And it’s not just soda. All juices are just as bad when packaged.
You just can’t package things without ruining them. Because they’re either going to be homogenized, pasteurized or from concentrate and all of those ruin the vitamins and increase the glycemic index.
Unless you’re going to pick the fruit and drink the juice fresh, don’t drink juice.
So what should you drink?
Tea is a very good alternative. Use lemon and lime for flavoring, and if you want a bit of sweetness, use honey. Agave nectar is not too bad, either.
Plain water is another way to go, and you could sweeten your water with just a little bit of fresh squeezed juice or raw sugar.
My favorite flavored water is cucumber water.
Here are three ways to make it:
The first way is to blend a cucumber and strain out the juice overnight. I use any old strainer lined with a cheesecloth, but you can use a fine strainer, too.
Just let the juice drip out of the cucumber into a container in the fridge , and the next daymix the juice you get with a pitcher of ice water. The thing I like about this method is you can decide how much cucumber juice to add, depending on how strong a flavor you want.
You could also cut up a cucumber into small chunks, cover them in the amount of water you want to drink and let it soak in the fridge overnight. In the morning, strain it into a glass or pitcher and throw away the cucumbers.
The third way is to add a bunch of slices of cucumber to some ice water, let it sit for a couple of hours, and you’ll have a tasty drink in no time.
Mint makes cucumber water even more refreshing. If you add mint, blend it in with the cucumber in the first method. Chop the mint and let it soak with the cucumber chunks in the second method, or just break up some mint and let it sit in the water for the third.
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD
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