The Soda Situation - Succulent Drinks w/o the Sweets? 467
Ticron asks: "Like most of you, my job and lifestyle revolves around drinking lots and lots of caffeine - usually in the form of soda. I've been trying to cut back on my sugar intake lately, and am interested in what some of you drink that isn't loaded down with the sweet stuff. Diet drinks have little to no flavor, and fruit punches have almost (sometimes more!) sugar than sodas themselves. Is there anything out there that maintains the convenience of a canned drink, but without all the sugar?"
If first you don't succeed... (Score:5, Insightful)
Bonus, it does/n't cause cancer! FDA Reviewing Italian Aspartame Study [washingtonpost.com]
Diet cherry coke, diet coke with lemon (Score:2)
Diet cherry is a decent drink, and if you get stuck drinking diet coke, add some lemon juice to cut the after taste. Eventually you will get hooked enough that you can drink it straight.
You have to get over the hump and drink diet crap for a few weeks to get enough in you to turn that switch on.
They also have low-cal add-ins that you dump in a drink, so you can add your own flavor to diet coke or diet 7 up if you want. Not great, but a lot of variety.
For non-caffinated, try koolaid or some of crystal lite
Splenda - not NutraSweet(tm) (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Splenda - not NutraSweet(tm) (Score:5, Funny)
There I fixed it for ya
Re:Splenda - not NutraSweet(tm) (Score:3, Interesting)
We all taste this stuff differently, or so it appears. I find that diet coke with splenda tastes very much like normal diet coke, except without the aspartame aftertaste, which is the only thing that ruins normal diet coke for me (at least in terms of flavor - I'm kind of scared of aspartame.) For those who haven't already tried it, it's quite good. However, it also features caffeine, and for those trying to reduce their caffeine intake, it won't help.
For those people, I suggest a non-caffeinated tea, m
Re:Splenda - not NutraSweet(tm) (Score:2)
Re:Splenda - not NutraSweet(tm) (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Splenda - not NutraSweet(tm) (Score:3, Informative)
Also try the cans; I speak from experience when I say they are "fizzy".
Regardless, the fizziness has nothing to do with whether the drink is sweetened by Splenda or NutraSweet. The fizziness is CO2 injected after mixing the syrup; those sweeteners are mixed-in while making the syrup...
Re:If first you don't succeed... (Score:5, Insightful)
But I did hear that soft drinks in general tend to lead to bloating. Someone more knowledgeable than I should take that ball and run with it.
I think overall, with a sedentary lifestyle and compulsive urges to snack, the programmer fight against obesity is a pretty difficult one, unless there is some positive incentive (like a girl) involved.
However, it's interesting to note that I lost huge amounts of weight - about half of my total fat - when I vacationed in the Philippines for three weeks. Smaller food portions and having a temporary girlfriend who cared about me and wanted me to lose weight really helped. Her secret was that she did it in an affectionate and teasing way, which I responded to, instead of the usual punitive reaction of Americans. This is why there are so many men looking for Filipina wives!
Another interesting fact is that to manufacturer soft drinks down to a price, they cheap out on the ingredients, so a "Coke Light" in the Philippines, while ostensibly the same product as a "Diet Coke" in the US, actually tastes quite a bit different, even a little strange. This probably helped curb my soft drink appetite.
I think, then, that developing interests outside of the computing realm might actually be the best way to lose weight. Anything that takes you away from the desk and too-available snack foods is probably a good thing.
Until I return to the Philippines in November, I plan to take up boating, with the hopes that it will get me out on the water and more keen to do things away from the computer and the snack jar. We'll see how well it works.
After November, well, two months of doing what I did in the Philippines should have me down to fighting trim. That sure will be strange, but I know the Filipinas will appreciate it.
D
Temporary girlfriend? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:If first you don't succeed... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Water is only half the story - CYCLAMATE (Score:4, Informative)
Re:If first you don't succeed... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:If first you don't succeed... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:If first you don't succeed... (Score:3, Interesting)
I stopped drinking non-diet soda-pop years ago, and now depend on diet cola (Coke, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, Faygo, and lime/lemon/cherry/va
Re:If first you don't succeed... (Score:3, Insightful)
Have you tried actually quitting the fructose sludge? Doing the old side-by-side taste test is a good way to pick which one you like better, but this is about something bigger: your waistline (and perhaps the health of your pancreas). If someone wants to get rid of a major source of empty calories, they have to at least try committing to it.
