Very low sugar / sugar free drinks

Celticwarrior

Sugar Drunk wrote: »

Hi Op, i used to be the same as you. Drank 1-2 cans of coke every day working in the office. even worse when I used to work outdoors for a summer drank 3-4 cans a day!.
Coca cola is addictive I realise that now. I used to crave the stuff and feel crap an hour after drinking it.
I now just drink green tea and water as everything else either contains sugar or chemicals like aspartame etc (nearly worse than sugar IMO).
Aim to stop drinking junk altogether and work on gradually cutting down. If you try stop cold turkey it ,ost likely wont work but cut back to one can a day, then one can every second day etc. try green tea too as the taste of it means sweet things dont apopeal to you as much! theres also loads of fruit teas out there theres got to be one that tastes okay to you. same with water i hate som ebrands but everyone will have one they like the taste of
What I do now is I only allow myself to have coca cola every so often, if I am out for a meal etc and it has worked great for me I never touch the stuff monday - friday and my energy levels in work are more stable

I can drink 2l a day quite easily without noticing. Now before people go ranting at me about how bad it is etc, I agree. I'm trying to change. I'm getting better at the moment, I'm trying to do as you say and ration it in time periods and only drink it at certain times of the day.

I've also started doing some of the easy ways of cutting it back, like if I'm at the cinema, not getting a drink or just getting a bottle of water. Or if I am out at night, a pint of water with a dash of miwadi. I don't crave it those times, I just want a drink of something to go with the movie or something for my hand on a night out.


The thing is, I don't think I am addicted to it, and I know this is a contradiction, I just am in the habit of drinking it. As in I've gone days, weeks etc without drinking it and never had a serious cravings / withdrawal symptoms. I just like the taste, and if it's there I'm going to drink it.

What I realised is that I crave ice cold drinks more than I crave coke. So I've started buying bottled water and putting miwadi no added sugar in, and as someone else suggested sometimes putting a slice of lemon in it. It's all helping and making a difference. I'm probably down to a litre most days now, which is nearly at my target of 0-500ml.

I've noticed very little difference in sleep patterns etc, except that instead of constantly needing to pee alot before I sleep, I seem to need to pee alot more during the day (I presume cos of the water) and now less at night, which is a preferred outcome.

My concentration levels have dropped, I'll admit that. But I am ok in the morning and the evening, so now I just drink it in the afternoon to make up for that small slump.

I don't drink Tea or Coffee at all, so I figure I am getting down to something respectable.

Cheers for the suggestions all, the lemon one was particularly good and if anyone has anymore I'll give them a whirl!

Sugar Drunk

Celticwarrior wrote: »

I've also started doing some of the easy ways of cutting it back, like if I'm at the cinema, not getting a drink or just getting a bottle of water. Or if I am out at night, a pint of water with a dash of miwadi. I don't crave it those times, I just want a drink of something to go with the movie or something for my hand on a night out.

well done those are great steps already. Your right it becomes a habit - go to cinema- drink coke, takeaway - drink coke, etc I was the same.

It does mean that you have less sugar energy at work but i find foods like bananas and almonds etc in the morning give me a bit of energy and sparkling water is great - its fizzy without being a fizzy drink. Find a water brand you really lik ethe taste of it makes a difference im a volvic addict now!

cozmik

Tara Le d'Arion wrote: »

there are bad and good things about sugars and they should not be eaten in excess. It is not obvious that we should not eat fruit and vegetables that would contain fructose.

+1

Dr. Parks said that people trying to lose weight shouldn't eliminate fruit from their diets but that limiting processed foods containing the sugar may help.

"There are lots of people out there who want to demonize fructose as the cause of the obesity epidemic," she said. "I think it may be a contributor, but it's not the only problem. Americans are eating too many calories for their activity level. We're overeating fat, we're overeating protein; and we're overeating all sugars."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080724064824.htm

El_Dangeroso

"I think it may be a contributor"

Oh, shot yourself in the foot there..

My whole point is that fruit is not equal to vegetables, in fact non starchy veg kicks the ass of fruit nutritionally speaking, you can get all (more) of the nutrients from veg without the insulin and fructose load.

Beks

dubman25 wrote: »

no no no do not drink smoothies.If you want fruit eat it as its much better for you and thats a fact.
you could try diet cidona,diet orange,diet coke,ribena with no added sugar and so on but remember try not to drink to much of either as cant be good for you...but i dont listen anyway;)

What are you talking about. Smoothies are fine for you, in moderation. Just like everything is ok in moderation. It's pretty funny you're telling this person to avoid smoothies and then go on to recommend several diet drinks which are high in aspartame which has around 93 bad side effects - weight gain and cancer being two of them!

I would recommend smoothies, juices, cordial like elderflower, rice milk... not sure what other cold drinks. I don't like coffee that much and I gave up on normal tea a long time ago seeing as I don't drink cow's milk... I drink green tea and fruit tea now.

Tar.Aldarion

neddas wrote: »

"I think it may be a contributor"

Oh, shot yourself in the foot there..

Not really, what he means by that is fat people eating sugary foods is of course a contributer to them being fat. If people eat too much sugar then fruit can be bad for them, as it has sugar in it, which will add to the already high dosage of sugar they are eating. It is contributing to their gain in weight. If anything they should get rid of the processed foods that contain the other sugar in their diet, not fruit.