8 Super Healthy Drinks (and 8 to Skip)
When you think of healthy drinks, water immediately comes to mind ā especially since drinking water has endless benefits, and it has zero calories. However, there are other healthy drinks worth adding to your menu. Some drinks have tremendous health benefits, from relieving minor ailments like indigestion to protecting against serious ones like osteoporosis.
On the other end of the spectrum, several sips are far from healthy things to drink ā and add unnecessary (and unsatisfying) calories, sugar, and artificial ingredients to your diet.
The hype youāve heard about green tea as a healthy thing to drink is legit. Green tea contains a rich concentration of flavonoids and polyphenols, natural antioxidants that may protect cells from carcinogens (cancer causing cells).
Labels like āJuice drinksā and ājuice cocktailsā are almost a euphemism for brightly colored sugar water. For a truly healthy drink, look for 100-percent juice, like orange juice, cranberry juice, or aloe vera juice.
Best: One-Percent Reduced-Fat Milk
Milk is a great healthy drink choice because it has the components of healthy meal-carbohydrates, protein, and a little fat-so you absorb it slowly and stay full longer. It also stabilizes blood sugar.
Worst: Fancy Coffee Drinks
When blended with 2-percent milk and sugar, a large icy cup of Joe can contain up to 800 calories and one-third of the maximum recommended intake for artery-clogging saturated fat.
Soy milk contains soluble fiber and soy protein, which lowers LDL (bad) cholesterol levels and triglycerides, reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Worst: Flavored Waters and Sports Drinks
Flavored and infused waters may deliver a few extra vitamins-along with added sugars. Next time you buy a bottle of water, check the label to see if itās a healthy thing to drink. If you spot anything more than water and natural flavors, leave it on the shelf.
Mint is an antispasmodic, so it can relax muscles, which combats stiffness and aches. It also aids digestion by promoting the movement of food through the digestive tract.
Worst: Diet and Regular Soda
Itās tough to find a single redeeming quality about soda. Itās overloaded with sugar and provides empty calories without satisfying your hunger.
Chocolate increases the production of the neurotransmitter serotonin, which is responsible for regulating mood.
When it comes to happy hour traps, the mixers are the real culprits. Case and point a 16-ounce Pina colada can clock in at a whopping 880 calories-thatās more than eight times the amount in a shot of rum.
Best: Low-Sodium Tomato Juice
Processed tomato products are the richest source of the antioxidant lycopene, which has been associated with reduced risk of lung and stomach cancer, as well as pancreatic, colorectal, esophageal, oral, breast, and cervical cancers.
Yes, fruit on its own is good for you. But a 32-ounce smoothie can pack as many as 700 calories with fewer than two grams of protein, thanks to the high sugar content. Thatās like eating an entire pineapple.
Research suggests that the same anti-bacterial properties present in cranberry juice that fight off urinary tract infections may also protect against periodontal disease.
Most store-bought versions are made from the same sweeteners used in sodas, combined with preservatives are artificial color. At 100 calories per cup, and with the equivalent of six teaspoons of sugar and zero nutrients, youāre essentially drinking liquid candy.
An excellent source of vitamin C, orange juice is also a potent antioxidant that may protect against a variety of diseases including cataracts (a clouding of the eyes lens that can lead to blindness) and lung cancer.
When people think about energy drinks, theyāre usually referring to products that contain caffeine. The problem is that most energy drinks are loaded with too much caffeine and sugar to be healthy things to drink.
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