kombucha – Michele Jacobson / Nutrition

The Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City is my favorite event of the year. What could be more exciting for a foodie than to walk the aisles of the Javits Center and peruse thousands of food items, many of them healthy, organic and non-GMO, and all of them available for you to taste?! At the Specialty Food Show I am always impressed by the efforts made by food producers to “up the bar” and cater to the whims and needs of the public as we strive to eat more healthfully. Some hit the mark, some seem scandalous, and there are some real winners. Each year there are stand-outs that I can qualify as “trends.” Always good for you…?…no guarantee there. Here is what I saw:

Value-Added Beverages

Remember when water was just water? Then it was artisanal, but now it is even more than merely sourced- exotic. Along with kombucha, switchel and waters from the ends of the earth, we now have beverages infused with probiotics to strengthen your gut, as well as water with stabilized molecules of hydrogen and oxygen. The gist is that these gases, when added to water, will impart anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties. But can it really boost energy and slow the aging process? Provide more mental acuity and help with all of life’s stresses?

I support drinking almost any type of water over sugary drinks. However I need to defer to Marion Nestle’s opinion that the alleged health benefits these value added waters impart, here. Basically she says, they are simply water.

I do like the probiotic kombucha’s and apple-cider vinegar drinks, such as switchel a

nd its bubbly cousin, swizzle. Many a

re now lowering their sugar content to suit the publics’ palate. Good news!

The brands I like best are: Health-Aide Kombucha and Up-Mountain Switchel.

Tag: kombucha

Food Trends 2019

Value-Added Beverages

Mediterranean Food Are “In”

Tag: kombucha

Food Trends 2019

What’s Trending In the Food World?

Value-Added Beverages

Mediterranean Food Are “In”

Read moreWhat’s Trending In the Food World?