When it comes to water and soft drinks, there’s plenty of information on all that’s bad for us. This post focuses on the good options. You’ll learn about my conclusions about what’s healthy after years of looking into the causes of my skin allergies and adult acne.
You know that “soda” is bad for you, but then, what’s good? There are so many options. Is sugar better than high-fructose corn syrup (HFC)?
Water
Is filtered water good to drink? As it turns out 99.99% of all filters on the market are just not good enough. There are very few filters that purify the water substantially to clear out all substances that are a threat to good health. One of those is a Reverse Osmosis (RO) filter — I found this post very informative on what the filtering system clears and what types of RO filters are on the market. The down side is that it requires a good amount of space in your home and possibly custom installation. My roommate years ago tasked her boyfriend to install it and worked well.
The easiest and least expensive option is to get a distiller. My H2O distiller produces a gallon of water every few hours — I’ve had it for years and given it as a gift to family members. This is the unit I have, though there are other options on the market. It is incredible to see the value of this machine multiplying. In four hours, it turns tap water into a gallon of distilled and charcoal-filtered water that is as clean as it can be.
If you are planning to buy a filtering system that is neither RO or distiller + filter, spare yourself the expense. There is a very good chance you are not getting the best.
Plastics
Drinking from plastic bottles is something I avoid. Unless I’m about to collapse from dehydration, I say NO to drinking from plastics — I mean ANY plastics. You’re probably thinking that there are those safe plastic alternatives where some 3-letter name of a nasty ingredient (such as BPA) was removed and all that was left was the good stuff. But what was BPA replaced with, did you ask? The conclusion I came to, and you do your own research — I mean read actual studies and not blogposts — is that there is no plastic that is safe enoughfor me and my loved ones.
Live Science posted an article on why BPA-Free plastic is not as safe we want to believe. Read article here and make sure to read their reference materials, one of which I linked here, which are even more important than the article for getting important information.
When it comes to blenders and juicers, there is really not much I can suggest as an alternative to plastic. It’s better to juice than not juice. Personally, after many years of juicing, I invested in an Angel Juicer which is made of steel. I’m yet to find a blender that doesn’t use plastics — would love any recommendation.
Soft Drinks
You might have heard about preservatives, additives, sweeteners and sugar. You might have heard that some of those may not make it on the label because they are in a small amount per serving. Without going in dept about why those are not our path to health…I will say, if it doesn’t exist in nature naturally, it’s not healthy.
Orange Juice and Other Drinks
Home-squeezed oranges taste nothing like store-bought orange juice. In order for something to be put in a box, travel and last for weeks and months, you may guess that certain processes were involved in preserving the food. That constitutes “processed food,” so you can safely conclude it’s not the best choice. The same goes for all juices and other beverages.
Conclusion
If it comes in a package and it’s not water, I’d want to know more about what’s in it and how it was made. If it comes in a plastic bottle, I’d avoid it unless I’m about to faint. On a hot summer day at a party where the host only offers plastic bottles of water, it would be an obvious choice — hydrating is better than not hydrating.
Ranking Choices at a Party or Event
- Top choice: mineral/spring water in glass bottle
- Filtered water in glass bottle
- Anything else in glass bottle after reading the ingredients carefully
- Water in plastic bottle when feeling unwell due to dehydration
- If no good options are present, go out and buy something healthy then come back to the event.
Author: Milla, Organic World Club