Pimp the taste of water
Especially on hot days and in the summer, we unwittingly clock away a lot of sugary drinks. Nearly 35 percent of our calorie intake comes from snacking, the latest food poll found.1
A large part of this is swallowed by soft drinks and juices. Now I’m not a big fan of sweet drinks and often people ask me if I don’t drink them from a health point of view or because of the line. After all, we have known for a long time that liquid calories do not give you a feeling of satiety and therefore you often take in more calories at the end of the day than you needed.
The real reason I don’t drink them is because I love good food so much! I look forward to my lunch and dinner every day. What do I leave on my plate for tasty creations? I saved up the calories that I don’t get through snacks, juices and soft drinks so that I can eat deliciously. And I find that, every day, a fantastic reward for my ’empty-calories-that-add-nothing-to-your-vitality’ cut. So for me, I’d rather have a nice dinner than snacks and drinks!
My alternative are spicy flavored waters. Moreover, and hopefully you will discover that too, my alternative is super tasty and quick and super fun to make. What do I like best about it? That you can vary endlessly with different and surprising flavors. The eye also wants something! That’s why I always add a few beautiful (non-sprayed) flowers at the end. Invariably the question arises: ‘But does it really help?’ With regular use, it certainly has a certain effect, just like with herbal tea. But the big gains are not always in what you eat or drink, but increasingly in what you DO NOT eat or drink. Such a nice basic taste water without sugar, which does not disrupt your blood sugar level, is just pure gain for your hormones, brain, intestines and stress system.
Some of my favorites
Mediterranean floral water: a few sage leaves, lavender flowers, rosemary sprigs, violet tricolor, a sprig of basil, lemon balm or lemon verbena, some red summer fruits and a lemon slice.
Stomach strengthening water: a few slices of fine ginger, a teaspoon of licorice root, some fennel seeds and foliage, a few sprigs of mint, some figs and a few grains of Celtic sea salt. And if you have it in your area, some sprigs of yarrow or mallow flowers.
Relax water: a few crushed coriander seeds, a few lavender and/or basil flowers, a few sprigs of lemon verbena/lemon balm/lemonwort, dill and/or fennel leaves, and a passion fruit cut in half. Do you have Roman chervil? Add a few sprigs of that too.
Gut-friendly water: fennel seeds and fennel leaves, a few caraway seeds, peppermint leaves, dill seeds and dill leaves, a passion fruit cut in half and optional flowers of tricolor violet, mallow or oregano.
Sources
www.wateetnederland.nl/publicaties-en-datasets/publicaties
The risk of sweet
Some possible risks of sweet drinks and (fruit) juices and that also applies to the ‘zero’ variants:
Regular drinking of sweet soft drinks and juices seems to be partly responsible for a greater risk of obesity, dementia, cardiovascular disease, depression, low-grade inflammation, insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome.1
Drinks with sweeteners (zero sugar) do not seem to be a better alternative for the time being. In particular, they are said to increase the risk of stroke and dementia and, like sugary drinks, also increase the risk of insulin resistance.1
Sweeteners increase the risk of an imbalance in your gut.2
They give much less feeling of satiety than solid foods. This increases the risk of extra calorie intake.3
Our (very regular and daily) consumption of sugars causes inflammation that can drag on for a long time. Even within three weeks (with 600 ml of sugary soft drinks a day), a study of healthy young men found elevated markers of inflammation in the blood.4
In healthy young adults, especially fructose causes an increase in the inflammatory CRP value in the blood. Liquid fructose in the form of soft drinks seems to cause more complaints than fructose processed in food or glucose/sucrose in soft drinks.5
Regular consumption may increase the risk of pancreatic disease.6
Sources
1 Stroke. 2017 May; 48(5): 1129–1131
2 Adv Nutr. 2019 Jan; 10(Suppl 1): S31–S48
3 Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2011 Jul;14(4):385-90
4 Am J Clin Nutr. 2011; 94(2):479–485
5 Lipids Health Dis. 2014; 13: 195
6 Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2010 Feb;19(2):447-55
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Rineke Dijkinga
Rineke Dijkinga has guided people with chronic complaints for over fifteen years as a naturopathic and orthomolecular therapist. Hair…
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