Nutritionists interviewed by RIA Novosti spoke about the effect of popular winter drinks on the body : mulled wine, cocoa, hot chocolate and sea buckthorn tea. Experts also named the danger of some of them.
According to nutritionist Margarita Koroleva, non-alcoholic mulled wine can be made from any juice, but it should be borne in mind that each of them contains a different amount of nutrients and sugar. The specialist added that people who have problems with carbohydrate metabolism should not drink grape juice, as it contains the most sugar. She named pomegranate juice the most useful. “It will provide vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and biologically active components that, when hot, will allow a person to warm up and tone up,” the Queen emphasized.
Dietitian Sergey Oblozhko clarified that the most useful ingredients in mulled wine are spices. According to him, cinnamon, cloves and ginger have a vasodilating effect: they normalize blood pressure, help to warm up and stimulate peripheral circulation. Speaking about alcoholic mulled wine, the Queen noted that the antioxidants contained in red wine contribute to the detoxification of the body, and also “ensure the good functioning of the vascular system and even the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease.”
Cocoa is also called a healthy drink by the interviewed nutritionists. According to experts, it can be drunk by both children and people with blood pressure problems, since cocoa contains less caffeine than tea and coffee. However, beneficial properties, including an increase in the general tone of the body, are contained only in natural cocoa powder: otherwise, the drink can harm and cause allergies.
Cover also advised to be careful with hot chocolate due to its high calorie content. According to the nutritionist, it should be drunk “only by athletes, metallurgists, steelworkers”, since one hundred grams of the drink contains about 500 calories. “If a person goes in for sports, went skiing or went for a walk all day, then this drink will give strength before training, during or after. But it is better not to drink it while sitting on the couch,” the specialist warned.
At the same time, experts considered sea buckthorn tea a useful drink. “We are now in winter, we do not have enough fruits and vegetables in our diet, so thawing sea buckthorn from the middle of winter is an excellent option to charge with vitamin C,” advised Cover.
Previously, nutritionist Nuria Dianova told that New Year’s salads can be dangerous. According to her, the shelf life of most of the dishes prepared for the holiday does not exceed one or two days. She stressed that cold dishes, in particular salads, spoil especially quickly, so they can be easily poisoned.