|
|
|
|
Healthy Aging -
Most people probably think of aging as a gradual
physical decline from middle age onward, eventually
matched by a slowing down of the ability to learn or
perform intellectually. |
| |
|
| |
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
Healthy and Unhealthy Summer
Drinks Which alcoholic and
non-alcoholic drinks are the healthiest for summertime
drinking? Experts give their advice.
By Star Lawrence
WebMD Feature
Summertime; when you're hot and thirsty, is drinking
time, whether your taste runs to alcoholic or
nonalcoholic libations. Which drinks are the worst
in terms of sugar, salt, alcohol content, or empty
calories, and which can actually enhance your fun
without ruining you diet or health?
And no, this does not limit you to water.
First, a Word About Alcohol
Alcoholic beverages contain different percentages of
alcohol. According to the National Institutes of
Health, a standard drink of beer contains about 5%
alcohol; wine contains 12%, and spirits has 40%.
Distilled alcohol is classified by "proof." For
example, 100-proof alcohol contains 50% alcohol;
80-proof contains 40% alcohol, etc.
A standard drink is considered to be:
5 ounces of wine
12 ounces of wine cooler
12 ounces of beer
1.5 ounces of 80-proof distilled liquor
Many studies have been done that seem to suggest
that alcohol in moderation -- especially wine -- can
have health benefits, although perhaps not enough
for people to start drinking if they don't care to
do so.
Doctors recommend men limit alcohol consumption to
two drinks; women should drink no more than one
drink a day.
You also need to be of drinking age in your state to
consume alcohol -- and to assume the
responsibilities not only for your health but also
the safety of others in terms of driving and other
behaviors that could occur under the influence of
alcohol.
You want to enjoy your summer, not forget it.
Think Before Ordering
"Cocktails were invented by the British Navy in the
1800s to keep sailors from drinking their rum
rations in one go, thus getting too drunk to work,"
Anthony Dias Blue tells WebMD.
Blue is the wine
and spirits editor of
Bon Appetit
magazine, and also author of the
Complete Book of
Mixed Drinks: More Than 1,000 Alcoholic and
Non-Alcoholic Cocktails.
He says summer drinks should be "long" (meaning
tall), should have fruit, and should refresh rather
than bog one down in the heat. No cream drinks, he
says.
The worst he can think of? "Eggnog," he says
immediately. Followed by Irish coffee.
Other summer favorites go down easy but contain a
lot of sugar, sometimes too much sodium, and
calories galore.
"I saw a billboard for [a famous rum]," says Audrey
T. Cross, PhD, nutrition professor at Columbia's
Mailman School of Public Health, "that said, 'Drink
this with Diet Coke -- zero carbs.'
"Well, it might have been zero carbs, but it was not
zero calories," Cross says. "Don't forget, alcohol
gets digested; it doesn't stay in your bloodstream."
As a rule of thumb, distilled alcohol is about 100
calories an ounce.
"Make the margarita lighter," Blue advises. "Less
tequila, more ice."
Cross and Blue both say gin and tonic is the
"perfect" summer alcohol drink. "This is the
healthiest drink on earth," jokes Blue. "The gin is
a diuretic, the tonic keeps away
malariamalaria.
I never get malaria!"
Cross uses diet tonic and a whole lime for plenty of
vitamin C. "On the second one," she whispers, "I
leave out the gin. You can't taste the difference."
Cross also professes a fondness for mint juleps. Use
only fresh mint, she says, and don't crush it into
the sugar in the glass; use a mortar and pestle.
"You can get the mint oils out with less sugar that
way," she says, crediting her mother for this
advice.
Blue also says a Tom Collins (lemon juice, gin,
sugar, club soda, and a cherry), is a fine summer
drink.
Spritzers are also fairly healthful. You cut the
wine with club soda. "You can use white Zinfandel,
white wine, red wine -- anything you have," Blue
says. To make it sangria, dump in cut fruit.
Commercial wine coolers, though, tend to contain a
lot of calories and chemicals.
What about the summer favorite -- beer? Beer
contains a number of nutrients, Cross acknowledges,
and has been consumed for millennia. "Like any
liquid calories, it goes down so easily," she sighs.
Remember, a beer contains a shot of ethanol, just
like a glass of wine or a gin and tonic.
Non-Alcoholic Drinks
The No. 1 summer drink? Water! It can be bottled,
filtered, or the water cooler variety. "If you get
sick of it," Cross says, "try icing a pitcher of it
with cut lemons and limes packed in it. Freeze fruit
in cubes and use those."
Iced tea comes in second. Cross recommends making a
sugar syrup that's half sugar and half water --
boiled until it's clear -- and then let it cool.
"Use this in it instead of that granulated sugar
that falls to the bottom," she says. "You will use
less sugar."
Green tea is also a refreshing iced variety,
although recent studies put in doubt its purported
powers as an antioxidant. You can also make iced tea
with garden herbs, such as rosemary or lemon
verbena.
If you don't want to heat up the house, make sun
tea. Put a clean glass jug full of water and tea
bags in the sun for half a day. Be sure everything
is clean, because this never gets hot enough to kill
organisms. But it also is never so hot it melts the
ice.
Pomegranate juice is loaded with antioxidants. It
goes well with fruit, club soda, and if you must,
any clear alcohol.
Any full-sugar soda is a poor summer choice, Cross
says. A soft drink can contain 16 teaspoons of sugar
-- and that sneaky corn sugar, at that. Sugar makes
you thirstier. All sodas, even diet, she says,
contain a lot of chemicals that do nothing for you.
"I do like soda for cleaning stuck-on pots," she
says. "Just soak overnight!"
"Summer drinks," muses Blue, "should have plenty of
ice, fruit juice, and sparkle."
Cheers to that!
|
|
© 2006, WebMD Inc. All rights reserved. |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
It's
easy to stay up to date on the things that interest you.
Just 
