At nearly 50, my most precious beauty secret is a tall, chilled glass of infused water. Water is one of my absolute favourite beauty foods. Often overlooked, water is a vital nutrient, and essential for your overall well-being. It helps to naturally regulate your body temperature, lubricate the joints, flush out waste and toxins, maintain body weight, cognitive function and, can even balance your mood. And of course, its necessary for beautiful, glowing skin.

Today, I am going to share with you my favourite beauty food, infused water. It is an all-natural remedy that I use each and every day to help me look a decade younger than I am. Many people struggle to drink plain water, so I suggest infusing the recommended 3 litres a day with vitamin-rich fruits, veggies and herbs. This is a fabulous way to hydrate, plump up the skin and get a daily drip feed of essential vitamins and minerals.

What Goes In Infused Water?

How do you make infused water? It is really as simple as adding fresh, wholesome ingredients like organic fruit, veggies and homegrown herbs to your water bottle or a pitcher of water that you steep for awhile. As the fruit, vegetables and herbs steep in the water, the natural compounds leach out into the water and create a "vitamin water" you can consume for the health benefits.

Why is infused water so healthy? Keeping hydrated is essential for good health, but I mentioned, for many, drinking plain water can be boring, or downright hard. By infusing water the subtle flavours of nutrient-rich fruits and veggies, it make sit more palatable and more likely to reach that 3 litre mark. You can even make this beauty food in large quantities and store as jars in the fridge or make individual servings as you need it.

Healthy Variations

The basic recipe for infused water is water and fruit, vegetables and/or herbs. You can also try making this beauty food with other low calorie liquids such as coconut water, mineral water or homemade, carbonated water. Just pair it with any of the following infusions:

• Fresh fruits: fruit of all kinds provide essential phytonutrients. Adding in a good variety to your water can help fill in the gaps from your diet while boosting your nutrient levels and hydrating the body and your skin. So easy right?

• Fresh vegetables: like celery, cucumber, watercress, and bok choy are already very hydrating. But when you add them to your water bottle they naturally leach out their vitamins and goodness. Veggies liek cucumbers also contain skin boosting plant compounds like silica, which can give you that youthful glow.

• Fresh herbs: provide subtle flavour to your water bottle but also a wide range of beauty food minerals and essential nutrients. Experiment with different variations of herbs from pungent options like basil, peppermint, thyme, lavender and rosemary to more subtle beauty favourites like borage, lemon balm, germanium, and chamomile.

• Chia seeds: are an excellent source of anti-ageing antioxidants, as well as omega3 fatty acids which can help slow ageing, and reduce the look and appearance of acne scars, and any discolouration. Simply add a teaspoon or two of chia seeds to your water bottle or pitcher as a quick and easy beauty food.

As you can see, there are many ways to infuse water to help ensure you are drinking enough for naturally, glowing skin. The health benefits definitely go way further than skin deep.

Making Your Own Infused Water

To make infused water: select your organic fruits, herbs and vegetables. These can often be found in the produce of your supermarket, but a better option might be to get them from a farmer’s market, or contacting local organic farmers directly. This allows you to get fresh fruits and veggies that you know were grown locally without added fertilizers and other chemicals. Organic produce also tends to provide a better flavour for infused water. Here's a few of my favourite combinations and the benefits:

Glowing Skin Infused Water

Grapefruit Crush

Grapefruits is the ultimate beauty food. This tangy but bitter citrus fruit, contains a natural compound called lycopene, which can help to reduce redness and swelling, and even out your skin tone. Citrus like grapefruit, are also incredibly high in vitamin-C which is needed by the body to help produce and maintain collagen levels.

Ingredients

• 1 litre of filtered water

• 1/2 grapefruit, juice and pulp

• 2-3 drops stevia or tsp agave syrup

• 1 cup ice cubes, filtered water

• 1 pinch of rock salt

• 1 lemon wedge, organic

• (optional) 1 scoop of collagen, I use @thegut.co REPAIR

Method

Add all the ingredients to a blender. Process to crush the ice and combine the ingredients. Serve with the lemon wedge. (Optional: add a sprig of mint or a jalapeño chili for a little kick.

Watermelon Strawberry Squash

Who doesn't love refreshing and deliciously sweet watermelon, I know I certainly do! And for good reason too. Watermelon is an excellent beauty food because the flesh contains a rich source of skin vitamins and antioxidants. Like grapefruit, watermelon is a rich source of anti-aging agents like lycopene, which helps to naturally fight ageing. Strawberries are also a nutritious beauty food and are a source of vitamin C and antioxidants, known as polyphenols.

