The consumption of alcohol is often blamed for skin ageing. While the consumption of excessive amounts of alcoholic beverages is definitely not good for you, there are other culprits for ageing that you may not be aware of. These culprits could be worse for ageing than alcohol.
A new European study reveals an entirely different category of drinks that may be a threat to the healthy years you have to look forward to. Published last week in Current Nutrition Reports, a team of medical researchers in Turkey and Spain observed what they called “the gap between lifespan and ‘healthspan,’ the disease-free lifespan.”
In other words, while humans tend to live longer than in ages past, data suggest that doesn’t mean all of us are entirely healthy up until the end of our lives. One major factor affecting ageing and wellness, of course, is one’s diet.
This study identified sugar-sweetened beverages as particularly harmful. Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) is a major source of added sugars that can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer.
The scientific reasoning behind this is that sugar-sweetened beverages are associated with oxidative stress and chronic inflammation (which can both result in disease), insulin resistance (often leading to diabetes), and an upset in the gut’s microbiota—which science continues to show can affect general physical wellness, including mood and psychological health.
The medical researchers state that replacing sugar-sweetened drinks with healthier beverages “may be a reasonable option to reduce the burden of chronic disease in the ageing population and even prolong life and healthspan.”
Here are some ideas for healthier drinks (aside from water) you could swap your SSBs for.
- Tea
Studies indicate that drinking tea delivers many health benefits such as the prevention of kidney stones and weight loss. We would recommend herbal tea as opposed to caffeinated ones. It would also be advisable not to add sugar.
2. Natural Juice
Natural fruit juices contain vitamin c and many other anti-oxidants. They are also a good way to ensure that you stay hydrated. However, be careful of juices that have added sugars. We recommend only juices without added sugars.
3. Lemon Water
If you do not want to drink plain water, you can add a few slices of lemon to your water. Not only can this provide the zing to your plain water, it can also provide vitamin C. Drinking warm or hot lemon water may also aid digestion.
4. Cucumber Water
Apart from improving the taste of your water and keeping you hydrated, adding cucumber to your water can also provide a good source of potassium. Drinking cucumber water helps your body get more potassium, potentially helping to lower your blood pressure.
Cucumbers are high in vitamin k. In fact, one cup of sliced cucumbers has about 19 percent of the recommended daily value. Your body needs vitamin K to help form proteins that are needed to make healthy bones and tissues as well as to help your blood clot properly. What better way to get this vitamin than through refreshing cucumber water?
