An Infused Water Recipe That Everyone Will Love

by A.L. Woods, Staff Writer

Infused water continues to be a popular choice for health enthusiasts right now because of its many nutritive benefits, ease of preparation, and taste. It's also a wonderful substitute for the commercially prepared, sugar-laden vitamin waters that are available in the grocery stores. Infused water is great for hydration, helping with weight loss, and increasing your energy level. It also tends to promote increased water intake, always a major value add.

 

Here's my own personal recipe for my favorite mix that gets rave reviews every time it's served.

 

What You'll Need

 

A 3-quart glass pitcher (either an infusion pitcher or a plain one)

Purified water (either bottled or filtered)

3 large lemons

1 large cucumber

1 medium lime (optional)

3 sprigs of mint

3-5 large strawberries

1 large apple

How to Prepare

 

Wash all produce thoroughly and slice.

 

Rinse mint sprigs well.

 

Drop all produce in pitcher starting with the softest first (in this order: Lemons, cucumbers, limes, strawberries, apple, and mint).

 

Fill pitcher with water, cover, and allow to sit overnight.

 

Final Results

 

The resulting infusion is both delicious and beautiful, and the strawberries lend a lovely pink blush to the water.

 

Sip on this all day. Most people find that it encourages restroom runs due to its detox effect, so take this into account as you go about your day. If you tend to suffer from stomach bloat, the increased tinkling will help with that.

 

With your increased water intake, you'll be better hydrated. I'd always heard that the better hydrated you are, the better you sleep and the more energy that you have. I've found this to be true with my own experimentation with infused water.

 

Since I've started drinking infused water I've lost my taste for sodas and sugary drinks. Seriously, even without any sweetener (either natural or artificial) I've found this recipe to be absolutely delicious-and that's a lot to say coming from a self-avowed sugar addict.

 

Tips

• Use a natural veggie wash. You can find a variety of these either online or in the store.
• Buy organic whenever possible. Yes, it will increase your preparation costs a bit, but the health benefits are well worth the increase in price.
• Always be careful to choose the freshest produce that you can. Be sure that there are no blemishes or spots.
• Add a little ginger to the water for added digestive effect.
• Buy a pretty glass to use to drink your infused water throughout the day. I even use a glass straw to sip mine with. They add to the beauty of the presentation and the water tastes really clean going through it.

I hope that you enjoy this recipe as much as I do and that it adds an added boost to your health and fitness journey.

Drink up!

Source:
Personal experience

*Photo: (c) A.L. Woods

[Originally published on Yahoo! Voices on 05/20/2014 (no longer published there).]