Admit it! You drink too much coffee! You need water!
I don’t drink enough water. I know it’s healthy, and it’s certainly free, but I always lean toward coffee during my day.
Coffee’s expensive and the extra calories and sugars add up, too. I can easily drink a few cups in the morning, a few more when I get to school, and more cream-filled beverages after I get home. That’s a lot of Joe.
Nutritionists have been talking about the benefit of lemon water in the morning. I never drank much until I started flavoring it–then, I was hooked. I’m not talking about those fake-sugar and dye adult kool aide beverages, I’m talking about do-it-yourself add ins that make the water something to look forward to.
Here are some popular add ins you might consider for your water. I add the slices, pieces, or squeezes of the ingredients directly or freeze blended fruit cubes to drop in anytime.
Ginger and lemon: Cold and refreshing, this takes the place of a soda any day. Warm this up and add a drop of honey for those cold and sore throat days. Ginger slices freeze well, so you can slice up your ginger and store in a freezer bag. Heat up some water and steep, then dilute with cold filtered water.
Mint: Mint settles the stomach, cleanses the palate, clears up bad breath, and feels like a taste of summer. Migraine patients feel mint is helpful to them as well. Steep your mint in hot water and dilute as with the ginger. Any mint is a good friend to water–peppermint, spearmint, or wild mint hybrid.
Berries: If you can squish up a few in-season berries, you’re adding antioxidants and flavor to your day. Berries out of season get expensive for a broke teacher, so what I do is pick them in season, freeze them flat, and toss them in things–like flavored water–during the year.
Cucumber: Cucumbers taste like summer and aid in digestion. They have a lot of B vitamins, especially the stress reducing biotin. Cucumbers pair well with any of the flavored water fruits and mints, and lemongrass as well.
Watermelon: This is a simple summer add. Some people combine it with mint as well.
Peach: Peach is the definition of summer. I can my peaches, and end up with a bunch of peach juice I hate to waste. I put this in a jar to add into my water. Peach infusion goes well into water, fresh-brewed tea, or lemonade. It’s delightful! Peach matches well with any other fruit or mint.
Drink up!
No matter what you decide to add in, you’ll be hydrating and practicing good health habits at the same time.