Need Help: Low-Carb drink w/o artificial sweetener?

[Bilberry]

That is wonderful to hear that you were placed onto a low carb diet in order to avoid becoming a diabetic. I recall Dr. Eades writing that it wasn't always that way.

I eat low carb to keep my blood sugars line line also. I don't have drink suggestions to add other than at this point I pretty much just drink water or plain tea. It took awhile to adapt to plain liquids but I'm used to non-sweatened items now. They taste nice at this point.

"The pitiful state of medical ignorance"

http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/statins/the-pitiful-state-of-medical-ignorance/

 

[Bob NC]

This is exactly what you want. Vintage seltzer. No sweetener. A few flavors. I love it.

 

[powellrj]

Thank you for the replies

I've tried making flavored iced tea, I must not be letting it steep long enough before adding the cold water and ice. I will keep trying.

I LOVE water. I am just sick of it right now. And especially when we go out to eat. Before I had to give up the carbs/ sugar, I MOSTLY drank water. But when we would go out, I would have a fountain Dr. Pepper and occasionally I'd run out on the days I worked (2/week) and get a fountain Dr. Pepper. A 12-pack of pop would last me at least 2 weeks.

I've had to accept a lot of things in the past few weeks. I haven't accepted it all gracefully, but I have done it. I am frustrated. Eventually I'll get over it.

I let mine steep for hours and never add any cold water, only ice. I do like it really strong!

 

[my3sonsagn]

Dr Oz made something on his show recently that looked pretty good. It has fruit, but my dietician (I'm also insulin resistant) told me fruit sugars aren't as bad as refined/granulated - plus it's only a little bit of fruit.

8 cups brewed green tea
one tangerine, sliced
handful of fresh mint

Mix it all together and let chill. I can't imagine drinking a pitcher-full a day, so it wouldn't be that much sugar from the one tangerine over several days. I haven't tried it, yet, but the audience seemed to enjoy it!

 

[manning]

We recently found Crystal Light PURE. It is sweetened with a blend of real sugar and Truvia. DH is a Type 2 diabetic, and doesn't care for artificial sweetners either, but he really likes this mix with the blend. It has no artificial flavors, no preservatives, 15 cal and 3g of carbs per serving. So far it has had no effect on his blood sugar at all!

http://www.kraftbrands.com/crystallight/Pages/default.aspx#/pure-flavors

15 grams sugar = 1 carb.


I can drink unsweeten tea ,hot or cold, all day. When cold sqeeze lemon into it. Also tea,especially green, has shown to help lower blood sugar.

 

[Normangirls]

Large sugar-free non-fat vanilla cappucino from mcDonalds = 80 calories, 22 carbs.

I know, I know, you said no artificial sweeteners and no coffee, and I was the same way until I tried it. There's no artificial-sweetener taste and I love the caffeine. It is a real treat to have something I enjoy so much when I am dieting.

And I think you are holding up really well for someone who has been through so much change -- good luck!

 

[PatsMom]

I drink a lot of water. Mio is a good flavor enhancer for water - it doesn't have any carbs according to the labelling but if you read the ingredients, it does have some sweetener added. Probably not enough to matter. I use it and it doesn't seem to have any effect on my blood sugars.

I don't care for unsweetened tea. Fortunately, I do not have a problem with artificial sweeteners - I guess I have been using them for so long that I just don't notice an aftertaste or anything. Real sugar tastes funny to me.

Definitely watch out for smoothies - they often have as many carbs as an entire meal!

 

[tlbwriter]

Unsweetened iced tea really is an acquired taste. Try some lemon or mint with it. Also, if you can have fruit, I had a drink once that was (as far as I could tell) water with muddled cucumber and melon, and it was great!

 

[Minnesota!]

I love La Croix sparkling water it comes in a bunch of different flavors lemon, grapefruit, berry. I just picked up their newest flavor at the store Coconut, it is my favorite so far. It taste great without that awful artificial sweetener taste and no calories! It comes in brightly colored cans and is on the water aisle.

I know you are done with water and there sure is alot of water in my post, but the bubbles and the flavor make a difference.

THEY HAVE COCONUT NOW?????? OMG!

I love love love LaCroix and H2O. I weaned myself off Coke and this was my replacement.

I fell off the wagon recently and now that I have heard about Coconut water....I think it might be easier

 

[Sorsha]

I know you said you're BLAH on Stevia, I was too, but we recently tried a new product WalMart was offering and now my family is hooked.

I refuse to allow my kids any artificial sweetners or any drink products with HFCS in them, so they are very limited in what they can have. WalMart recently came out with a new drink mix-in - its a "Naturally Sweetened" low calorie drink mix powder that you mix into a bottle of water. Its marketed under the Great Value name brand, and come in little white boxes containing 7 packets each. It comes in a variety of flavors; Kiwi Strawberry, Lemonade, Lemon Tea, Mango Pineapple, Blueberry Splash, etc. They are all natural, and sweetened with Stevia.

Mind you, I am addicted to unsweetened iced tea, plain, black, and that's all I drink, year round. But my husband and kids have become very fond of these, and they now swear by them, and I figure they are a very good alternative to soda or KoolAid (which I didn't let them drink anyhow LOL).

 

[Rence]

Check out Sodastream -
http://www.sodastreamusa.com/

I've used it for years - I am a big soda drinker - it is basically a home soda maker - you carbonate a bottle of water and then add flavor. I drink the diet soda but they have two options that may appeal to you.

First they have MyWater - it is calorie free, sugar free, no artificial sweeteners - it is designed to be added to carbonated water to just add a bit of flavor (and since you carbonate the water yourself you can either go for a light fizz or a strong fizz).

