Refreshing Essence Waters
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Essence waters are a delicious way to stay hydrated and incorporate some great health benefits into your daily routine. They’re easy to prepare at home, and you can prepare them in the morning and keep them in the refrigerator for up to a couple of days. There are many different combinations – from single ingredient to delightful combinations like lemon-lime-mint.
Cool, refreshing, cleansing ... Lemon-Lime-Mint Essence Water
Many of these waters not only taste delicious, but have some terrific health benefits in addition to keeping you hydrated. For example, lemon water helps to cleanse your liver and to aid in digestion. Believe it or not, regular consumption of lemon water can also help to decrease acidity in your body, and thus can help remove uric acid from your joints and help to relieve inflammation. To read about more benefits of lemon water, click here.
Here are just a few ideas for delicious essence waters I have seen out and about:
Citrus fruits – lemon, lime, orange, tangerine
Melons – watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew
Pineapple (one of my favorites!)
Peaches, nectarines
Berries – strawberries, raspberries
Cucumber
Pomegranate seeds
Fresh herbs – mint, lemon balm, thyme, rosemary, lavender
Ginger
There are far too many to list … mix and match, have fun, be creative! Of course, it goes without saying that organic will be a healthier option, so choose organic ingredients whenever possible.
To make the essence water, you’ll want to have all of your ingredients properly prepared. Make sure that you clean all of your produce well; even if you are going to remove the skin or rinds, wash them first. If you’re using non-organic citrus be sure to scrub the rinds and rinse well before cutting into 1/8-inch thick slice. For melons or pineapples, you’ll want to remove the rind or skin and cut the flesh into about 1-inch chunks. Peaches or nectarines, cut in half, remove the pit, and slice into about 1/2 to 3/4-inch thick wedges. Stem and halve strawberries, but raspberries can be left whole. If you’re using cucumbers, be sure to wash these very well if you plan to leave the skin on them because many commercially available cucumbers have a wax coating. Slice the cucumbers into about 1/8-inch thick disks. For large-leaf herbs like mint or lemon balm, the easiest thing to do is to snip off the leaves and wash and spin them in a salad spinner, then slice the leaves into about 1/8-inch ribbons. Rosemary and thyme should be rinsed well, and you can just place a sprig or two in the jar or pitcher. To use ginger, simply peel and slice into 1/8-inch thick disks.
Lemon Lime Mint Water
Place the prepared produce into a large glass pitcher or canning jar, cover with filtered water, stir or shake, and refrigerate at least an hour before serving. The longer you wait, the more flavorful the water will be. Strain into a glass and serve with or without ice. As you pour water out, you can refresh the jars by refilling with filtered water. Keep in the refrigerator up to 3 days.
This low-calorie treat is a great alternative to sugar-laden juices and sodas, and far healthier than artificially sweetened beverages.
Enjoy in good health!
This post was inspired by a friend’s Facebook post this morning “Skinny Body Fat Flush and Detox,” which she shared from “Fiber Does The Body Good” Facebook page. I think the original source for that Facebook post may be this recipe or maybe here, but I can’t quite tell. I like to try to give credit where credit is due.