I am so excited to announce that today Painted Teacup has a guest blogger!
Today’s post on how to naturally reduce your sugar intake comes to us from Krista at My Naturally Crazy Life. Krista is the mother of three beautifully rambunctious children, a wife, a Registered Massage Therapist, a hobby photographer, and a lover of essential oils. She states “It’s busy, and crazy, and in constant chaos but I wouldn’t trade it for the world!”
Without further ado, I’d like to turn it over to Krista!
How to Naturally Reduce Your Sugar Intake
I love pop (soda??? is that what they call it in the states?) whatever, I love sugary carbonated beverages! I also like losing weight… so these two things didn’t exactly go well together. Thus my mission to substitute my pop (soda?) with something healthier had begun.
I’ve been on a journey to make our lives a little healthier and cutting out things with chemicals wherever I could. Kids had a fever? Lavender please! I had a migraine? Frankincense and marjoram every time. Cleaning the house? Orange oil, lemon oil, tangerine, I wasn’t being too picky, they all work! At night, when the kids went to bed, I would without fail reach for a pop. I loved the fizz, the sugar, the taste, mmmmmm… but something had to change. I wasn’t getting enough water during the day and I was only making it worse by drinking caffeinated, sugar filled drinks in the evening. I needed to drink more water! But ordinary water sucks. It’s boring. I decided to change that. My first stop? Pinterest! All you needed was to grow your own mint, have your own berry farm… Oh what’s that? You have nine clients back to back, no break, your kids were taking turns waking up the night before just for shits and giggles, well now I want you to pick fresh berries, squeeze cranberries, cut a lemon, grow some mint, and make your water for the day… oh yeah? Good luck with that!
All I saw was a whole lot of nopes. I wanted something easy that I could do in no time and still tasted great. So once again I turned to my essential oils (only use pure therapeutic grade essential oils that are safe to ingest)! Which oils I use depend on the time of day, my mood, and what i’m trying to get out of it. Here are my top 5 recipes and why I use them in particular. Also, keep in mind that I use an 800 ML glass water bottle (do not use plastic) for all of these. It is important to note that whether or not you should ingest essential oils is a very hot debate! Before choosing to ingest essential oils, please do your homework! I think you will find this post helpful in your research Should You Ingest Essential Oils: The Ongoing Debate.
Top 5 Water Recipes using Essential Oils
1: This is my ‘I just woke up now lets get this body moving‘ recipe.
- 800 ML of water
- 5 drops of lemon essential oil… that’s it.
It really doesn’t have to be complicated to be delicious! Lemon oil has a million and one uses from helping with kidney stones to helping in reducing anxiety.
2: This is one of my favorites. I’ll make this one when I’m at work and have a busy day.
- 800 ML of water
- 2-3 drops of Lemon essential oil
- 3-5 drops of Tangerine essential oil.
Tangerine is my absolute favorite oil to have in my water, it tastes fantastic and as a bonus is an anti-inflammatory.
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3: This one I use when I’m feeling a little wound up and need to settle down a bit.
- 800 ML of water
- 5 drops of Tangerine essential oil
- 1-2 drops of Juniper Berry essential oil.
Juniper berry has a nice woodsy aroma, helps promote healthy digestion and emotional balance. A little goes a long way with this one though, I say 1 to 2 drops mostly because a second drop usually ends up sneaking out before I can stop it. One is more than enough.
4: This is my ‘I need some energy/ I had garlic for lunch and my clients won’t appreciate it’ blend.
- 800 ML of water
- 5 drops of Lemon essential oil
- 1 drop of Spearmint essential oil.
Trust me when I say you need to do your best to not let that second drop get into your water! I love the flavour but even one drop is strong! Spearmint is antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, antispasmotic, a stimulant. etc etc. Basically it rocks and I love it.
5: This is my ‘I have some time on my hands so I’m going to mad scientist this drink‘
- 800 ML of water
- 2-3 drops of Lemon essential oil
- 2-3 drops of tangerine essential oil
- 1 drop of Juniper Berry essential oil, and if I’m feeling brave,
- 1 drop of wild orange essential oil.
I find the wild orange has a strong, sweet flavour. Not always my thing but once in a while it makes a good addition. Wild orange can help as an anti-depressant and uplift your mood, it can also help digestive and immune systems.
I have a special case that I keep in my work bag that can hold about 14 essential oils. Which ones I bring on any particular day depend greatly on how I feel that morning, but for the most part I will always have those oils in there. Using Pure Therapeutic Grade Essential oils in my water has significantly increased my water intake during the day which in turn has made me feel better over all and has helped me keep from getting terribly sick. At the end of the day, kids are germ factories and I massage people for a living so I’m going to get sick at some point! Now I can nip it in the bud and not have to crawl into bed and sleep it off for three days. I was also used to having at least one pop during the day and now I go weeks sometimes without even thinking about it, and when I do drink one I find I don’t enjoy them as much as I used to.
I’m definitely happy I decided to switch to a healthy alternative! You can also add these oils to a bottle of carbonated water if you find you just miss the fizz too much! It’s a great alternative and your body will thank you for it.
I would like to thank Krista so much for her contribution to Painted Teacup! She has definitely inspired me to reduce my sugar intake and I am excited to try out these recipes! You can read more of Krista’s essential oil posts here!
What do you do to motivate you to drink more water?