Re:There is a saying I go by. (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:There is a saying I go by. (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm curious what the infatuation is with at least Americans and hummingbird types of refreshment.
2 or 3 generations ago, soft drinks were more like a luxury or occasional beverage. Children used to drink more milk than soda.
Now, it seems like these void of nutrition, unhealthy, and weight/diabetes creating drinks are required to be at our side during waking hours.
I believe that even diet drinks cause weight gain due to the change in metabolism due to the body's perception of their actually being real sweet (fructose or sucrose) content in there. (Its common perception to give the diet drink to fat people and a regular drink to a thin person.)
Believe it or not, your body is thirsty for water, not a hummingbird solution.
Sweets are appealing because a few years ago, sweet fruits were those that were at the peak of their ripeness and had the most nutrients in them. Now, sweets are meaningless and unhealthy.
Re:There is a saying I go by. (Score:5, Informative)
Here are some links:
Poland Spring [polandspring.com] makes some of the best flavored seltzer I've ever had. Raspberry Lime kicks ass and has become a staple of my diet (at least two litres daily). Lime, lemon, orange and plain are the other flavors and are good in decreasing order, IMHO.
Adirondack [adirondackbeverages.com] is what I drink when I can't find Poland Spring around. They have a great raspberry lime and lemon-lime and are truly delicious. (And they're certified Kosher, if that makes a difference to you.)
The best part is that the flavors are more of an essence than a true additive, so they have -0- Calories, -0- sodium, -0- cabohydrates, and -0- fat.
They are awesome. I love them. As far as I am concerned, they are the perfect substitute for sugared sodas, but YMMV.
uhhh (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:uhhh (Score:2)
Re:uhhh (Score:3, Interesting)
I like my women like I like my coffee (Score:2)
Sorry, bad joke.
To get back on topic, tried as I might, I cannot stand coffee unless it's "sissified", that is, lots of sugar and milk added. But at that point its like drinking a cup of sweetened creamer packets.
Re:uhhh (Score:5, Interesting)
Seriously, I have never understood the thing that IT people have for sucking down caffeine all day long. I don't drink coffee -- EVER -- and I rarely drink hot tea. Even when I do drink tea, it's decaffeinated (Tazo Passion is my favorite), or it's the once a week or so that I go to a restaurant and get iced tea. I drink maybe eight cans of soda per week, and that includes the five that I have with lunch, which are usually things like ginger ale. I'm cutting down even on that in favor of Gatorade that I buy in powdered format, mix up at night, and take cold to work in the morning in a Thermos. On random occasions, I'll have a Dr Pepper or a Coke, but by and large, from the time I leave my apartment to the time I leave for lunch, I don't drink anything. The same goes for the time from the end of lunch to about the time when I get home, around six hours later.
At one time, I drank a couple of cans a day per eight-hour shift, but then about five years ago, I just decided to not do it. That was it. Productivity isn't hurt, and I don't find myself needing another pickup later in the day (or in the morning, for that matter).
Re:uhhh (Score:3, Insightful)
Sounds like you're probably dehydrated. You should take on about 30-50 ml per kg of fluid per day to maintain hydration levels. So, 70 kg -> 2.8 litres, admittedly some of that can come from foodstuffs (cucumber is nearly all water for example).
In answer to your question
Re:uhhh (Score:2)
Water (Score:2, Insightful)
Otherwise, my favorite beverage is milk, but that's not very convienient.
Not so fast (Score:2)
Men who drink more than 2 litres of tap-water per day have a 50% increase in bladder cancer.
Re:Water (Score:2)
Re:Er, no (Score:2)
ummm ... you do know that both Dasani (Coca-Cola) and Aquafina (PepsiCo) ARE tap water ...???
So the tap water is probably actually better, because it probably has less bacteria than the bottled water that's been sitting stagnant in a warehouse ... (1/3 of tested samples had more bacteria than fresh tap water).
Re:Er, no (Score:3, Informative)
For all this "extra work", bottled water STILL ends up with more bacteria 2 weeks later than ordinary tap water, as well as more contaminants. There are a ton of regulations governing the purity of the water you drink from the tap - none of which apply after its bottled and sold to you.
As for the "pipes that haven't been clean in 50 years", I don't know where you live, but the pipes here are flushed on a regular basis. It's not a hard process - they just dump some extra chlorine into the system, open the
Filter the tap water, dummies (Score:3, Informative)
It's definitely cheaper because those filters are good for hundreds(?) of gallons of water. I hate seeing all those little plastic water bottles getting thrown away. Get one of those hard plastic re-
Coffee? (Score:5, Informative)
Tea. Black || Green.
