drinks - no sugar or artificial sweetner, low calories

V

VickyWI

Cathlete
Does anyone have any ideas on drinks that are not enhanced at all but still have great flavor? A friend of mine and I are looking for low calorie drinks to replace our diet pop and crystal light that have aspartame or other sweetners. I know that water or skim milk are best but we are looking for other options. She found a "diet" juice but it has artifical sweetner in it. I am not against sweetners it just seems that I consume too much of them. I don't want to "drink" any calories either. I need to stay around 1400 a day to loose weight and I can't afford to give up 150 on a drink with my lunch.

Thanks for your help!
 
Do you like tea? Tea's Tea is excellent (it's a bottled cold tea) and is unsweetened. I also like Honest Tea. They have many flavors and they are all great. The tea is very lightly sweetened (with sugar) however. But I think it only has around 30 cals/serving.

I love drinking water, but when I get bored of it I find that a fresh slice of lemon, lime, or orange (or all 3) really spices things up.

Amy
 
Vicki, if you don't mind caffeine, there are some delicious all natural iced teas out there. These are absolutely delicious:

http://www.itoen.com/tea/index.cfm

I would drink them around the clock if I could deal with the caffeine, but unfortunately, I'm still searching for something decaf that I like as much.

ETA: Amy and I were posting the same suggestion at the same time! :D
 
I think it's a good idea not to drink calories, especially empty calories like diet pop crystal light.

SweetLeaf has flavored liquid stevia that you could add to water (or sparkling water. It comes in a dozen different flavors:

http://www.sweetleaf.com/category.php?subcat=products&subpage=steviaflavors

Herbal teas (which come in many different flavors) or green/white/red tea blends. I like to make a batch of green tea, put it in a glass pitcher with a cut-up organic lemon (peels and all)and maybe some agave nectar, and drink it throughout the day.
 
>Nancy - how does it taste? Is it sweet at all? I love
>Lipton Green Tea to go - that's my speed.

Cake, they are not sweetened, but for some reason I love them even more than sweetened drinks. But then, I always drink my coffee and tea unsweetened. On the other hand, I also drink diet Coke. Go figure. :p
 
Stevia is most definitely an acquired taste...that some of us have never acquired even after attempting to convince ourselves it was wonderful because it cost over $5.00 for a small box :eek: I find it reminiscent of black licorice x(

That being said, it is still worth a try if you are on the prowl for something sweet. I happen to personally be very happy with agave nectar in my tea and didn't mind spending over five bucks for little bottle either. I also love fresh squeezed lemon in my water that gives it a lot a pischnizzle with a refreshing bit of sweet (I should write commercials. Hardy har har :7 :7 )
 
I agree about stevia Beavs. But have you heard of nu-stevia? It's supposed to have none of that icky flavor that you are talking about. I'm curious to try it, but as you said I don't want to spend $$ on it to find out I hate it. I've been burned before!

I also love agave nectar. It is a bit expensive but worth it I think. I was also going to suggest to the OP diluting a sweet drink she likes. On occasion my dh will buy some gatorade and I actually really love it watered down. It's much more refreshing-like drinking water with a bit of kick. I also like diluted lemonade. But maybe I'm weird...

Amy
 
Iced peppermint tea: brew up a pitcher of peppermint tea (you can get these in brands ranging from the exotic to the Lipton variety) using double the number of teabags you might have if you were to have it hot, then chill it and have it over ice. It's really good.

A-Jock
 
Sounds yummy, Ajock. I wish Starbuck's would start serving iced peppermint tea!!! Instead, I drink the Starbuck's iced green tea everyday, which I can't resist, and then I have to take sleeping pills to get to sleep at night. x( x(
 
Nancy-does the caffeine in tea bother you more than the caffeine in coffee? My DH says that it does, although tea has less caffeine. I love the Starbuck's iced green tea too. I've mostly cut out coffee at this point and drink lots of tea. I just make sure not to have any caffeine after 2 or 3 pm and it never keeps me up. Have you tried white tea? Since it has even less caffeine than green tea maybe it wouldn't keep you up. I also love red tea, which has no caffeine since it isn't really tea. Honest Tea's Red Tea with Pomegranate and Goji Berry is to die for!

Amy
 
Hi Amy,

I haven't read the posts here, and I hope I didn't duplicate an answer, but here it is.

This has very few calories, but worth it. I find what ever fruit is in season (or frozen) such as watermelon. Then use the blender/magic bullet to juice it, put it in ice cube trays. Take them out and put them in plastic bags (so I can reuse the ice trays for something else). Then when I'm thirsty or have a sweet tooth, fill a glass with some cold water and use the fruit cubes for a wonderful taste experience. It is so refreshing. Use one or two cubes per glass to get a hint of flavor.

I use grapes, cantaloupe, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, kiwi etc. Most any fruit. Don't forget about cucumbers, I tried it this year and it also was good. I'll try carrots next and others too. Don't forget to use perhaps a combination of fruit.

If you try this, have fun with all kinds of drinks available to you.

Janie

The idea is to die young as late as possible
 
Lately I've been a big fan of the TruLemon and TruLime packets that are out in stores now (I think they also have TruOrange, although I haven't come across it in my store yet). You can put them in water, smoothies, or even cook with them, and each packet has 25% of your daily vitamin C and no calories or sweetener. I believe they're just powdered fruit essence/oil, and just add a nice touch of flavor without any sweetener or anything weird. I think the cost is around $2.50 for a box of 50 packets.
 
Amy, all caffeine bothers me if I have too much of it. After my pot of coffee in the morning, an iced green tea can send me over the edge. I'm not cutting back on the coffee, so I try to stick to water during the day. But those Starbuck's shaken iced teas are sometimes irresistible. x(
 
Thanks everyone! I am looking into Stevia and Agave Nectar on the internet and I have already bought several kinds of teas. You guys were a big help.
 
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