I get this question All. Of. The. Time... I get it, water is not the most flavourful thing in the world and if you're bored with just drinking water, I have good news for you - there are options!
Just a note: I am not affiliated with any of these companies. These are products that I enjoy and recommend because I think they taste great :).
1. Homemade Iced Tea
My absolute FAVOURITE homemade iced tea has got to be "Passion" tea by Tazo. This boxed tea makes an iced tea that tastes almost like juice and is an extremely refreshing summer drink. I recommend placing two tea bags in a large pitcher, filling the pitcher with water and leaving it in the fridge to steep overnight. Some people recommend brewing the tea with hot water and then allowing it to cool in the fridge... I am a lazy cook and if I can cut out a step, I will đ .
2. Sparkling Water
Okay so this one is sort of water, but it tastes so much more exciting! We bought a Soda Stream a year ago and since then we have been making endless batches of sparkling water. We usually have cut up lemons on hand for a fun twist on plain sparkling water. Dasani, Perrier and Nestle make a flavoured sparkling water that you can get from most grocery stores, which give you some options for a tasty drink that does not require you to purchase an extra kitchen gadget (because let's be real, we all have too many). Note: Many sparkling waters contain sucralose, aspartame and other artificial sweeteners that we want to limit. Always look at the ingredient list to double check. Tip: Drink this sparkling water in a wine glass with a few pieces of fresh fruit (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, etc) - it will feel like a treat!
3. Kombucha
Kombucha is fermented tea that you can either make at home or purchase at your local grocery store (yay!). My favourite store bought kombucha has got to be the grape flavour by Synergy. Interested in learning how this drink can benefit your overall health? Click here.
4. Kevita
Following along with the gut health theme, I MUST recommend the fermented coconut water drink called Kevita. You can purchase Kevita at most health food stores and many commercial grocery stores as well (the Superstore in the Calgary area carries it). I absolutely LOVE the mango coconut flavour and my clients tell me that the lime flavour is a great substitute for a mojito đ .
5. Steaz
Steaz is a stevia-sweetened green tea drink that has wonderful flavour and is quite easy to find (most major grocery stores are now carrying it). Tip: Don't drink them in the evening... I once had two in an evening and was awake all night. You're welcome.
6. Zevia
Zevia is the "step-down drink" for many of my pop and diet pop drinking clients and believe it or not, this stuff has gotten GREAT reviews! I personally enjoy the "Ginger Root Beer" flavour but there are lots of options to choose from (cola, orange, cream soda, etc). The wonderful thing about these sodas is that they contain no sugar and are sweetened with stevia and they have NO caramel colour (the caramel colour in many sodas is extremely unhealthy). Yes, this means the root beer is actually clear! A little strange when you pour it into a glass but it tastes fabulous!
7. ZERO Vitamin Water
I don't recommend this vitamin water as being a great source of nutrition. Instead I recommend it as a tasty alternative to soda and other flavoured beverages because it is sweetened with stevia and erythritol rather than sucralose, aspartame or other nasty artificial sweetener. Wondering why I don't recommend these other artificial sweeteners? Click here.
Moral Of The Story
Are all of these drinks super healthy? No. But do they make a great substitutes for water when the alternative is soda, slushi or juice? Absolutely!
Remember that healthy eating is NOT black and white. Something is not "healthy" or "unhealthy" and what we need to do is be content with choices that are better than choices we've made in the past. For example, if you transition from drinking Sunny D to drinking 100% real orange juice, that's AMAZING! If you switch from drinking soda to drinking juice, AWESOME! It's all about the journey and it's all about balance and enjoyment.
Have you tried any of these drinks? What do you think? Is there something else available that is a healthy alternative as well? Share in the comments below!
Yours in Health,
Kristin
Contrary to popular belief, bloating throughout the day is not normal and we have the power to engage in activities and restructure our eating schedule to help banish the bloat!
First, it is important to understand that our digestive process is not triggered only when we begin eating. Our digestive systems start firing before the point when we put food into our mouths. Can you remember a time when you smelled a delicious meal cooking and your mouth began to water? Saliva production helps prepare our mouths with the enzymes needed to begin the digestive process (digestion actually begins in the mouth, but we will talk more about that later).
We (I use this term loosely â I do not remember this) use to live in a world where convenience foods were not an option and meals took time to prepare and had to be prepared from scratch. Seeing and smelling food cooking gets the body ready to eat and acts as a signal that a meal is coming. Unfortunately, many of the meals we consume can be ready in an instant â from takeout options to microwave dinners. When we consume these types of meals, we donât get the same âwarm upâ before the meal as we do when we prepare our own meals.
