Do you want to quit Soda & Cola? Tips and tricks to mix and match for success
Website design By BotEap.comAre you 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 may read the headlines “It’s okay in moderation,” but because high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is in so many foods and beverages, it’s very hard to practice real ‘moderation’, because it keeps showing up in so many unexpected places. Eliminating or reducing soda consumption for any reason is a good way to improve health, lose weight, improve digestion and much more. But then why is it still so popular? Website design By BotEap.comTasty and fun:
Denying the facts won’t work: soda and cola are tasty and fun to drink. The bubbles make it more enjoyable and the range of flavors and brands can satisfy everyone’s taste. So if you want to cut back on cola consumption, you should avoid feeling deprived. Having to ‘lose yourself’ and deal with disappointment every day is not the path to success or even satisfaction. It makes it all too easy to go back to less healthy beverage options. Replacing soft drinks with water or tea may not be enough to be successful if they make you feel deprived. Website design By BotEap.comAvoid the fruit juice trap
Many people reach for fruit juice in the hope that it will be the best option for weight loss or to help with blood sugar. Perhaps replacing orange soda with orange juice would solve the problem? After all, orange juice commercials 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 soft drinks have around 26 grams. I could also be serving sodas for breakfast, with as much sugar as there is in OJ. Apple juice has 24 grams. High fructose corn syrup, cane juice and sugar cause inflammation when eaten in excess and feed 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. Website design By BotEap.comThe power of flavor to the rescue:
So what are you supposed to do? Learn how to mix up something else to drink that’s quick, tasty, and better for you. There is no single solution, because everyone’s tastes are different, but here are the recipes to the rescue. When you choose the aspects you want (fizz + flavors + caffeine or not, etc.) you can make a drink or drinks that taste as good as or better than soda so you don’t feel like you’re depriving yourself. Something delicious will make it easier to switch to a healthier snack. Website design By BotEap.comSource of fizz: Club soda, lightly flavored carbonated water, and just 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 diluting it too much when adding more flavor…with a few tips. Website design By BotEap.comFresh Squeezed – You don’t need 100% juice when you’re using real fresh (or frozen) fruit. 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 flavor! Heat-treated juices are much less flavorful and vibrant than raw fresh juice that you squeeze yourself, so you need a lot more (or treated HFCS juice) to get the flavor. Example: Fresh lime juice tastes very different from bottled. Website design By BotEap.comAdd-ins: When you make your own drinks, you can use ‘impossible’ add-ins like citrus zest and drops of freshly pressed ginger root that bottlers never can. These give an intense boost of flavor that you can control. They are also strong enough not to dilute the bubbly base water too much. Website design By BotEap.comTea time… but not really. Do you like traditional tea like green, black or Earl Grey? That’s great and will make quitting soda easier… but what if you don’t? There are 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 don’t have the ‘traditional taste of tea’, so even tea haters can enjoy these new flavours. All it takes is a trip down the grocery store aisle to see what ‘unflavored tea’ flavors are on offer. Website design By BotEap.comSatiety Factor: Sodas can help you feel full between meals, which is why some people rely on them to replace a snack. This does not have to be the case when you add chia seeds to your drink. Chia seeds are tiny, flavorless seeds. They don’t affect the flavor of the drink, but they are so high in 2 types of fiber (soluble and insoluble) that when you drink them, you feel full. They’re as easy to use as “just stir,” so anyone can make a chia drink. Once soaked in the beverage of your choice, they form ‘chia gel’, small jelly-like droplets. It’s similar to “tiny-boba” from the popular fun drink “boba-tea” or “bubble tea” (although it’s made with tapioca starch). Adding chia not only curbs hunger, it also adds nutrients like calcium, healthy omega-3 oils, B vitamins, and much more. Website design By BotEap.comA touch of sweetness: You don’t need artificial sweeteners to have a sweeter drink. Now that stevia is available in many brands and formats (leaf powder, squeeze drops, etc.) it is always ready to use. Doesn’t make Hungarians like the can of aspartame. Monk fruit is also becoming more common, and xylitol, derived from birch bark, is another way to sweeten it. 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 its benefits. Do it carefully though, as it is still a real sweetener on the glycemic index. Website design By BotEap.comTime to combine:
With these elements in mind, it’s time to combine them to experiment and make soda substitute drinks that are just as delicious, but much healthier. Brewing a very strong infusion of wild raspberry tea, then adding a splash to a club soda with a few drops of stevia will give you a sparkling raspberry drink. Pressing pomegranate arils and adding the juice to ice water and then using fresh lime zest/juice and chia seeds will make a tart drink that can replace a snack and help you feel full. Pressing ginger juice can really turn this drink into a wake-up call. Honey, lime and chia in ice water make the traditional drink “Chia Fresca” since ancient times. You don’t need a powdered strawberry lemonade mix when you have lemon zest, fresh or frozen berries, and a little stevia powder. These are just some examples; Of course, by combining the above principles, you can get countless more ideas. Website design By BotEap.comQuitting soda can be so much easier when you have a flavor you really enjoy and one that’s easy to mix up. If you also start to feel better, with less sugar or artificial sweeteners in your life, it becomes a much simpler task…because the rewards are something you can feel every day. All it takes is a little effort to find a mix you enjoy, that also has all the effects you want, and you’ll be well on your way to cutting back on 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 may read the headlines “It’s okay in moderation,” but because high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is in so many foods and beverages, it’s very hard to practice real ‘moderation’, because it keeps showing up in so many unexpected places. Eliminating or reducing soda consumption for any reason is a good way to improve health, lose weight, improve digestion and much more. But then why is it still so popular? Website design By BotEap.comTasty and fun:
