Cherry Limonade, a Heart Healthy Drink That May Help With Weight Loss

Those of you who follow me know I don't have the healthiest diet, that hasn't TOTALLY changed but I am trying to eat and be healthier. I quit smoking about 15 months ago after being hospitalized for more than two weeks with pneumonia and was also diagnosed to have an enlarged heart which is also know as congestive heart failure. Along with stopping smoking I also had to limit my salt intake and use of caffiene so I cut way back on coffee and switched from coke to ginger ale, that wasn't that difficult but to replace the cigarettes I was going through a bag of hard candy every day or 2 and got hooked on cheese crackers and I ballooned to 270 lbs! I went on a semi- diet about a month ago (just before the christmas holiday) and even with cheating I'm down to 245lbs! This drink isn't the only reason but it's pne of the primary ones

The quart bottles are a flavored sparkling water with no calories or sodium that are available in the soda or water section of most supermarkets.
bottled water\
 Powdered ginger
 sriracha sauce
 apple cider vinegar
 lemon juice
 diet water flavorents

Ginger is known to help you feel full so you don't eat as much, it also helps prevent fat from being absrbed by stimulating your pancreas and it helps move food through your digestive tract

First of all, what is apple cider vinegar?

Vinegar is a product of fermentation. This is a process in which sugars in a food are broken down by bacteria and yeast. In the first stage of fermentation, the sugars are turned into alcohol. Then, if the alcohol ferments further, you get vinegar. The word comes from the French, meaning "sour wine." While vinegar can be made from all sorts of things -- like many fruits, vegetables, and grains -- apple cider vinegar comes from pulverized apples.The main ingredient of apple cider vinegar, or any vinegar, is acetic acid. However, vinegars also have other acids, vitamins, mineral salts, and amino acids.

 Numerous studies have shown that ACV can help lower high blood pressure and high cholesterol as well as diabetes and some cancers although nothing has been proven, it has also long been thought to aid in weight loss

the main ingredient in any hot pepper is capsaicin which is widely believed to help lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels.It also helps prevent clotting and hardening of arteries (atherosclerosis). Capsaicin may also thin mucus and help move it out of the lungs. It is also thought to strengthen lung tissues and help to prevent or treat emphysema.
  I'm battling a cold with lots of congestion so the mucus cutting ability of capsaicin is an added bonus.
 
 But why the hot sauce? I tried using ground red pepper (cayenne) but it didn't mix well, I do have habanero infused vodka but I can't use that ALL day

lemon juice is thought to aid in digestion and is full of various vitamins, again fresh is better if you can get it

As you can see I reuse the quart bottles by filling them about 1/3 full and freezing them. I fill about another 1/3 with plain bottled water (our tap water is NASTY) then I add an 1/8 teaspoon of powdered ginger, a cap full of ACV and a cap full of lemon juice and then several drops of hot sauce add in the package of flavorent (it's meant for 16oz bottles but I think it's too strong that way) and shake well, now add in the carbonated cherry flavored water and enjoy a healthy cherry limonade