Health Alarm #3 - Quenching Your Thirst

Making improvements to your current lifestyle involves a multipronged approach: For instance, selecting the right fats and carbs over trans fats and highly processed carbs; choosing beverages without added sugar and other unhealthy fillers; and getting enough physical activities.

Ahh..,even the water you drink to quench your thirst plays a bog role in affecting your health. Here are some tips:

• Water
• 1 percent low-fat or fat-free milk or buttermilk
• Low-fat (4 grams of fat or less) plain soy milk or sucralose-containing flavored soy milk
• Coffee and tea (limit caffeine-containing beverages to 1-2 servings per day)
• Decaffeinated coffee and tea
• Herbal tea without added sugars (Avoid any teas that promise to help you lose weight or boast any other unrealistic health claim.)
• Sugar-free flavored waters (check labels carefully, as flavored waters often contain hidden sugars), soda, iced teas, powdered drinks, etc.
• Club soda or seltzer
• Tomato or vegetable juice cocktail (eyuk!)

You should avoid the following:

• Fruit juices
• Sodas with added sugar
• Whole or 2 percent reduced-fat milk
• Alcohol (On the occasions that you do drink, you may have up to two glasses of wine. If you prefer another alcoholic beverage, you can choose from vodka, gin, whiskey, scotch, bourbon, tequila, or rum instead.)
• Flavored waters with added sugar