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Summer Slim Down Tips From Women's Health

STUDIO CITY (CBSLA.com) — Need a boost for your bikini body this summer?

Elycia Rubin, editor for Women's Health Magazine, visited the KCAL9 studios Friday to offer tips on what to drink to help you slim down, shrink your tummy, rev your metabolism,  give you more energy and even clear up your skin.

Red Juices

Processed juices are often loaded with sugar—which is just empty calories that can contribute to harmful cellular inflammation and weight gain.

But pomegranate juice is packed with antioxidants, including ellagic acid, that assists your liver in its detox duties.

Beet juice is known in Chinese medicine as a blood purifier and was recently found to increase athletic endurance.

You don't want to just guzzle these all the time. Best to use them in moderation like adding them as an ingredient in smoothies.

Green Tea

This is a favorite because it not only helps to wake you up in the morning, but it's chock-full of antioxidants known as catechins, which studies have shown may help reduce belly fat and lower the risk for melanoma.

Liquid Veggies

We have been seeing it everywhere—juicing is the trend and is actually one of the best ways to flood your body with vitamins and antioxidants that will destroy age-causing free radicals.

Not many people are going to eat four or five pounds of leafy greens in one sitting, so it is easier to drink those greens. When you juice, it removes all the fiber, so those nutrients are absorbed more quickly into your bloodstream. And juicing raw veggies preserves more of their nutrients than cooking them.

Kale, spinach, and other leafy greens are low in sugar and high in polyphenols and carotenoids, two antioxidants that have been shown to help guard against sun damage. Perfect for summer!

You can even purchase a great juicer yourself which will save you money and make it easy to try out different varieties of flavors. To make a great juice you can mix the greens in with favorite your fruits. One we like at WH is spinach, raspberries, apple, carrot. Spinach is a little more approachable for people starting out as it doesn't have as much of a bite.

H20

We all know water is good for us and staying hydrated is key, but here's another reason it's amazing: Research shows that we often mistake thirst for hunger, and drinking a glass or two of water before meals helps you eat less, which adds up to a leaner midsection.

Have a glass of it first thing in the morning to keep your metabolism stoked: At night, we're not drinking anything for hours on end, so we tend to wake up slightly dehydrated. That can slow your metabolism. Water also helps flush the toxins out of your system. And the more toxins you eliminate this way, the fewer will pass through your skin, where they can cause damage such as aging.

Fermented Drinks

Toxins are a leading cause of inflammation in your body, and when that occurs in your digestive tract, it can bloat your stomach and make your waistband snug. Probiotics, the kind of good-for-you bacteria found in yogurt, can soothe tummy troubles and deflate your belly.

Get a dose from fermented drinks like kefir, which is dairy-based, and kombucha, a tea. Another plus: They may help increase your overall immunity.

Kefir is like a drinkable yogurt and Kombucha is a tea—you can find them in health stores and a lot of grocery stores are starting to carry it.

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