By Katherine Coggeshall
Drinking more water is a great way to boost metabolism and facilitate weight loss. However, many people find it difficult to consume enough water throughout the day. One of the easiest ways to increase water consumption is by making it more flavorful without adding sugar or calories.
Healthy flavored water recipes start with clean, filtered water. Filtration helps remove heavy metals and chemicals that may have snuck into your tap water and can interfere with your body’s weight loss functions. With your clean water, you can add a variety of healthy flavors from herbs, spices, edible flowers, fruits and vegetables.
Organic flavoring agents are best, as this will help you avoid pesticides and other harmful chemicals, but are not necessary. To give you some ideas from which to start, here are 15 flavored water recipes for weight loss.
Combine your chosen flavor ingredients with your filtered water and leave for 8-24 hours before drinking. This gives the flavors time to meld together and infuse into the water.
You can make large batches in the evening and leave overnight to enjoy the next day. To get the best metabolism boosting benefits, and therefore weight loss benefits, start your day with a glass of water each morning. This should be consumed before breakfast, right after you wake up. This wakes up your metabolism and helps you feel fuller before eating. In fact, consuming water consistently before meals throughout the day will help you eat less overall.
It is best to make water drinking a habit rather than waiting until you actually feel thirsty. This is because the body doesn’t alert you to thirst until you have lost about 5% of your total body water. That means by waiting until you are thirsty to start drinking, you have already put your metabolism at a disadvantage. A better idea is to consistently drink water from the moment you wake up until the moment you finish your last meal. Avoiding water right before bed is very reasonable, as too much water late at night can keep you up.
Drinking flavored water is a simple way to boost your metabolism daily and bolster your weight loss goals.
- Citrus: lemon slices, orange slices and fresh basil leaves.
- Fall spice: apple slices, a whole cinnamon stick, and a dash of nutmeg.
- Spring fling: a few springs of fresh lavender with fresh chamomile flowers.
- Warm and cozy: a vanilla bean pod with a cardamom pod.
- Berry: frozen blueberries and strawberries.
- Summer mix: fresh cherries, pear slices, and cucumber.
- Like a mojito: fresh basil and
lime slices. - Spa water: fresh sage with
cucumber slices. - Garden: fresh rose petals with a vanilla bean pod.
- Spice: a fresh fennel bulb with a few fresh cloves.
- Island: pineapple with orange slices.
- Classic: kiwi slices with strawberries.
- Cool: watermelon with
cucumber slices. - Veggie: fresh carrot with celery and ginger.
- Herb: fresh sage, rosemary, basil, and thyme.
