Forgotten Quenchers of the past !

Fair to say that water is not the only quencher around these days, yet water is the most simplest and the most essential of the lot, Pulpy Juices and nectars have filled the shelves of the commercial vendor, As every high quality nutritive supplementis either replaced or scorched out, Generations are forced to venture into unfavorable grounds that the consequences are quite demanding and at times prove to be fatal on the longer run.

Rising consumption of sugary drinks has been a major contributor to the obesity epidemic. A typical 20-ounce soda contains 15 to 18 teaspoons of sugar and upwards of 240 calories. A 64-ounce fountain cola drink could have up to 700 calories. People who drink this “liquid candy” do not feel as full as if they had eaten the same calories from solid food and do not compensate by eating less.  

Harvard School of Public health sates the following :

A 20-year study on 120,000 men and women found that people who increased their sugary drink consumption by one 12-ounce serving per day gained more weight over time—on average, an extra pound every 4 years—than people who did not change their intake. Other studies have found a significant link between sugary drink consumption and weight gain in children. One study found that for each additional 12-ounce soda children consumed each day, the odds of becoming obese increased by 60% during 1½ years of follow-up. 

People who consume sugary drinks regularly—1 to 2 cans a day or more—have a 26% greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes than people who rarely have such drinks. Risks are even greater in young adults and Asians.

A study that followed 40,000 men for two decades found that those who averaged one can of a sugary beverage per day had a 20% higher risk of having a heart attack or dying from a heart attack than men who rarely consumed sugary drinks. A related study in women found a similar sugary beverage–heart disease link. 

Commercialization plays a major role, People do tend to make money like leeches preying on victims yet more to say cannibals who feed on their own race, In this democratic world its freedom used in a shrewd way, We can capitalize by boycotting and venturing into beverages which the nature had given to us, the fresh pulpy nectars are a good sign and yet if one is bored, there is always the local history which caters our taste pallets.

One such forgotten drink is the “Vasantha Neer” literally means Pleasant water, 

An exotic drink from the kaveri belt of South India. Vasanthammeans pleasant and neer is water, Sweet as well as slightly tangy and both perfectly balanced.  

Ingredients  • 1 1/4 Cup Tender coconut water • Juice of  1/2 Lime • 1/4 Cup Mango nectar (1) • 1 Tbsp Honey • Bunch of Mint leaves

Instructions  Finely chop the mint leaves and mix honey in a Tbsp of warm water.  Now mix everything in a jug and chill it in the refrigerator for half an hour. Serve it chilled.

Instead of mango nectar, you can also add mango pulp or mango pieces. I am actually not sure about the addition of mango in this dish. Sometimes it is served with Mango and sometimes not. But adding mango was very delicious.

Mixing honey in warm water helps in dissolving the honey faster and it will be evenly mixed, 

There is quite a few in each culture and with the globalization in fast-track we could easily bid adieu to the aerated drinks of this era.