Easy, convenient, and zero sugar.
Re:Coffee? (Score:2)
Here's my routine:
8am: black coffee
10am: water
12pm: tea (with lunch)
1pm: water
3pm: black coffee
Re:Coffee? (Score:5, Interesting)
Let that sit for a couple minutes, put in a spoon of sugar, fill to 4/5ths full with water and top with ice. A great refreshing caffeinated drink. The sugar's not necessary, but it's a small amount and gives it just the right flavor.
I save tons on the soda I would normally buy.
Green tea has a myriad of health benefits (Score:2)
Gulthek notes that tea is pretty quick and lets you select how much (if any) sweetness to have. One thing to note is that green tea is chock full of healthy stuff [whfoods.com]. The list of health benefits on that page goes on and on. Of the varieties of tea, green is the least processed which is usually a good indicator that it's the most healthy. Start off by getting some prepackaged stuff just to see if you could like it. If so, then you can start doing your own thing and getting some good-quality stuff [whfoods.com].
I know y
Re:Green tea has a myriad of health benefits (Score:2)
I thought White Tea was the least processed. IIRC, white tea is basically dried raw tea leaves (or thereabouts). It's also not more expensive in bulk than green or black tea, but its flavor does take a little getting used to (I like it quite a lot, now).
Compromise (Score:2)
Chaser Energy Drinks (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Chaser Energy Drinks (Score:2)
I don't understand the energy drink fad going around, lately. For starters, they are very expensive. Also, do people really understand all the ingredients? Some of them have stimulants beyond caffeine, which is something people need to educate themselves about before drinking a lot of them.
I know nothing about the drink you linked to. It's just observing people buying $1+ drinks for some percieved benefit is confusing me. If I was going to spend more than $1 for a canned or bottled beverage, I'd go str
Its hard (Score:2)
I've found that drinking more of the following drinks helps:
*Unsweetened tea
*Water
*Soy milk (actually, not that bad)
*Make your own juice
I feel fortunate that I work at a place that serves unsweetened tea and water all day long. It makes it easier. But if you don't work at
Soy milk? (Score:2)
Seriously. Check the label sometime.
Re:Its hard (Score:2)
Sparkling Mineral Water (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Sparkling Mineral Water (Score:2)
Give it up. Honestly (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Give it up. Honestly (Score:3, Informative)
Based on their experience, I'm conside
Re:Give it up. Honestly (Score:4, Interesting)
Just acknowledge that colas and coffees are treats, not meals (and designer waters are plain stupid). Your body will thank you for it.
Re:Give it up. Honestly (Score:3, Insightful)
I made the switch to water a few years back, and while it took a little bit to get used to, after a couple of weeks I felt much better, was more productive, and had a couple more dollars left in my pocket at the end of every day. I didn't notice a drop in my weight, but I never really paid much attention to that anyway (IMO it's a poor measure of "health",
Juices are still better for you (Score:2)
Re:Juices are still better for you (Score:2)
I'm somewhat skeptical about the "shown to have a direct link to obesity and diabetes", but that aside -- the fructose in corn syrup is the same as the fructose in fruit. One is simply a dietary bogeyman of the moment while the other isn't.
I'd recommend tap water, ice and lemon juice (or a wedge of lemon and lime) but the ques
Re:Juices are still better for you (Score:2)
When you get fructose from fruit, you're also getting the fiber along with it, and a ton of water....when it comes from HFCS, with a mix of glucose thrown in, it's a whole new ballgame....
Re:Juices are still better for you (Score:3, Interesting)
You see fructose doesn't raise your glucose levels because your body can use it without the need for insulin. Unfortunately, this means your liver can process it into triglycerides really quickly and your fat cells can suck it up rapidly too; this is why corn syrup is linked to obesity.
I wouldn't stress too much about fruit juice in the diet, though. You'd be better off drinking water and eating fruit, but it's
Coffee... Tea... (Score:2)
Let me introduce you... (Score:2, Interesting)
Try augmenting the diet. (Score:2)
My particular favorites are diet Coke and diet Dr. Pepper with lemon. In fact, I REALLY like the latter with lemon.
When I'm at a restaurant that doesn't have iced tea or lemon, I will mix the diet w
Fruit juice and club soda (Score:3, Informative)
java joe is what they call me... (Score:2)
Propel (Score:4, Informative)
Sweet, sugar free, WITH caffeine... (Score:2)
If you just want sweet and sugar free without caffeine, that's easy: just get some flavored water (I like Fruit2O).
