Start New Year's Resolutions Early: 6 Healthy, Nonalcoholic Mocktails
7 minute read
New Year’s is right around the corner and for many that means resolutions. One of the most common promises at the end of the holiday season is to give up or limit alcohol consumption, which ends up being beneficial for your health.
But starting a healthy resolution doesn’t mean you should spend the last night before it begins breaking it as much as possible. Surprise yourself and get started early on being healthy.
This doesn’t mean that your party this year will be a dud. There are plenty of exciting drink options to help jumpstart your healthy resolution while keeping in holiday spirit.
6 Healthier New Year’s Drinks You Must Try
To kick your New Year off right, offer the guests at your party nonalcoholic mocktails as an alternative to the other alcoholic drinks you may have available to guests. This gives attendees a chance to join you in your resolution and offers options for those who cannot drink.
These drinks give the flare of New Year without the extra calories of most alcoholic drinks and are sure to be a hit.
1. Lemon Lavender Mocktini
A healthier spin on a classic martini, using lavender helps to protect you from inflammation which has been linked to serious diseases including diabetes, asthma, heart disease, and cancer.
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tbsp. lavender simple syrup
1/4 tsp. Grenadine
3 dashes bitters
To make the lavender simple syrup, combine 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 tablespoon dried lavender to a saucepan. Bring to a boil then turn off the heat. Let mixture cool in the pan and then strain out the lavender.
Combine this in a shaker with ice and shake until cold. Strain into glass and top off with club soda. Garnish with fresh lavender.
2. Mock Winter Sangria
Getting plenty of fresh berries not only makes this drink tasty, it delivers powerful antioxidants, which promote overall health. Antioxidants help to remove free radicals that can cause oxidative damage to your cells and serious disease.
1 diced pear
1 sliced orange
1 cup fresh cranberries
1/4 cup fresh raspberries
2 cups pineapple juice
2 cups cranberry juice
1 2-liter bottle ginger ale
Combine all ingredients except the ginger ale in a large pitcher. If desired, let sit in fridge for 1 to 4 hours to let the flavors mingle. Add chilled ginger ale and serve immediately.
3. Sparkling Cranberry Ginger Punch
You can’t really go wrong with ginger, which makes this holiday punch delicious and beneficial to your health. Ginger not only gives just the right amount of spice to a drink, it also contains gingerol.
This compound acts as an anti-inflammatory agent and reduces muscle pains. Gingerol has long been used for its medicinal properties and now you and your guests can benefit too.
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh gingerroot
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
8 cans (8.4 oz each) sparkling cranberry juice
16 lime slices, frozen
1 bag (12 oz) fresh cranberries, frozen
1. In a 1-quart saucepan, heat water, sugar, and ginger root to boiling over a high heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, cool, and then strain. Refrigerate until well chilled.
2. In a large pitcher or punch bowl, mix 1/2 cup of the already prepared ginger syrup and the lime juice (keep remaining ginger syrup refrigerated for later use). Add cranberry juice, lime slices and cranberries and serve chilled.
4. Blueberry Moscow Mule
Blueberries are one of the most powerful antioxidant foods on the planet and they also make perfect addition to this alternative Moscow Mule favorite. Regularly consuming blueberries has been shown to increase protection against oxidative damage, which prevents premature aging in your cells.
1/4 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 lime
1 teaspoon sugar
1 (9 oz) ginger beer
Crushed ice
Add blueberries to a large glass with lime wedges and sugar. Muddle ingredients together well. Transfer blueberry mixture to a copper mug and add crushed ice. Pour in ginger beer, stir, and serve chilled.
5. Raspberry Frost Sodas
1 bottle (64 ounces) cranberry juice cocktail, chilled
2 containers (1/2 gallon each) raspberry sherbet
3 bottles ginger ale, chilled
Pour a ¼ cup cranberry juice into each of the 24 short, wide glasses. Place 1 scoop of sherbet into each glass and fill with ginger ale.
6. Pineapple Mint Mojito
Make a healthy mojito without the rum. Pineapples and pineapple juice are full of vitamin C and antioxidants that boost your immune system, promote bone health as well as brain health, and prevents vision loss. There is so much to this fruit that the expression should be “a pineapple a day keeps the doctor away”.
10 fresh mint leaves, plus more for garnish
2 packets of Splenda
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1 juiced lime
1/2 club soda
In a cocktail shaker, muddle mint leaves with the Splenda. Add pineapple juice, lime juice, and ice, then shake vigorously for 15 seconds. Strain into a tall glass filled with ice and top with club soda. Garnish with a sprig of mint and serve.
Why Less Alcohol Matters
Apart from the numerous health benefits of the ingredients to these mocktails, there are advantages for avoiding alcohol too.
Alcohol impairs your cognitive abilities, specifically memory and judgement, which can put you in dangerous situations. With prolonged use, alcohol can damage brain cells, leading to poor cognitive performance and even neurodegeneration.
| Related: 11 Reasons Why You Should Drink More Lemon Water |
In addition to this, alcohol increases blood sugar levels which contributes to the development of diabetes. It also impacts your cardiovascular health by increasing blood pressure and causing damage to blood vessels.
The Bottom Line
Whatever your reason for switching to mocktails for the holiday, the body enjoys many benefits from reducing alcohol consumption and consuming health-boosting ingredients.
There is no need to worry about having a dull party either, because these 6 mocktails are full of flavor, full of spirit, and will be the hit of any party. (And you don’t have to ban alcohol from other people’s glasses.) Plus, there is nothing better than starting the New Year off with a healthy new twist.