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Love the essential oil recipes! I was able to quit drinking soda a few years ago, but it’s nice to get some recipes for a refresher. I love lemon in water, but I love the idea of lemon essential oil in water more! Thanks for sharing:)
AW, this is realy very informative, i love the lemons part! I would really include it now with my drinking habit,, i wish you could write a post on how to naturally remove acids esp when drinking acidic drinks/foods like coffee! 🙂
Recently (maybe 2 years ago) I decided to drink ONLY water (expect for occasional nights out) and it’s been great! Cutting soda out of my life was one of the best things I’ve ever done <3
I had no idea that you could drink the oils. I love the idea of this. I tend to drink way too much soda and I know I need to stop. I have cut back but I replaced it with coffee. Not sure that was the best move.
I had no idea that tangerine essential is also a anti-inflammatory that is good to know, it is great to find new ways to mix it up when it comes to water as I tend to drink a lot more of it now in the summer and it’s easy to get bored with it.
Tracy @ Ascending Butterfly
Didn’t know they had a tangerine essential oil (or a lemon one for that matter) that you could add to water and drink. I do try to drink lots of water but it can get boring.
As someone who limits sugar, your blog post was an interesting read today! There are so many hidden sugars in all store bought product, it can sometimes be difficult to decipher!
These are great recipes. I never tried using essential oils with water. Diabetes runs in my family and I am doing my best not to consume too much sugar. I will follow your tips. Thanks for sharing.
These are great recipes – I’ve never tried essential oils before. I do know it’s important to reduce inflammation!
We call them soda I remember the first time I heard pop I was like what you popping lol. I have to add something to my water drinking it alone can’t do it.
I love the idea of putting essential oils in wter! Love that idea!
I know I should be drinking a lot more water than I do. Having a nice light taste in my water would probably help.
Thank you for sharing these wonderful recipes. I have essential oils here at home, but I never tried adding them to my drinking water.
These are great and very helpful not just for people who are controlling their sugar. Never thought that we could intake essential oils, but I would really like to try #3.
Interesting! I had no idea you could do that. I’ve been trying to reduce my sugar intake so I’ll have to try this out.
I have just started to use essential oils. These are great recipes for drinks throughout the day, especially the names describing them. I love the benefits I am getting from the essential oils for my health.
Most foodies have a hard time to reduce their sugar intake as many food contain sugar. Substituting sweet drinks to water is one of the challenges that’s hard to give up. Definitely those essential oil + water will help. I have an app with me that rings like an alarm to remind me to drink water.
Ahhhhh I use to be the biggest soda addict ever! It was so hard to cute it out of my life. I
We actually drink quite a lot of water in my house. My son loves it just plain. I waver between plain and flavored.
I knew thought about drinking essentials oils but then again you need to know your stuff. I am with you on how much water sucks, such a great guest post
I absolutely love Pepsi but I know (knew) that in order to move the scale in the direction that I wanted, I needed to lose the pop. I have one every now and then when a heavy meal like TexMex or something.
I’ve started adding mint and lemon to my water for a bit of flavor. I thought it was odd at first but it’s very refreshing and I drink more of it.
This has been my big thing lately, cutting the kids back on sugar. I think once you stop overindulging, it’s not quite as tasty/good to indulge.
I love drinking a cup of hot water with fresh lemon in it. My husband thinks it’s a weird to do ;0
I don’t believe in using essential oils this much but I definitely need to watch my sugar intake!
Really great ways to reduce sugar intake. It’s crazy the amount of hidden sugar that’s in foods and drinks that you think may be healthy.
very helpful . really appreciated the reduce sugar intake coz im addicted to an sweets but too much was dangerous thanks for this idea
Fantastic tips on reducing the sugar in our lives! I can be a little guilty, but I’m always looking for ways to reduce sugar. I’m a big water drinker, so I’m sure that helps.
Hello! I just wanted to let you know that this post was in my top two picks for this week at #AnythingGoes. Congratulations and see you next week
these are really delicious ideas to entice someone to drink more water. i am naturally a heavy water drinker but i get all my sugar from carbo-loading. i think i ought to eat less rice to lessen my sugar intake!
I love the idea of making flavored water with essential oils. I usually add fresh lemon to my water but I plan to try these combos. My hubby is a sugar lover so I am forwarding this article to him to read. Thanks for sharing How to Naturally Reduce Your Sugar Intake with us on the Healthy Happy Green and Natural Party Blog Hop. I’m pinning and sharing.
You are so right that just giving up pop can make a big difference. A friend of mine lost over 40 lbs by just giving up pop and switching to water!
I’m terrible at drinking water
but have stopped fizzy drinks. Still drink too much coffee.
Love the essential oil idea, will have to try it.
I rarely drink soda, but once in awhile I want something more than just plain water. My mom found this great recipe.
About a cup of club soda, add a couple squirts of lemon juice and a packet of stevia (about 2 tsp). Add some ice, mix well. Enjoy!
Might have to play around with the amounts, I just kind of guess. I love that it still has the fizz and none of the calories :-).
I’m just curious about how to get the oil to distribute through the water. We all know oil and water don’t mix, anytime I’ve added oil to a drink it just sits in a little blob and then gets ingested all at once. Do you have a secret to dilute or spread it out. I agree with everyone that water is so much easier to drink if it has a little flavor, and I love adding fruits and herbs to my water. Excited about the idea of using essential oils to give water another nutritional boost, but not keen on sucking down a little oil drop all in one swallow. HELP please.
Thank you
Hi Laurissa, great question! I recommend shaking the bottle before drinking or if you have it in a glass use a stainless steel straw. The straw helps you to stir regularly and helps to avoid getting the oil all at once. Hope this helps 🙂
Why can’t you use a plastic water bottle?
No, NO, NOOOOOO! Essential oils do no mix with water for a reason! https://lifeholistically.com/attention-essential-oil-enthusiasts-no-more-drinking-your-oils/