Let’s face it. Water can be bland. Sure, if it is 105 degrees outside and you are parched, any water your desiccated self imbibes will tastelike nectar from the gods. But in general, water can be boring. And as the adage “Variety is the spice of life” tells us, sometimes we need to mix things up. One way is fruit-infused water. So let’s look at some Fruit-Infused Water Recipes.
Fruit-Infused Water Recipes
Why Fruit-Infused Water Recipes? Not just because water may be bland, but because fruit-infused water gives you the benefits of fruit but without the insulin-spiking sugar. Naturopathic Earth has another article on 9 Mind-Blowing Fruit-Infused Water Recipes. In it we cover some classics as Strawberry Lemonade, Mint Pineapple, Cherry Lime, and more. Check it out again.
Use Toxin-Free H2O
Fruit-Infused Water is so easy to make. First off, start out with filtered water if you can. And preferably distilled to avoid the neurologic, hormone disrupting chemical, fluoride, which is in the majority of municipal water systems in the country.
Fluoride lowers IQ points by 20 points. (If you don’t believe me, check out the Harvard study.) We think it is so important for NPE readers to be aware of fluoride that we have two articles (History of How Fluoride Got Into Our Water & How Fluoride Destroys Our Body) and two Holistic Health News podcast episodes on it for those who love aural stimulation more than sight.
So yes, fluoride is pretty bad. We recommend you buy a filtration system that removes fluoride not just from your drinking water but from your shower. Our fluoride exposure is greater from showers than ingestion. Also these filters will take out other harmful chemicals like chlorine and radon 222. So the best Fruit-Infused Water Recipes will use distilled water (which is fluoride-free) or water than has been purified by a fluoride-filter (regular filters do NOT remove fluoride).
No Insulin Spike
One of the benefits of fruit-infused water recipes is that you are getting the phytonutrient benefits of fruits and herbs but not the actual juice. Fruit juice is one of the biggest shams of nutritional science. We are inculcated from an early age that apple, orange, or grape juices are “good” for us. We extrapolate from the fact that since fruits are good for us, so must the juice.
If Seinfeld had a fruit Nazi, he would say “No fruit for you!” Fruit juice is loaded with fructose sugar. Once ingested, your body will release insulin to try to control the insane amount of pure sugar you just put in your body. And it is a pure unadulterated sugar-spike because there is no fiber with the juice.
When we eat fruits, the beneficial fiber in it slows down the release of sugar thus allow the body to handle it better. With juice there is no fiber at all, so loads of insulin is released quickly. The insulin will do its best to shunt this blood sugar into the liver and organs, but in general it can’t, resulting in an eventual sugar crash and possible long-term insulin resistance and diabetes. So stay away from store-bought fruit juices. Green juices are another story. Check out one of our recipes.
Pesticide Issue
Not all produce is created equal vis-a-vis nutrients. The same may be said about their pesticide load. Some fruits & vegetables absorb more of the toxic, carcinogenic, hormone-disrupting pesticides we spray on them constantly than others. For example, apple, the berries, spinach absorb more and thus should be purchased organic. Bananas, avocados, citrus fruits don’t. Buy those regular.
So for these fruit-infused water recipes try to either use organic produce or those that don’t absorb a lot. How do you know? Check out our article on the EWG’s Annual Dirty Dozen list which enumerates the fruits and veggies that you must buy organic and those that you don’t. (We have a Holistic Health New episode on it as well.) Or go to EWG directly. Great resource.
“Break” Fast?
These fruit-infused water recipes don’t break your fast. Fasting is a great biohack to maintain optimal health as well as lose weight quickly. Since there in minute amount of sugar infused into the water, you do not fall out of the fasting state when drinking these fruit-infused water recipes. Now if you add honey to them, you WILL break your fast. This why the recipes below do NOT include honey. They are au natural.
Fasting is very important in the NPE world. I have been daily fasting for over 4 years. It is a great way to starve out tumors and improve mental cognition, testosterone levels in the body and more. Click HERE to learn more about intermittent fasting.
To review, fruit-infused water recipes are great. They bring subtle flavor to our otherwise bland water while also allowing us to enjoy the phytonutrients, electrolytes, enzymes, and vitamins found in the fruit. They hydrate, they don’t break our fast, and they don’t spike our sugar.
Remember, use filtered water and produce that is either organic or doesn’t absorb pesticides at a high rate. Enjoy!
For the lavender fruit-infused water recipe, use culinary lavender like the one shown above. (More info below.)
Add one grapefruit, thinly sliced with the rind, and 1/2 cup of slightly mashed up organic raspberries. Add 2 cups of organic grapes but in halves and one thinly sliced orange with rind. (Orange does not need to be organic.) Peel and thinly slice one mango (non-organic is fine) with a cup of well-chopped pineapple (non-organic). Add two thinly-sliced oranges (non-organic) with a cup of organic blueberries. Add thinly sliced cucumber with no rind and 1 cup of mint sprigs. Add 1 teaspoon of culinary lavender. (Don't use lavender purchased from a florist or nursery since many are doused in pesticides. You may use naturally-growing lavender from your garden. Chop finely but don't over do it, for it will overpower the water. It is best to use culinary lavender. Add 1/2 cup of slightly mashed-up organic raspberries with 2 thinly sliced lemons with the rind. Cut up watermelon and add 5 thick wedges to the water. Add 1 cup of mint sprigs with 3 thinly-sliced limes with the rind. 
Ingredients
Instructions
Grapefruit Raspberry
Grape Orange
Mango Pineapple
Citrus Blueberry
Lavender Cucumber Mint
Raspberry Lemon
Watermelon Mint Lime