I totally understand that it is not always possible for us to prepare our meals from scratch three times per day (plus, I usually recommend that my clients batch prepare meals). What I would suggest if all you need to do is heat up a meal before eating would be either to reheat your meal in the oven rather than the microwave (this takes a little more time and it allows the aroma of the food to flood the house) and/or take a few minutes before beginning the meal to
You Must REST To DIGEST
In order to properly digest your food, you must be in a parasympathetic state (think: rest and digest) rather than a sympathetic state (think: fight or flight). How many times have you scarfed down your lunch at your desk before a meeting? This is a perfect example of eating in a sympathetic or stressed state. Eating while in a sympathetic state makes it much more difficult for the body to begin properly digesting our food, making it much more likely that we end up with digestive issues such as bloating or indigestion.
So how can we avoid this? It may sound obvious but taking time (20 minutes or more) to enjoy your meal away from distractions such as your phone, computer or television is a great start!
Table Time Is Valuable
Tied in with the last point - taking time to eat your meals is important. Next time you eat a meal, I want you to look at the clock prior to beginning your meal and directly following as well. Believe it or not, for optimal digestion (and feeling of satisfaction) it should take you at least 20 minutes from start to finish.
Chew, Chew, Chew Your Food
Chewing our food is the first step in the digestion process. So often we eat far too quickly and only chew each mouthful a few times before swallowing. When we swallow food that is not adequately broken down by chewing, it places more stress on the rest of our digestion system to properly breakdown the food to get it ready for absorption and elimination.
Improperly chewing our food is one of the major causes of bloating and by simply focusing on chewing 20-30 times before swallowing often makes a huge difference in whether or not we experience bloating after a meal.
Limit Chew, Chew, Chewing Gum
Listen, this is coming from a recovering gum chewing addict (anyone close to me can attest to this) â chewing gum is not something I recommend if youâre struggling with any digestive issues. Not only do you swallow a significant amount of air when chewing gum but most conventional gum also contains artificial sweeteners, such as sugar alcohols, which can cause gastrointestinal upset when consumed in excess (10 grams per day usually causes unwanted symptoms).
Avoid Drinking Liquids With Your Meals
For clients reporting bloating and digestive issues I typically recommend avoiding consuming liquid (yes, even water) with meals. Although a lot of this evidence is anecdotal in nature, I find it can be extremely helpful for some of my clients. The idea is that when we consume too much liquid during mealtime we can dilute our gastric juices making it more difficult to properly digest our food. If you typically drink with your meals but struggle with digestive issues, I suggest avoiding water 30 minutes before a meal and 30 minutes after a meal.
Too Many Antacids
Do you have a history of popping TUMS on a semi-regular basis? Do you have uncontrollable and unexplained heartburn? Believe it or not, heartburn is often caused by lack of stomach acid rather than too much stomach acid. Letâs bring back a little high school chemistry â our ideal stomach pH range is 1-3 but when we take antacids we can raise our stomach pH to 4-5. Not only does raising our stomach pH put us at risk for getting ill (the acidity in our stomach kills a lot of bacteria and parasites, which keeps us healthy) but it also hinders our digestive process. The acidity in our stomach plays a major role in the breakdown of protein (called denaturation) and when the pH of our stomach is not within the ideal range our digestion is impaired and we can experience side effects such as bloating.
Acid Regulation
If you suspect that youâre dealing with low stomach acid, the first thing I would suggest is an apple cider vinegar drink. Start with mixing 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar with 8 ounces of water and drinking it three times each day before meals. Make sure youâre consistent with this practice to see maximum results.
If the apple cider vinegar drink helps but not quite enough, a digestive enzyme containing betaine HCl may do the trick. I donât recommend supplementing with this on your own without the advice of your personal health practitioner.
If you try all of the above recommendations and still struggle with bloating, I suggest working with your personal health care provider (integrative physician or dietitian) on a supplement protocol including a good quality probiotic, digestive enzyme containing HCl and ruling out a candida albicans overgrowth.
Hopefully these tips will help you battle the bloat and rid post-meal discomfort and the need for Joey's "Thanksgiving pants".
Do you still have questions about digestion? Submit your questions in the comments below or through the Ask the RD form here.
Yours in Health,
Kristin
Probiotics have been named the future of preventive medicine and disease treatment. Over 100 trillion microbes live in your intestines right now and they are responsible for so many beneficial processes within our bodies, from proper digestion to boosting our immune system.
What Are Probiotics?
Probiotics are non-disease causing bacteria that live in our intestines. They produce vitamins (B6, B12 and K2), short chain fatty acids, aid in digestion and absorption of our food (including minerals magnesium, calcium and iron) and help prevent inflammation and infection (fighting off bad bacteria like Salmonella and E. coli).
The more strains (types) of bacteria you have in your gut, the better.
In our intestines there is a constant battle between the good and bad gut bacteria and the key is for the good bacteria to always outnumber the bad bacteria. When there are more bad bacteria than good bacteria in our intestines we have something called gut dysbiosis. Gut dysbiosis can lead to many issues, which we will discuss later.
