Healthy and hydrated: 5 Easy recipes for fruit infused water !

Staying hydrated during the summer is important, but let’s face it… water is just plain boring. Thankfully, my mom shared these recipes with me, which can add some life (and nutritional value) to my daily H2O. I think you guys will really enjoy trying these out, they’re really tasty and by the end of the day, you won’t believe how much water you actually drank! Here’s to an easy and delicious way to stay hydrated this summer! Cheers!

1) The classic — Lemon and Cucumber:

Mix 10 cups of water in a pitcher with one cucumber and one lemon, thinly sliced and 1/4 cup of fresh finely chopped basil leaf and 1/3 of finely chopped fresh mint leaves. Leave in the refrigerator overnight before serving.

2) The granite — Strawberry and Lime or Raspberry and Lime

Mix 10 cups of water in a pitcher with 6 strawberries 0r 6 Raspberries and one thinly sliced lime and 12 finely chopped fresh mint leaves. Leave in the refrigerator overnight before serving.

3) The digestive — Fennel and Citrus

First, infuse 1 to 3 grams of dried and crushed fennel in 150 ml of boiling water for 5-10 minutes. Allow to cool.
Mix 10 cups of water in a pitcher, add lemon juice (put the leftover lemon in the mix) and a small thinly sliced orange and 12 fresh chopped mint leaves and the infusion of fennel seeds. Leave in refrigerator overnight before serving.

4) The antioxidant — Blackberry and Sage

Mix 10 cups of water in a pitcher with 1 cup of blackberries that have been very slightly crushed and 3-4 sage leaves. Leave in refrigerator overnight before serving.

5) The tropical — Watermelon and Rosemary

Mix 10 cups of water in a pitcher with 1 cup of watermelon cut into cubes and 2 rosemary stems. Leave in refrigerator overnight before serving.

If you use any of these recipes to make your own fruit infused waters this summer, or if you created your own flavors, let us know by sending a picture on Twitter or Instagram ! Enjoy!

Best times to eat ...

Morning

Don’t skip breakfast. Reporting in the American Heart Association journal Circulation, Harvard School of Public Health researchers studied the health outcomes of 26,902 male health professionals ages 45 to 82 over a 16-year period. They discovered that the men who skipped breakfast had a 27% higher risk of heart attack or death from heart disease than those who honored the morning meal. According to the scientists, skipping breakfast may make you hungrier and more likely to eat larger meals, which leads to a surge in blood sugar. Such spikes can pave the way for diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels, all risk factors that can snowball into a heart attack.

Afternoon

Fuel up at the right time. In the 1960s, nutritionist Adelle Davis popularized the mantra “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.” Why? Fueling up makes sense earlier in the day, when your body needs the most calories for energy. That’s why in many European countries, the largest meal of the day occurs in the afternoon. “Ideally, you want to give yourself fuel before you do harder labor".

Evening

Don’t overdo it. Calories get burned up no matter when you eat them, so theoretically it’s O.K. to eat after dark. But if you eat a heavy dinner, you’re not as likely to get rid of those calories before you turn in. “What you don’t burn off is more likely to be stored as fat, as you become less active toward the end of the day,” says Tracy Lockwood, a registered dietitian at F-Factor Nutrition. “Eating too close to bedtime increases your blood sugar and insulin, which causes you to have a hard time falling asleep. Therefore, your last meal should be the lightest of the day and should be eaten at least three hours before you go to sleep.”

Back To School: What to pack in a Lunchbox ?

For Breakfast: Fueling the brain with breakfast is important for thinking, 

acting and learning, so you can add foods that are brain fuel, 

like oatmeal, spinach or eggs.

For Lunch: Studies show that being even mildly iron-deficient affects learning, memory and attention, so you can try using chicken, ham, beans, potatoes or pasta.

For Snack: Nut Thins, Veggies on the go, granola cookies.

To Drink: Try making Natural Fruity Flavored Drinks. Made by Infusing Fruits with Water.

Get your Infuser Water Bottle  ! ♥

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