A comprehensive guide to Healthy Drinks to Make at home

This one drink can cure you of all the diseases and (bonus) help you live longer….

Drink this twice every day, and you will start looking younger again…..

One drink thrice a day and you can get rid of your diabetes medications…. 

Have you heard of any of these ???? If not the exact ones, I am sure you have come across similar slogans or even more aggressive ones in the past.

We have all come across these Ads from different companies, people, communities, etc.,

And not to forget, the DIY: Healthy Drinks to Make at Home trend that gained momentum during the pandemic.

This article is here to help you see that making healthy drinks at home is easy. Before you grab a store-bought one, consider the benefits of homemade options.

Am I saying all those popular brands are just a trend? No, there are legit ones. I just want you to get that “Health starts at home,” before looking elsewhere.

Before we delve into the realm of healthy drinks you can make at home, it’s crucial to establish a fundamental truth: “No single drink possesses the power to cure everything.” However, it can play a supportive role when complemented by factors like exercise, a balanced diet, and prescribed medications.

By the end of this article, you will learn of a few Healthy Drinks you can make at home with ingredients that are already available in your kitchen along with their health benefits.

Introduction

In simple terms, Healthy drinks refers to the drink which is believed to make you healthy. Few have also improvised this definition as follows: “Healthy drinks are drinks which are low in calories, low in sugar and give our body the hydration we need”.

There are a diverse range of healthy drinks from water based, to infusions to fresh juices etc.,

Compared to different forms of food (in terms of texture and consistency), liquid foods are considered to be easy to digest, help in quick absorption, improves hydration quicker and many more. These qualities combined with the convenience factor makes “healthy drinks” a preferred choice over rest food categories. 

Homemade Healthy Drinks 

Just like everyone else, DIY health drinks had a moment during the wild times of COVID-19. Why? Well, two big reasons: folks were feeling a bit jittery and wanted to stay in the pink of health, plus, thanks to lockdowns, they had more time to ponder on their well-being.

And you know what? That’s actually a pretty cool thing…

But here’s the scoop: a bunch of those homemade refreshment drinks we’ve been sipping in our Indian households are way healthier than we give them credit for.

Sure, those flashy, celebrity-endorsed healthy drinks might catch your eye with their fancy packaging. But, let’s be real—how confident are you that these glitzy things will genuinely boost your health?

So, here’s the deal – let’s stop seeing those drinks your mom used to whip up as just tasty beverages. Take a step back, and look at them from a health angle. Think about all the fantastic ingredients that go into the mix, and consider the seasons or occasions when they become the star of the show. It might just change the way you see your everyday drinks!

Homemade Healthy Drinks VS Store Bought Health Drink  

Now that we have shifted our perspectives on those tasty beverages our mom made, let me reinforce my argument even more about why you should choose healthy drinks over those fancy store bought health drinks. Here are a few advantages of Homemade Healthy Drinks. 

• Easy to prepare
• Convenient
• No preservatives and adulterations
• Can be freshly made
• Does not require any fancy new equipment, can be done with the existing utensils at home
• You are sure about the ingredients and their quality 
• Cost effective
• You can customise the drink according to your preference or taste

Easy healthy drinks to make at home

While there are a wide variety of beverages we make at home like – herbal tea, fresh juice, smoothie, milkshake, soups etc., each one is unique in its method of preparation, ingredients, time of consumption and of course the benefits. 

Now, let me shed some light on a couple of easy and healthy drinks that you probably prepare  at home and how you can take them up a notch. But remember, these are just the beginning. Feel free to unleash your creativity and experiment with new flavours by tweaking the ingredients a bit.

Healthy Drinks to make at home with milk

In a typical Indian household, milk is commonly consumed daily, whether it’s in the form of tea, coffee, or with the addition of turmeric or any other store-bought nutritional powder. 

Here are a few other recipes you can try with milk 

Garlic milk

Though it sounds like a made up drink, it is actually mentioned in our ancient texts of Ayurveda as a recipe to help reduce heart problems. 

