John Myers
Supermarket flavored water can be high in sugar. But with fresh fruit and herbs, so-called infused water is easy to prepare yourself. Tips and healthy recipes.
The human body needs at least two liters of liquid per day, and even three liters when it is hot. On average, we take in about a liter of food, and we have to drink the rest. But that’s not easy for many people because they don’t like pure water. For them, the beverage industry has developed the so-called infused water – water with a taste. It is available in many different flavors, for example, strawberry or apple.
Infused Water: Flavor from the chemistry lab instead of fruit
Even if the plump fruit on the label gives the impression that the bottle of infused water contains a few squirts of fruit juice, the contents are mainly pure water. Because the taste in the flavored water usually does not come from fruits that are ready to be harvested, but from the chemical laboratory. This means that apple-flavored water contains a carrier that tastes similar to an apple. Even with an advertised fruit content of 3.8 percent, the juice content is negligible.
Calorie bomb: often a lot of sugar in flavored water
What is actually problematic is the sugar in the form of fructose, glucose, and industrial sugar. There are up to two sugar cubes in 100 milliliters of flavored water, just one cube less than in cola. This often makes flavored water a real calorie bomb. Those who cover their fluid requirements with it consume about 20 percent of their total energy requirements in the form of sugar.
Make your own flavored water without sugar
Flavored water is easy to make yourself from tap water or mineral water with fruit or herbs – a healthy, low-calorie thirst quencher with no added sugar. Even if only a small part of the vitamins, minerals, and essential oils from the fruit get into the water, the self-flavored water makes an important contribution to health: this makes it easier for many people to reach the recommended drinking quantity.
Tips for the preparation and healthy recipes
You can fill up the jugs twice – so the homemade water with taste is usually cheaper than industrially produced infused water, despite the best ingredients. For all ingredients that are used with skins, you should use organic products: conventionally grown vegetables and fruit are often sprayed with pesticides, which can still stick to the skin even after washing. Citrus fruits should not be waxed. Healthy recipe ideas without added sugar:
- Ginger-lemon water: Thinly slice the ginger and pour hot, not boiling, water over it. In this way, the pungent substances of the tuber emerge more quickly and the valuable essential oils are preserved. Then add slices of organic lemons, fill up the jug with water and let everything steep – the longer, the more intense the taste. Ginger has an antibacterial, anti-inflammatory effect and can have a very positive effect on muscle and joint pain. Together with the lemon, it gets the digestion going.
- Cucumber-mint water: An infusion with fresh mint and cucumber slices is an ideal summer drink for slimming. The mint gets the fat burning going, the bitter substances in the cucumber have a diuretic effect.
- Melon-rosemary water: Water with melon and rosemary is particularly tasty and boosts the mood because rosemary is said to get the gray matter going and melon puts you in the holiday mood right away. Above all, the combination of melon and rosemary tastes very intense.
- Raspberry and herb water: Bottles of water for a day at the beach can be perfectly flavored with ice cubes made from frozen fruit tea, fresh herbs, and frozen raspberries.