Try something other than diet cola (Score:2)
Switch. (Score:2)
It's carbonated juice. It's pretty good, and it satisfies the craving for the fizzy soda thing while still being as healthy as juice. It's a pretty good mix.
I'm not shilling for the product, I just like it.
In Britain, (Score:5, Funny)
Water (Score:2)
I drink about 2 1.5 litre bottles of carbonated water a day.
aperently its not only good for my health, but its also good for my dental hygene
In order (Score:2)
2. Diet Dr Pepper
3. Coca-Cola Zero
Diet Pepsi is kind of weak, and Diet Coke is, by the company's own admission, not even supposed to taste like Coca-Cola.
And, although I've never resorted to it, I've heard that caffeine is available in pill form.
Fruit Refreshers (Score:2)
http://www.theimpulsivebuy.com/?p=100 [theimpulsivebuy.com]
Meanwhile, I also like Diet Code Red from Mountain Dew, it is pretty flavorful and highly caffeinated, althought not available in some markets, like mine, oh how I dream of diet code red.
You could go with one of those diet energy drinks like diet red-bull or diet amp or diet rip-it. HIghly caffeniated and zero cal.
Of course you are going to get all kinds of
Improvise. (Score:2)
Now, I never said that this was a good, safe idea. It -might- work. Don't blame me if you go into convulsions.
Iced Tea with a hint of sugar (Score:2)
Boil a large container of tea (Score:2)
Not always the better option.... (Score:2)
Agreed. This is why I thought 'What's the use?' when they said that they were going to replace the sodas in many schools with water*, fruit juice, and lowfat milks
Examples:
Orange Juice: 110 cal, 1 cup(8fl oz)
Apple Juice: 120
Lemonade: 131
Skim Milk: 90
1/2%/whole Milk: 104/121/149
Coke: 105 for 1 cup.
If a kid's liquid intake is unaffected, he's going to get more calories from the majority of options. Only skim has fewer, while 1% is virtually the same. Heaven forbid
Soda alternative (Score:2)
You were a little vague as to what you really wanted. Are you drinking soda for the caffine, the taste, or both? Here are some suggestions:
ThinkGeek [thinkgeek.com] has a nice collection of interesting drinks.
Re:Soda alternative (Score:2)
Er, why is that? If you have any solid medical evidence that common artificial sweeteners are dangerous--especially evidence that all of them are dangerous--I'm sure the FDA would like to see it.
I'm not much of a soda fan, myself... (Score:2)
I do have one weakness when it comes to sodas - I like the old-school "real" ro
Iced coffee (Score:2)
In my trips to the US/England, I haven't been able to find anything that is reasonably comparable in terms of
Possible fruit punch alternative: Diet Ocean Spray (Score:2)
I haven't tried it yet, but I saw a cheesy TV commercial last night announcing Ocean Spray's new product: Diet Ocean Spray [oceanspray.com]. They seem to be marketing this product at diet soda drinkers looking for an alternative.
At only 5 calories, it probably doesn't have a whole lot of fruit juice. It might be tastier than diet soda, thoug
Coke Zero (Score:2)
It's called WATER (Score:2)
Sugar free tang (Score:2)
Granted, I had to invest in a two gallon container (honestly, 3 quart pitchers don't exist), but it was worth it.
As for the caffeine, nodoz pills replace it just fine for those rare occasions I need it.
Beer (Score:2)
Diluted (4x+) fruit juice (Score:2)
I knew there was a market... (Score:2)
caffeine for those long coding hours
Bottle conditioned to ferment out every last sugar molecule.
A refreshing flavour hit that carries all the two of the three vital food groups that a hard working geek needs (caffeine and beer).
Ok, so we can't quite get it in the form of a pizza yet, but our teams of dedicated researchers are working on it day and night.
I drink a lot of Crystal Light. (Score:3, Informative)
I switched entirely by convenience (Score:2)
Water (Score:2, Troll)
Yeah... (Score:2)
If you need to drink
Soda Club homemade soda (Score:5, Interesting)
Buy a home soda maker from Soda Club [sodaclub.com]. It's basically a plastic case around an aluminum CO2 canister. There's a good selection of flavors with near-replacements for the big ones: coke, dr pepper, mountain dew, root beer. You screw the bottle of tap water on, press the button a few times until it buzzes, unscrew it, and pour in a capful of syrup.
