10 DRINKS WITH BENEFITS

While we’re never breaking up with water, sometimes we crave beverages with a little more pizzazz than plain ol’ H20. Luckily, a slew of drinks provides just what we’re looking for thanks to numerous health and social benefits. Here are our 10 favorite ways to drink our way to a happy, healthy life.

Cold-Pressed Juices

Liquefying vegetables means one juice is akin to gulping an entire garden at once. Even better, omitting heat and substituting high pressure to extract juice keeps nutrients intact and fully absorbable to maximize the number of vitamins and minerals hitting your bloodstream.

We like: Project Juice is a nationwide chain that delivers directly to your doorstep.

Chia Drinks

One ounce of chia seeds contains 11 grams of fiber, four grams of protein, and 12 percent of the daily recommended dosage of iron, all for only 138 nutritious calories. Not bad for a seed that can change almond milk into a thick pudding overnight.

We like: Mamma Chia’s Cherry Lime, Blackberry Hibiscus, and Pineapple Coconut make drinking our chia a tangy treat.

Water, But Better

In addition to the hydrating properties of water, nutrients such as manganese, potassium, and electrolytes comprise the liquid of coconut, maple, and watermelon. Coconut water is the liquid that sits inside the fruit’s supple white flesh, while maple water is made from immature, unconcentrated tree sap. And super-trendy watermelon water incorporates every part of the fruit—including pressed rinds—while providing vitamins A and C, lycopene, antioxidants, and amino acids.

We like: With the rind included in the pressing process, WTRMLN WTR tastes like drinking an actual watermelon.

Kombucha

Thanks to a wealth of health benefits—which include battling harmful yeast, balancing the gastrointestinal tract, and aiding in digestion—kombucha has jumped into the drink spotlight and is available in fun flavors such as gingerberry, green apple, and mango.

We like Kombucha Dog prints its labels with pictures of homeless dogs to help raise adoption awareness.

Organic Energy Drinks

Red Bull may give you wings, but organic energy drinks pack the same energy punch with a cleaner ingredients list. This new breed of beverages still relies on caffeine and sugar for getting you going, but they also include such healthy additions as green tea, pomegranate, and guarana as more recognizable sources of fuel.

We like: Dark Dog Organic, Scheckter’s Organic Energy, and Sambazon Amazon Energy all lack taurine, an amino acid often produced by animals.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar is loaded with enzymes, nutrients, and minerals such as potassium, phosphorus, fluorine, and pectin. Luckily, we don’t have to drink vinegar straight from the bottle, as many companies have concocted tasty drinks to get its benefits flowing through our bloodstreams.

We like Bragg flavors such as Pomegranate-Goji Berry, Apple Cinnamon, and Concord Grape-Acai give us our vinegar fix while a pungent shot of unsweetened Fire Cider is ideal when you’re looking for a cayenne kick.

Spice-Spiked

Aside from waking up boring foods, turmeric-based drinks are hot right now because the potent spice also acts as an anti-inflammatory agent. And speaking of hot, cinnamon-infused horchata drinks helps treat muscle spasms, while anything with cayenne helps jumpstart our immune system.

We like: Temple Turmeric, Tigernut Horchata by Organic Gemini, and the subtle but surprisingly spicy cayenne in Health-Ade Kombucha are our go-tos when looking for a drink with spice.

Dairy-free Milk

With rice, soy, cashew, almond, macadamia, hazelnut, hemp, oat, and pistachio flavors lining supermarket shelves across the nation, it’s safe to say that dairy-free milk is a legitimate threat to the cow-milk industry. This $1 billion industry continues to grow thanks to nut milk’ great flavor, nutrition profiles, and lower environmental impact: every gallon of milk that doesn’t come from a cow saves 2,000 gallons of water.

We like: Almond Breeze, Califia, and So Delicious are some of our long-standing favorite brands.

Probiotics

Probiotics are living microorganisms that promote good bacteria in our systems. Good bacteria produce natural disinfectants that help balance body pH and prevent infections in the digestive and urinary tracts. And, when consumed as a beverage, they taste really good.

We like: We’ve developed a daily habit of locking lips with the happy face cutouts of the Good Belly Probiotic shots, which are tiny containers of delicious belly-balancing bacteria.

Booze

We already know that red wine contains polyphenols—or plant molecules with antioxidant properties—but a slew of new beers, spirits, and liqueurs are making happy hour almost healthy. Plus, choosing vegan adult beverages means putting your happy hour money toward companies that do not use isinglass (fish bladders), bone char, milk, or honey in its boozy brews.

We like: Bio beer from Dr. Jekyll’s Brewery is made with acaí, maitake mushrooms, and ginger, which provides a healthy dose of superfoods.