If you love cocktail parties but hate the idea of ruining your fitness and health goals, find out how you can still drink your delicious cocktails…but with less sugar and calories:
1. Swap lemonade for soda water
We all know that lemonade is full of sugar and the low sugar versions are often full of artificial sweeteners, which also aren’t great. So try swapping the lemonade for soda water. Soda water has zero calories and, although it won’t quite give your cocktail the amount of fizz you are used to it having, it will still taste great.
2. Use fresh fruit juices with no added sugar
By using fresh fruit juice you’ll know that you’re not drinking any nasty preservatives or added sugar, so your cocktail will instantly be getting a healthier start. Make this simple swap for a much healthier recipe.
3. Stick to low calorie alcohol
This one’s a pretty obvious suggestion; avoid calorie-dense alcohol, such as Irish creme and chocolate liquor. Instead opt for vodka, whisky, rum or gin. Creamy cocktails are also more likely to make you feel a sense of guilt immediately after drinking them because of the thick consistency, so stick to the lighter spirits.
4. Watch your serving sizes
Size matters – if you’re at home it’s easy to get carried away and pour what most bars would probably class as a jug into one glass. Keep an eye on your serving sizes in the same way you would with a meal.
5. Replace fruit syrups with fruit puree
For cocktail recipes that require fruit syrups, simply replace the sugary syrups with fruit puree. Blend fresh fruit into a puree and add that to the cocktails; this way you avoid any of the added sugar or other nasty surprises that may be lurking in the fruit syrups ingredients list.
Catherine Roberts, writer for www.activebeat.com, makes her own puree for her cocktails and stores them in jars ready to use…I don’t know about you, but I’m inspired to do the same.
6. Consider using vegetables instead of fruit
This might sound crazy but a really easy way to cut the sugar from your cocktails is to make them using vegetables. I found some fantastic recipes at Organic Authority. I’ve tried the cucumber martini and it’s lovely and refreshing!
7. Ditch the alcohol
Some of you might read this and think I’ve gone crazy…how can you have a cocktail without alcohol!? My answer to that is…easily! I recently made a non-alcoholic cocktail (mocktail) after finding the recipe on Honey, what’s cooking? and it was delicious! This idea won’t appeal to everyone, but give it a go and see what you think.
By making these small changes, the flavour of your cocktails won’t be altered too much, but they will contain far less sugar and calories.
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