Getting Nutrition Through Beverages

The tide is starting to turn more towards healthier eating, thank goodness. Did you know that you could get some nutrition in the beverages you chose to drink during the day and evening? A good portion of your body is made up of water and not drinking enough water can leave you under-hydrated. Being dehydrated can get serious quickly. Dehydration can cause headaches and muscle pain.

Did you know that you could receive about 20% of the water you need, by some of the food choices you make? Fruits typically contain some fluid. Approximately 80% of your body’s need for water has to come from what your drink. Plain water is obviously the best choice of beverage for you to make and there are several kinds of water to choose from: tap, bottled, sparkling, and even flavored water. You have to be careful of the flavored water though because most of them have sweeteners added, which can add extra calories to your diet.

There are other beverage choices that can add to your nutritional daily content such as herbal teas, citrus fruit juices, and also vegetable juice. Some herbal teas such as chamomile are reported to have soothing and healing properties.  A few decades ago peppermint tea was a popular beverage for those who suffered from indigestion or gas. Peppermint tea is a wholesome health beverage and is brewed with dry or fresh peppermint leaves and served as a mealtime beverage.

Fruit juices and vegetable juices contain some calories but have lots of vitamins and minerals.

Did you know that although liquids, milk and buttermilk are actually classified as foods and not as beverages? The reason that milk and buttermilk are classified as food is that they are not so easily digested as watery beverages are. Milk should actually be consumed at the beginning of the meal as part of the main food course. It is especially important to offer milk first to babies who are being fed solids and to young children. Milk is a wholesome food and it only requires approximately 25% of the body’s energy to digest it as compared to other foods of equal food value. Milk is considered to be a tissue-building food and should be combined with fresh fruits and steamed raw vegetables in order to derive the most benefit from it.

Now you know that beverages are important to your nutrition and to the health of your body just as food is. It especially important to drink lots of water when you are physically active or when you are in warmer weather when you are more likely to perspire and lose body moisture. When making beverage choices stay away from beverages that contain sugar or sweeteners because of the caloric count.

Some beverages can actually be unhealthy for you because of the caffeine because it is a nervous system stimulant and can cause nervousness, jittery feeling and irregular heartbeats. Beverages that are not good choices also include shakes, malts, ice cream sodas, frozen sugary coffee drinks and any drink that has a lot of calories in it from either sugar or fat content.