When most people think of eating healthy or losing weight, what they drink is often an afterthought.
The truth is that, with the variety of drink options available to us, what you drink can greatly affect whether or not your reach your healthy eating or weight loss goals.
No matter who you are or what your goals are, water is by far the best thing you can drink.
Water contains no calories, no sugar, and no hidden additives.
You should strive to have the majority of what you drink be water.
Milk is a healthy option when choosing between different beverage options.
Milk contains essential nutrients and provides your body with a good source of calcium.
Milk does contain calories, so monitor the amount of calories your body needs and try not to consume more calories than your body can burn off in a day.
Fruit juices can be a good source of vitamins, but when consuming fruit juice, be careful that you are not consuming too much sugar and associated high calories.
Sugary fruit juices can also damage teeth.
The best fruit juices are all natural or whole fruit juices.
These types of juices will have the least amount of calories and supply you with the best quality ingredients.
Carbonated drinks have little nutritional value and include "junk" calories, or calories with no nutritional value.
While these drinks are OK for your body in moderation, try to limit the amount of soft drinks you consume.
Sports drinks can give you an extra energy boost, but they also contain calories and sugar that you may want to limit in your diet.
There is some research that says coffee and tea can be beneficial to your diet, but just like any other beverage, it is best to enjoy coffee and tea in moderation and make sure that water is your primary drink of choice.