Monday, February 15, 2010

Challenge question

I need your expertise. Since we are all focusing on health, I know you peeps have the knowledge I need.

Let me start by telling you that I love Diet Coke. Love it. I only drink one per day, but it is true love. That said, I am trying to quit it for a while. Here is where your challenge question comes in.

Is there a soda (I am from Michigan and really call it 'pop'), that is caffeine free, has no aspartame and is not loaded with empty calories? P.S. I do not like things that taste like ass.

I only want to drink one per day but still, I do not want to drink 120-140 empty calories and loads of sugar.

I drink tons of water and skim milk everyday. But you know how after awhile, you want something different. I do like Propel but I like the bubbliness (yes, I make up words) of soda.

Tell me wise ones, does such a soda exist?

25 comments:

100in12 said...

I've had Zevia before, but sometimes some of the flavors do have an ass-like aftertaste. Except for the black cherry flavor, I found that one to be DELISH!

Johanna at The Baker Twins said...

Diet Rite (don't drink the raspberry - it is nasty) is caffeine, sodium, and aspertame free. Not sure what makes it have taste...

Fanta, Fanta, Don't you want a Fanta (hope that song gets stuck in your head tonight).

Look for sodas made with Splenda, then find a caffeine free version.

And they make Propel but bubbly... remember when those sparkling waters were popular? Yum!

Seren_Sighs said...

Are you opposed to calories in it?

Honestly, if you crave the bubbliness then perhaps you could mix a healthy juice (all natural with no high fructose corn syrup) with seltzer for that bubbliness. It will be lower in sugar but still taste sweet and if it's an all natural juice then you'll get some antioxidents in there. And isn't seltzer calorie free? I'm not sure.

Personally I'm not a fan of chemicals so I try to avoid diet stuff. Sometimes I have to sacrifice calories and other times I just give in and try to avoid fake sugars most of the time.

Ava Kelly said...

i was going to a suggest a healthy juice mixed with seltzer as well. :) i would also avoid splenda though...the side effects are endless...as with all chemicals. the carbonation isn't so great for you either b/c what they add to make it bubbly inhibits your body's absorption of calcium, i believe. read that somewhere. BUT, no need to go extreme now. it's great you want to cut out diet soda (it's horrendous for you), so maybe eventually you could fade out all carbonated drinks...but there's no harm in a treat now and then. :) I crave soda as well and let myself indulge. Good luck and keep us posted what works for you!

-Ava
goodbyefatlife.blogspot.com

Miz said...

my first thought was diet rite too but now Im wondering what the sweetener is in there?!

Miz.

CJ said...

How about lemonade with some pop in it? that tastes good?

Beth said...

I don't think this is really what you are asking, but here goes anyway...I see a naturopath, and her BIGGEST suggestion to me was NO ARTIFICIAL SWEETNERS...she was serious (pointed her finger and everything). She said if I HAD to have soda, she wanted me to have a Sprite....just a regular ole' Sprite!

F. McButter Pants said...

Nothing wise here. I do not ever plan on giving up my ONE can of soda every morning.

Hope you find something that you love!

Anonymous said...

Club soda or sparkling water with a splash of your favorite juice to top it off!

Lots of the flavored seltzers are calorie free and have no artificial sweeteners either!

Allie said...

Oh man, I feel your pain. I am so addicted to Diet Coke, and it is also one of the loves of my life. I have cut down to TWO a day (which is huge for me, considering I used to have like 5) and besides regular old water, replace it with a flavored seltzer - no calories and no sweeteners, like people above have mentioned. I don't know what brands they have in Michigan, but I live Schwepp's lime flavor as well as their black cherry, also love Canada Dry raspberry and cherry. Also can't beat just good old Pellegrino (which I buy by the case).

Unknown said...

I like the flavored seltzers - that's what i drink all day. I'm not a fan of things that taste like ass, either, lol!

kelly dawn said...

Diet Rite is what we have in our house. I like it!

About Our Family said...

I buy kool-aide and mix it with Stevia or xyletol. Kind of expensive but worth it to get a sweet fix! Thanks for your email- I've been trying to respond, but, you know how it is.... :)

Ava Kelly said...

Also, I know there's a diet soda out there that's sweetened with stevia (a natural sweetener that's not sugar and doesn't spike your blood sugar) that you could just google and order a case. I know my boyfriend did that but I don't remember the name.

Stephanie said...

Stevia is the way to go if you want something sweet that won't spike your blood sugar (and isn't artificial and tumor causing). I would just stay away from soda in general, diet or not. You could try kombucha. It's a delicious and powerful fermented drink. It's sour and sweet.
BODA lose weight

jo said...

Diet Rite *is* made with Splenda. It comes in lots of flavors, too.

I call it pop, too!

wildfluffysheep said...

i have my little hit of diet coke. not ready to give it up... just yet. but i drink plenty of water so i think il be ok.

love that you call it pop. we call it that here and ive never heard an american call it anything other than soda.

hope you work something out.

Alison@waistingduxie.com said...

I can't do aspartame it gives me wicked wicked migraines. What I do when I want a soda which is rare is make my own. I have a love affair with sparkling water so I bought a soda maker for about $99, they have soda flavours made with splenda which I started with but now I use ones made with Stevia. I save about $500 a year for everyone in the house and I don't have to recycle a million bottles. Yes, it is an initial outlay but it paid for itself quickly. It comes with carbonating bottles that you re-use we keep them in the fridge full of water so they are cold when we want to carbonate, they will stay carbonated for up to a week once made.
Here is the info on the soda maker and their flavourings, even their non diet is not made with HFCS http://www.sodastreamusa.com/product_info.aspx and here is the info on the stevia flavourings
https://www.naturesflavors.com/default.php?cPath=231
I hope people find this useful.

Alison@waistingduxie.com said...

OMG I do know how to punctuate, really, I do. I just re-read my comment and want to hang my head in shame...

antgirl said...

I'm sorry, I'm useless to ya on this one. I don't drink soda at all any more. Rarely. Then I enjoy a ginger ale. Mmmmm.

BornSquishy said...

Load of good suggestions already.

I used to drink a ton of Diet Pepsi... when I was at home I usually had a bottle sitting next to me.

Personally I don't think any of the suggestions would be able to quench the craving I used to have.

Since I've started taking better care of myself I've found that the more I just kept drinking water, the less I craved the pop.

About the only time I have it now is if we're at a restaurant... which is seldom since we're eating better.

Even as I'm typing this I'm surprised that just thinking so much about pop hasn't triggered a craving.

I'd go cold turkey if I was you and give it about 2 weeks... the pull of the evil caffeinated drink will be much more manageable after that.

Just my 2cents... best of luck.

empowermephotoguy said...

Wow! You got a ton of great suggestions. I especially like the one about making your own soda! Truth be told, I think soda should be avoided at all costs...diet or otherwise. I agree with the comments about mixing juice with sparkling water or even just a splash of lemon and lime. If you need the sweetness, there are flavored carbonated waters out there...but if you can do without, I would go that way. Good luck!

Tina said...

Dunno...but I have heard of people mixing fruit juice with carbonated water? Google?

Crys said...

So glad you posted this! I love carbonation but can't really find any sodas that fit the bill. Someone told me that try lemonade & carbonated water. I'm a big fan of Coke Zero and Diet Mountain Dew. (doesn't fit the caffeine free bill though)

Me said...

St. LaCroix- it's carbonated water and they have different fruit flavors. I was a Dr. Pepper addict and don't like anything diet so I was a little skeptical when I tried this. It's all natural and it really took care of my need for carbonation. It is a little expensive though but it's well worth it.