Consumers increasingly desire drinks that promote physical and emotional well-being. Innovative brands provide this solution, offering beverages formulated with herbs, spices and botanicals known to offer health benefits.
Refreshing flavors like citrus, berry blends and herbal infusions blend seamlessly with healthy messaging, creating an ideal connection between taste and the benefits of these functional beverages.
Apple Cider Vinegar Sodas
Apple cider vinegar has long been touted for its healthful properties, such as weight loss, digestion and blood sugar reduction. Unfortunately, its tart taste may make it less desirable. Enter various drinks that combine this functional ingredient with fruit juices, natural flavors and sweeteners to make drinking this powerful treatment more appealing.
Poppi’s Sparkling Apple Cider Vinegar Prebiotic is one such beverage. Made with sparkling water and organic ACV, cherry, and citrus juices; lightly sweetened with raw honey, monk fruit extract and stevia; this carbonated beverage boasts over 3,000 Amazon reviews; it exemplifies an emerging functional drinks trend that prioritizes gut health using natural ingredients.
Hip Pop’s mission to introduce their wellness product in the UK opens up an opportunity for retailers. A cup a day could support weight management, lower cholesterol levels and reduce acid reflux symptoms.
Hemp Sparkling Water
Drinks containing CBD (cannabidiol), an extract derived from cannabis plants, have become increasingly popular. You can now purchase them in many flavors and forms from multiple brands – from gummies and coffee to tinctures – but among wellness-oriented consumers the sparkling water variety stands out as particularly notable.
Sparkling waters offer naturally refreshing effervescence that provides a revitalizing boost of effervescence – making them the ideal foundation for wellness drinks. Infused sparkling waters combine this invigorating effect with healing properties from plants or herbs to produce therapeutic beverages that may enhance overall wellness.
Brands like Aprch and Recess offer zero proof craft mocktails made with natural feel-good ingredients such as fruit, herbs and L-theanine combined with mood-boosting adaptogens to help people relax, focus and stay balanced. Recess also offers CBD-infused sparkling water containing 25mg of broad spectrum hemp extract per can and no grams or calories added; our testers preferred Watermelons Kiwi and Lemon + Cucumber flavors among these.
Collagen Drinks
Collagen is an essential component of connective tissues found throughout our bodies – such as bones, muscles and tendons – as well as helping strengthen hair, nails and skin which may lose elasticity with age.
Bone broth may be one of the easiest and most convenient ways to increase collagen levels, but collagen peptides in drinks may also provide an easy and effortless solution. There are various brands offering ingestionable forms of collagen such as powders, capsules or liquid.
Powdered collagen can be added to both hot and cold liquids, or blended into smoothies, iced green tea, soups and more. Vida Glow’s range of natural marine collagen drink sachets make an easy, on-the-go option that’s sure to please when mixed into chilled water or green tea; their popular blueberry and peach flavors provide a tasty addition to morning coffee as well. They even include electrolytes that will increase hydration.
Theanine Water
L-theanine is a non-protein amino acid which promotes relaxation and eases stress without making you sleepy. It’s found in green tea leaves, some types of mushrooms and as dietary supplements in pill form.
Researchers are testing its potential in terms of preventing and treating upper respiratory infections (6, 7).
Studies conducted on college students who were tested for stress hormone levels via visual and auditory stimuli demonstrated the efficacy of 200 mg of L-theanine daily to lower them, due to its ability to inhibit sympathetic nervous system responses.
Rat studies conducted using theanine showed it could prevent oxygen-induced ischemic retinopathy, which is commonly seen among preemies (11, 12). Although more research needs to be completed with humans, this indicates theanine could help protect from prematurity related damage.
