Warming up

The last thing you’ll crave on a freezing day is an ice-cold glass of water. “This makes it difficult to keep fluid intake up” says nutritionist Lisa Smith (nutriology.co.uk) “But it’s more important now than ever to, as central heating dries out the skin, stressed the body and leaves you open to winter bugs.”

These five hot drinks are your best line of defence:

Milk
Milk-drinking weightlifters gain 40 per cent more muscle on average than those who drink soy. Those were the findings of a report in an American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, in which milk drinkers also lost more fat. Gently warming your milk makes the most of its mood-calming amino acid L-tryptophan.
SIP IT: After a core training or resistance session, and just before bed.
TIP IT:If you’re prone to gastro intestinal troubles during a run. Lactose-reduced milk might go down better.

Black Tea
Black tea has almost as many health benefits as it’s green cousin. Researchers at the American Heart Association say that the black stuff retains theaflavin and thearubigins, antioxidants that relax the arteries. This makes it easier for the heart to pump nutrients and oxygen to tired muscles.
SIP IT: On rest and run days. It has half the caffeine of coffee, but still steer clear after 6pm.
TIP IT:If you can’t ditch the dairy. The European Heart Journal reports that the casin protein in milk blocks some of tea’s heart- boosting.

Spiced Apple
An apple juice a day keeps the cardiologist at bay. So says the Journal of Medicinal Food, which reports that apples’ phytonutrients help break down the LDL cholesterol linked to heart disease. Heat a mug of apple juice with a spoon full of cloves and a cinnamon stick.
SIP IT: Just before a run, to put that sugar buzz to use.
TIP IT: If you’re worried about glycemic index: fruit juices can be up to 10 per cent sugar. Dilute with water.

Coffee
A caffeine kick gets you out the door and could get rid of fat. Researchers at the Australian Institute of Sport found cyclists who drank coffee during a workout lasted 30 per cent longer than water-sipping peers. It’s thought that caffeine stimulates muscles into burning fat, meaning you can keep going when glycogen levels run low.
SIP IT:Before long runs or between reps on intense speed work.
TIP IT: If you run after 6pm. Caffeine stays in the system for up to 6 hours.

White Tea
Having being spared the fermentation and oxidisation process, white tea has more heart-protecting catechins than any other brew. One study, at Japan’s biological laboratories in Tochigi, linked catechins to a 24 per cent boost in athletic endurance.
SIP IT: 4 daily cups will replicate the amounts consumed in the Japanese study.
TIP IT: If it’s older than 6 months. Americas Institute of Food Technologists reports that catechins deplete rapidly during storage.