Drink This, Not That: How to Make Better Bevvie Choices

glass of water
What you drink, counts, a lot.

Yes, our food choices are super important, but so are our beverage choices. What we choose to imbibe on the daily has a massive impact on our health and wellbeing and a lot of us are unknowingly sabotaging a decent diet with poor beverage choices.

This is so important that I’m not even going to make you read the whole article to get your big important takeaway nugget, I’m going to say it now, and it’s this:

The one thing you can do, TODAY, to have a massive impact on your health is to stop drinking sweetened beverages (spoiler alert: this includes 100% FRUIT JUICE).

Numerous studies show that drinking sweetened beverages is one of our top dietary mistakes and I strongly believe that many of us don’t even realize the amount of inflammatory sugar we are consuming just through our bevvies (and agh, it’s making us tired and sick).

We need to be more mindful of the liquids we are consuming, because they are straight up harming us at an alarming rate.

The following is a list of my recommendations for what to drink and what not to drink:

Drink This:

  • Filtered Water
  • Herbal tea (unsweetened)
  • Green or black tea (ideally organic)
  • Black Coffee, Bulletproof style coffee or coffee with coconut milk or coconut creamer (unsweetened)
  • Sparkling mineral water (add lime or lemon for some extra deliciousness)
  • Kombucha with less than 5g sugar per serving (this is being generous) – always check the label for grams of sugar and look at the serving size. Some bottles list the amount of sugar per bottle and some list for half or less of the bottle
  • Green Smoothies made by you with low-sugar fruit like berries
  • Coconut water (no sugar added), on occasion, as an electrolyte replacement after intense exercise where you have sweat a lot over a long period of time. I would absolutely replace sugary sports drinks with this, but don’t overdo it.
  • Non-dairy ‘milks’, but opt for homemade whenever possible. Most commercial brands are full of unhealthy fillers, preservatives, and emulsifiers (not to mention sugar and flavouring). Check out my simple recipe for homemade coconut milk using dried, shredded coconut

Don’t Drink This:

  • Soda/pop, regular or diet. Any of it.
  • Sports drinks (Gatorade, G2, Powerade, etc.– they’re artificially flavoured and coloured sugar water)
  • Artificially sweetened anything (“Zero Calorie”, “Diet” or “Low Calorie” drinks)
  • Fruit juice – 100% fruit juice or juice cocktails. This has the same effect on your body as drinking soda and sometimes even more sugar per serving
  • Fresh or bottled fruit smoothies, unless you’ve made them yourself
  • Alcohol (sorry, but besides the actual alcohol which is a poison to body, most alcoholic beverages are FULL of sugar, mold toxins, harmful yeasts and/or preservatives)
  • Blended, iced or hot drinks like iced coffees, frappuccinos, or hot chocolate etc.
  • Juice boxes of any kind (whoever decided this was a good choice for kids is cuckoo)
  • Pre-packaged protein shakes or meal replacement drinks (garbage, garbage, garbage)
  • Most pre-packaged vegetable juices like V8 – these are packed full of sodium and there are barely any nutrients left
  • Cow’s milk (contrary to popular belief, we don’t actually need it and it won’t do your body good. Actually, it causes digestive upset for most people)

A note on WATER:
For the record, water will ALWAYS be the best beverage choice.
Unfiltered tap water, unfortunately, has its issues. Sure, unfiltered tap water is a better choice than a sweetened beverage, but in the long run it’s actually kinda sketchy. To combat the sketchiness of tap water, you’re best off investing in a countertop water filter like The Berkey to get out all the nasties like toxic chlorine, fluoride, antibiotics, prescription meds, pesticides, and more.
FYI, inexpensive devices like the Britta water filter moreso “deodorize” the water and don’t really remove many of the most harmful contaminants, so don’t cheap out thinking you’re still going to get the same results.

A note on BOOZE:
It’s never going to be good for you, so let that myth go (even red wine, peeps!).
Going to drink some alcohol anyway? I get it, sometimes you’re just going to have some drinks, so I recommend you pick your poison wisely. Opt for clear liquors like vodka, gin or tequila and pair them with sparkling/flat water + citrus instead of sugary juice or soda. Try your best to avoid super duper inflammatory, dirty alcohols like liqueurs, beer and red wine. Avoiding the most toxic, inflammatory of the boozes and the sugary mixes will keep you healthier and feeling less shitty the next day, too.

Cheers **glass clinks** to best health.

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Laura Franklin, CNP, FMCHC

Laura Franklin, CNP, FMCHC

Functional Medicine Health Coach & Holistic Nutritionist at Health Upgraded
Laura Franklin is the owner of Fresh & Frank Wellness and curator of freshandfrank.com.
She is here to preach what she practices and help you to prepare amazing whole food meals from scratch, grow your own organic food and optimize your lifestyle and environment to promote the most vibrant, glowing and energetic you.
Laura is currently based in Dundas, Ontario, Canada but works remotely with people from all over the world!
Laura Franklin, CNP, FMCHC

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