Healthier yet tasty drinks?

[Deleted User] · 14/07/14 - 14:02

So I'm trying to cut down on coke and other fizzy drinks. Looking at some of the alternatives such as Oasis and other fruit juices they aren't as healthy as you may think.

I've started adding lime wedges to sparkling water as sometimes I want something different to plain water; does anyone else have any other ideas for some healthy yet tasty drinks?

Nesta Robbins · 14/07/14 - 14:30

It's great if you're able to substitute sparkling water for your usual fizz, but realise with a slice of lime it's quite sharp, certainly at first when you're not used to it. Half an inch or so of pureed fruit, topped up with fizzy water would make it more palatable. The trick is to try and get in the habit of drinking water freely, but drinks with a bit of fruit added should be more of a treat, such as on a hot day. You can even freeze and make ice lollies. That's a heck of a lot less than whole glasses of sugary fizz or juice each time. Doing this will help you generally, as it takes about 2 weeks for the body to stop craving sugar. Best of luck!

Shrike · 14/07/14 - 14:36

I made this Sugarfree ginger cordial last week - though I used lemon balm from the garden instead of lemongrass and omitted the stevia.
I was rather impressed - think I might try lemon balm with rosemary or mint next - free ingredients so whats to lose?:D

welsh_El · 14/07/14 - 14:37

Peppermint tea. Yum

[Deleted User] · 14/07/14 - 14:52

I've taken to drinking water with my main evening meal and fruit juice with breakfast/lunch. Inbetween I'd have a coke/red bull (I'd have coke with my evening meal too) so I'm hoping fizzy water with a bit of lime/lemon is a step inbetween. If I go for all water straight away I know I'd have a rough time with it.

The ginger ale recipe looks amazing!

JulesF · 14/07/14 - 17:33

I love Rock's organic orange squash with fizzy water. It's not sugar-free but it hasn't got any other nasties in it. It's intensely orangey, so you only need a very small amount to make the water a bit more interesting. I use about a finger or so of squash in a pint of water.

tiacat · 14/07/14 - 17:39

redrose89 wrote: »

So I'm trying to cut down on coke and other fizzy drinks. Looking at some of the alternatives such as Oasis and other fruit juices they aren't as healthy as you may think.

I've started adding lime wedges to sparkling water as sometimes I want something different to plain water; does anyone else have any other ideas for some healthy yet tasty drinks?

squeeze half a lime into the water first, then slice up the rest of it in the bottom before pouring the fizzy water on top, then the lime taste is more pronounced. We drink this every evening, sometimes with lemon but the taste isnt as strong with that.

[Deleted User] · 14/07/14 - 22:44

Make a fruit tea (like Twinings Cranberry and Raspberry) and leave to go cold, then chill in the fridge. It´s delicious, there are hundreds of flavours and they´re fat free and very very low calorie. They cost approx. 1 pound to 1 pound thirty for a box of 20 bags, (1 bag per mug), so they´re also great value (look out for special offers too). I would recommend the fruit flavours as I think they taste better when cold than stuff like camomile. After a few practices you will know the exact ratio of water to bag that you like best.

Directioner_Haz · 14/07/14 - 23:36

The Tropicana drinks are both tasty and healthy

EbonyHamster · 15/07/14 - 01:57

Green or herbal teas

Green tea have a lot of different flavours now, tesco do a salted caramel one which is nice

Nettle tea is nice too

[Deleted User] · 15/07/14 - 19:17

Not tried green tea yet.
Is Tropicana really as healthy as they say? It's the sugar content I'm worried about.

Shrike · 15/07/14 - 23:42

redrose89 wrote: »

Not tried green tea yet.
Is Tropicana really as healthy as they say? It's the sugar content I'm worried about.

I think we're moving away from seeing fruit juices as being "healthy" - better to eat the fruit and choose something completely sugar free instead (preferably without nasty artificial sweetners too!)

dellab49 · 19/07/14 - 07:00

Do smoothies count to the original posters question

walterwhite · 19/07/14 - 09:13

dellab49 wrote: »

Do smoothies count to the original posters question

Depends. Some of them have huge sugar levels which they are keen to cut down on.

Shrike · 19/07/14 - 13:04

Shrike wrote: »

I made this Sugarfree ginger cordial last week - though I used lemon balm from the garden instead of lemongrass and omitted the stevia.
I was rather impressed - think I might try lemon balm with rosemary or mint next - free ingredients so whats to lose?:D

Just a quick addendum - I saw stevia plants in the garden centre today - didn't realise you could buy them for home use.
I tried half a leaf - after a couple of seconds the sweetness really kicked in - a bit 'artificial sweetner' but not bad. So if you want to sweeten a cordial I imagine chucking a few bruised leaves into the mix could work nicely.

Rab64 · 19/07/14 - 19:39

I like Milk

Hey there!

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