Drinks to add to your daily diet

When you think about living a healthy lifestyle, taking in adequate fluids should be a priority. From controlling your weight to keeping your kidneys healthy, these and even more benefits are offered by the drinks featured in this article.

Matcha

Tea matcha, which is a powder made from finely ground green tea leaves, provides many benefits to the body. Among other things, drinking matcha can help people reduce their risk of developing liver disease, according to analyses of as many as 15 studies.

Sipping matcha provides a high amount of antioxidants that help reduce the risk of many chronic diseases, as well as steatosis and cirrhosis.

Yerba mate for energy

If you haven’t started drinking matcha yet yerba mateit’s worth catching up. The caffeinated herbal tea is made from steeping both the twigs and leaves of the llex paraguariensis plant. This tea is largely produced in Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina. Each cup contains about 85 milligrams of caffeine, which is almost equivalent to the amount offered by a cup of coffee.

Like green tea, yerba mate (among its many health benefits) may help lower LDL levels, according to one 2009 study. In addition, yerba mate may also help lower blood glucose (sugar) levels, which is especially helpful for people with diabetes.

Water for hydration

If you drink nothing else, it is very important to drink plenty of water. After all, your body is mostly made up of water – it’s what protects your joints, bones and organs, helps your body digest food and remove debris, and keeps you hydrated. Water is by far the best way to provide fluids in our daily diet. It is freely available, contains no calories, artificial sweeteners or flavors. If we all drank only water, we would certainly be much healthier.

How much water should I drink? It is recommended to drink between 9 and 13 glasses of water a day. Note that many other liquids and watery foods also fall under this recommendation.

Milk for bone health

Low-fat or fat-free milk is a good source of protein, calcium and vitamin D because of its important bone health benefits, especially in growing children. It’s also great for people who are lactose tolerant and have no allergies to the protein in milk.

For vegans or people with lactose allergies, soy and almond milks are excellent choices. Many plant-based drinks have fewer calories than cow’s milk and are supplemented with calcium and vitamin D, so in some cases they contain more of these essential nutrients than dairy options.

Vegetable juice for vitamins

If you like to drink juice to start your day, this tomato and other vegetable juice can be a great vitamin boost. In addition to their high water content, they are rich in a number of nutrients, including vitamin A, vitamin C and lycopene. Plus, they don’t have the high sugar content found in fruit juices. This is important for people who are trying to lose weight.

Vegetable juice, especially tomato juice, is a quick way to get extra minerals and vitamins into your diet – especially if you don’t eat large portions of fresh fruits and vegetables every day.

Green tea as an antioxidant

Green tea is a great alternative to regular tea and coffee. It will help hydrate your body and is rich in antioxidants. It also helps to increase metabolism. Years of research on green tea have shown that it has far-reaching health benefits, with its antioxidants not only neutralizing factors that cause aging, but also lowering the risk of heart disease and certain cancers.

One caveat: green tea does provide a slight boost to metabolism, but contrary to popular belief, not enough to produce spectacular results in a short period of time.

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