Eating Healthy in a Tough Economy!

Pop, Soda, Diet, Regular, Sweet Tea, Juice, Milk:  Is Your Drink Healthy?

I find it interesting how those catchy songs from my past can be recited but history or really important things, well; they escape my knowledge base somehow!  Take this song:

 

 

I could sing this flawlessly back in the day and today!  Then again, my drink of choice:  COKE!  Not anymore thanks to a whole host of things that hit our porch with a vengeance!  Have you thought about why you choose what you choose to drink?  Is it a cool catchy song, is it “I have to have caffeine to function?”  Or, have you thought about it much?

Our learning curve was dental health issues.  We like clockwork get our teeth cleaned, but….one of us had huge problems with teeth, irreversible, not fun, costly problems!  I love to say, “gee I would rather have a root canal than do…..”  I had no idea how much a root canal is!  It is $1500 and even with insurance, you will have to pay for a portion, ours will pay 50%.  Now, when I get down to it, I would rather have a nice something for $500, like…an iPad, or…maybe a new piece of furniture, but a root canal is not on my current wish list.

So, what is a good drink of choice?  What does your body need? 

Water is not filled with vitamins and minerals but it is a key component to moving nutrition where it needs to be.  Have you had your recommended 8 to 12 glasses of water today?  Before answering, you cannot count any beverage that is caffeinated.  Caffeine actually acts as a dehydrator. 

 

 

 

 

Next up:  Got Milk?

 

Adults need 3 cups of low-fat or non-fat dairy on a daily basis.  From ages 1 year to 2 years, toddlers need 2 cups of whole milk, from age 2 until age 9, children need 2 cups of low-fat or  non-fat dairy.  Toddlers are growing so rapidly that they need to boost their intake of fat in order for proper brain development to happen.

 

So, why do we need milk?  Milk is a good source of calcium and Vitamin D and that helps to build strong bones and teeth.  Both of them work together, Vitamin D helps your body absorb the calcium.  Recent studies have shown that if you choose to drink carbonated beverages, that the carbonation pulls calcium from the body.

What about juice?  Juice does have some of the same benefits of eating fruit but it has natural sugar that can also cause dental tooth decay.  Sugar is the same molecular structure whether it is natural or synthetically made.  It is better to eat the whole fruit as you get a lot of benefit from the peeling and the pulp of the fruit that has been taken out with juice.  The recommendation is to only have 4 to 6 ounces of juice on a daily basis.  Juice is better than some choice but you still need to remember it contains sugar.   Also, you want to read your labels to be sure that you are selecting 100% juice, the others will have water and added sugar at the top of the ingredient list. 

 

Well, it is summer and hot, what about a sports drink?  We need those for energy and so we don’t dehydrate, right?  Not so fast!  The answer is a bit complex.  Sports drinks were developed for athletes to prevent dehydration.  Water does work well, but if you are in a very strenuous hot situation then during the event, it is fine to have an occasional sports drink.  Pay attention to serving size and when the event is over, water is a much better choice.

 Doctors will also suggest sports drinks if you have a child who is ill with flu like symptoms again, to prevent dehydration.  Sports drinks can tend to be over used as a drink of choice, consumers need to know that they are high in sodium; this is to give us a sensation of thirst.   They are also high in sugar along with other chemicals that you do not want to over load your body with.

Now you are saying, so?  I have information and maybe some that I already know.  The next step is to decide if you drink too many of the sugary drinks.  Are you willing to reduce the amount you drink to prevent health issues?  Good news, if you are interested, I am currently studying this issue and I have developed a learn-at-home lesson to help families to reduce their intake of sugary drinks.  If you and your family would like to look at it and give me feedback, I would really like to hear from you!  You can email me at saynotopop@gmail.com and I would be happy to email the lesson to you and give you the opportunity to complete a survey to help me make this lesson available to our community.  Pop consumption has a huge correlation with obesity that is one of the factors that causes chronic disease.  Until next time, is your drink healthy?  If not, why not? 

 

Check out this recipe for healthy flavored water:

Cucumber-Melon Water

1 large cucumber, sliced

1/4 honeydew melon, cubed

1/4 cantaloupe, cubed

1 half-gallon water

Place cucumber and melons in a glass pitcher and add water.  Refrigerate for 2 hours.  Serve over ice.  Garnish with melon balls skewered on a swizzle stick.

The best part about this recipe is that the cucumber, honeydew and cantaloupe are all in season!  Enjoy!