Not just coffee

Posts Tagged water

Keepin’ the Coffee Hot

Aug 4

Posted by admin in Environment, lifestyle

Now I recognize that I’ve shared my love for seasonal iced coffee, but every once in a while, I go for the hot cup. Like this morning: 4 shots of espresso, a splash of water, and my definition of a true Americano! The problem is hot coffee should be hot, not the in-between temperature scale, but brewed to the right temperature. Keeping the cup’s contents hot proves to be the challenge.

I may have found the perfect solution: the new HydroFlask. Yes, a product with such a perfect name should have multiple uses. Today, we concentrate on the coffee test. Let me cut to the chase: Passed with flying colors (that may also describe the product’s choice of bright colors)! Coffee stayed hot; lost none of its prized tastes, and pleased the sipper: Moi.

Most significantly you do not have to panic about the plastic. We’re talking about the all-important BPA-free qualities. A double-wall insulated product such as this needs to pass the BPA-free zone or it won’t last in our environmentally conscious lifestyle. Coffee tasted so good and refreshing even hours later that I tested it on cold water, right from the refrigerated Brita. No metal taste but the same, cool refreshing beverage. Just for the record, I purchased the product and this endorsement is of my own choosing, even though it sounds like a public service everesthydrobuleannouncement! BTW, we’re not talking about carrying around something cumbersome or heavy. Just the opposite: lightweight and functional!

The maxim applies: What’s hot stays hot, and what’s cold keeps the chill. Just the way we want it, regardless of the activity or usage. Another impressive feature is the company’s commitment to the give-back principle as they donate 5% of the gross revenue to a charity of your choosing! A definite win-win.

However you define hydration, this product proves to be the summer winner! Check it out.

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Spiking the Water

Jun 17

Posted by admin in beverages, sports

Sometimes we take one step forward and slink back two. Not so hard to happen with food and beverage promises about healthy life changes. We take the oath to skip the diet drinks and increase our water. Then we decide that plain water does not suit our purposes sufficiently and need to give it a boost from a beverage that promises to give us a little more energy. With me so far?

Plain water does not seem to do the trick when exercising during the hot, humid days. Our bodies crave a little more; replenishment does not come easily. We find strength in the energy water aisles, but often when we read the labels, we are back to square one.

Look at the very popular, and I might point out, quite tasty, PowerAde Zero. All the flavor choices make it especially appealing. People are drinking the 32 oz. bottles as if they are merely flavored water. They’re not. They contain sucralose (Splenda) which gives them a sweet quick kick, but this product makes all our efforts at going natural a questionable process.

Same with Propel’s Vitamin Enhanced Water. Glaceau’s VitaminWater Zero has Truvia and Fructose. Even Gatorade, the original company that figured out the value of electrolyte beverages, is in this confusing “what is sugar space” with its G2 products, but they’ve upped the ante a little.

The new Gatorade Natural (G Natural and G2 Natural) drinks are just that: Natural replenishment products that give the same great taste we’ve come to expect from our boosters, but this time they left the questionable ultra-sweet sugars out of the mix. They focus entirely on providing a healthy, natural electrolyte approach to speed up the replenishment period of exercise.

I’ve tried all these energy boosting drinks, but this time I think I’ve found a mate: G2 Natural. This summer they introduced the product to Whole Foods Market customers in several regions of the country. This is a logical partnership: natural food; natural drink. After my perfect ace, my spiked berry or mango water seems to be doing the trick!NATURAL_G2_Dry(2)

Sure you can have any of these drinks straight, but a little boost and a lot of water works for me in rehydrating my otherwise spent existence.

Hope you’ll be able to go natural soon.

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Water: How Much?

May 19

Posted by admin in health, life, news

May is a busy month for accolades. Besides all the food-focused holidays, it is also National Physical Fitness and Sports Month. In order to help with our obesity numbers, physical activity and daily exercise remain important components. If you’ve been thinking about getting outdoors and doing something for yourself, this is a good month to take the pledge. Speaking of the pledge, there is the President’s Challenge which focuses us on daily activities to improve overall health.

Just a few helpful reminders. We need to be properly hydrated. That phrase gets mired in complexity. Does everyone, regardless of size, health condition, or physical activity, need the same amount of water a day? Can the sport dictate the rules? How about the length of the activity? The time of day? All relevant questions, but hydration is not a single-focused, exclusive phenomena. If you plan to start running today, grabbing a couple water bottles will not do the trick. Sure, they won’t hurt but that is not considered proper hydrating.

Let’s look at a few factors. Jimmy Connors one of tennis’s great athletes used to get leg cramps if he didn’t prepare for a match with an intensive amount of water for several days prior to the matches. He could feel them coming on and knew his lack of (water) diligence was going to cause pain. Research also indicates you can overdose on water and that can have a debilitating effect. Getting the balance can be accomplished by a daily intake of water which matches your daily physical commitment. Many recommend a sports drink to supplement water as you’ll be losing too much water through perspiration. Or, just give your water an energy boost with powder packs to turn it into a more powerful beverage. Over or under-doing liquids has severe negative consequences from leg cramps and extreme nausea to heat-related medical problems.propelpaks

No one needs to remind you about sunscreen and time of day. OK, I just did, but application of the SPF’s and reapplication may be a long-term critical commitment. There are numerous products that reduce the sweating off (as in dripping into your eyes) during physical activity. Until you find the right balance of fluids and have your activity in a manageable zone, consider skipping the high noon workout or consider an indoor regimen when it’s 100 humid degrees. Keep your body hydrated no matter time of day or physical activity.

Participate. Drink. Be smart.

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Drink Up: It's Spring

Mar 25

Posted by admin in Environment, restaurants

With the high price of everything, it is not hard to give up bottled water. That is unless you go to Costco. A 35-bottle case of 1/2-liter Deer Park will keep you hydrated for under $6. That’s pretty hard to pass up especially as we move to the hot days of summer when carrying a bottle of chilled water is in itself comforting. Their Kirkland waters cost even less. 

Then we have angst about damage to the planet. So what is one to do? Buying reusable containers are OK as long as they are free of harmful plastics-they have to be BPA-free (bisphenol A). That often means you will be making a major investment in a storage container. They move from OK to disgusting when they lie around and wait for someone to clean them out. Yuck. Disgusting.

Brita and Pur water filters are fine for at-home consumption, but they make it more difficult to carry out the pledge to drink gallons of water daily. Or the filtered water gets put into the BPA-free container and never gets washed out. You get the picture.

Then there are the dining-out dilemmas. For years restaurants did well charging astronomical prices for bottled waters. No one seemed to know how many bottles ever got poured, but the bill reflected fountains flowing with expensive water. Now restaurants seem to have figured out that the consumer is not as gullible as he might have been when the world was more flush nor is the international water brand that all-important. In all my dining out lately, I have heard very little about expensive water. No one seems to hover and say with a tone of disgust, TAP? Yes, pour it. Bring it on.

Then there are the new specialty water systems such as Natura that restaurants have installed. They rent the equipment and purify tap water to offer guests still or sparkling. Bottles are reusable so there is little waste, and most restaurants that use the service charge customers a minimal fee for unlimited purified water. Stay tuned, a home version is due out soon.

So the point is: it’s spring, we’re thirsty.

Drink water. Make wise choices. bottle_sparklingnaturastill

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