Ingredients

• 1 litre of filtered water

• 1/2 cup watermelon, cubed

• 1/2 cup strawberries, fresh or frozen

• 2-3 drops stevia or tsp agave syrup

• 1/2 tsp cinnamon, ground

• 1 cup ice cubes, filtered water

• 1 lemon wedge, organic

• (optional) 1 scoop of collagen, I use @thegut.co REPAIR

Method

Add all the watermelon, berries, syrup, cinnamon and ice to a blender. Process to crush the ice and fully blend the ingredients. Serve with a sprig of refreshing mint as an edible garnish.

Pink Lemonade Splash

Super loaded with collagen boosting vitamin C, lemon water has long been prized for leaving your skin glowing from the inside out. It is often used as a gentle, all natural detoxifier, flushing out toxins from your vital organs, detoxifying the digestive tract and colon, as well as hydrating the epidermis. In this recipe, I have supercharged these effects by including grapefruit and lemon together.

Ingredients

• 1 litre of filtered water

• 1/2 grapefruit, juice and pulp

• 1 lemon, cut into wheels, organic

• 2-3 drops stevia or tsp agave syrup

• 1/2 tsp cinnamon, ground

• 1 cup ice cubes, filtered water

• 1 pinch of rock salt

• 1 lemon wedge, organic

• (optional) 1 scoop of collagen, I use @thegut.co REPAIR

Method

Add all the ingredients to a blender. Process to crush the ice and combine the ingredients. Serve with the lemon wedge. I love using my REPAIR in this recipe as it also has a subtle berry-like flavour and provides a hearty dose of easily absorbable collagen.

Lemon Passionfruit Infused Water

Once you have worked to tone and tighten the surface of your skin, its time to pamper it. Eating wholefoods goes a long in providing the right nutrients to glow from the inside out, but you can also absorb many essential vitamins and minerals simply by applying them to your skin.

Ingredients

• 1 litre of filtered water or mineral water

• 1 small passionfruit, pulp and seeds

• 1/2 lemon, juice and pulp

• 1 cup ice cubes, filtered water

• mint or thyme for garnish, organic

• (optional) 1 scoop of collagen, I use @thegut.co REPAIR

Method

In a large pitcher, add the lemon and passionfruit. Stir well and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to steep. Top up with the ice to serve, and garnish with the lemon wedge or herbs.

Watermelon Key Lime Summer Infusion

As I mentioned above, watermelon is an excellent beauty food because the flesh contains a rich source of skin vitamins and antioxidants. When consumed with Lime, the double whammy of vitamin C and flavonoids, naturally boosts the antioxidants that strengthen collagen. Collagen begins to decline as women age. Regularly consuming vitamin C will help your body produce and retain collagen, and make you look younger.

Ingredients

• 1 litre of filtered water

• 1/2 cup watermelon, cubed

• 2-3 key limes, halved, organic

• 1 cup ice cubes, filtered water

• (optional) 1 scoop of collagen, I use @thegut.co REPAIR

Method

Add all the ingredients to a large pitcher. Stir well and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to steep. Top up with the ice to serve.

Lime Peppermint Refresher

With summer coming, this is the perfect beauty food to keep on hand. It is super refreshing and an excellent, natural burst of vitamin c. I love making this with thirst quenching coconut water or as a mocktail with mineral water for a little fizz.

Ingredients

• 1 litre of coconut water, organic

• 1 lime, juice and pulp

• 2 sprigs of fresh mint, organic

• 2-3 drops stevia or tsp agave syrup

• 1 cup ice cubes, filtered water

• (optional) 1 scoop of collagen, I use @thegut.co REPAIR

Method

Add all the lime, coconut water, and one sprig of mint to a blender. Process to combine the ingredients. Serve over ice with the remaining mint.

Batch Cook & Meal Prep

Yes, you can batch infused water. Infused water will keep 2-4 days in the fridge in a sealed container. I like to use large mason jars for this and make up individual batches for the week ahead. These provide an easy to prepare, grab-and-go beauty food that will help you reach your 3 litre quota nad build glowing skin at the same time.

Other Healthy Recipes You'll Absolutely Love...

Coming soon, be sure to check back often and keep an eye out for my soon to be released, Glow Series of beauty food recipe cookbooks. In the meantime, check out my budget-friendly nutrition plans which are geared towards supporting a wholefood diet. Sometimes having a recipe collection to work from can make all the difference in maintaining healthy eating habits!

Emma Lisa, Nutritionist & Women's Practitioner

Emma Lisa is a Nutritionist & Women's Health Practitioner with over 12+ years experience in wholefood nutrition, meal planning and health coaching. She is a published cookbook author, passionate food recipe creator and lifestyle blogger, and an advocate for women's health and anti-diet culture. When she's not in clinic, Emma is mum to five kids, in her test kitchen and a wellness digital creator. She lives in Sydney, Australia.

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Healthy + happiness,

Emma Lisa xx

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