There are many compelling scientific reasons why breakfast is considered the most important meal of the day. Breakfast sets the pace for your metabolism. It packs your body with the necessary energy for the day’s work, curbs cravings, helps prevent overeating and supports healthy blood sugar levels. These are just a few reasons behind this popular belief. But did you know what you drink before your meal can be just as important? You should be thinking of your breakfast food and your morning healthy drink too!
Warm Water on an Empty Stomach
Warm water on an empty stomach is still the most natural and effortless yet beneficial drink in the morning. Western and traditional medicine practitioners agree that drinking this first thing when you wake up is good for the body. In fact, the Japanese medical society encourages this practice as they believe it can help alleviate headaches, body aches, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, gastrointestinal symptoms, kidney diseases, metabolic disorders, and conditions related to the eyes, ears, nose, and throat.
5 Easy and Healthy Drinks for Mornings
Aside from warm water in the morning, here are five other easy and healthy drinks you can take daily. These are quick and easy to make, perfect for those itching to start their day.
- Warm water and lemon
- ACV water
- Water with Himalayan salt (Sole water)
- Turmeric Juice
- Jeera water
Benefits of Lemon Water
Aside from its flavor and aroma, there are more reasons to love lemon water before breakfast. Warm lemon water on an empty stomach stimulates digestion and stimulates the liver and bile, helping with liver detoxification.
Citrus flavonoids, in general, have a large spectrum of biological activity, including antibacterial, antifungal, antidiabetic, anticancer, and antiviral activities. As a good source of vitamin C, lemon extract in warm water may help boost the body’s immune system. This is why it is a popular drink among those recovering from sickness, especially colds, and coughs. Lemon water also has a soothing effect on the throat and chest, providing a reprieve for those suffering from respiratory diseases.
For digestion, lemon helps a lot too! Have you noticed how its sour smell and taste make you drool? It helps in primary digestion even before you swallow it. When ingested, the flavonoids in lemon water help break down macro molecules of the food and increase the secretion of digestive juices, bile, and acids. It even stimulates the peristaltic motion of our digestive system. This also makes it an effective and healthy morning drink for those suffering from constipation. For better digestion, a stronger immune system, and natural detoxification, what better way to start your day than having a cup of warm water with a little lemon!
ACV Water
Please take note, it should be water with apple cider vinegar (ACV) and not the other way around. And more importantly, don’t drink it straight like an ACV shot! Taking it purely in big amounts can hurt your throat, teeth, and stomach, causing more harm than good. The usual ratio for this morning drink is 1-2 tablespoons of ACV for every 8 ounces of water.
Vinegar belongs to our gallbladder food list, which means that it’s helpful in all gallbladder conditions. And among all types of vinegar, ACV provides the most health benefits. ACV is unfiltered and more natural thus its yellow or brownish color. It is made from fresh, crushed apples and fermented in wooden barrels. It is pungent and its ripe aroma may hurt your eyes too, but if taken in perfect amounts, it can do wonders for your health. In fact, early Greek doctors like Hippocrates used it to help treat various ailments. No wonder why it’s part of our healthy morning drink list.
Taking warm water with apple cider vinegar first thing in the morning is said to:
- improve sugar levels (with its anti-glycemic effect) and helps curb cravings throughout the day
- boost digestion and metabolism
- help maintain healthy cholesterol levels and reduce the harmful effects of a high-cholesterol diet
- support weight loss
- help kill germs, viruses, mold, and bacteria – both when used as part of the diet or as a cleaning agent
- support the body’s natural detoxification process.
Warm water with Himalayan Salt (Sole Water)
Salt is widely used in allopathic medicine. From sore throats, colds, mosquito bites, toothaches, and even simple poisoning, you can find a lot of medicinal uses for salt. On top of these, we suggest you try taking this as your regular healthy drink with your first drink of warm water. Please take note; it should not be ordinary refined white table salt. It must be a mineral salt like Himalayan Crystal Salt or Celtic Sea Salt. Himalayan salt has health benefits that common table salt does not possess because of its trace minerals. It’s those minerals that benefit the body and serve as the source of the salt’s unique color and flavor.
And speaking of salt, if you haven’t tried bile salts, you may want to start today.
Sole Water Recipe
The Himalayan salt water “recipe” is referred to as sole water (pronounced as ‘so-lay’). It literally means fluid sunlight, giving us a clue of all its health benefits.
To make it, fill your jar or pitcher with Himalayan Salt Crystals ¼ of the way. Then, add water, leaving only about an inch to the brim. Put on the container lid and shake the jar gently. Leave it overnight for the salt to dissolve. After 24 hours, the solution is estimated to be saturated at 26% and ready for consumption. One teaspoon of that solution with a glass of warm water is enough to start your day.
Sole water may:
- help normalize blood pressure by neutralizing the alkaline and acid balance in the body
- support detoxification by dissolving and eliminating impurities or toxins in the body. (This is why some say sole water contributes to good skin.)
- help to break down the heavy metals accumulated in the body.
- encourage digestion and metabolism
- increase electrolytes in the body, which in turn stimulates circulation and the nervous system
Turmeric water
I love turmeric! And in our previous blog about the wonders of this spice, we discussed its components at length and how these support our bodies.
Mixing half a teaspoon of dried turmeric in warm water, and taking it every morning as your first healthy drink, may help you achieve the following:
- improved digestion and metabolism
- healthier blood sugar levels
- weight loss and better weight management
- healthier inflammatory response
- better looking skin and complexion
A pinch of finely ground black pepper may also be added to the turmeric water for maximum benefits.
To learn more about the powers of turmeric, read our full blog here.
Jeera Water
Aside from turmeric, another spice that could be used to make a healthy drink as you start your day is cumin. Cumin is a very popular ingredient in cooking, and it is found in a lot of spice blends. It is used to flavor soups, meats, cheese, bread, and pickles. Cumin is also fragrant for beauty products such as perfumes, lotions, and creams. Cumin has anti-inflammatory, diuretic, carminative, and antispasmodic properties as a medicinal herb.
Cumin in water, also called jeera water, has a lot of health benefits.
- Jeera water is good for detoxification. Cumin seeds contain flavonoids like apigenin and luteolin. Its main constituent, cumin aldehyde, also helps in scavenging reactive oxygen species.
- It is a good source of fiber as it contains as much as 45% crude fiber.
- Cumin in jeera water is an excellent source of minerals like potassium, manganese, and iron.
- Because of its antimicrobial activity, cumin water is an anti-congestant drink in Ayurvedic medicine.
- Jeera water is believed to be an agent that stimulates movement within the body, helping those with slow-moving bile, high water retention, slow digestion, and low milk production (among breastfeeding mothers)
- a good way to improve stomach acid levels; the natural way
- beneficial for those with digestive symptoms like dyspepsia, jaundice, indigestion, flatulence, and diarrhea.
How to make Jeera Water:
- Put two glasses of water and 1 tsp of cumin seeds/jeera in a pot
- Once the water boils, let it simmer for five more minutes
- Strain the boiled water and discard the seeds
- Add a little bit of honey or lemon to taste
- Best to consume while warm
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References:
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