Second - look at their regular soda flavors - they are flavored with sugar and not high fructose corn syrup. They have about one third the calories of a regular soda. For example 8 0z CocaCola has 100 calories, 8 Oz SodaStream Cola (sweetened with sugar, no artificial sweetners) has 35 calories - that works out to 8 grams of carbs for SodaStream vs 27 grams for Coke.

You can order on-line or now many stores (Such as Bed Bath and Beyond, Kohls, Sears etc.) now carry at some SodaStream products and the website really explains what you need, how it works etc.

It is very simple to use - we keep several full bottles of water in the fridge so it is nice and cold. Take out a bottle, attach it to the carbonator - push the button a few times, remove the bottle, add the flavor - and that's it.

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

I second the recommendation for the Soda Stream!!!

I am now completely off soda and am only doing the MyWater, but my DD drinks the soda! We are so glad we invested in it!

 

[Swalphin]

THEY HAVE COCONUT NOW?????? OMG!

I love love love LaCroix and H2O. I weaned myself off Coke and this was my replacement.

I fell off the wagon recently and now that I have heard about Coconut water....I think it might be easier

Yes Coconut, it is sooo good. It is like vacation in a can
They only have Coconut at Target, I found this out after visiting the LA Croix website. I sent them an email telling them it is their best flavor yet and please sell it in other retailers. La Croix is all I drink, I do love it.

 

[lemondog]

Have you tried the Crystal Light Pure all natural? Yes it is made with Stevia but I swear it does not have that weird Stevia taste. Give it a try!

 

[BareNecessities]

I was recently diagnosed with insulin resistance and put on a low-carb diet. Well, lifestyle change, so I do not become diabetic. I LOVE LOVE LOVE sweets, but honestly, the most difficult and frustrating part has been finding drinks.

Aspartame/ Splenda gives me headaches and a funny after-taste.
I've also tried Stevia. blah.
And two other sweeteners that come from Stevia, one started w/ an R, the other Truvia.
All taste awful.

I also do not like coffee, especially black and unsweetened.
And tea sweetened is wonderful, but without? ick.

I need help here. I know it's not a MAJOR life-ending problem, but right now, it's a pretty big deal to me. PLEASE help. I love water. I drink water all. the. time. but I'm to the point I'd rather be thirsty than drink any more water EVER.

I love using FLAVORED LIQUID stevia....chocolate-raspberry almost tastes like cola, when used in carbonated water. There are many different ones. Amazon has a very wide assortment. I used them for desserts too.

 

[Sarah_Rose]

I love my SodaStream. I use the MyWater flavors, but prefer adding juices for flavor. I use strong tasting juices like tart cherry juice (unsweetened) or pomegranate. Add just a few tablespoons of juice to a large glass of soda water. Because you're only adding just a dash of juice for flavor it only adds a few calories, but it tastes really awesome.

 

[Mrs.Toad]

Have you tried different teas? I don't like black tea (typical Lipton or Luzianne iced teas) at all, but I like green tea and rooibos tea, both hot and cold. I'll make a bunch of green tea, unsweetened, and just squeeze some fresh lemon in it, put it in the fridge in a pitcher and drink that. I drink lots of water and I drink diet soda, but I try to drink tea, too, for variety and I know it's better for me than soda. Those Lipton green teas in bottles are too sweet for me. I wish they'd just make an unsweetened one.

Darjeeling has a little sweeter flavor, too. If you haven't already, try making several different types of teas and see if there's one you do like.

 

[Mrs.Toad]

15 grams sugar = 1 carb.

I'm not sure what you're getting at here. Carbs are typically measured in grams and sugar is a carb, so 15 grams of sugar = 15 carbs.

1 gram carb = 4 calories, so the 3 carbs = 15 calories that Brier Rose mentioned is correct (after rounding).

 

[cornflake]

Have you tried different teas? I don't like black tea (typical Lipton or Luzianne iced teas) at all, but I like green tea and rooibos tea, both hot and cold. I'll make a bunch of green tea, unsweetened, and just squeeze some fresh lemon in it, put it in the fridge in a pitcher and drink that. I drink lots of water and I drink diet soda, but I try to drink tea, too, for variety and I know it's better for me than soda. Those Lipton green teas in bottles are too sweet for me. I wish they'd just make an unsweetened one.

Darjeeling has a little sweeter flavor, too. If you haven't already, try making several different types of teas and see if there's one you do like.

You're looking for Honest Tea. They make actual tea, not the Lipton and Nestea type junk. The glass bottle ones come in plain, unsweetened Just Green and Just Black (nothing in the bottle but brewed black or green tea), and they have some very lightly sweetened varieties and some flavoured ones as well. They use actual sugar, but just a spoon or so per jar in the lightly sweetened ones - like the Community Green has green tea, little lemon and a spoon of sugar, so the whole Snapple-sized jar is like 30 calories.

The unsweetened, unaltered are awesome though. No citric acid, no flavourings, just tea.

 

[SandrA9810]

Well I tried this by accident, because I wasn't paying attention when I picked it up off the shelf. It's Jarritos light, which is a mexican soda. I like their soda because of the flavors and real sugar that is in it, but this wasn't half bad. It still gave that nice tingling carbonated feeling, and a good strong citrus flavor, but no sugar in it. No sugar, no calories, and no sodium. It's almost like to difference between drinking diet and regular soda, there's just a slight difference, just enough to notice, but not bad.

I don't know if you have any spanish sides of town, as it is a Mexican drink, but there's a lot of places to order it online.