It’s not rocket science that good nutritional habits contribute to a healthy life. However, most of you probably associate food with nutrition. You think about the different things you eat – and that’s great. This is definitely something you should be more conscious of. The only problem is that we often neglect what we drink. Drinks form part of your nutrition as well, and they can often be what holds you back. You can eat well, but if you drink two massive bottles of Coca Cola every day, then you’re hardly going to be healthy.

Therefore, it’s normal to seek out some healthy drinks that we believe are good for us. Many times, these drinks are actually really healthy. But, there are some ‘healthy’ drinks that are actually much worse for us than we realize…

Image Credit

Smoothies & fruit juices

Believe it or not, but smoothies and fruit juices aren’t as healthy as you think. What could possibly be bad about two drinks made from fruits?! Well, it’s all to do with the sugar content. You see, when you eat a piece of fruit, it has sugar in it. This is naturally occurring, but it’s not bad for us because we eat it along with the fiber in the fruit. When you blitz fruit up for smoothies or juices, it breaks apart the sugar and fiber. This makes it harder for the body to digest and use the sugar, so it gets stored in the body and can cause insulin spikes and other problems. In simple terms, these drinks aren’t that healthy because they contain far too much sugar. Limit your intake to 150ml a day, rather than a whole 330ml bottle!

Sports drinks

How can a sports drink not be healthy?! They contain electrolytes and other things to help replenish our energy stores and prevent fatigue. However, much like smoothies, these drinks contain an absurd amount of sugar. This instantly makes them less healthy than you think. To add to this, many isotonic sports drinks can also include caffeine or other potentially harmful ingredients. In truth, you can get electrolytes from natural sources – like fruit – rendering these drinks somewhat useless.

Water

Okay, okay, listen to what I have to say before you go crazy. Water is the healthiest drink out there, but there are instances where it isn’t as healthy as it can be. Mainly, it’s when you drink it from your tap in the kitchen. This water can often contain chlorine, mercury, carbon, lead, and even asbestos. If you keep drinking this water regularly, you might get sick or develop skin conditions. Thankfully, you can remedy the situation with a water filter. There are plenty out there, and there’s always a big debate over PUR vs Brita for which one’s are the best. Either way, a filter gets rid of all this stuff and makes your water healthier. So, the drink itself isn’t unhealthy, it’s just the type of water you might be drinking.

Hopefully, this has opened your eyes just a little bit. Stop drinking things that do more harm than good! Be more conscious of what you drink as it can help you be healthy.