Change your hot drinks this winter
If you’re having trouble giving up those massive sodas and bottled juice drinks, the winter season can help. The incentive is already there, with a typical can of soda delivering nearly 40 grams of sugar. That’s 10 teaspoons of sugar in a single small can. On really hot days, your thirst may drive you to reach for the oversized 44-ounce Big Gulp soda. With that drink, you lose 128 grams, or a whopping 32 teaspoons of sugar!
If that’s not bad enough, the sugar used in these drinks is high in fructose, which is highly available to your digestive system. This amount of sugar will cause massive insulin spikes and add pounds of fat as fast as you can drink it. The side effect of this leads to glucose resistance, diabetes, inflammation and more. Yes, the incentive is there, all good.
The obvious healthy alternative to sugar-laden beverages for staying hydrated is simply drinking plain water. When the weather is cold, a hot beverage seems preferable and, if chosen correctly, can provide health benefits you weren’t expecting. A hot cup warms the hands and the hot drink warms the whole body with every sip.
Surprisingly, a nice cup of tea can do more than warm you up. Drinking green or black tea consistently over a period of at least three months can lower blood pressure. This benefits your cardiovascular system and helps keep your heart healthy.
Lowering blood pressure is just the beginning for these highly beneficial concoctions. Black tea is rich in antioxidants that are believed to reduce the risk of ovarian cancer, and green tea may reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer. In fact, the antioxidants in tea have been shown to reduce the risks of heart disease, cancer, and health problems that affect both men and women. The polyphenols (antioxidants) in green tea are also known to help regulate blood sugar, making the tea a useful agent in combating diabetes.
Tea is not the only healthy option. Brewed coffee also provides antioxidants that provide anti-inflammatory properties and other benefits. Some of the antioxidants in coffee also help regulate blood sugar and thus may help reduce the risk of diabetes. The only side effects of drinking coffee or tea may be the buzz of too much caffeine after several cups, and the diuretic effect of coffee that causes you to empty your bladder. Complement your tea and coffee intake with an occasional glass of water to stay well hydrated.
Whether you choose tea, coffee, or both, don’t ruin the benefits by pouring too much sugar into each cup. That will only offset the benefits and get you back to where you started. Try to avoid bottled tea products available on many store shelves. Many of these bottled tea and coffee products are loaded with sugar and other chemicals. More importantly, they may not provide the same intense antioxidant benefit. The American Chemical Society suggests that you may need to consume twenty bottles of store-bought tea to get the same benefit as one cup of brewed tea. Whip up a hearty drink this winter to get your diet on track for better health.