Yahoo Shine had a great post about ways to, "Ditch Your Diet Soda Addiction" and offered up some drink alternatives to those artificial sweetener infused sodas. It took me 2 years to wean off Diet Coke all together, and its place, here are some of the kinds of drinks I enjoy that are free of any artificial sweetener.
Sweet Leaf Tea Organic: This is my favorite drink of the moment particularly the Mint & Honey, and the Half & Half Lemonade. These teas are sweetened with milled cane sugar. There are Diet versions but they are sweetened with Splenda, so stick to the Organic version.
- Orangina: There is a Blood Orange version in Europe I would love to try. Hope it come to the US.
- Trader Joe's Watermelon Juice: This is pure watermelon juice and really delicious when you put it in the freezer about an hour to get it really cold but not yet slushy.
- Simply Originals: These are for serious Granola types. The two flavors will get your attention: Flax Seed and Purple Corn which is known to be higher in antioxidants than blueberries, pomegranates, and acai berries.
Function Drinks: These drinks were developed by an orthopedic doctor and the flavors are pretty unique like Urban Detox, Brainiac, Youth Trip, Alternative Energy. There is a science to these drinks as they are designed for things like muscle recovery, energy and mood balance. I first saw them at Whole Foods but they can also be found in Target and Longs Drugs.
- Whole Foods 365 Nutrient Enhanced Water: This is Whole Foods competitor to VitaminWater. These 365 drinks are not as tasty as the VitaminWaters, but they are sweetened with organic evaporated can juice. I stopped drinking VitaminWater because they are sweetened with crystalline fructose which is a derivative of cornstarch, the same base of high fructose corn syrup.
Rice Milk: Yes, milk is supposed to do a body good, but I cannot drink cow milk because I have a Type 2 allergy to it. I'll drink Rice Dream or the Whole Foods 365 Organic Rice Milk or Trader Joe's Rice Milk. I don't drink soy milk because it is not as good for you as you may think.
- Odwalla Lemonade or Whole Foods 365 Organic Lemonade: I love Lemonades. For the WF 365 lemonade, buy the 1 Liter (32 oz) bottle because it is only 30 cents more than the small 16oz to go size.
Coconut Juice (or water): The juice of the coconut is a popular drink in Asia and is becoming popular in the US because of its many health benefits. Coconut juice has a highly concentrated source of electrolytes and is a good source of potassium and calcium. Coconut water has antibacterial and antifungal qualities and is known to boost metabolism.