I bought one because the drinks are flavored with Splenda and have 1/3 the calories. The regular ones still have some high fructose corn syrup in. Because you're mixing the syrup and selzter yourself you can adjust the carbonation and sweetness to your taste. I make it quite a bit less sweet and with less carbonation than store-bought, and I've been really happy with it.
There is also a cost savings argument. I haven't sat down and checked it myself, but it's on the site somewhere. Cheaper or not, I'm glad I don't have to deal with recycling two-liter bottles and aluminum cans all the time. Although I mostly drink the diet mountain dew flavor, it's nice that I can make some root beer, orange drink, or something obscure when I feel like it.
Anyway, I love the thing. But let me assure you they are not kidding when the warning says to add syrup only after carbonating the water. God help you if you put any syrup in first. You get a real nice soda fountain when you unscrew it to the great and undying hilarity of everyone around.
Ideas (Score:2)
Any of these would make a good pick-me
Impossible? (Score:2)
I think you're pretty out of luck there.
I recommend Splenda based soda. I find it much more sugar like than Aspartame based soda. I drink a brand unfortunately named "Waist Watcher". They have a decent selection and taste pretty good but they are also caffeine free so you are out of luck if you are looking for a caffeine source.
Don't get on the diet soda bandwagon... coffee... (Score:2)
So I went cold turkey. For
Water (Score:2)
I do like the sound of the Switch mentioned in a post elsewhere - basically real juice, just carbonated.
The best diet soda (Score:4, Informative)
Listen (Score:2)
Listen (while this sounds like a flamebait) but for centuries humans have been drinking one drink extensively and all other life forms still do. It's good old H2O. There is nothing that beats it and it is the best drink you can have and it is available readily!!
CmdrTaco's drinks - Seriously!! (Score:2)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=680715948
Video Duration: approx 4 mins 44 seconds.
Tea (Score:4, Funny)
Pour one litre of filtered water in the kettle. This will make up to three cups of tea {a standard mug holds 250ml but you should never empty the kettle completely}. Start the kettle boiling.
Whilst the kettle is heating up {use the formula: time in seconds = ([100 - T] * 4.17 * V) / P, where V = volume of water in litres, P = power of heating element in kW and T = initial temperature of water}, place a teabag and a stiff-shanked teaspoon in a china mug. This should ideally have a wide base, then a constriction before belling out; this shape works to minimise evaporative cooling losses and hence maintain OST {optimum sipping temperature} as long as possible. Failing that, a traditional, parallel-sided mug can be used.
The very instant the kettle boils, pour about 200ml. of boiling water, as close as possible to 100 degrees, over the teabag. Leave alone for 15 seconds, then begin mashing the hell out of the teabag with the spoon. Keep going until the tea stops getting any darker. Finally, crush the teabag hard between the bowl of the spoon and the wall of the mug to remove as much liquid as possible, and hike it out. It's biodegradable and can be composted.
Replace the spoon in the mug {it's acting as a heatsink} and add about 50ml of ice-cold milk to the tea. Stir immediately. Remove spoon and sip gently. Feel sensation as though you are receiving kind words and a hug on a tropical beach with crystal-clear water and silver sands and everything is generally all right with the world or better.
NB: Add more cold water to the kettle as soon as possible after boiling. This will cool it down, so slowing the rate of heat loss and minimising TTNM {time to next mashing}. Don't keep the filter jug in the fridge, you're already paying to heat it, you don't want to pay to cool it so you can heat it more.
Re:Tea (Score:3, Interesting)
In regards to the grandparent post, I prefer to make a pot at a time. When I'm alone, a pot will last for a while. With other people, offering a fresh cup of tea will make you very popular, especially if you're even remotely competant at making tea. Also, if you make a pot, it's much easier to use loose tea. Loose tea is almost always superior to bags, if much less convenient.
Re:Lots of... (Score:2)
The problem with Nodoz (Score:2)
Re:Bawls (Score:2)
You can get way more bang for your buck by going for Monster Lo-carb. That little can packs a whallop...
Vitamin Water (Score:3, Informative)
Punch vs. Being Punched (Score:3, Interesting)
I also favor Splenda over Nutrasweet (Aspartame) every time. Which do you prefer, sucralose's looser bowel movements, or aspartame's headaches? The U.S. Air Force tells pilots not to drink Nutrasweet/Aspartame, as it slows the responses of their nervous systems.