Two major known benefits of probiotics are digestive health and immune support but research is emerging in the area of probiotics and obesity. We will cover digestive health separately in the next couple of weeks so for today we will just focus on immunity and obesity.
Immunity
Over 70% of our immune system is housed in our gut. This immune system is called GALT, which stands for gut-associated lymphoid tissue and it works by helping to protect the body from invasion of bad bacteria.
If youâre prone to developing urinary tract infections, eczema or allergies, a good quality probiotic can help. The good gut bacteria form a sort of shield that prevents pathogens from adhering to the intestinal wall, which helps to keep us healthy.
Letâs look at some of the data:
- The Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport found that New Zealand athletes had about 40% fewer colds and gastrointestinal infections when they took a probiotic compared to when they took a placebo.
- In a Swedish study of 262 workers, those who took probiotics for 80 days were 42% less likely to take a sick day for gastrointestinal disease or an upper respiratory infection.
- Probiotic supplements may greatly lower the risk of an antibiotic-resistant superbug, Clostridium difficile. In people taking an antibiotic and also taking a probiotic, their risk of developing C. difficile was reduced by 2/3 â the two probiotics that were found to be helpful were Saccharomyces boulardii and Lactobacillus acidophilus.
Bugs and Obesity
Studies have already demonstrated that the intestinal flora of obese individuals differs from that of thin people. One hypothesis for this relationship is linked to consumption of dietary fibre, suggesting that thin individuals consume more fibre than overweight individuals. Foods containing large amounts of fibre (prebiotics) act as food for good gut bacteria so naturally, if we consume more prebiotics we are going to be able to better support a robust population of good gut bacteria and in turn, starve off the bad. As we discussed last week, a diet high in sugar feeds bad bacteria and starves the good.
Another hypothesis is linked to the relationship between an imbalance of good and bad gut bacteria and inflammation. As we discussed last week, inflammation often causes a halt in weight loss and can even promote weight gain through insulin resistance.
A third hypothesis is that our gut bacteria can influence glucose and fat metabolism, which directly impacts our weight and likelihood of becoming obese (1).
âAccording to Angelo Tremblay, probiotics may act by altering the permeability of the intestinal wall. By keeping certain proinflammatory molecules from entering the bloodstream, they might help prevent the chain reaction that leads to glucose intolerance, type 2 diabetes, and obesity.â (2)
The number of human studies linking probiotic intake to obesity is limited at this time, however it is a promising area of research and the relationship will only continue to get clearer.
What Do I Need To Look For?
Remember â not all probiotics are created equal. Probiotics can contain many different strains and number of colony forming units (CFUs). There is no magic number for amounts of CFUs in a probiotic but some researchers believe you need a minimum of 2 billion CFUs for at least a 2 week period in order to get maximum benefits.
On the label you will want to look for
- Genus (ex. Bifidobacterium)
- Species (ex. longum)
- Strain designation (often a combination of letters or numbers)
If there are just two words (ex. Bifidobacterium longum) with no strain designation afterwards, it could be any one type of hundreds of bacteria. This is often a red flag when choosing a probiotic because it demonstrates that the company is either unaware of which particular strains exist in the supplement or they do not realize the importance of distinguishing the strain.
Youâre going to want to choose a probiotic that is multi-strain. Some of the most popular probiotics in supplements today are:
Lactobacillis acidophilus (this bacteria readily colonizes on the intestinal wall and supports nutrient absorption and assists with digestion)
Bifidobacterium longum (this bacteria helps maintain the integrity of the gut lining â remember, inflammation occurs when foreign particles crosses the gut barrier and enter the bloodstream) *Fun Fact: This is one of the first strains of bacteria to colonize after birth.
Bifidobacterium bifidum (this bacteria is essential for the proper breakdown of carbohydrates, fats and protein)
*Tip: For all you travellers out there â look for a probiotic containing Lactobacillis rhamnosus to help prevent travellers diarrhea.
What Your Physician Hasnât Told You
This is an unfair generalization however when my clients have been on antibiotics, I would estimate that 95% of them had no idea that it would be beneficial to take a probiotic following their course of antibiotics. With the frequency of antibiotic use in the world today, a probiotic protocol following a course of antibiotics has GOT to be put into place.
Recommendation: Consume a serving of fermented foods daily for a good maintenance dose of probiotics. After a course of antibiotics consume a good quality, multi-strain probiotic for at least two weeks after finishing the treatment.
Caution: Probiotics should not be taken by anyone who is immunocompromised. Please consult your physician before taking a probiotic.
Want To Know How You're Doing?
Believe it or not, you can actually send a sample to the American Gut Project for a full analysis of your gut microbes through stool analysis. With the population of your gut bacteria playing such a huge role in our health, why not see what's actually going on in there?
Hope you found today's post informative. Keep checking back - over the next few weeks we will go over everything you need to know about housing a robust population of beneficial bacteria!
Yours in Health,
Kristin