There are a ton of guidelines when it comes to food but what are we supposed to drink?
The Beverage Guidance Panel was assembled to answer this exact question. Here’s what they have to say:
Worst: (Recommendation: ZERO ounces per day)
Soda
Whole Milk
Beer
Fruit juices
Best:
Water
Tea (no creamer or sugar)
Coffee (no creamer or sugar)
How much water is enough?
Did you know that the 8-cups-a-day recommendation was based on one man’s observation of his own sweat and urine output in a day? Yep! In 1921, a man measured his sweat and urine output for a day, which happened to be 8 cups, and our water guideline was born.
Obviously, outdated and not scientifically sound, this guideline has been changed.
The Beverage Guidance Panel recommends 91oz for women and 125oz for men. 80% of this amount should come from beverages including water. So approximately, 73oz for women and 100oz for men.
I always tell my clients to shoot for half of their body weight in ounces of water per day if active. So a 150lb woman would need 75oz of water which is in alignment with the Beverage Panel Guidelines.
So why is Whole Milk listed as one of the worst?
The Panel’s justification includes concerns about links between milk and prostate cancer, as well as aggressive ovarian cancer, perhaps, “related to its well-documented effect on circulating concentrations of insulin-like growth factor 1”. (1)
What is the best kind of tea to drink?
According to research, it looks like green and white teas are the healthiest. They are both less processed than black tea. They are also shown to possess cancer prevention potential. Cold steeping is also healthier than brewing when it comes to tea, but no need to steep any longer than a minute as it was not found to have any additional benefits the longer it steeps (2)
Cold steeping involves putting the tea bag in cold water and letting it sit at room temperature or in the fridge for at least 2 hours. White tea especially was found to experience less oxidation when cold steeped.
Make it easy on yourself and let your tea sit in your fridge overnight and it will be ready to go when you want your cup in the morning.
And what about coffee?
If you read one of my recent posts about Starbucks coffee, then you already know it’s not the healthiest option. When shopping for coffee, look for organic as coffee beans are typically heavily sprayed with pesticides. Also, stick to 2 cups daily max. This seems to be the amount that has been shown to actually extend your life a bit! (3) And remember, skip the sweetener and creamer.
Questions? Just ask!
Want to work with me 1:1 to create the perfect diet for you and/or your family? Contact me today at [email protected].
Sources:
1. Gregor, Dr. Michael. How Not to Die. New York, NY. Flatiron Books. 2015
2. Santana-Rios G, Orner GA, Amantana A, Provost C, Wu SY, Dashwood RH. Potent antimutagenic activity of white tea in comparison with green tea in the Salmonella assay. Mutat Res. 2001;495(1-2):61-74
3. O’ Keene JH, Bhutto SK, Patil HR, DiNicolantonio JJ, Lucan SC, Lavie CJ. Effects of habitual coffee consumption on cardiometabolic disease, cardiovascular health, and all-cause mortality. J Am College Cardiologists. 2013;62(12):1043-51