Looking to stop drinking so much soda?
Even if you don’t have a ‘cola addiction’, too much high fructose corn syrup or artificial sweeteners like aspartame are not good for you. You can read the “It’s Okay in Moderation” headlines, but because high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is found in so many foods and beverages, it’s very difficult to practice actual ‘moderation’, because it keeps showing up in so many unexpected places. Eliminating or reducing the consumption of soda for any reason is a good measure to improve health, lose weight, improve digestion and much more. But then why is it still so popular?
Tasty and fun:
Denying the facts won’t work – soda and cola are tasty and fun to drink. The bubbles make it more pleasant and the range of flavors and brands can be adapted to anyone’s taste. So, if you want to cut down on cola consumption, you should avoid feeling deprived. Having to ‘lose’ and deal with disappointment every day is not the path to success or even satisfaction. Makes it too easy to go back to less healthy drink options. Replacing sodas with water or tea may not be enough for success if they make you feel deprived.
Avoid the fruit juice trap
Many people look to fruit juice in the hope that it is the best option for losing weight or helping with blood sugar. Maybe replacing the orange soda with orange juice would solve the problem? After all, the OJ ads tell you how healthy you are at all times. But … a typical 8-ounce glass of orange juice has 22 grams of sugar, while 8 ounces of several different sodas have around 26 grams. You could also be serving soda for breakfast, with the amount of sugar in DO. Apple juice has 24 grams. High fructose corn syrup, cane juice, and sugar cause inflammation when eaten in excess and feed the bad bacteria in the digestive system. It doesn’t matter if it’s “fortified with vitamin C and D,” it’s still too sweet and will sabotage your efforts if you skip the sodas and replace them with bottled or carton fruit juice.
Flavor power to the rescue:
So what are you supposed to do? Learn how to make another drink that is quick, tasty, and better for you. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, because everyone’s tastes are different, but here are recipes to the rescue. When you choose the aspects you want (effervescence + flavors + caffeine or not, etc.) you can prepare a drink or drinks that taste as good or better than soda so that you do not feel deprived. Something delicious will make it easier to switch to a healthier snack.
Fountain of Fizz: Club soda, lightly flavored carbonated water, and plain ‘carbonated water’ will give you the fizz and bubbles you crave for texture. All you need to do is figure out how to avoid over-diluting it when you add more flavor … with some helpful tips.
Fresh Squeezed – You don’t need 100% juice when using real fresh (or frozen) fruits. All fruit juices on store shelves must be pasteurized for safety when packaged. This means that the juice is heated to kill bacteria, but this also kills the taste! Heat-treated juices are much less flavorful and vibrant than fresh raw juice that you squeeze yourself, so you need a lot more (or HFCS treated juice) to get the flavor. Example: fresh lime juice tastes very different from bottled.
Add-ons: When making your own beverages, you can use “impossible” add-ons like citrus zest and fresh-pressed ginger root drops that bottlers never can. These give you an intense flavor boost that you can control. They’re also strong enough that you don’t dilute the bubbly base water too much.
Tea time … but not really. Do you like traditional tea like green, black or gray? That’s great and it will make quitting soda easier … but what if you don’t? There are so many flavors in tea bags that don’t really taste like tea on the shelves these days. Apple-cinnamon, hibiscus-mango and wild raspberry are all in tea bags for hot or cold use, but they do not have the ‘traditional taste of tea’, so even those who hate tea can enjoy these new flavors. All it takes is a trip down the grocery store aisle to see what ‘no tea flavor’ flavors are on offer.
Fullness factor: Sodas can help you feel full between meals, which is why some people rely on them to replace a snack. This doesn’t have to be the case when you add chia seeds to your drink. Chia seeds are tiny, tasteless seeds. They do not affect the taste of the drink, but they are so rich in 2 types of fiber (soluble and insoluble) that when you drink them, you feel full. They are as easy to use as ‘just stir’, so anyone can mix up a chia drink. Once soaked in the chosen drink, they form ‘chia gel’, small drops of drops with a jelly texture. It is similar to “tiny-boba” from the popular and fun drink “boba-tea” or “bubble tea” (although it is made with tapioca starch). Adding chia not only stops hunger, it also adds nutrients like calcium, healthy omega-3 oils, B vitamins, and much more.
A Sweet Touch: You don’t need artificial sweeteners for a sweeter drink. Now that stevia is available in many brands and formats (leaf powder, squeeze drops, etc.), it is always ready to use. It doesn’t make people hungrier like aspartame. Monk fruit is also becoming more common, and xylitol, derived from the bark of the birch tree, is another way to sweeten. Another option is raw local honey. Raw honey can help stop allergies and contains many nutrients, including minerals, phytonutrients, beneficial enzymes, and antioxidants. Adding it to a cold drink will not cancel your benefits. However, do it lightly, as it is still a real sweetener on the glycemic index.
Time to combine:
With these elements in mind, it’s time to combine them to experiment and make soda replacement drinks that are just as delicious, but much healthier. Making a very strong infusion of wild raspberry tea and then adding a splash to the soda with a few drops of stevia will give you a bubbly raspberry drink. By pressing pomegranate arils and adding the juice to ice water, then using fresh lime zest / juice and chia seeds will make a spicy drink that can replace a snack and help you feel full. Squeezing ginger juice can really turn this drink into a wake-up call. Honey, lime and chia in ice water make the traditional drink of antiquity “Chia Fresca”. You don’t need a powdered mix for strawberry lemonade when you have lemon zest, fresh or frozen berries, and some powdered stevia. These are just some examples; Of course, by combining the above principles, you can get countless more ideas.
Quitting soda can be a lot easier when you have a flavor that you really enjoy and that is easy to mix. If you also start to feel better, with less sugar or artificial sweetener in your life, the task becomes much simpler … as the rewards are something you can feel every day. All it takes is a little effort to find a mix that you enjoy, that also has all the effects you want, and you’ll be on your way to cutting back on soda.