Are Your Kids Always Thirsty? What’s Good to Drink?

“Mom, I’m thirsty…”

How many times a day do we hear this from our kids? Why are they always so thirsty? And what can we give them that isn’t full of sugar and artificial flavors and colors?

They are thirsty because 85 percent of the body and 90 percent of the brain are made up of water. We all need to be continually replenishing and hydrating ourselves because every day our bodies lose water through sweating, urinating and bowel movements. A child can become tired and unmotivated even with mild dehydration (as little as 2 percent loss of body water).

The best drink choice is always water. Drinking water is vital to many bodily functions including temperature regulation, transporting nutrients and oxygen to the blood and lubricating joints.

To add some natural flavors to water, try adding lemon, lime, cucumber, berries or a splash of 100 percent fruit juice.

Are All Bottled Waters Created Equal?

Some people can taste the difference, others can’t. In fact while the bottles and packaging do look different, so are the sources. Aquafina and Dasani are municipal tap water; Poland Spring comes from natural springs; and Fiji and Evian are imported from natural water supplies. Smartwater is tap water enhanced with electrolytes. The choice is yours: it comes down to taste preference, price and availability.

Sparkling water can add a different dimension to water and can be spruced up a bit to become an alternative to plain water.

Stay Hydrated with Foods

If water just isn’t satisfying, you can keep your kids hydrated with fresh fruits and vegetables, as they contain mostly water. Those that contain the most water are: cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, watermelon, strawberries, spinach, cantaloupe and honeydew.

And, believe it or not… other foods that provide a good amount of water are lowfat yogurt (85 percent), cooked oatmeal (84 percent) and baked potato (75 percent).

Fruit Juice

Walk down the beverage aisle in the supermarket and it is mind boggling to see all of the different brands of fruit juice. Their packaging screams for our attention with their bright colors and promises of vitamins and minerals.

While some fruit juice is okay, keep in mind, not all fruit juices are created equal. It is important to look at the labels and follow these guidelines when shopping for juice:

• Buy “100% pure fruit juice” (preferably organic).
• Don’t buy drinks called: “drink”, “pouch”, “cocktail”, “beverage”,  “ade” and “juice blends”. Those are typically junk beverages, have no nutritional value and contain empty calories that can lead to weight gain, poor nutrition and cavities.
• Buy cloudy juices. A rule of thumb is that usually the cloudier the juice, the more nutritious it is. There should be some pulp or sediment at the bottom of the bottle to show the juice’s origins are still intact.
• Don’t buy juices that contain refined sugar or high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).
• Buy nectar juices such as apricot, peach, pear and prune. While nectar tends to have more calories, more nutrients are preserved during processing such as beta-carotene, protein, vitamin A, Vitamin B-6 and iron.

Why not Soda?

Soda is high in calories and sugar and contributes to childhood obesity and diabetes (HFCS turns to fat faster than sugar). Soda also contains phosphoric acid which causes calcium to be excreted from the bones.

Why not Diet Soda?

A typical diet soda includes: carbonated water, caramel color, aspartame (NutraSweet), phosphoric acid, artificial flavors, potassium benzoate, citric acid, caffeine… nothing good in here.

Please email me for recipes including cucumber water, fall fruit & veggie smoothie, peanut butter/banana “meal in a cup” smoothie, bubbly fruit tea, strawberry/orange “vitamin C” smoothie, old fashioned egg cream, and more.