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

[cornflake]

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.

OP doesn't want artificial sweetners though.

 

[manning]

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).

Carb here is a measurement. you are converting grams to carbs and the magic number you divide by is 15 (grams)

A diabetic should eat about 250 grams a day or 16 carbs. When you look at food packaging everything is labeled in grams, not carbs. That's why you divide by 15.

Now for net carbs in the USA and canada. To get that you subtract the grams of fiber from the grams of carbohydrates, then divide by 15.

http://www.ehow.com/how_5193575_calculate-net-carbs.html



xylitol is another sugar substitute.

http://www.netrition.com/now_xylitol_page.html


Xylitol and Insulin Resistance, Diabetes Hypertension and Hormonal Imbalances

Consuming sugar and other refined carbohydrates results in the rapid release of glucose, or blood sugar. In response, the pancreas secretes insulin to usher glucose into the cells, where it is burned for energy. Excess glucose stresses the system, and over time the cells become less responsive to insulin. This condition, known as insulin resistance, is a huge health problem and it is estimated to affect half the American population. Insulin resistance is associated with abnormalities in cholesterol and triglyceride levels, hypertension, increased risk of heart disease and diabetes.

The dramatic rise in type-2 diabetes since the mid-1900s directly coincides with our increased consumption of sugar. One long-term study of more than 65,000 women demonstrated that a high-sugar, low-fibre diet increased the risk of type-2 diabetes by 250 per cent. Another recent study found that excessive intake of sugar was the single most important dietary risk factor for heart disease in women and for men. It has been estimated that sugar intake may account for more than 150,000 premature deaths from heart disease in the United States each year.12

Xylitol has been demonstrated in repeated clinical studies to be very slowly metabolised. In fact, on the glycaemic index, which measures how quickly foods enter the bloodstream, sugar is rated at 100 and xylitol at just seven! Xylitol is a natural insulin stabiliser, therefore it causes none of the abrupt rises and falls that occur with sugar. In fact, it actually helps in stopping sugar and carbohydrate cravings. Foods sweetened with xylitol will not raise insulin levels. This makes it a perfect sweetener for people with diabetes as well as those wanting to lose weight. There is a growing consensus amongst anti-ageing researchers that maintaining low insulin levels is a key to a successful anti-ageing program.


You can even bake with it.

http://www.ehow.com/how_5047468_bake-xylitol.html

 

[cornflake]

Is xylitol a sugar alcohol? I'm guessing based on the suffix there...

Sugar alcohols can have *very* unpleasant side effects if consumed in any quantity.

 

[SandrA9810]

OP doesn't want artificial sweetners though.

I don't believe there is any artificial sweetner in it. I'll have to look at another bottle for the ingredient list, but it's relatively short. I was also mistaken in my first post, there is a bit of sodium, but only 25 mg.

The only reason I tasted it, is because I grabbed it off the shelf without looking at it. It's got the same product design, just the word Light written on it. It has a nice flavor punch without the sugar punch. So it's not like drinking water with a hint of flavor.

 

[dianfossey]

found this.

http://www.zevia.com/cola

It's second ingredient is ERYTHRITOL so if you are sensitive to sugar alcohols you might have a problem with it.

It does contain stevia. You only need a very small amount of stevia to add sweetness to anything. Too much and you definitely get an awful taste in your mouth. Used properly, it adds sweetness without any after taste.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Keep drinking unsweetened iced tea. Try different flavors. I really like Celestial Seasonings Peach Iced tea. You don't like it now because you are so used to sweet tea, but your taste can change.

Yep. There are TONS of teas you can drink hot or ice it down cold.

Now if I could just do that to my coffee. I am working on it though. One cup of my morning coffee costs me 52 calories, 9 carbs, & 8 grams of sugar.

 

[furb & dez]

Keep drinking unsweetened iced tea. Try different flavors. You don't like it now because you are so used to sweet tea, but your taste can change.

This. If you stop drinking so much sugar, your taste will change.

It's like fast food... if you live on a steady diet of it, it tastes fine - but if you were to stop eating it for 2 months and then tried it again, you'd think it was just disgusting.

I never really liked sugared soda, and I switched to diet soda years ago. Now even the thought of them makes me ill (bleh, sickly overpowering sweetness).

Or put another way... if you raise a child on sugar water, is there any surprise when they don't like broccoli?

 

[bookgirl]

I drink this brand a lot. http://www.zevia.com/

The "sprite" one is plain nasty but the root beer, orange, grape, ginger ale and grapefruit are pretty good.

My local health food store, and Whole Foods both carry it. It's expensive but it goes on sale at WF pretty often and they have coupons on the website a lot.

 

[dngnb8]

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.

Tea? When I make tea, I use 4 lipton decaffs with 2 of a bigilow flavored (Peach is my fave). I have needed no sweetener with this

 

[Mrs.Toad]

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.

