5 Most Healthy Beverages to Drink

Six researchers did a study to determine what was the best healthy beverage to drink. It turns out to be water, followed by tea and coffee (both drunk plain that is).^[6]

Article on Harvard School of Public Health says ...

"Water should be the beverage you turn to most of the time" ^[6]

Water has zero sugar, zero calories, and zero saturated fat. We all need water and cannot live without it. It is a basic element of life.

One report states that woman needs 11 cups of fluid a day and men needs 15 cups. Note that this amount includes the fluids from all foods and other beverages. The best gauge is to let your body dictate how much water you need. Definitely drink when you're thirsty. But try to drink so that you do not get thirsty. By the time you feel thirst, you are already a bit dehydrated.

However, drinking plain water can be a bit boring. And for some people drinking plain water means going to the bathroom will frequently because it just passes right through.

So let's look at other healthy beverages.

The book The Chemistry of Calm says ...

"Make pure water your main beverage. ... If you like green tea, you can drink it throughout the day." [page 69-70]

And green tea is our second most healthy beverage.

When choosing a healthy beverage, the important thing to look for is a zero or low sugar content. Sugar will negate the health benefits of a beverage. See why sugar is so bad for health. Drinking calories in the form of sugary drinks is one factor that causes us to gain weight.

Unsweetened green tea can contain zero sugar. Its health benefit comes from its antioxidant capabilities. Green tea contains catechins such as epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) which inhibits cancer growth. Green tea is also good for the heart since it helps dilate blood vessels.^[2]

In his talk about nutrition and cancer, Dr. Donald Abrams says he drinks 4 cups of green tea each day. See video on the right.

Although green tea has relatively low caffeine as compared to coffee. If you are concerned about caffeine, don't drink green tea before bed so as to not affect your sleep.

Speaking of coffee... Black unsweetened coffee may actually good for you. It contains good antioxidants and flavonoids.

Coffee can provide some protection against cardiovascular disease. Coffee reduce the risks of developing type II diabetes. It also reduces the risk of liver cirrhosis and some types of cancers.

In Chapter 1 of the book, "Dr. Chopra Says: Medical Facts and Myths Everyone Should Know", it writes ...

"rather than being dangerous, coffee may also offer substantial benefits, including protection against heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, liver cirrhosis, Parkinson’s disease, cavities, colon cancer, prostate cancer, and even suicide."

It is best not to put any sugar in your coffee or tea. If black coffee is too strong, you can add a little bit of milk, provided that you do not have casein allergy or do not have much problems of lactose intolerance.

If at Starbucks, just ask for "black house coffee and no room for cream". It is the least expensive beverage they have and is also the healthiest (aside from plain water). Don't get any of those high-sugary drinks like latte, etc.

An Harvard School of Public Health article says that ...

"evidence is good that for people in general—outside of a few populations, such as pregnant women, or people who have trouble controlling their blood pressure or blood sugar—coffee is one of the good, healthy beverage choices."^[7]

Coffee does have caffeine, which can be both bad and good. Those who are negatively affected by caffeine and pregnant woman should limit consumption of caffeine. Caffeine may increase blood sugar and diabetes should be careful. Also those with serious cardiac arrhythmias should also avoid. Caffeine decreases your body's ability to absorb magnesium, which can lead to magnesium deficiency. Caffeine may also deplete the body of other vitamins and minerals.

But caffeine is not all bad. The caffeine in coffee may reduce the risk of Alzheimer's. Study in Japan found caffeine consumption in coffee, green tea, black tea and oolong tea is associated with reduce risk of mortality from cardiovascular diseases.^[8]

Because of caffeine's good and bad sides, do not over-consume caffeine and do not use caffeine as a replacement of a healthy breakfast.

Vegetable juice is fine and you get the antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and nutrients from the vegetables. Vegetables contains compounds that support the liver and helps your body detox.

Consider juicing celery, cucumber, kale, spinach, and the like. Ideally you would juice it from fresh vegetables and drink it right away. Once the vegetable has been cut and exposed to oxygen you start loosing a little bit of the antioxidant and vitamin benefits of the vegetable. Again, don't put any added sugar. It is also recommended that you add water (the number one healthiest beverage) to your vegetable juices. This dilutes the juice and reduces the concentration of sugar in the vegetable juice.

Vegetables in general have less sugar than fruits. Both vegetable and fruits are carbohydrates, which means they turn into glucose sugar by your digestive system. However, vegetable tend to have a lower glycemic index than fruits in general. Low glycemic carbohydrates are better than the high glycemic carbohydrates since low GI carbs turns into sugar faster in your digestive system.

Although vegetable juice is good, it is even better to eat the whole vegetable. That way you get the healthy fiber of the vegetables as well. Understandably, there is sometimes you just need something to drink rather than eat. And in that case, vegetable juice is a good choice.

For some people, they may encounter excessive gas and bloating after a pure vegetable drink. Because of the extracted fiber, the juice passes through the digestive tract too quickly --- faster than the body can absorb all of it. When starchy carbohydrates such as certain vegetables reaches the bacteria in the large intestines before the body has an chance to absorb it, the bacteria can eat the carbohydrates and produce gas as a by-product. This is more of an inconvenience rather than harmful. If this is a problem, you can take Beano before drinking the juice (see why), or not drink a huge concentration all at once.

Fruit juice contains too much sugar. Even 100% fruit juice with no added sugar, contains too much natural sugar. Many health expert would tell you to eat the fruit, rather than drink the juice. Juicing removes the fiber. And fiber is healthy to consume. Fruits and vegetables contains fiber that slows the release of the sugar into your bloodstream.

If you do drink fruit juice, always good idea to dilute it with water in order to decrease its sugar density.

When you crack open a fresh coconut, or drill a hole into one, you will get coconut water. You can drink this coconut water right out the coconut using a straw. This is the best way to get your coconut water. After you drink all the water, crack open and eat the inner white meat of the coconut. Coconut and coffee are both listed in the book The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth.

Understandably, this is a lot of work. If you get coconut water or coconut juice in a bottle, get the 100% pure coconut water with no added sugar or flavoring. Coconut milk is not the same as coconut water. Coconut milk is made the ground up flesh from the insides of the coconut.

Coconut water is mainly 95% water but has important electrolytes and minerals such as potassium, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, and sodium. For athletes who are perspiring a lot, it is a good idea to replenish these electrolytes and minerals.

Coconut water is noted for it high potassium content. A glass of coconut water has more potassium than a banana. Potassium is an important mineral for health. Coconut water is nature's sports drink.

Coconut water does have some natural sugar, so be careful not to consume too much sugar. But certainly, it has less sugar than some soda and sugary sports drink.

Avoid soft drinks and other sugary drinks that contains lots of sugar. This includes any sport drink and vitamin water that contains a lot of sugar. Excessive amounts sugar is one factor that contributes to metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and obesity.

Vitamin water is basically water with a little bit of vitamin added. You would most likely get more vitamin by juicing real vegetables. Or take a multi-vitamin pill with your water.

If you think the zero-calories beverages are good for you, think again. IMany zero-calories beverages contains artificial sweeteners. Although it is true that artificial sweeteners do not raise blood sugar^[5], some such as aspartame can damage brain cells through excitotoxicity.

Article is opinion and is based partially on the following references...