Apr
10
Morning Drinks
Filed Under Eating Healthy
No, this post is not about having a beer before 9am. Well, I suppose it is if that’s what you’re doing right now, but the real point of this post is what should you drink in the morning. Most people drink something with their breakfast. In fact, many of my friends and coworkers think of breakfast as just a drink. It could be a coffee or an orange juice, but you’d be surprised at how many people get their breakfast in a cup.
In fact, when I first started out on this whole path to being healthy, my initial plan for breakfast was a cup of milk or a glass of orange juice. Later on, I started looking at what I was consuming and did some calculations. I was interested in seeing how many calories I was consuming and what kind of return I was getting on those calories. Here’s what I came up with.
“Fresh” Fruit Juice - This sounds like a really healthy choice. We’re constantly bombarded with messages about orange and apple juices for vitamins or prune juice for digestion. I’ve even seen email messages going around saying lemon juice will make you burn more calories. The truth is that most fruit juices are not a healthy choice. Don’t get me wrong, they’re healthier than sodas but they’re not nearly as healthy as the TV commercials would make you think.
Most fruits are sugar, water and fiber with vitamins added in. That’s a very simplified view of fruit, but it will work for our discussion. Now take this fruit and squeeze the juice out of it. What do you have left? That’s right, you’re left with sugar and water and only some of the vitamins. To make matters even worse, the fruit juice you’re going to find at most supermarkets is going to have various additives in it. The manufacturers will add anything from preservatives to keep the freshness longer, to sugar for better flavor.
So don’t drink that glass of fruit juice. If you really have a craving for fruit in the morning then eat a piece of fruit. You’ll get less calories, more vitamins and more fiber. You’ll also feel fuller because you’ve actually eaten something as opposed to just drinking down some sugar water.
Not So “Fresh” Fruit Juices - By this I am referring to most powdered fruit juices and things like kool aid. Don’t even think about these as healthy. They’re nothing more than chemicals, water and sugar. In no way is this a healthy choice for breakfast.
Coffee - Ahh coffee, wake up of choice for tens of millions. I’ve never gotten into the coffee habit, but I see at least half of my coworkers arrive in the office with Starbucks cups or head immediately to the break room to fix themselves a cup. Coffee is bad for two reasons.
First, most people don’t even think about the amount of calories in coffee. They add all those wonderful toppings and creams and still think they’re just drinking coffee. However, there was a recent study that compared commercial coffees like Starbucks. They found that the average grande at one of these stores might have as many calories as THREE McDonald’s cheese burgers. That’s right, you just started out your day by downing three cheeseburgers. Even worse, your cheeseburgers had no protein, they were just fat. You’re better off starting your day with a couple of egg mcmuffins than a Starbucks grande latte. And since you already know that McMuffins are not healthy, why are you still drinking that coffee with the extra cream and two scoops of nutmeg?
Second, coffee contains caffeine. Ok, that sounds right, but you’re wondering, “why is that wrong? Caffeine perks me up and isn’t that good for my metabolism?” Well, the answer is no. Let’s get some things straight. Caffeine is a drug. In fact, it’s an addictive drug. There’s a reason you feel like you can’t get up in the morning and why you get a headache if you don’t have your coffee. It’s because you’re addicted to caffeine. Caffeine is also a stimulant. It’ll perk you up, but then it will send you crashing right back down. So instead of your metabolism humming along nicely at a good consistent rate, you keep crashing it up and down every hour.
I’m going to talk about caffeine and how to stop drinking it at a later date. Believe me, it’s not easy. It took me weeks to kick my caffeine habit. For now though, if you insist on drinking the stuff, at least minimize the damage. Drink your coffee black and with no sugar. If you really want to shape up your breakfast, then start kicking the habit altogether. Decaff, black, no sugar. Yes, it’s pretty much just coffee flavored water, but it’s good for you.
Tea - Very similar to coffee. Too much caffeine and most people add way too much sweeteners and other forms of sugar and fat to it. Some of the herbal teas are fine, but then you’re essentially drinking slightly scented/flavored water and I’m not quite sure why. But hey, if that’s your cup of tea… (sorry, I can’t resist a bad pun).
Milk - Milk is a bit like fruit juice. Yes, it has some good stuff in it, but it also has a lot of fat. If you’re not going to take a calcium supplement of some kind, then milk might be good for you, but there are better ways to get calcium. Also, if you are going to drink milk, then go for the low or non fat varieties.
We seem to have eliminated most of the choices and at this point you’re wondering “what’s left?” Ahh, but we still have the most perfect drink of all, water! Yes, that’s right. Water is the healthiest drink for you. No calories, no fat, no sugar and no caffeine. Yes, water does not have vitamins, but you know what? You shouldn’t be drinking your nutrition. You should be getting your vitamins and minerals from the foods you eat. So do yourself a favor, eat a healthy breakfast of the type I mentioned in my previous post and then drink a glass of water. It’s the best morning combination there is.
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