More Nutrition Advice - Daily Beverages

There is a huge shortcoming that I've observed over the years in people's beverage consumption. They tend to drink too much of only one or two beverage choices. There are people who are water freaks, tea freaks, soda freaks, juice freaks, power drink freaks or coffee freaks. If you think about the way our ancestors ate, much of their liquid intake was part of the fruit, vegetables, soup/stew and meat that they ate. This whole "8 glasses of water a day" thing is an unhealthy, unnatural modern affectation. The best pattern of daily beverage consumption is the one that is the most natural, varied, and has food or micro element benefit. Here is the list from which I typically drink eight of in one day:

An orange juice
Two large cups of milk
An 8 ounce bottle Coca Cola
A cup of chicken or beef broth
A serving of V8
A glass of pure grape juice
A glass of water
One serving of either tea or coffee
Gatorade Rain

Most of you know I am a huge milk advocate, advising that even adults drink one or two glasses a day. Children should never lose their taste for milk by being given excessive fruit juice or soda. Places that don't serve milk are no problem; I pour it into one of my glass mugs with a lid and take it with me. So try to get more milk into your daily diet. Also, it's not joke that "chicken soup" is healthy, so try to work in a mug of chicken or beef broth instead of one of those tea, coffee, or power drink daily options. Years ago I worked in a place ( a college research setting, no less!) where we all had a cup of broth in the mid afternoon "coffee" break, and sometimes in the morning too. Especially if your family does not have frequent soup or stew, try to get a cup of broth in the daily intake. A soda a day is fine, as is a tea or a coffee. But dousing oneself in one beverage for a large part of the day is ultimately unhealthy. Something unexpected like a V8 is a great substitute, even if one is in the office and feeling the need for that caffeine "pick me up." The salt in the cup of broth or the V8 is often a more healthy stimulant than a caffeine drink. I hated the taste of traditional Gatorade for years, until someone persuaded me to try the "new" flavors like Rain. I have one of those when I think I might lose a lot of fluids due to the heat.

Another idea is to make an effort to have enough of some sort of "juicy" natural fruits in a day to gain some liquid benefit. Canned fruit, while it comes in sweet syrup, is still better than drinking too much soda or so called "fruit juice" (usually with only 10 percent fruit) because you are actually getting the fruit and its juice and all that benefit along with the beverage part of the syrup. And of course a soup or stew is a great idea. It is how our ancestors became healthy. They heated their soups and stews by placing a rock heated in a fire right inside the soup container in the soup. There are all sorts of important micro-nutrients in soups and stews. When I get canned vegetables I save the fluid the vegetables come in and add it to my regular cooking. Whether it is a can of peas or a can of heart of palm I would save the fluid in the fridge and then the next time I cook I would use it. For example, even if I am cooking a piece of meat, like a steak, after browning it on all sides I pour vegetable juice (sometimes with teriyaki sauce) over it and cook it in those healthy vegetable fluids.