Nearly every night after dinner we cut up a fruit plate for a sweet, delicious end to a meal. These veggie-loving twin sisters also have a nasty sweet tooth, and the fruit plate helps to quench it in a healthy way.  Plus, as registered dietitian nutritionists, it makes us feel good to know that we’re also stepping up our antioxidant game by getting the extra phytonutrients from the fruit. Lyssie’s winter fruit go-tos tend to be apple, grapefruit and oranges since they’re some of her boyfriends’ in-season faves. Tammy’s go-tos tend to be pears, mangos, apples, oranges and pomegranates since they too are seasonal and some of her daughters’ faves.

After receiving requests from many of you (as well as from our clients) for new combos of what we call our “clean-tox” drinks in our 21-Day Body RebootTM (thank you for letting us know how monumental these drinks have been in helping with your weight loss, flushing bloat, bringing on a flat belly and flooding the body with antioxidants [see below to find out how the magic happens! — Our 21-Day Body RebootTM program attendees have experienced this too!] — it makes us so happy!), Lyssie headed to Tammy’s house to make a new creation inspired by a few of the fruits from our winter fruit plates. Lyssie grabbed an orange from Tammy’s fruit bowl and dove into Tammy’s fridge, surfacing with basil in one hand and kiwis in the other—and soon after our Orange Kiwi Basil “Flat Belly” Drink was born!

Looking for more Clean-tox “detox” drinks? Please feel free to search this site!

And here are a few more to try:
Cucumber Blueberry Water Flush
Lemon Ginger Turmeric Tea “Detox”
Lemon Ginger Detox drink
Vitamin C Infused “Detox” Water

And now we’ve got this dreamy number!

We know, it sounds too good to be true, a drink that helps with all of these things, yet is so simple to make, but here are the ingredients behind it all:

 

The water:

This is a major part of the secret behind this drink’s belly-flattening secret! Most people don’t drink enough water, but this lil yumster makes you want to keep sipping. If you’re not drinking enough water to balance out the salt in your diet, especially if you eat salty snacks, restaurant meals, aren’t eating as well as you’d like, etc., then you feel especially puffy! Your body likes salt to be at a very particular concentration in the body. Eat too much salt and your body holds on to water to dilute the salt. And when you hold on to excess water, that’s when all holy heck breaks lose!– You feel BLOATED & puffy! ICK!

• Drinking plenty of water helps keep you hydrated so your body can flush excess sodium and waste, making you feel light and energized. Water also helps push waste out of your colon (i.e., helps prevent constipation, keeping you regular and flushing out any gut bulges that come with the waste!)- hello flat-tummy!

The Orange:

(Since we were kids, when we felt ourselves getting sick, we’d load up on oranges and orange juice and we’d either end up not getting sick or being sick for less time than our friends- consider the oranges in this drink a good kick-start to the immune system!).

Their chockfull of vitamin C, an antioxidant that helps boost your immune system, keeps inflammation at bay and rid your body of toxins by fighting off damaging particles and by regenerating other antioxidants to reduce the effects of environmental pollutants.

Here, we break it down even more:

• When your body is bombarded with constant inflammation not only from things like alcohol, refined sugars, and chemicals in processed foods—also from stress, pollution, etc., your body’s inflammatory response works harder to keep you healthy. Keeping up with that constant inflammation takes a lot of work from your body and can wear down your immune system, leading to everything from the common cold to chronic health issues. Soo…
• the moment you get run down, if you’re human 😉 your flat-belly intentions fall by the wayside—you likely don’t eat as well or focus on exercise, either. Plus, your body can’t operate in tip-top shape when its’ immune system is constantly being challenged. Eating and drinking foods with anti-inflammatory ingredients (like the orange!) help fight that constant inflammation so your body can work efficiently to flush toxins and recharge your system.

The kiwi:

Kiwi is a good source of sodium-flushing water and waste-flushing fiber, so it helps to create a lean, flat-looking belly.

• Hanging out in a bikini is no fun when you’re bloated, and the kiwi (and the orange!) are great sources of potassium, which helps flush out sodium and to normalize fluid balance (buh-bye bloat!).

• Packed with more vitamin C than an equivalent amount of an orange, kiwis are superstar powers when it comes to their antioxidant capabilities; they’re great for mopping up toxins that harm the body, age it, and cause disease. They neutralize toxins and fight inflammation, keeping your entire body healthy. Plus, since vitamin C is critical in collagen formation, it’s great for keeping your skin young and supple.

• The sweet, yet slightly tart flavor of the kiwi helps keep cravings at bay. Keep sipping this drink (below) throughout the day long to help to fight cravings to help you to avoid heading to the vending machine, while also making your abs look great!

 

The basil:

We‘re pretty obsessed with basil and we’ve been known to simply chew on some leaves, but we do often simply enjoy it with some tomato—and before hitting the pool, this may be an especially good idea! Basil works wonders for flat bellies! It’s in the same family as mint, so it calms down your digestive system when you’ve got stomach issues that are making your gut feel unsettled and bloated and keeps everything running smoothly. Add it to water for the ultimate bloat-flusher, and you can kiss puffiness goodbye!

• Basil is also rich in vitamin K, which is important for blood clotting; it’s rich in beta carotene and contains potent flavonoids that protect our DNA against damage.

And that, our friends, seals our “flat-belly” drink deal!

Got questions? Want to know more about how it helps your body? Please ask in the comments!

We can’t wait to hear what you think of this drink! Drop us a comment and let us know! And especially let us know how you feel after sipping it throughout the day!

 

Orange Kiwi Basil “Flat-Belly” Drink
Makes 2 servings

Ingredients:
16 ounces water
1/2 orange, cut in slices so flavor
1 kiwi, cut into slices
Several leaves fresh basil, add to your liking

Directions:
Simply add the fruit and basil to 16 ounces of water and stir. Refrigerate and enjoy!

Nutrition information:
Calories per serving: 5 without eating the fruit. 15 calories per serving if eat one-half of the fruit.