What should I be drinking to live healthier and longer?
Although you may love your morning latte as you can probably guess it's not the best thing to start your day. But I have some great ideas to help you start your day with a band AND get your coffee too!
So What Should You Drink?
Answer: WATER (ding ding)
Did I say water? Start an intentional morning ritual that when you walk in your kitchen, the first thing you do is grab two glasses or mugs. You then fill them up with the best water you have, preferably not from a plastic bottle, consider adding some sea salt if you're not hypertensive (about a half of teaspoon total), and chug them down like a thirsty pirate. I guarantee you, in 2 to 5 minutes you'll feel your body waking up. I personally then go to my coffee, cleanly made, and full of organic fat whipping cream, also a half a teaspoon of Ceylon cinnamon, sometimes some dark chocolate, sometimes some MCT oil (Brain Octane which is pure C8 mid-chain triglyceride), froth it and get ready to go. Remember there is virtually never a good idea to drink fruit drinks in the morning or at any time of the day.
A 16-ounce glass of orange juice has approximately 32 grams of sugar and not too much different from Coca- Cola at 36 grams.
When people want juice, I suggest they get some pure pomegranate juice and use it sparingly to add a little flavoring to their water. Okay, we just made life easy; we never have to think much when the waitress asks us what we want to drink, we cut our bill by quite a bit, and the sweet drink as we wait for our food won't create sabotage on everything we eat afterward.
Unfortunately, beer, wine, and spirits process in the liver like sugary drinks fostering a bump in our insulin levels, leading to metabolic storage. One can try to minimize the damage by eliminating any mixers that have added sugar or by choosing low carbohydrate beer and wine. Two innovative companies have come to the market to serve the wellness community who still like a good glass of wine. One is called Dry Farm Wines where they import to the US Old World wines from Europe that generally have lower sugar levels, fewer impurities, and don't impact your next day as much. Another company is Fit Wines that create lower carb and healthier wines here in the US. Another option is the Bulletproof Info-graphic on alcohol use which generally shows that beer is the most toxic and pure clear spirits without sugar-based mixers are preferred; such as vodka or tequila. All options have negative metabolic baggage, but of course one must weigh the social and quality of life benefits ;-)
If you found this post helpful, be sure to check out "How Should I excercise?"
Disclaimer: This information is not meant as direct medical advice. Readers should always review options with their local medical team. This is the sole opinion of Dr. Meakin based on a literature review at the time of the blog and may change as new evidence evolves.