Hydration

[KarateKen]

Hydration is always important, especially in the summertime, and with many people facing serious heat over the last couple weeks I started thinking, what are some quality hydration drinks that taste good and are healthy but are not as bland as water? I'm sorry, but water is boring. I drink it and it's healthy but after a while I need something with flavor.

I drink water, sparkling water, milk, smoothies, and a sports drink called VOOZ which is made by Bang Energy. I avoid fruit juices and lemonade because of all the sugar. Any other ideas?

[Zaine]

I'm a lover of water, so I don't mind it as much. I drink water all day and I'm happy. If I'm not drinking water, I'm probably drinking tea and coffee. I can't handle sparkling water. I'm not sure why, but it's just not my jam.

Sports drinks are great recovery drinks, for after activity. It's not a great pre-workout drink because of the salt content, but if I've had a particularly difficult or intense workout then I'll go for a Gatorade.

[Patrick]

If you drink seltzer, that was what I was going to say. But there is a whole world of seltzer flavors out there that was fun to explore (for me) after giving up soda years ago.

[sensei8]

Yes, I agree...water is boring. I drink quite a lot of water each and every day. My water is spiked with ice and lemon. I've tried several flavored waters, but they just didn't taste as yummy as a squeezed lemon plopped into a big cup of iced water.

[DarthPenguin]

If i want to easily increase the water intake but not feeling like plain water i find that massively diluted sugar free diluting juice works well - just enough flavour to have a different taste to pure water but not a huge amount.

[aurik]

I bring a 64oz Yeti filled with ice water that I've squirted a bit of fruit flavoring into. I'll usually drink most of it during a class, too especially during the summer.

[KarateKen]

For a while I was drinking a product called VOOZ, it is a hydration drink from Bang Energy. Had several fruit flavors with electrolytes and some other minerals. Pretty good but I think it has been discontinued.

[bushido_man96]

I'm enjoying a nice, cold glass of tropical punch Kool-Aid, right now. Quite tasty.

[Patrick]

Do you avoid artificial sweeteners and natural sugar alternatives (e.g. Stevia) or just don't like them? (I personally don't like them, haha).

One other thought, if you like lemonade and don't really care for artificial sweeteners is that Trader Joe's (if you have one) has this great low calorie lemonade that comes in a normal and pink variety.

It has some sugar, but less and is partially sweetened with Stevia, which I usually don't like but I can't taste it here. It has 40 calories and 8g of sugar per 8 oz. But I usually add seltzer to it, which adjusts the flavor making it an X lemonade, like a watermelon seltzer makes it watermelon lemonade, etc. So, it's diluted further because of that.

[Wastelander]

I've never had an issue with just drinking water, honestly. Sometimes I'll have tea, but that's usually it. On the rare occasion I feel like I need a hydration boost, I'll usually go for Vitaminwater Zero--typically the Rise flavor, which is reminiscent of orange juice, but without the bite. My wife likes the Liquid IV water additives, though.