Here are the steps to prepare it,

• Dehusk around 4-5 garlic bulb (weighing around 10g)
• Wash them thoroughly
• Split the garlic bulb in half and remove the stem and crush them mildly 
• Add these crushed garlic bulbs into a vessel containing 50 ml of milk and 50 ml of water 
• Boil it at low height until the quantity in the vessel reduces to half.
• Your Garlic milk is ready

You can split it into two doses, taking 25 ml each in the morning and evening. This helps alleviate issues such as digestion problems, bloating, constipation, and more.

Golden milk 

Is gold actually involved – NO, but this drink will surely help you make your health gold. Turmeric is known to have an array of health benefits like anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-allergy, antiviral etc., to name a few. 

Here are steps to prepare Golden milk in the most easiest and quickest way possible 

• Boil a glass of milk in low flame 
• Once it reaches a boiling point, add half a spoon of jaggery and make sure it dissolves completely 
• (BONUS – if you have blocked nose, or cold or cough or any respiratory symptoms you can add a pinch of ginger and pepper powder mixed)
• Turn off the heat, add a pinch of turmeric and mix it well.
• Transfer it to a glass and enjoy

When compared to other beverages, I find these recipes the easiest to prepare, store, and enjoy frequently. 

 Healthy Drinks to make at home with water 

Cumin infused water 

Cumin, a common household spice, is renowned for its ability to alleviate digestive issues, including bloating, constipation, and flatulence. There are various ways to prepare a cumin-infused drink. 

One of them being

• Boil half of litre of water
• Once it reaches boiling point, add a teaspoon of cumin in the water 
• Close the lid and let it soak overnight
• Next day morning, filter the cumin and your cumin infused water is ready

Sip the infused water throughout the day to help alleviate digestive issues like bloating, constipation, and flatulence.

Similarly you can also try it with pepper, Elaichi, Clove etc., spices

Herbal Tea

Herbal teas are beverages crafted from dried leaves, flowers, stems, fruits, and more of a plant. 

While the preparation method is akin to cumin-infused water, the key distinction lies in the duration of soaking. Unlike the cumin-infused water, herbal tea powder isn’t left to soak overnight. 

Instead, hot water is poured over the tea powder, allowed to steep briefly, and then strained if necessary, resulting in a delightful tea to be enjoyed.

There are varieties in herbal teas you can try like Hibiscus tea, Lemon tea, Green tea, Chamomile tea etc., 

Raisins infused water

This particular drink is rich in electrolytes and is also known to help in constipation and related digestive issues. 

Step to prepare this is pretty simple – Soak a spoon of dry raisins in a glass of water overnight or for at least a few hours. The raisins will increase in size and become pulpy. You can squeeze the raisins in the same water and enjoy the drink. 

Conclusion

Before I conclude, I want to emphasise a crucial point: what defines a drink as healthy is not just the beverage itself, but the ingredients, how it’s prepared, and how we incorporate it into our routines. Once again, it echoes the truth that “WE ARE WHAT WE EAT (AND DRINK).”

Healthy drinks extend beyond the realms of water and juices; they encompass a variety of options like teas, smoothies, soups, and fermented drinks.

While store-bought drinks are undoubtedly convenient and demand minimal effort, they may not always fulfil the health goals or offer the flexibility to customise. On the contrary, homemade healthy drinks provide the freedom to tailor them to your liking, control the quality and quantity, all without requiring extra effort.

In this article, we explored how effortlessly healthy drinks with water and milk can be prepared. Remember, this is just a starting point; there’s a vast array of recipes for healthy drinks that you can create at home, tailored to your preferences and needs.

I’d love to hear about your favourite “Healthy Drink.”

Just as we invest time online researching our favourite phones, movies, or actors, let’s also dedicate time to exploring topics that contribute to our well-being and disease prevention. After all, a little research into healthy choices can go a long way.

Peace

You can read my latest article on Yoga for beginners at home here: A comprehensive guide to Yoga for beginners at home

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