Summer is here and this is the time we need to hydrate our bodies the most. A fridge full of sweet and cold fluids always attracts us and why not?
But wait, Are you making the right choice? Have you seen the ingredient list of your favorite drink? If you haven’t then I insist you must because most of these are plastic bottles loaded with stabilizers, sugars, artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, and whatnot.
So if you’re a weight watcher or someone looking to live a healthy lifestyle, you must know the best drink that your body deserves this summer.
In search of the best drink to quench your thirst this summer, I collected almost 30 drinks most popular in the Indian market. Let us see which among these will be found as the Best Summer Drinks in India
After thoroughly going through their ingredients list, I have categorized them into 5 categories.
Thumbs Up, Limca, Fanta, Appy Fiz, Diet Pepsi
Category no. 1 includes all soft fizzy drinks like ThumpsUp, Limca, Fanta & AppyFizz.
Well, I need not tell you how harmful these carbonated drinks are for our bodies. Loaded with over 10 teaspoons of sugar in just 1 bottle these are unhealthiest of all.
And if you think Coke Zero or Diet Coke is any better, you are mistaken. All such drinks are filled with artificial sweeteners which may have long term side effects.
Real, Sip On, Tropicana, Paper Boat, Amul Kool, Hershey’s Milk Shake, Amul Lassi, Nescafe Intense Cafe, Heritage Pista Flavored Milk.
Category No. 2 includes packed fruit juices and milk beverages.
The so-called real and natural juices hardly have any fruit in them. Tropicana Guava Delight has 22% Guava while Real Orange juice has only 12% orange in it.
Even the Minute Maid Pulpy Orange has 12% orange in it. On top of it, all these have added colors, artificial flavors, Acidity regulators and mostly sugar.
Drinking just this much of pulpy orange and guava juice will serve you 7 teaspoons of sugar.
Flavored milk and other milk beverages are no better. Apart from being high in sugar, they contain synthetic colors, stabilizers, emulsifiers cleverly concealed under numerical like E102, E133, etc.
If you are drinking any of these on a daily basis you might be inviting health problems in the future.
Rasna, Tang, Lion Rose Sharbats, Kissan Mixed Fruit Squash
The 3rd category includes famous drink powders like Rasna, Tang, Premix Sharbats & Squashes.
Let’s take them all one by one. Powder like Rasna, Tang claim to be full of Vitamins and minerals to make you feel they are a guilt-free choice.
Let’s just turn the pack and face reality. Yes, they have Vitamins and Minerals but they are just a small percentage.
What is shocking is that even the fruit powder in them is less than a percent. Really?
Then what do they actually have? Of Course sugar, acidity regulators, synthetic colors, artificial flavors, and sweeteners.
Yes, Sharbat has been our favorite since childhood but we should know that these are mostly sugar syrup.
Not to forget the artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives in them.
And then these bottles of so-called Squashes. The fruit content in this Fruit Squash bottle is 25%, rest is sugar and water, to say the least.
To sum up, one serving of Rasna or Tang is 5 teaspoons of plain sugar. Rooh Afza will give you almost 7 teaspoons of sugar and Squash is about 7 teaspoons of sugar.
So you know better if they deserve to be in your body or not.
Original Glucon-D, Real Active Tender Coconut Water
The 4th Category is a little better than the previous three categories which comprises of the original Glucon-D & Real Active’s Tender Coconut Water.
The original Glucon-D with 99.4% glucose is a good source of instant energy especially if you’re into any physical activities.
But be careful do not to choose any flavored glucose powder as it has colors, synthetic flavors and most importantly sugar in them comes mostly from sucrose, which is not recommended.
Another less guilty option is the Real Tender Coconut water which comes with only preservatives.
Though I don’t approve of them completely, if you have no other options available then indulging in them in moderation will not hurt much.
Tender Coconut Water, Butter Milk, Sugar cane juice
Finally category no. 5 includes drinks that you can consume guilt-free this summer.
Tender Coconut water is the best option. Manufactured in the best lab, the nature. Having the most natural sweetener possible without any preservatives, this refreshing drink is full of Vitamins, Minerals or Electrolytes.
Sugarcane juices another stable drink of India in summers. Make sure you avoid any additions and consume in its natural form.
Buttermilk or Chhach is another cheap and best option available at your nearest daily store. Made without preservatives and additives it has a cooling effect on the body.
Bonus: Watermelon Mint juice, Lemonade with honey, Kachchi Lassi
But what if you’re at home relaxing, in that case, I have a bonus category for you which comprises of 3 quick and easy DIY Summer drinks.
The first one is my favorite, all you need to do is blend Watermelon and mint leaves together. Watermelon and mint leave both are known for cooling the body and are easily available during summers.
Second is Lemonade, Squeeze juice of one lemon, add a tablespoon of honey and fill the rest with water. This simple drink is ideal to prevent sunstroke.
Third and the easiest of all is Kachchi Lassi as we call it in Punjab. Take a little milk and add a lot of water into it. That’s it, no mango treat is complete without consuming Kachi Lassi over it.
So I hope you found this article to be helpful, if yes then please let me know in the comment section below.