Indian Foods: Drink to good looks and health

Drink to good looks and health

Nothing kickstarts the day better for the fitness conscious like a large cup of green tea or a glass full of wheat germ juice with beetroot extract. You’ll find people downing all kinds of slimy-looking, tasteless concoctions to burn the flab and look gorgeous. Unfortunately, while some drinks like wheat germ juice with beetroot extract might be very good for you, others like hot water with lime and honey after a while are of no help at all.
Don’t torture yourself by downing stuff you don’t like just because someone told you it’s good for health.
To ensure that you truly begin the day with a healthy drink here’s the low down on the pros and cons of all the fat busting juices and teas in the market.

Hot water with lime and honey:

The most commonly recommended prescription to stay slim and beat those extra calories is the lemon-honey mix in a glass of warm water. But this concoction only works for a short while. Some extent yes. Initially when one drinks lemon and honey in a glass of warm water early in the morning, the concoction acts on the body system, activates your metabolism rate and helps you knock off the extra kilos. Since honey has several medicinal properties and lemon supplies vitamin C, your skin will look great. But after a while the body gets used to this and it no longer allows it to win the battle of the bulge. So have this drink only for a short period of time.

Green Tea:

The secret of green tea lies in the fact that it is rich in catechin polyphenols and EGCG, both powerful anti-oxidants. Besides inhibiting the growth of cancer cells, it kills cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. It has also been effective in lowering LDL cholesterol levels, and inhibiting the abnormal formation of blood clots.

Carrot juice:

This drink can really help in improving your over all health. It has great anti-inflammatory, anti-cancerous and anti-ageing properties. Carotene is a known anti-oxidant, which can prevent degenerative processes in the cells and has great anti-ageing effects too. That’s not all — the compounds in carrot juice also have antiseptic and anti-bacterial properties.
Drinking raw carrot juice can be helpful for lowering stress and normalising the function of your digestive system.

Wheat germ juice:

Wheat germ is the young grass of the wheat plant and is harvested early when its nutrients and mineral contents are at their peak. Wheat grass is reported to contain a much higher level of vitamin E, selenium, phosphorus, manganese and chlorophyll. The most outstanding feature of wheat grass is its very high content of chlorophyll at about 70 per cent. This alone makes it a superfood that has a highly energising and alkalising effect. Wheat grass is an excellent source of vitamin C, E, K and B complex (including B12). In the minerals department, it is rich in calcium, cobalt, germanium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, protein, sodium, sulphur, and zinc.
The high grade content of iron in wheat grass juice makes it a great blood builder, increasing red blood cells count. Its alkaline minerals are essential for cleaning out the tissues and maintaining the alkalinity of the blood, making it effective in combating acidosis.