When it comes to maintaining or losing weight, it is common to focus only on the food portion of your diet. However, it is also important to consider what you drink. When you select the right drinks, you can reduce your calorie intake, improve your metabolism, and curb your appetite. Put your soda or energy drink to the side and read on to find out the best drinks for weight loss:
1. Water
One of the best drinks for weight loss is water, which can do wonders for your body! While you may already drink a glass or two of water per day, it is probably consumed along with soda, fruit juices, and other beverages. However, if you replace all of your carbonated drinks with water, you will cut hundreds of calories per day! After all, soda contains so many empty calories you need to work off. If you are a soft drink fan who has to have a daily soda, you can switch to diet soft drinks to cut some calories. Unfortunately, it has not been proven that this switch leads to weight loss, so it is still better to switch over to water.
2. Vegetable Juice
If you are a juice fan, you will be happy to know vegetable juice is another one of the best drinks for weight loss! Vegetable juice is just as nutritious as fruit juice, but it contains only about half the calories and has much more sodium. As an example, a cup of orange juice contains 122 calories while the same cup of tomato juice has only 41 calories! If you still insist on fruit juice, avoid the juice drinks with added sweeteners and look for products with 100 percent fruit juice. You can check the nutrition label which will identify the percentage of real juice. A great way to reduce calories with fruit juice is to drink water with just a small amount of juice added.
3. Green Tea
If you are used to soft drinks or sweet tea products for a little caffeine boost, try drinking green tea as an alternative. Green tea not only has zero calories when it is steeped without sweetener, but some research has shown that green tea may actually stimulate weight loss! While it is not known exactly how this happens, it is thought that caffeine and micronutrients known as catechins play a role. This benefit may only last a few hours, so it is best to drink green tea twice per day. Many people say green tea can be bitter, but if you steep it properly, it can be delicious! Make sure your hot water is at a temperature of 180 degrees Fahrenheit and only steep for 2 to 3 minutes so you don’t burn the leaves.
4. Black Coffee
Since many adults are coffee drinkers, it is nice to know black coffee is also one of the best drinks for weight loss! When you need your morning shot of caffeine, coffee is a much better choice than energy drinks or soda. Black coffee is the ideal choice because it contains barely any calories, and it is rich in antioxidants. If you don’t like your coffee black, try adding a little bit of skim milk and an artificial sweetener to keep the calorie count low. As a bonus, some studies have shown drinking 3 or 4 cups of coffee a day may not only improve mood and concentration, but reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and some forms of cancer.
Now since you know the best drinks for weight loss, we wish you the best of luck with your diet plans! At Mac’s Pharmacy, we are dedicated to improving your health and well-being. Learn more about how we can assist you with all of your pharmaceutical needs!
