Five Healthy Infusions to Start Your Day off Right
Is water boring? Unless you’re a scientist who studies it every day, probably. We need it, though, and we’re all capable of making it more interesting to our palates while not taking away any of the health benefits, by infusing our water with natural, delicious fruits, vegetables, herbs and more. On top of making our water more delicious, infusing also gives us the opportunity to introduce a few healthy elements into our lives we might not find another way to take every day–some of these are like a supplement you can actually enjoy taking.
Classic Lemon
Starting your day with some warm lemon water is recommended anyway, but for your daily carry of infused water, lemon is a great way to keep up that energy. Lemon and lemon juice may help curb your cravings, and if you drink warm lemon water, it may help toward healthy digestion. Lemon water also contains vitamin C, which you need in general, and which also helps your skin healthy looking. Lemon peels have antioxidants and flavonoids, also. Lemon flavor can act as a great backdrop to other flavors, as well, so it is easy to integrate with other infusions–anything from cucumbers, to mints, to strawberries–it’s like having a nice, light lemonade with you at all times.
Strawberry Cucumber
Freshness is the primary feature of strawberry cucumber water, even if you can substitute frozen strawberries if need be. Otherwise, slice up some fresh cucumbers and fresh strawberries for a genuinely refreshing drink. Most of us don’t take in enough water anyway, so this is a great motivator. It can also be nice to add a little basil to your strawberry cucumber water for a little kick you wouldn’t expect to work so well.
Watermelon Mint
Watermelon mint is one of those flavors that is a genuine surprise combination. Watermelon is basically delicious natural sugar water, with an almost cucumbery flavor if there’s some rind on it, and mint is so refreshing you can’t escape it. If you don’t have fresh mint around, growing your own mint can be a fun way to experiment with your own infusions–you can try orange mint, chocolate mint–there are almost endless options. In fact, if you have a patch of soil, you can grow many other fruits and herbs that are great for infusions.
Pineapple, Mint and Ginger
Pineapple is a great source of vitamin C and is just loaded with flavor, and mint adds a little refresher on the back end. The surprise star of this mixture is ginger, the wellness effects of which are well known. That spicy kick will make you come back for more, while not overwhelming you if you use just a hint of it in your infusion.
Berries
If you want those anti-oxidants and a nice sweet, fruity flavor without added sugar, berries are the way to go. You can cut these fresh for the best version, but there’s no reason you can’t use frozen berries as well. Many berries mix well with mint, and if you do go frozen, you can get berries out of season.
