Every day is a delicate balance between drinking enough iced coffee to stay awake, and enough water to stay hydrated and mellow out the caffeine jitters. Instead of trying to walk that very thin line, try a wellness drink. No Goop subscription required.
The category of “wellness drinks” includes an array of beverages and brands, all of which claim that they can give you different benefits. Some claim to give you energy and keep you hydrated, help you relax, aid in digestion, and provide a few other health benefits. Can your Nalgene full of tap water do all that?
Do Wellness Drinks Work?
Depends on what you want them to do. Can they replace vitamins, a healthy diet, and exercise? Probably not. Can they get you a reservation at Nobu on Valentine’s Day? Also probably not.
Many of these wellness drinks contain herbs and adaptogens, which is a fancy name for plants that are used in herbal medicine. And while these ingredients may offer health benefits, the gray area lies in how much you need to consume and how you consume them to get said benefits.
For example, rhodiola has been shown to help relieve anxiety. But in one study, participants who experienced that relief took 340 mg of rhodiola extract for 10 weeks. Most of these wellness beverages provide a limited amount of the herbs, which can weaken the effect.
So although these drinks may not relax you as fast as a shot of tequila or amp you up like a Red Bull, they will likely make you feel better the next morning.
Before you get too thirsty, here are our favorite wellness drinks on the market.
9 Wellness Drinks to Quench Your Thirst
1. Sunwink
Each Sunwink tonic and powder has a mix of herbs formulated to meet specific needs of your mood or body. Grab the three-pack mocktail collection for head to toe healing:
- Detox Ginger with ginger, burdock, and dandelion for digestion
- Lemon-Rose Uplight with lemon balm, rose, and hibiscus for boosting your mood
- Hibiscus Mint Unwind with hibiscus, mint, and ashwagandha for relaxation.
We’re still waiting for a flavor that will cure hiccups, but we’re sure it’s coming soon.
2. Sweet Reason
Sweet Reason makes hemp CBD-infused beverages so you can finally relax enough to unclench your jaw. And your shoulders. Don’t forget the eyebrows! Maybe you should just book a massage?
CBD is the calming chemical from cannabis, so you get the relaxation without getting too high to drive to the store to get snacks. And for feel-good bonus: one percent of every purchase is donated to a mental nonprofit of your choice.
3. Kin Euphorics
Have you ever looked at Bella Hadid and thought, “I’ll have what she’s having?” This is what she’s having. She and her co-founder Jen Batchelor created Kin Euphorics to replace your cocktail with a non-alcoholic mood booster. If only it also gave you her great hair and shoe collection.
When you’re ready to party, instead of drinking a depressant like alcohol, try a Kin Spritz. It has rhodiola rosea for mind clarity, 5-HTP to elevate feel-good serotonin, and gaba to calm the nervous system. You’ll be dancing all night long instead of getting wine-sleepy at 9:30PM. But maybe keep it off the tables?
4. Poppi
Poppi makes sodas that are good for your gut. When we asked the kids at the lemonade stand if they had any lemonade to help with our digestion, they called us poopy-heads. Boomers are mean these days!
But Poppi has Strawberry Lemon Soda with apple cider vinegar to support gut health and stimulate digestion. And, so far, they haven’t called us poopy-heads.
5. Flow
If the cute pink packaging doesn’t make you want to pick up a pack of Flow, then maybe the fact that it’s a collagen-infused alkaline spring water will. Plus, you don’t want to show up to that full moon party empty handed.
Why collagen? It can support healthy skin, nails, hair, and joints. And with flavors like watermelon, blood orange, and cucumber, Flow makes these benefits taste a lot better than Botox or arthritis medicine.
Better yet, that attractive box is made of renewable and recyclable materials. Because killing the sea turtles by filling the ocean with plastic water bottles is also bad for your skin.
6. Curious Elixirs
Curious Elixirs creates booze-free cocktails that are fun to drink at parties, even if you’re just sitting in the corner befriending the house dog.
We love how the bottles look like fancy beer-style bottles, so you can enjoy them without any IPA bros bothering you about why you’re not drinking. Try the Curious No. 2 with damian, a plant that’s been used as an aphrodisiac since ancient times. It tastes like a spicy pineapple margarita, but will leave you with a clear head to make good choices. Like finding another dog to hang out with.
7. Droplet
Don’t be deceived by the can – these are beverages, not works of art. Droplet offers sparkling drinks with whole fruit juice and organic adaptogens for stress relief. Each recipe was developed by an all-female team of designers and food scientists. The fact that no man had his Cheeto dust-covered hands in it already makes us feel better.
If you’re looking for an energy boost, try the Pretty Happy drink. It has passion fruit and cacao for mood lifting, and rhodiola for energy. That is, without the caffeine jitters that make it hard to swipe through Tiktok.
8. Sun Chaser
If you’re the type person who drinks iced coffee all through the winter so you can pretend it’s still summer, this one is for you. Sun Chaser gives you the buzz of a single serving of alcohol, but never gets you drunk.
It doesn’t come that bumble bee you accidentally let into your house. Instead, the buzz comes from nootropic supplements GABA, 5-HTP, and L-Theanine. These impact the parts of your brain that give you stress relief and joy. Marie Kondo approves.
9. Driftwell
Driftwell is a still water beverage for your evening wind down. Which is great, because your yoga mat has a weird stain on it that makes evening yoga anything but relaxing.
These drinks are made with L-theanine, which is an amino acid that is said to ease anxiety and reduce insomnia. Try this to replace your usual bedtime routine of doom scrolling through Twitter until 2:00AM. Elon Musk’s account will still be there in the morning…for better or worse.
In her free time, she enjoys volunteering for reproductive justice causes, dropping that she worked at Walt Disney World into every conversation, and using her Wedding and Events Planner certification to throw Survivor watch parties. See more of her work on her website or follow her on Twitter @maddihiggs.
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