Friday, August 13, 2010

Drink and Dieting - the Best Drinks for Dieters

When people diet they don't think carefully about what they drink - You need to! drinking and dieting go hand in hand. Eat the right foods and drink the wrong drinks and you will reduce your chances of losing weight. Let's look at the best drinks for dieters.
When people diet they don't think carefully about what they drink - You need to though.

Eating and drinking are closely linked eat the right foods and drink the wrong drinks and you will reduce your chances of losing weight.

What are the best things to drink when on a diet?

Here we will look at the best drinks to aid weight loss and the ones that can slow down, or make your diet ineffective.

Let's look at drink and dieting and start with the best drink of all first.

1. Water

Water pure and simple is the single best drink for losing weight and is the most important catalyst for weight loss in ANY diet. A dieter should drink at least eight glasses of water. Water is quite possibly the single most important catalyst in losing weight and keeping it off.
It acts as a natural appetite suppressant by keeping your stomach full and fending off dehydration which can lead to hunger pangs.

Many times when you feel "hunger signals", they are actually "thirst signals", so before eating, drink a glass of water instead. Most importantly of all, water helps your body metabolizes stored fat by helping the kidneys flush out waste. When you don't drink enough water the liver which works to provide stored fat for energy also takes on the task of helping out the kidneys and thus becomes less effective at metabolizing fat. Drinking eight glasses of ice cold water a day burns about 62 calories because your body has to work to raise that waters temperature to body temperature - That amounts to about 430 calories per week.

2. Alcohol and soda

When dieting, don't drink to much alcohol or sodas that are high in sugar. They contain plenty of calories and also make you feel hungry. So moderation is the order of the day. Not all alcoholic drinks contain the same ingredients and have different affects on a diet. Pure spirits are one of the best type of drinks to consume while on a diet because they contain approx 100 calories and very little in way of carbohydrates.

Examples would be shots of vodka, rum, Bacardi, or gin - With no mixer added. If mixing these drinks when on a diet make sure you use diet tonic and diet cola's etc. Wine is ok in moderation and many people like a glass with their meal a typical glass of red or white is both low in carbohydrates and calories. Don't go for sweet wines though stay with dry as they are not so fattening. Beer is full of calories and really when dieting drink in moderation. Keep in mind that a pint of beer can contain a whopping 300 calories.

3. Coffee & Tea

Coffee is fat-free, but drinking it can be detrimental to diets why? - Because even though coffee in itself is fat-free, it is what can be added that hurts your diet. Low and fat free milk is fine, but avoid cream. Finally, go easy on the sugar, if you have a sweet tooth.
All you have to do is remember that without added sugar or cream, coffee does not contain any calories. Plain tea does not have any calories before you add your sweeteners and milk.

If you are looking for an option that does not contain caffeine, you may want to check out black or green tea. Many herbal teas possess a diuretic effect. When it comes to the drinking of iced tea, you need to check the label to make sure that it contains no sugar.

4. Green Tea

A favorite diet drink is green tea. The benefits of drinking green tea can be seen through the high concentration of antioxidants that can be found. Studies have also shown that the benefits of green tea for dieting are visible when drinking just one cup a day and weight loss is sped up.

5. Fruit Juices

When choosing a fruit juice while dieting, you should always look at the nutritional information found on the label. You need to make sure that the juice is made from real fruit and not the sugar-filled concentrates that are loaded with calories. Providing the juice is natural any fruit or vegetable juice can be incorporated in your diet.

6. Milk

Milk contains calories but if used correctly in a diet can help you lose weight. Make sure that you choose low or fat free varieties that contain far less calories One of the reasons that milk helps some to lose weight because it makes you feel full. It also aids in bone strength, as well as lowers blood pressure and provides a load of other nutrients our bodies need.

When dieting we all have to drink and the choices we make can have a big affect on how much weight we lose as you can from the above. By all means enjoy any drink even alcohol but do so in moderation

By Sacha Tarkovsky