[bkburns]

Hey folks,

When I got my diagnosis in March, I immediately cut my soft drink habit. I was drinking 2-4 cokes or Mountain Dews daily. I have no desire to substitute diet drinks, even the ones with Splenda. I am doing fine without the caffeine . ( most days ) and my heart palpitations stopped. I do not drink coffee or tea, and obviously post D I had to trim back my orange juice/milk intake.

I have never been able to drink diet drinks, like Diet Cokes or Diet Mountain Dews. They had the nasty side effect of causing constipation and headaches. It appears to be any product with a lot of aspartame has this effect on me. Before I dropped soft drinks, I was able to drink Diet Coke with Splenda without any, um, complications.

That leads to my question: I want something to sip/drunk besides water. I don't want caffeine if I can avoid it. I tried Crystal light lemonade, and found out in a few days what the sweetener was - again .

I tried the Splenda 'flavor accents'. They suck. Not much more than a hint of lemon. If you add more, it gets a bit bitter.

I really like the concept of the crystal light on-the-go packs - they fit my lifestyle very well and I can use them anywhere. I know Crystal light has bottled lemonade with Splenda, but they aren't offering it in the powdered form yet.

Can anyone recommend an alternative?

[princesslinda]

I have recently found "Vita-Splash" which is an add-in that I buy at Walmart alongside the other add-ins. It has maltodextrin as a sweetener (not sure if you can tolerate that or not). I like the green tea with goji, but there are other flavors as well.

I also like the decaf Lipton tea and keep some in the fridge at home. There's also a Kellogg's protein water mix that is supposed to help you "feel fuller longer." It has sucralose as a sweetener. Its not bad, but is not my favorite.

[MarcS]

I avoid carbonated drinks as well, as much as possible. Usually splurge and buy Tea's Tea, which has a variety of Green Teas (Green White, Green Jasmine, etc), but tend to range in price from $1.75-$2.25. In the summer I make iced tea, Celestial Seasonings has a huge array of choices, including mint teas, etc. Most times can reuse the tea bags, and make more. Both these choices are Caffeine free.

p.s. I tend to agree about "flavor accents"...yuk.

[BrianSCohen]

I try to stay well hydrated. I don't have a fear of the crystal light and use it in bulk. But I would also suggest that you can make your own in bulk with splenda. You can either employ the true lemon and splenda or use unsweetened kool-aid with splenda. You can pack it in a zip lock back with a small plastic spoon and it is nearly as convenient as those small expensive packets at a fraction of the cost. You can also modify the recipe to make it less or more sweet as desired. There are other flavors of kool-aid and similar drinks, just make sure you get the unsweetened.

I have found that I also like to use it as a very weak flavoring. I don't like too strong a taste and if you drink a half gallon of lemonade drink you will also feel like it becomes quite acidic.

Enjoy

[shiftzor]

Herbal teas! Great when you want caffeine free hot drink. They come in all sizes and shapes; you can add splenda to sweeten them. I have taken to drinking lots of them especially in restaurants since most of the time they don't do a diet/caffeine free version of coke or diet lemonade. I am drinking clipper organic white tea with natural blackcurrant flavour at the moment (from Holland Barrots in UK). They usually contain lots of anti oxidants but I don’t really care too much about that.

[bkburns]

Originally Posted by BrianSCohen

...or use unsweetened kool-aid with splenda. You can pack it in a zip lock back with a small plastic spoon and it is nearly as convenient as those small expensive packets at a fraction of the cost...

Brian - that will work PERFECTLY! Its so obvious I can't believe I didn't think of it before.

Going to the grocery store on the way home!

Thanks.

[Maya_Papaya]

i was gunna say i do the whole unsweetened koolaide/splenda thing....cause crystal light gives me this weird acid reflux thing....anyhoo somebody beat me too it lol

[Janlaton]

I do the herbal and decaf teas. They are great both hot and cold. The fruit ones are sweet enough as they are. If I buy one that I want to sweeten I just add some cinnamon which has a sweet taste.

Other spices have sweet tastes and can be used in beverages.

[patricia52]

I am not a tea drinker and I am sensitive to aspartame and Splenda. I have been drinking koolaid with Stevia. It seems to work for me and I get to have different flavors. Grape is my favorite. I am currently trying a generic V-8. I have to watch the carbs, but it is good for a change of taste. With meals I usually just get a glass of ice water with a slice of lemon.

[Stacman]

I do the hard stuff...

Sprite Zero! Zero everything can't hurt, and it tastes suprisngly like the regular. Don't know the sweetener though.

Diet Mountain Dew at the office...

[notme]

I am not a big soda drinker either. I do LOVE Ocean Spray CranRasberry Lite. I drink it daily. It is made with Splenda.

[Janlaton]

Should have added earlier, Keep in mind, herbal teas are not the same as regular "tea". Do not rule them out just because you do not drink the regular stuff! There are as many flavors as days in a year, bagged, instant, freeze dried, loose, etc.