What is a good alternative for soda?

@zashimi (148)
Philippines
April 11, 2010 4:08am CST
I am a diabetic and my regular drink is sugar-free soda. Two of my doctors say different things when it comes to soda. One says its okay as long as its sugar-free, the other says drink water. The problem is, I rarely drink pure water. Canned and bottled juices also have sugar. Any suggestions on what I can drink to replace the sodas?
5 people like this
20 responses
@setsuna26 (2751)
• Philippines
11 Apr 10
Well for me im not having an problems at all with water, i was told by my doctor to drink water instead of soda's too. Why dont you go for those iced ted first?, i mean when your not craving that much with soda's anymore then you can slowly go from iced tea to water , just a suggestion though, if you really want to stick with those no sugar sodas that will just be fine too, the thing bout them is that sometimes they contain too many chemicals that might not be good for our bodies too .
1 person likes this
@zashimi (148)
• Philippines
11 Apr 10
iced tea makes me feel bloated though. and the powdered ones have sugar too. and sodas tastes soooo good! :
1 person likes this
@CJscott (4187)
• Portage La Prairie, Manitoba
12 Apr 10
I agree with your doctor that says more water. Just slap a dash of lemon juice in there to spruce up the flavor. My self, I add Crave energy drink to my water, once in a while, but mostly I drink just plain distilled water, with some additives to make it wetter. I like water for a number of reasons, none of which being taste. First and foremost, it is what God, intended for us to drink, has to be, every other drink has water in it. Problem is, a lot of those other drinks leave chemical residues rotting away the insides of our bodies, pure clean water just happens to wash those away. With Appreciation.
1 person likes this
@setsuna26 (2751)
• Philippines
13 Apr 10
Yeah, and im glad that i share the same idea with lots of people too. Yes its not that easy at all to be drinking water most of the times but if thats the only thing that can make us feel better in the end why not try it so that we will benefit from it as well
1 person likes this
• Philippines
12 Jun 12
Hi zashimi! Water of course would be the best drink. But if you are not much of a water-drinker (like some of my friends are), fresh fruit juice would be a good alternative for soda. A friend of mine who is diabetic drinks freshly squeezed vegetable juice.
1 person likes this
@ajithlal (14716)
• India
18 Jun 12
I also think it is good to have water and to have various fresh fruits and vegetables juices and soups.
@deebomb (15304)
• United States
11 Apr 10
I like to add a splash of lemon to my water to give it some variety. I have read that putting a coup;e of slices of cucumber in a glass of water letting it set for a while then adding ice is a good drink. since you like sodas you might try seltzer water. It has the fizz and carbination that sodas do but not the sugar. You could then add just enough juice to flavor it. I do this and add some grape juice. You could add lemon or lime juice and keep the sugar down. Strictly, seltzer is just water and carbon dioxide (made by pressurizing water with CO2.)
@deebomb (15304)
• United States
11 Apr 10
I forgot to add that generic seltzer water is about half the price of sodas here where I live.
1 person likes this
@chertsy (3798)
• United States
8 Jun 10
I wonder if the water purifier that has the flavor attachment is sugar free or contains sugar free. I just can't remember because only the kids likes the flavor added. If it's sugar free, you can get that to give your water a kick. I also need to ween myself from soda. When I was sick and I stopped drinking it and just had water. I lost a lot of weight in a short period of time. I added lemon juice to it to give it a kick, but you can add other things. There are crystal lites that is sugar free and they don't taste that bad. I don't like drinking plain water either. Funny, I used to drink water all the time. Mainly because my parents wouldn't let me have none. When I was sick, I actually felt 10 times better. I woke up better, after drinking a glass. I had more energy and I didn't find myself getting tired in the middle of the day like I used to.
1 person likes this
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
11 Nov 10
I'm not a diabetic, so I haven't had to give up my addiction to sugar loaded soda, but I certainly am trying to cut down on it. The thing that I am really starting to drink a lot of is iced tea. I drink more iced tea these days than I drink soda. Of course, I do sweeten my iced tea with sugar, but there are artificial sweeteners that you would be able to use in iced tea, and to be completely honest, I also like drinking unsweetened iced tea. You could give iced tea a try.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
11 Apr 10
well, sodas are, in the first place, bad for your health. i believe that even though we have grown tired of hearing about the "water talk"... water is definitely the best way to go... if you really need to drink something other than water, try to make your own fruit drink.. squeeze or blend fruits... all natural is the best way to go...
1 person likes this
@zashimi (148)
• Philippines
11 Apr 10
thanks! the thing is though, drinking fresh fruit juices the whole day is going to be very expensive.
2 people like this
@ajithlal (14716)
• India
18 Jun 12
I think it is good to have curd water or sambaram. The recipe can be found on the internet. I think sambaram helps to relax our body and is also a healthier drink. Coconut water is another alternative for soda. I think you can go for various soups and juices of various fruits and vegetables.
@Dumpertaker (1187)
11 Apr 10
I am also a diabetic, and recently asked about what would be good to drink. Firstly, soda is fine as long as it is diet or sugar free, it should be no issue. I was also told to drink plenty of water, but I do not like the taste of tap water, they suggest bottled normal and flavoured waters. I see someone here said about fruit juices, you have to be careful of the amount of natural sugar in them, diluting the pure fruit juice may be a good idea..it also means the fruit juice will go a lot further too!
