pounds away.
1. Plain as water
Or so the saying goes. Water provides a healthy alternative for most drinks and this is not breaking news for us. Most doctors and nutritionists advise a water consumption of 8 glasses a day (along with other fluids) for maintaining a healthy body.
Water works wonders fighting dehydration, acting as an appetite suppressant (don’t forget to drink 2 glasses before each meal) and boosting metabolism (up to 30%, according to a study performed in Germany in 2003).
The trick in losing weight with water, however, is to drink it cold. Ice cold, to be more precise. Drink it and your body will have to bring the water to the body temperature, burning calories through a process called thermogenesis.
This can shave off as much as 8 calories per glass of water. While it might not amount to very much in a week or a month, it can get to as much as 7 pounds lost per year. Which is something, considering the effort behind it. If you want to know how cold the water should be, try placing a bottle of water in the freezer, and don’t forget to remove it just before the water freezes completely.