Thanks! I haven't cared for the Honest Teas I've tried so far, but I think they were either black tea, or had no flavor at all. I need at least a little squeeze of lemon in mine. I don't think I've seen the Community Green yet, but it sounds good, I'll have to look for it.

Carb here is a measurement. you are converting grams to carbs and the magic number you divide by is 15 (grams)

A diabetic should eat about 250 grams a day or 16 carbs. When you look at food packaging everything is labeled in grams, not carbs. That's why you divide by 15.

Now for net carbs in the USA and canada. To get that you subtract the grams of fiber from the grams of carbohydrates, then divide by 15.

http://www.ehow.com/how_5193575_calculate-net-carbs.html

Where is "here"? Because your link says a carb is one gram of carbohydrate. The only place it mentions 15 grams is when it says one serving of carbohydrate is about 15 grams. My nutrition class, every diabetic I know (well enough to discuss this with) and every carb-counting diet I've read up on also counts one carb as one gram of carbohydrate.

If you are using a method by which you count servings instead of individual carbs, that's fine, but it's a little misleading to throw in "15 grams of sugar = one carb" without explaining that you're talking about a carb serving.

 

[Dancind]

I've been doing the low carb, sugar free thing for a couple of years to control my blood sugar. In fact, I'm drinking a Dr. Zevia right now. It's not bad. I don't usually like Stevia, but I think they use the liquid form which isn't as bitter.

I use xylitol, some erythritol, and sometimes a little bit of palm sugar (for help with the texture) when baking or making ice cream. Using a mix of sweeteners really does result in a better taste. The first two are sugar alcohols, but not nearly as bad as maltitol, which I can't tolerate. Xylitol is going to be appearing in a lot more products in the future. It's actually GOOD for your teeth, I have some toothpaste with it. I think it's what the Biotene dry mouth products are made with, actually.

For tea, DH is addicted to Good Earth Sweet & Spicy herb tea. It really is sweet, to me, and the sweetness is from fruit oils.

Favorite dinner drink is a glass of red wine. That's no help, sorry!

 

[furb & dez]

I use xylitol, some erythritol, and sometimes a little bit of palm sugar (for help with the texture) when baking or making ice cream. Using a mix of sweeteners really does result in a better taste. The first two are sugar alcohols, but not nearly as bad as maltitol, which I can't tolerate. Xylitol is going to be appearing in a lot more products in the future. It's actually GOOD for your teeth, I have some toothpaste with it. I think it's what the Biotene dry mouth products are made with, actually.

Be careful with the sugar alcohols, they all cause a laxative effect when consumed in moderately large quantities.

 

[manning]

Thanks! I haven't cared for the Honest Teas I've tried so far, but I think they were either black tea, or had no flavor at all. I need at least a little squeeze of lemon in mine. I don't think I've seen the Community Green yet, but it sounds good, I'll have to look for it.

Where is "here"? Because your link says a carb is one gram of carbohydrate. The only place it mentions 15 grams is when it says one serving of carbohydrate is about 15 grams. My nutrition class, every diabetic I know (well enough to discuss this with) and every carb-counting diet I've read up on also counts one carb as one gram of carbohydrate.

If you are using a method by which you count servings instead of individual carbs, that's fine, but it's a little misleading to throw in "15 grams of sugar = one carb" without explaining that you're talking about a carb serving.

Good day.

Whoops wrong thread

 

[*JoGo*]

Surprised to see this thread pop up! I started it several months ago.

My taste has changed. I'm actually drinking a cup of hot tea (bigelow mint medley) right now w/o any sweeteners. I drink several flavors of hot tea unsweetened and black coffee. No cream, no sugar. I mostly drink water.

Artificial sweeteners still taste funny to me. Every once in awhile I will gets diet Dr Pepper or some of dh's diet coke (something about having pop with popcorn, YUM) but I don't finish a full can or glass. Still not fond of it.

I've also lost just over 25lbs in 3 months, and I've maintained that for almost 6 months now.... Just from cutting carbs.

 

[manning]

Thanks! I haven't cared for the Honest Teas I've tried so far, but I think they were either black tea, or had no flavor at all. I need at least a little squeeze of lemon in mine. I don't think I've seen the Community Green yet, but it sounds good, I'll have to look for it.

Where is "here"? Because your link says a carb is one gram of carbohydrate. The only place it mentions 15 grams is when it says one serving of carbohydrate is about 15 grams. My nutrition class, every diabetic I know (well enough to discuss this with) and every carb-counting diet I've read up on also counts one carb as one gram of carbohydrate.

If you are using a method by which you count servings instead of individual carbs, that's fine, but it's a little misleading to throw in "15 grams of sugar = one carb" without explaining that you're talking about a carb serving.

That s/b 1 carb equals 15 grams

 

[smhogar]

Have you tried the TruLemon products? http://www.truelemon.com/products.html

I love the Orange.

Some of the flavors do have Stevia.

 

[manning]

Have you tried the TruLemon products? http://www.truelemon.com/products.html

I love the Orange.

Some of the flavors do have Stevia.

I can't find the orange.