How about a healthy-ish cocktail? If you're going to drink, may as well mitigate some of the nasty side effects up front. We put this challenge to a top mixologist to see what they could create, and we’re pretty happy with what we found.

Focusing on our Hydration flavors, we asked for three cocktails that taste great, give you a little kick, and help you stay hydrated, so you’re less likely to suffer the unwanted effects of alcohol-induced dehydration. As an added bonus, they use Ee’s Hydration for sweetness and not high-calorie mixers or simple syrup so you might even be lowering your calorie intake too.

Blue Raspberry Lemonade Mojito

Why not mix up the mojito a little and enjoy this fruity and refreshing concoction. It’s sure to be a quick hit. This recipe is for two drinks because it’s so good, you’ll want to share it with somebody.

Ingredients

2 limes cut into quarters

About a dozen fresh mint leaves

⅓ cup raspberries 

4 ounces white rum

1 serving stick Blue Raspberry Lemonade Hydration

10 ounces filtered water

Instructions

Prepare your Hydration mix by pouring the serving stick into your filtered water. We suggest pouring both into a water bottle and shaking to mix evenly. Set aside.

Divide the lime, mint, and raspberries between two rocks glasses. Muddle each glass until you get a nice mash. 

Pour two ounces of white rum into each glass, then top each with half of the Hydration mix. 

Sit back and enjoy.

Watermelon-Cucumber Gin & Tonic

Lovers of the piney taste of gin can use traditional gin for this drink. However, if you love the crispness of gin but not the pine flavor, we suggest trying a flavored gin for this fresh concoction.

Ingredients

1 serving stick of Watermelon-Cucumber Hydration

5 ounces tonic water

1 ½ ounces gin (your choice)

Thin slice of watermelon as garnish

Instructions

Gently stir the Hydration mix into your tonic to completely mix. Add gin and give another stir. Finish with watermelon garnish. If you want to get extra fancy, you can also add a thin slice of cucumber.

A note on tonic water. Adding tonic water to this drink is not only a key part of a gin and tonic, but it can also be good for you. Tonic is made with quinine, which is responsible for its bitter taste. Quinine is used to help with leg cramps and indigestion. But it’s also important to note that it can have some adverse reactions for people with certain health issues or taking certain medications. If your doctor recommends you stay away from tonic, you can create your mixed drink with soda water.

Yuzu-Lime Margarita

Yuzu-Lime Hydration has such a refreshing citrus taste it almost begs to be mixed with tequila, so we obliged with this yummy cocktail. This is another recipe that makes 2 drinks, one for you and one to share.

Ingredients

1 serving stick of Yuzu-Lime Hydration

10 ounces of filtered water

3 ounces tequila

½ cup freshly squeezed lime juice

Instructions

Prepare your Hydration mix with the water and divide in two. Add 1 ½ ounce of tequila to each glass and divide the lime juice between the two cocktails. 

If you love a salty rim, we suggest only salting half of the rim because salt can lead to dehydration, which you want to avoid when indulging in alcohol.

Why Hydration Is Important

Keep in mind that most of the negative side effects you feel, and even those you don’t, come from alcohol’s dehydration on your body. Alcohol is a diuretic that causes you to remove fluids from your blood through your renal system faster than most fluids do. Basically, it makes you pee – a lot. But alcohol also reduces how much vasopressin your body makes. Vasopressin causes the body to hold onto water, so it limits how much you remove through urinating. That makes alcohol sort of a double whammy and quickly leads to dehydration.

Adding Hydration mix to cocktails will not stop alcohol from its dehydrating nature, but it will help your body hold onto some of that precious fluid. We obviously don’t recommend overindulging in alcohol at any time.

The Essential Elements

Kick back and enjoy a cocktail once in a while, you work hard, and you deserve it. But why lose all of that good effort when you can include a little Hydration to help ensure dehydration is a thing of the past?

We know there are a lot of good mixologists out there – we’d love to hear about your favorite Hydration mix cocktails. Follow us at @essentialelementsnutrition for the latest recipes and deals.