1 person likes this
@cher913 (25782)
• Canada
11 Apr 10
my father in law has the same problem! here in canada, the companies are required to put not only caloric information on the packaging but the levels of sugar, carbs, etc. which is very helpful in picking juice! my fil's dietician suggested to drink water but to put diet fruit crystals in it (like crystal lite).
1 person likes this
• India
11 Apr 10
go for fresh fruit jucies or else stick with soda only it your health you have to look after your health theirs no choice for you!!!!!
1 person likes this
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
12 Apr 10
There is natural salt-free seltzer. I like orange, lime, lemon, lemon-lime, raspberry-lime, cranberry-lime, black cherry, and vanilla. It's just carbonated water and essense of whatever ingredient is listed like oil or juice, so little that there is only a slight taste. Poland Springs, Adirondack, and store brands are up here like Price Chopper Brand or Hannaford brand. Be careful of imposters, there are some that are diet soda seltzers, so read the ingredients of even the different ones under those names. Herbal tea is also a good substitute. I use the above water sometimes and herbal tea others. There are now hundreds of herbal teas.
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
12 Apr 10
The ones I'm talking about have no calories and no artificial anything. Takes a while to be able to taste them if you've been drinking the strong stuff, but after you get used to it, there are usually at least two or three flavors that are good. They have sales quite often and you can really stock up.
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
12 Apr 10
Regular soda has too much phosphorus and if you don't get enough calcium to counteract it, you're in danger of making your bones soft or pitted. Research it, and you'll find out what I'm talking about.
@kel1483 (986)
• United States
11 Apr 10
I like the 10 calorie Glaceau Vitamin Waters. They use natural sweeteners, I believe, to sweeten and I think that's better than sugar for someone who's diabetic. I love the different flavors they have. They also have zero calorie ones that use some natural sweetener that might be better than real sugar for diabetics (though I don't think the 0 cal ones taste as good as the 10 cal ones or the regular ones). I don't know if any flavored waters or pops use it, but agave is supposed to be a good sugar substitute for people who are diabetic. It doesn't spike insulin levels the way real sugar does. There are people in my family who are diabetic who swear by the stuff and I've seen Rachel Ray talk about it on her show a lot and how it's better. Maybe ask your doctor(s) if they think agave or other natural sweeteners would be better than the artificial sugar free sweeteners (like the ones in soda and stuff are usually artificial I think). If they do think those would be better, maybe look online to see if you can find a good substitute for soda. I think sugar-free soda would probably continue to be fine for you as long as it's in moderation and as long as you drink water, too.
1 person likes this
• United States
11 Apr 10
While diet soda is much better than regular soda, it does have its own set of risks. Diet soda, unless it has citric acid, will deplete your bones of calcium, over time increasing your risk of osteoporosis. If you drink say one a day, then I guess that would be OK. Try the many flavored waters, vitamin water, crystal light, or just plain water with some lemon in it. Not all juice is necessarily bad as long as you include it into account in your total sugar consumption. Juice can add vitamins to your diet, and juices like V8 Splash, or Tang can actually be very healthy for you.
• India
11 Apr 10
Drink water rather than drinking Soda. I think drinking water more is good for health rather than drinking soda
1 person likes this
@34momma (13882)
• United States
11 Apr 10
seltzer water is the best. i think it's the best alternative to soda cause you still that that soda feeling when you drink it. you still get the bubbles and that awww feeling that soda gives you. but none of the sugar, or carbs, or sodium. so please do yourself a favor and leave all soda lone and just change to seltzer water. they come in flavors too.
@Lena25 (51)
• United States
13 Apr 10
I would try drinking herbal teas which is good for you and you can't go wrong if you make them yourself. You will know what kind of sugar or sweetener is in them. There are a nice variety of teas and you can always mix the flavors so that you won't be drinking the same thing all the time and get burned out on just one flavor. But all sodas are bad for you because diet or sugar-free has a lot of sugar also.
@marguicha (214294)
• Chile
11 Apr 10
How about using water (you can even boil it if you are not sure it´s good) with the juice of half a lemon and plenty of ice for a BIG glass? I like that very much and it takes away thirst more than sodas.
@nonersays (3329)
• United States
12 Apr 10
They sell flavored waters. Some of them are even carbonated. Sure, there are sugars in them, but less than what is in an average soda. Or buy a lemon and put a little bit of lemon in regular water, just enough to give is a taste but not enough you'll have to add sugar also.
@olisaur (1922)
• United States
11 Apr 10
I think it's fine to drink diet or suger-free sodas as long as you do it in moderation. There's also sparkling mineral water that could be a good alternative, and Crystal Light or other Sugar-free juice mixes are good, too. There's also a couple bottled juices out there that offer a "Diet" or "No Sugar Added" kind; for example I know there's a diet kind of V8 tropical flavor juice.
• United States
12 Apr 10
Hi,My husband was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes last June. He has lost several members of his family to this disease, so he made some drastic changes to his diet and managed to lose 50 lbs! all before seeing the nutritionist 2 months later. One thing that he did was to TOTALLY STOP drinking his Diet Coke. He used to consume bewtween 6 and 10 cans of DIET coke a day!! We found an Iced tea mix that was at our local Aldi's store. It comes in a canister wtih 6 little containers inside. We use 2 containers with a gallon off purified water and it taste's great, and best of all, there are no calories or sugars or sugar substitutes!! It's really good.Your doctor is right tho, pure water is the best, but this ice tea is a great change if your really not a plain water fan. Good Luck! This is a very serious disease and I wish the best for you!