Mind Your Liquids to Minimize Your Gut

If you have ever wondered if there was a simple way to be more healthy, I have good news for you! One of the easiest and most effective strategies for improving your health is to just change the liquids you put into your body. For some, this alone can create dramatic changes in body composition and overall well-being. So put down the diet coke, pick up your water bottle, and let’s run through how to best tackle liquids.

Water:

Water plays a pivotal role in optimizing health. If you do nothing else, simply drink more water to improve your health. To determine your optimal water consumption, follow this formula: body weight (lbs)/2 = oz. of water. So, if you weigh 150 lbs., your goal will be 75 oz. PER DAY. This means that most (if not all) of your liquid should be coming from water. Now it should be noted that this is a generality and people do vary in the amounts they need. Depending on what food you are eating and the amount of diuretics you drink, you may not need as much. That being said, having too much water is rarely a concern. If nothing else, just replacing your current beverages with water would be a great start. You can work to build a water routine so that you ensure success. This could include a glass or two every 3-4 hours. If you build it into your day, you are much more likely to meet your daily needs. 

If you want to be as fit as possible, water is just about all you should be drinking. Unsweetened tea (green tea being best) can also be a great addition, especially if you are trying to get off coffee. Other than these drinking, you are better off dropping the sports drinks (did you really sweat out all of the sodium in your body?), energy drinks, juices, and Crystal Light. 

Drink plain old water with a squeeze of lemon and you will be good to go.

Coffee:

Depending on how you respond to caffeine, coffee may be your best friend or your worst enemy. For those of you who find that coffee really makes you feel better (and have actually made the effort to NOT drink coffee at some point for comparison purposes), here are a few guidelines for how to use it most effectively.

1) If you have not tried it before, I highly recommend taking 2-4 weeks off coffee to see how you respond. If you actually feel better, maybe coffee is not the drink for you. 

2) If after 4 weeks, you are still not feeling great and coffee really makes you feel great, then get back into the habit. The good thing is that at this point, your tolerance should be lower so keep your intake to 1-2 cups in the morning. Afternoon/night coffee rarely results is anything positive.

3) If you need to add something, go with whole whipping cream. This will actually increase the absorption of the caffeine, so you may find that you do not need to drink as much.

4) Avoid sugar, artificial sweeteners, and creamers. This is where many people get into trouble, so take this seriously.

Alcohol:

While alcohol is not the healthiest beverage, you will probably continue to have your wine/beer/tequila regardless of its consequences. So, instead of telling you to avoid all alcohol, here are some tips for limiting the damage.

1) The less, the better (If you usually have 2 glasses of wine each night, try having 1. Or keep the 2 glasses, but only drink 2-3 nights a week).

2) Drink before dinner instead of afterwards. The more time you have between your last drink and the time you go to sleep, the better. Plus, you will feel it more, so you will not need as much!

3) For liquor, add lime/lemon & club soda. This will help you to avoid added sugar while also utilizing the acidity in the lime/lemon to blunt the usual insulin response. The club soda will increase the absorption of the alcohol, again meaning that you will not need as much. 

There are not many good reasons to consume other types of liquids than the ones mentioned, and if you decided that caffeine and alcohol are not for you, your body would very much appreciate your thoughtfulness. I also want to reiterate that “diet” drinks are not a healthy alternative, and should be limited as much as their full-sugar siblings.

Bottom line: stick to the water and start seeing and feeling the benefits today!