A lot of my friends are big coffee drinkers – some to the point where they need it to function. I, on the other hand, would enjoy a cup once in a while for the aroma or if I’m craving that bitter taste of chocolate. Of course, I grew up drinking tea in China, more frequent than drinking water even. Being Chinese, I’m definitely truer to my roots. Anyway, back to the subject of coffee. When I started paying closer attention to food that assist weight loss, I noticed that there were mixed feelings towards coffee.
Some people say it’s beneficial to drink coffee if you want to lose weight because it speeds up your metabolism and it also provides a healthy dose of antioxidants. However some time back, I read a book called Eat to Live: The Amazing Nutrient-Rich Program for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss by Joel Fuhrman, M.D., who discourages people from drinking coffee if one can help it. Essentially, coffee is a drug that replaces your body’s production of stimulants, which is why in the long run, you become reliant on it as a result of over-consumption. He explains others reasons as well on his website.
Afterwards, I began avoiding coffee, choosing tea instead for that boost of antioxidant. Until one day, I picked up a bottle of Bai5. It’s made from coffee berry. They are the fruit around the coffee bean. The berries are often discarded during coffee bean extraction process. After doing a it more research, I found out that recently, the new hype has been around this “superfruit”. It is high in antioxidant and other nutrients as well as containing trace amounts of caffeine.
I was first drawn to Bai5 by my curiosity of this fruit. I’m also a sucker for advertisement and so I was drawn by the large fonts printed on the label that says ANTIOXIDANT INFUSIONS. Secondly, I had wanted to drink something fruity and sweet without taking in the calories from sugar. A bottle of Bai5 has 10 calories total. It became my favorite low-calorie, fruit-flavored drink ever since.
I’ve tried the pomegranate, the dragon fruit, the blueberry and the lemon. My favorite is the pomegranate because it’s the most tart and it’s the least sweet and artificial tasting. The lemon is my second choice. I like it that it contains 4% juice, but obviously not the main reason I go for it. I figure, if I get tired of drinking tea or water and in need of something sweet and cool, it’s a good alternative. Click on the bottle for more flavor options.
I don’t encourage drinking one every day because it’s slightly on the costly side at $2.99-$3.99 a bottle and despite it being naturally derived from a type of herb and GMO-free corn, it’s still artificially concocted. Best thing to do, stick with water. It’s the best hydrant and will help flush out any unwanted chemical buildups in your body. But if you want to satisfy that sweet tooth, it’s not a bad treat!
BEAUTY iN Excess 