5 Healthy Drinks to Make this Summer
4 May 2016
Every summer, we tend to hear the same advice about how important it is to keep ourselves hydrated as the temperatures soar.
It is, of course, absolutely crucial advice, and no liquid does the job of hydration as well as water. But what if you would prefer a bit more flavour in your summer drinking?
This is where issues tend to arise, with most of us reaching for a supermarket fruit smoothie, only to be shocked by its high sugar content. You have all the more reason, then, to try out these five great healthy summer drink recipes.
Basil lemonade
Everyone loves lemonade, not least due to its high vitamin C content and cleansing effect on the body. This recipe adds a great flavour to sugar-free lemonade, and all that you need is half a cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice, four cups of cold water, one cup of fresh basil leaves and stevia to taste.
After placing basil at the bottom of a jug and slightly crushing the leaves to muddle it, blend the lemon juice and water together and pour it over the basil leaves. The stevia can then be added to taste, before you chill the drink and serve over ice.
Chilled herbal tea
Forget about those sweetened bottled or canned iced teas that you see in the shops - a natural brew of your own making is much preferable. Steep a herbal tea of your choice and chill it. Once it has reached the perfect chilled temperature, any or all of ginger, lemon, mint and honey can be added for a beautifully refreshing taste.
Cucumber water
We're sure you already know all of the great things about water, but what you may not be so aware of, is how rich cucumber is in the all-important vitamins A, C and B6... so what could be better than blending the two?
All that you need to do for this one is combine one medium cucumber - cleaned and cut into half-inch slices - with a litre or so of pure water in a large jug. Leave it to sit for at least an hour before serving cool.
If you're after that true chilling-out-on-a-tropical-beach feel to your choice of summer drink, it's difficult to better this refreshing strawberry-coconut cocktail. This recipe requires two and a half cups of chopped fresh or frozen - not thawed - strawberries, which is about 12 ounces.
Also needed will be three tablespoons of sugar, two tablespoons of lime juice, three cups of ice cubes and a three-quarter cup of coconut-flavoured rum - we would suggest Malibu, although for a non-alcoholic version, you could always swap the rum for half a cup of additional strawberries.
This daiquiri can be made by blending the strawberries, lime juice and sugar together until smooth. Ice cubes and rum can then be added and blended until frothy. Finally, it's time to transfer the mixture to a jug for serving.
Citrus soda
Combine one part orange or tangerine juice, one part grapefruit juice and one part soda water over a handful of ice in a large jug or individual glasses. Then, just mix and serve - a great healthy summer drink recipe could hardly be any simpler than that!
Complement amazingly good-for-you summer beverages like these with one of our bracing and invigorating fitness boot camps here at Prestige Boot Camp, not to mention using our acclaimed diet food delivery service Better Body Box, and you really will have everything that you need to enjoy your healthiest summer yet in 2016.
