Cold Drinks

Category: Wholefood Recipes

We would not be true to our deepest convictions if we did not open this feature by suggesting that water is the very best beverage you will ever find. Water lubricates the body and helps the system to flush away toxins. Just as we would never wash our clothes in cold drink, so we should not attempt to “wash” our bodies with sugary cold drinks and/or beverages.

Americans drink more cold drink perhaps than any other nation, and yet it has been discovered that 75% of Americans are dehydrated. Which just goes to prove that as far as the needs of the body are concerned, cold drink just does not do the job.

It has also been shown that a lack of pure, plain water is the major cause of daytime fatigue. So fuel up on water in between meals (never together with your meals) – and you will feel a huge difference.

Whatever your choices may be as far as beverages are concerned, make sure you start every day with 2 – 4 glasses of water and than take 2 to 4 glasses between breakfast and lunch. This will suppress the craving for other beverages, and for between-meal snacking, and will give a wonderful boost to your energy levels.

If you follow the above suggestion you will also not feel any need to take liquids together with your meals and this will aid your digestive processes and greatly improve your vitality.

When beverages become a habit (and all hot drinks are habit-formin

Abbreviations
& Explanations

NC

Nature’s Choice

WW

Wholewheat

Milk

Dairy milk or a dairy-free substitute

Cream

Dairy cream – or NC Dairy-Free Sweet Cream – or NC Dairy-Free Cooking Cream

g) then we have a problem, when beverages are taken as an occasional spoil – then we have a pleasure. So here are a few better alternatives for the occasional pleasurable occasion.

Nature’s Own Milk Shakes

At Nature’s Choice we produce a number of milk shake mixes in a variety of flavors. The flavors include Strawberrty, “Choc”, and Vanilla Toffee. Please make your requirements known to your local stockist.

As far as home-made alternatives are concerned, there is no limit to the variety of natural milk shakes that we can come up with if we have a high-speed blender. Remember that you should “chew” these drinks to compensate for the work that the blender has done, and to make sure that your saliva is well mixed in with the “food” before it reaches the stomach (saliva – ptyalin – converts starches into simple sugars – and thus readies the food for further digestion in the stomach).

Don’t tell anyone that we suggested this, but the addition of our favorite all-natural Farmhouse Ice Cream, or a little honey, to any of the following will produce “decadent” results – but make sure that this is only an occasional spoil – not a daily event. Small helpings are suggested.

Blend together any of the following.:

(1) 7 finely chopped NC Dates and cold milk
(2) 1 Apple, 1 banana and 1 glass milk
(3) Strawberries, NC honey to taste and milk
(4) NC Sultanas. banana and milk
(5) Peaches, banana and milk
(6) Invent your own.

 Fruit Juices

Fruit juices of whatever variety are very high in sugar – even if it is natural sugar – and they will burden the pancreas and the adrenals in much the same way that sucrose does. If juices are used at all, they should be used in small quantities on special occasions only and their use should be followed by or preceded by a drink of water (to dilute the juice in the stomach).

Not all commercial fruit juices are as good for you as they are made out to be. There is so much that we do not know about the methods of preparing these drinks, that we really cannot comment on their suitability. The reader is urged to watch for after-effects such as depression, headaches and bleeding noses – especially in children. This is, after all, the most convincing evidence of all.

We do like to believe that juice factories make every effort to provide a good, clean product. The fact remains, however, that it is impossible for them to inspect every fruit for worms. The insecticide sprayed on the fruit will also get blended into the juice or the puree. We have received frequent reports that over-ripe fruit often finds its way into the batch. Then, whatever else the factories do in order to stop the juice from spoiling, this might or might not be in the better interests of health. Fruit juice in aluminium-lined containers should obviously be avoided, as should cold drinks in aluminium “tin” cans.

The one fruit juice that you can depend on with utmost confidence, is the one which you squeeze or extract at home yourself – provided you do not overdo it. Grape juice and orange juice are best, as these are considered to be “pre-digested” foods.

If you use whatever fruit is in season, home-made fresh juices should not prove expensive. It must be remembered that taking a juice in between meals is tantamount to eating in between meals, and this will burden the digestion. The best use of such drinks is probably as a substitute for the evening meal, when changing over to a two-meal-a-day plan. Otherwise, they should be taken half an hour before a meal – in which case they will serve as an appetite supressant.

There are thousands of alternatives, the following are included just to give you some ideas.

Strawberry Wake-up

1 cup freshly-squeezed orange juice
1 cup strawberries

Blend together and chew while drinking. Yield: 1 serving.

Strawberry Cooler

2 cups strawberries
1/2 cup NC Natural or Organic honey
2 cups Farmhouse ice-cream
4 cups milk

Blend strawberries and honey together. Add the ice-cream and 1 cup milk, and blend again. Combine with remaining milk.

Cantaloupe Float

2 cups sweet melon juice
1 serving ice-cream

You may use any fruit juice. Fill glass two-thirds full. Place ice-cream on top of this, and do your thing with straw and spoon.

Pineapple-Coconut Drink

1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup pineapple juice
2 Tbsp cream

In place of cream you may use cottage cheese, yoghurt or milk. Blend together. Yield 1 serving.

Carrot-Milk Blend

1/2 cup carrot juice
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup chopped NC almonds
2 tsp NC wheat germ

Blend until very smooth.

Lemonade Syrup

12 lemons
2 liters boiling water
1 cup NC honey

For those who like it sour. Extract juice from lemons. Grate the rind of 6 lemons. Combine the rind with the juice and allow to stand overnight in refrigerator. Bring water to boil and add to juice. Mix in honey (adjust to taste). Dilute as required.

Lemon Soother

Fresh lemon juice
Fructose or NC honey

Mix freshly-squeezed lemon juice and sweetener in cold water. Deliciously, thirst-quenching, and very good for you.

Econo-Juice

Any commercial juice may be extended by mixing half juice with half water and then mixing in a little honey or fructose to taste. Even a mixture of 1/4 juice to 3/4 water mixed with fructose or honey to taste makes a perfectly acceptable drink – at a fraction of the price – and it is a slightly better alternative from a health point of view.

More in Wholefood Recipes

Leave a Comment