We’ve all heard the saying before: “New Year, New Me.” It’s practically a meme at this point, it’s been used so many times. But no matter how tired the saying may sound, there really is no more motivating time of year to make some positive life changes than the New Year. It’s an easy milestone to remember and it comes right after all the grand feasts of the holidays. And while making healthy changes can sound intimidating, I’m happy to assure you that you can still easily enjoy amazing flavors, maybe even better than what you’re used to.
This January, make sure you’re walking into 2023 with the mindset and goals you need to set the tone for a healthy year. To get the year started, one small but mighty change many of us want to make is minimizing our sugar intake. A healthy body is a happy body, and as much as we may love the taste of sugary goodies, they just kind of bring us down.
Maybe the easiest way to accidentally consume way too much sugar is in our drinks. After all, we do need to hydrate throughout the day, and it’s so easy to turn to a sugary Red Bull for an energy boost, a Coke to wash down every meal, and even a tasty Dr. Pepper or lemonade to sip on throughout the day. Next thing you know, you’ve got 100, 200, or even more grams of sugar in your body, yet you’re still hungry!
For your New Year’s resolution this year, start by swapping out your sugary drinks for something that’ll make your body happy. It’s no secret that the best quick change you can make for your health is to increase your water intake. According to the CDC, simply drinking enough water can have a great impact on your body temperature, your joints and muscle tissue, and even the way your body naturally gets rid of waste. But water isn’t the most flavorful drink, which can make it difficult to make these healthy changes, especially when it comes to finding a beverage to complement our meals.
While water is great for bodily hydration, other healthy drinks can help add even more vital nutrients to your diet on top of tasting amazing. A great way to hydrate, satisfy your sweet tooth, and enjoy some bonus nutritional benefits is with natural fruit and vegetable juices. Juicing your own fruits at home is a fantastic option but not always the most feasible. In cases where you’re not able to juice fruits yourself, there are a few important words to look for in your bottled juices: “cold pressed” and “100% juice.”
All juices are not created equal, so if your goal is nutrition, take a pause before grabbing that cranberry juice cocktail and read the label. Often these drinks only contain a percentage of juice, which is accompanied by so many additives, they’re really no better than a soda. Instead, you want juices made from real fruits that can give you real benefits.
Cold pressed juicing is done without extra heat, allowing the ingredients to retain their nutrients and their full flavor so no additives are necessary. One of my favorite bottled drinks that’s absolutely packed with nutrients and has none of the added sugars, colors, and sweeteners is Beetology, a cold pressed juice made with beets and other complementary natural ingredients like cherries, berries, and veggies.
On top of being crazily healthy thanks to the natural beets which can benefit cardiovascular health, inflammation, and more, Beetology juices are also super full flavored and bodied, making them great for meals and just general on-the-go hydration. Plus, the different flavor blends can offer different benefits to suit your lifestyle. For example, cherries can be great for immunity, metabolism, and inflammation.
I’m also a big fan of watermelon for some healthy and flavorful hydration, since it carries such a high natural water content. But since there’s such a relatively small window in which watermelons are in season, it’s not always possible to make your own juice. That’s why I also love the cold pressed juice brand Wonder Melon juice, which gives me my favorite summery flavor even in January.
Some of the best and healthiest juices have some unexpected flavors too, that people new to juicing may find surprising. For example, I love a juice with ginger or cayenne in it, believe it or not, and a little lemon is always welcome. Ginger is a long-time go-to for settling my stomach and is also great for inflammation and even mood improvement, while cayenne is traditionally great for blood pressure, metabolism, and more. On top of their benefits, both spices add just the right amount of kick to your traditional juice flavors. You can never go wrong with a nice blend of beet, lemon, and ginger, or a mix of watermelon, lemon, and cayenne.
While it’s so easy to continually turn to our favorite sugary drinks, you may find yourself surprised at how easy it can also be to swap those out for delicious and nutritious juices. If your 2023 goals call for lifestyle changes for your health, don’t discount what a difference a simple change to natural, fresh juices can make.
