subs for diet soda and other artificial drinks

buttercup78

buttercup78

Cathlete
Hello,
I am trying to get off the diet soda (I have 2-12 oz cans per day) and crystal light. At work, I drink about a gallon of water and the two diet sodas, but at home all I drink is crystal light. I want to stop because of the artificial sweetners and am trying to clean up my diet. I do not like tea at all, and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for clean drinks to add once and awhile to break up the monotony of water. thanks.
 
i discovered sparkling mineral water when i was pregnant in 2007 and now i drink it all the time. i get all natural sparkling mineral water and there is plain, berry, lime, lemon and orange. i get calistoga but i'm not sure if it's available outside of CA. it's all natural and zero calories, low sodium and refreshing.
 
marnapril said:
i discovered sparkling mineral water when i was pregnant in 2007 and now i drink it all the time. i get all natural sparkling mineral water and there is plain, berry, lime, lemon and orange. i get calistoga but i'm not sure if it's available outside of CA. it's all natural and zero calories, low sodium and refreshing.
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Perrier with a squeeze of lemon juice or lime juice is a great treat! You can also freeze leftover lemon juices and just use them as ice cubes in your water.

xx, Denise ;)
 
You can add any fruit to water. I've done strawberries (sliced, just dump a handful in), oranges, grapefruit, lemons, limes, any fruit you like! (well, maybe not bananas! :p)
 
I must have my Pellegrino. I drink close to a bottle a day. I also brew a gallon on iced tea and keep in the fridge. I mix it up though - I just did a fantastic one where I included a bunch of mint in with the tea bags. So it's yummy tea with a subtle mint note. I've done that with ginger, as well. Or mix the teas to create your own "flavor blends." And no sweetener at all. I know you don't like tea, so that may not work.
You could also flavor your water with lemon, lime, orange or cucumber slices.
 
i have the same problem. i do not like tea or any of the other drinks mentioned except diet citrus green tea because its sweetereven than regular citrus green tea. there was a time when i was totally off diet by just drinking water. i have only juist started again from watching other people drink diet. what might help is to not keep any at home.

laura
 
I drink flavored seltzer water and love it. I used to be a diet soda addict, but it was ruining my teeth so I switched to the flavored seltzer water. It took a little while to get used to it, but I really love it now. I like having some carbonation instead of just plain water all the time.

Erica
 
Oh, Buttercup, if only I could drink just 2 cans of diet soda a day! That would be a major cut back for me!

I have no answers, because all the water I drink is flavored with Crystal Light and even though I drink over a gallon of fluid a day, a good portion of it is Diet Coke.

Good luck all you clean eaters and drinkers (as I pop open yet another soda can)...

:)
 
My favourite: half a glass of low-sodium club soda with ice cubes, and half a glass of 100% grapefruit juice. Any juice would work.

Sandra
 
I drink water with lemon or lime and unsweetened green tea but that doesn't sound like an option for you. After working out I drink a mixture of 2 or 3 limes, coconut water and a pinch of cayenne pepper instead of gatorade - yum!!

Have you tried Metromint? http://www.metromint.com/get/

Some people add cucumber slices to their water for taste. As someone else mentioned there are a lot of sparkling flavored waters without sweeteners, of the sparkling waters I like San Pellegrino but it's not flavored.
 
FiddleFit said:
My favourite: half a glass of low-sodium club soda with ice cubes, and half a glass of 100% grapefruit juice. Any juice would work.

Sandra
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I do something similar with unsweetened cranberry juice...a slice of lime in it doesn't hurt either. :)
 
Water is by far the best beverage out there.
You can make it less bland by (in addition to suggestions already given) keeping a gallon container of it in the fridge with slices of cucumber and/or fresh mint in.

Someone mentioned making icecubes out of lemon or lime juice. You can also blend up some watermelon and pour the slurry into an ice-cube tray to make melon ice cubes.

Herbal teas (unsweetened, or sweetened with stevia or a bit of agave nectar) are another option.

Sodas, whether diet or not, are nutritionally void, and I'd even say they are nutritionally negative. IMO, they should be avoided altogether for best health.
 
thanks for all the responses so far...I will give them a try and see what works. I really like the idea of adding fruit to the water and adding frozen lime juice. thanks again :)
 
buttercup78 said:
Hello,
I am trying to get off the diet soda (I have 2-12 oz cans per day) and crystal light. At work, I drink about a gallon of water and the two diet sodas, but at home all I drink is crystal light. I want to stop because of the artificial sweetners and am trying to clean up my diet. I do not like tea at all, and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for clean drinks to add once and awhile to break up the monotony of water. thanks.
Click to expand...

Get some Licorice Spice herbal tea (Stash makes it, as well as others), brew it up strong, and refridgerate it. It is naturally very sweet, no calories, and all natural. It doesn't contain real tea, so you may like it more. About as clean as you can be and it tastes great, especially in the summer! In the winter, just have it hot.
 
1. Iced peppermint tea
2. Iced green tea
3. sparkling water with lemon or lime slices
4. no sodium club soda with orange juice
 
I like flavored seltzer also and drink lots of it.
I've found another 'sports drink" that works for me. It's called Nuun and comes in tablets like Alka Seltzer. You drop one in a liter of water and it gives you a non carbonated mildly flavored beverage, not sweet. no sugar or artifical sweetener. It's about 6 calories in a liter. It's a bit like like Gatorade but without the sugar . I use it as an electrolyte replacent drink as I tend to run low on sodium and potassium when I'm exercising vigorously, and too much plain water can make me feel ill.
It comes in orange ginger, lemon lime,citrus, cola, berry. I've found it most reliably in bicycle shops. comes in a small tube usually with the energy beans and gels. Light weight, easy to carry, and works great for hiking or biking.
 
I feel your pain! I'm down from what was probably a 6 pack a day diet Coke habit to one can a day. I've recently downsized to the mini 8oz cans. I can't imagine giving it up completely but everything I read lately talks about the horrors of artificial flavor and color. So, for those of you who have detoxed, are the propel/protein water mixes also that bad for you? They don't have the coloring, but I guess they must have sweeteners?
Thanks for the alternative ideas.

Becky
 
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