The #1 Drinking Habit for Faster Weight Loss, Says Dietitian
By now, we're sure you've concluded that there's no way to lose weight in a jiffy. It just doesn't happen. There are no magic potions or spells to get rid of belly fat overnight.
Weight loss is a product of adding healthier habits to replace the ones that are putting on the weight and sticking with them until they become a routine of your life. Some habits, fortunately, show weight-loss results faster than others. For example, the #1 drinking habit to adopt for faster weight loss is adding "beverages with benefits," says registered dietitian nutritionist Bonnie Taub-Dix, RD, creator of the website and blog BetterThanDieting.com.
What she means is making a habit of choosing drinks that contain ingredients that are known to support a healthy body weight.
How adding beneficial drinks to your diet can support faster weight loss.
Registered dietitian in private practice Laura Poe Mathes, RD, agrees that weight loss comes not so much from what you subtract from your diet or deny yourself, but from the healthy things you add.
By her estimation, two of the drinking habits to add to your routine for weight loss, other than more water, are drinking green tea and the fermented beverage kombucha.
"Kombucha has beneficial probiotics that support the microbiome, which has been linked to lower risk of obesity," she says. "And green tea is one of the best because of its high antioxidant content, which may help decrease inflammation, a factor linked to weight loss."
READ MORE: What Happens To Your Body When You Drink Green Tea for Weight Loss
A number of studies suggest that powerful antioxidant polyphenols, called catechins, found in abundance in green tea in combination with tea's caffeine may also improve weight loss by boosting metabolism.
Another beneficial beverage.
One of Taub-Dix's favorite beverages with nutritional and weight loss benefits is unsweetened almond milk.
"Almond milk has only 30 calories per cup but you're getting more calcium than even dairy milk, as well as vitamin D, vitamin E, and vitamin A," she says. So almond milk can be an effective weight-loss beverage as a substitute for cow's milk, she says.
"If you need to develop a taste for almond milk, you may want to try a new product called Almond Breeze Extra Creamy. The pleasing mouthfeel comes from almond oil, one of the healthy fats," Taub-Dix says.
"Almond Breeze Extra Creamy contains just 80 calories per cup and 4 grams of added sugars. If you're looking for that decadence, it's really great and versatile. I use it on cereal, in smoothies, and in baked goods, soups, and stews."
Try out your favorite almond milk in some of these 25 Best-Ever Weight Loss Smoothie Recipes.
If you also kick sugar-sweetened beverages to the curb, you can accelerate weight loss even more.
Both nutritionists say that making their favorite beverages with benefits a habit can also help you elbow out the worst beverage for weight loss, soda. "Kombucha, because it's carbonated, makes a great soda substitute," says Mathes.
After all, there's little redeeming value for soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages like juice cocktails and sweet tea. Government surveys show that SSBs contribute about a third of the added sugars the average American consumes daily. On average, adults consume 145 calories from SSBs every day.
"Drinking soda is like mixing 10 teaspoon packets of sugar in a glass of water and drinking it down," says Taub-Dix. "It's devoid of anything nutritious."
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