The benefits of fruit infused water?
For several years now, fruit infused water has been a "thing".
Trendy beard wearing people and fashionable gym goers have been benefiting from fuit infusions, both at rest and at play.
So what is it?
Making your own infusion really could not be simpler. Take your preferred fruit, vegetable, herb or spice, slice or crush it and put it into a bottle of water. Shake. Leave for 2-4 hours (the longer you leave it, the more pronounced the flavours). That's it! It is possible to buy specially designed fruit infuser bottles. You may want to use one as it reduces the amount of organic pulp in the water (it uses a tea strainer type filter to keep the fruit and water apart).
So why bother?
The real benefit of drinking fruit infusions comes from the fact that you are drinking water! Anything which makes you drink more water is going to be a good thing. Obviously, there is a limit to how much water you should drink in a day, but on average, this works out to about 8 pints per day. Physical exertion, extreme ambient temperatures and humidity can also affect water intake. It has been argued that the addition of fruit and other natural ingredients to water, gives flavour to water, making it more interesting and palatable, again, encouraging more drinking.
Additional Benefits!
Small quantities of nutrients, vitamins, minerals and sugars will leach into the water and therefore be available to the body. This can undoubtedly have health benefits, albeit in a very negligable way, given the quantities involved. So we guess, squeezing some citrus fruits into your water can help alleviate the onset of scurvy or other minor nutritional deficiencies. Even in these small quantities, drinking infused water can hydrate you more efficiently due to the presence of these micro nutrients. These micro nutrients are very similar (if not the same) to what is contained within man made, isotonic drinks (electolytes).
Other beefits may include:
+ Weight loss (by increasing one's metabolic rate and burning more fat)
+ Staying hydrated helps lower stress levels
+ Water helps flush toxins out of the system
+ Some people find these infusions help limit food craving
+ An overall improvemnent in mood
+ Women may experience an easing of PMS symptoms and cramps.
+ Reducing overall sugar intake.
Drinking anything other than sugar laced, off of the shelf, soft drinks is not going to be a bad thing. Particularly if you are reducing sugar intake by using fruit infusions as an alternative to soft drinks, you will almost definitely see some weight loss and less water retention.
Recipes
Here are some of the most popular infusion recipes:
+Cucumber and Mint
+ Lemon and Mint
+ Orange and Cinammon
+ Watermelon and Basil
+ Cherry and Lime
+ Strawberry and Lemon
+ Mango and Pineapple
+ Grape and Orange
+ Pineapple and Basil
+ Apple and Mint
+ Blueberry and Citrus
+ Lemon, Mint and Lime
+ Corriander and Cucumber
+ Cherry and Lime
+ Cherry and Mint
+ Lemon and Ginger
+ Grapefruit and Rosemary
Try experimenting with your own combinations to find one that works for you. Ultimately, drinking these infusions needs to be combined with a healthy life style to really reap the benefits but as they say, every little does help.
The Bushgear Team
Image:By Mira.peltomaki - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56711240
