A lot of people dislike the taste of water, and do not turn to it first as a beverage of choice. Since water is *essential* to life, I know that something is wrong when people don’t want to drink it.
In this post, I’ll help you discover
- why your water might not taste pleasant;
- how to improve your water’s taste and health impact
- items to add to your water to make it interesting, fun, and tasty, ALL without adding any artificial or processed ingredients.
First, let’s talk water basics.
Here are common reasons people dislike the taste of water:
- You’re accustomed to drinking flavored beverages (the ideas below will help you!).
- You’re drinking from containers that taint the flavor of water, such as plastic bottles.
- Your drinking water is mixed with chlorine, fluoride, and other unhealthy by-products, such as pesticides, herbicides, medications, heavy metals, and more. If this is the case, I recommend filtering your water ASAP!
- Your drinking water contains hard minerals.
- You have well water, which often has a flavor or odor that you may find is unpleasant.
Remedies to water that doesn’t taste great:
- Filter your water with the best filter you can afford. I’ve used a Berkey water filter for several years, and I heartily recommend it. You can also use this water filter guide from Environmental Working Group.
- Consider using a water softener, if needed to reduce the hard minerals in your water supply.
- Stop drinking from plastic containers, effective immediately.
- Gradually wean yourself from only drinking flavored beverages, especially those that are artificially flavored or addictive (see this post on artificial sweeteners).
Add fruit, vegetables, and herbs to make water taste better.
Fill up a pitcher, toss in a combination of your favorite fresh produce, and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours as the longer it steeps, the more pronounced flavor. Enjoy a glass of water kissed with subtle flavors; healthy, refreshing, and flavorful! It’s that touch of extra that is actually good for you, tastes yummy, and doesn’t inflame your body with sugar or other bad ingredients.
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Create flavored water with any of the following food/herb combos:
- Lime-Mint Rush: Add lime wedges and mint.
- Citrus Kisses: Add Orange, grapefruit, blood oranges, and/or lemon.
- Pineapple-Mint Party: Add pineapple and mint.
- Melon Mouth: Add cantaloupe and/or honeydew melon.
- Kiwi-Basil Twist: Add kiwi and basil.
- Ginger Zinger: Add fresh ginger, mint, and fennel fronds.
- Blackberry Zipper: Add blackberry and lime.
- Strawberry Soak: Add strawberry and basil.
- Peachy Memories: Add peach and rosemary.
- Cucumber Cooler: Combine cucumber and mint.
- Peachy Baby: Combine peach with raspberry and mint
Homemade kombucha is refreshing and nourishing
Instructions:
Add any of the following ingredients to a cup, water bottle or pitcher. Drink immediately or allow it to steep in the refrigerator. The choice is yours! The longer it steeps, the more flavor it gains.
Teas are a delicious addition to every cup of water. Tea is also medicinal, so this is a bonus!
- Try an herbal teas blends: My FAVORITE blends ever are Yogi Teas and Traditional Medicinal teas- they taste delicious and offer a lot of herbs in a convenient bag.
- Sweeten tea with stevia extract or licorice root extract.
- Loose leaf options: Add licorice root to sweeten tea without sugar. Licorice root does not taste at all like black licorice. It is terrific for adrenal fatigue. (Avoid it if you have uncontrolled hypertension or kidney disease.) I combine loose licorice root with my yerba mate tea in a jar with hot water. After a few minutes of steeping, I then filter it out with this simple strainer.
Alcohol substitute – pour your beverage into a wine glass.
- Try kombucha with chia or sliced berries.
- Drink bitters and seltzer. This is also helpful for heartburn.
- Coconut water contains electrolytes, is naturally sweet, and can be an elegant beverage. Just be sure that it doesn’t contain added sugars.
I’d love to hear from you!
What other low-calorie, healthy beverage ideas do you enjoy? Please let me know in the comments below!
Looking for fresh beverage ideas?
I post current tips and delicious suggestions for beverages, food, healing and more on social media. Connect with me (Namaste Nutritionist) at these places:
- Namaste Nutritionist on Instagram
- Namaste Nutritionist on Facebook
- Namaste Nutritionist on Pinterest (this links to the beverage board)
- Frances L Arnold on Twitter