Denying the facts won’t work: soda and cola are tasty and fun to drink. The bubbles make it more enjoyable and the range of flavors and brands can satisfy everyone’s taste. So if you want to cut back on cola consumption, you should avoid feeling deprived. Having to ‘lose yourself’ and deal with disappointment every day is not the path to success or even satisfaction. It makes it all too easy to go back to less healthy beverage options. Replacing soft drinks with water or tea may not be enough to be successful if they make you feel deprived. Website design By BotEap.comAvoid the fruit juice trap
Many people reach for fruit juice in the hope that it will be the best option for weight loss or to help with blood sugar. Perhaps replacing orange soda with orange juice would solve the problem? After all, orange juice commercials 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 soft drinks have around 26 grams. I could also be serving sodas for breakfast, with as much sugar as there is in OJ. Apple juice has 24 grams. High fructose corn syrup, cane juice and sugar cause inflammation when eaten in excess and feed 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. Website design By BotEap.comThe power of flavor to the rescue:
So what are you supposed to do? Learn how to mix up something else to drink that’s quick, tasty, and better for you. There is no single solution, because everyone’s tastes are different, but here are the recipes to the rescue. When you choose the aspects you want (fizz + flavors + caffeine or not, etc.) you can make a drink or drinks that taste as good as or better than soda so you don’t feel like you’re depriving yourself. Something delicious will make it easier to switch to a healthier snack. Website design By BotEap.comSource of fizz: Club soda, lightly flavored carbonated water, and just 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 diluting it too much when adding more flavor…with a few tips. Website design By BotEap.comFresh Squeezed – You don’t need 100% juice when you’re using real fresh (or frozen) fruit. 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 flavor! Heat-treated juices are much less flavorful and vibrant than raw fresh juice that you squeeze yourself, so you need a lot more (or treated HFCS juice) to get the flavor. Example: Fresh lime juice tastes very different from bottled. Website design By BotEap.comAdd-ins: When you make your own drinks, you can use ‘impossible’ add-ins like citrus zest and drops of freshly pressed ginger root that bottlers never can. These give an intense boost of flavor that you can control. They are also strong enough not to dilute the bubbly base water too much. Website design By BotEap.comTea time… but not really. Do you like traditional tea like green, black or Earl Grey? That’s great and will make quitting soda easier… but what if you don’t? There are 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 don’t have the ‘traditional taste of tea’, so even tea haters can enjoy these new flavours. All it takes is a trip down the grocery store aisle to see what ‘unflavored tea’ flavors are on offer. Website design By BotEap.comSatiety Factor: Sodas can help you feel full between meals, which is why some people rely on them to replace a snack. This does not have to be the case when you add chia seeds to your drink. Chia seeds are tiny, flavorless seeds. They don’t affect the flavor of the drink, but they are so high in 2 types of fiber (soluble and insoluble) that when you drink them, you feel full. They’re as easy to use as “just stir,” so anyone can make a chia drink. Once soaked in the beverage of your choice, they form ‘chia gel’, small jelly-like droplets. It’s similar to “tiny-boba” from the popular fun drink “boba-tea” or “bubble tea” (although it’s made with tapioca starch). Adding chia not only curbs hunger, it also adds nutrients like calcium, healthy omega-3 oils, B vitamins, and much more. Website design By BotEap.comA touch of sweetness: You don’t need artificial sweeteners to have a sweeter drink. Now that stevia is available in many brands and formats (leaf powder, squeeze drops, etc.) it is always ready to use. Doesn’t make Hungarians like the can of aspartame. Monk fruit is also becoming more common, and xylitol, derived from birch bark, is another way to sweeten it. 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 its benefits. Do it carefully though, as it is still a real sweetener on the glycemic index. Website design By BotEap.comTime to combine:
With these elements in mind, it’s time to combine them to experiment and make soda substitute drinks that are just as delicious, but much healthier. Brewing a very strong infusion of wild raspberry tea, then adding a splash to a club soda with a few drops of stevia will give you a sparkling raspberry drink. Pressing pomegranate arils and adding the juice to ice water and then using fresh lime zest/juice and chia seeds will make a tart drink that can replace a snack and help you feel full. Pressing ginger juice can really turn this drink into a wake-up call. Honey, lime and chia in ice water make the traditional drink “Chia Fresca” since ancient times. You don’t need a powdered strawberry lemonade mix when you have lemon zest, fresh or frozen berries, and a little stevia powder. These are just some examples; Of course, by combining the above principles, you can get countless more ideas. Website design By BotEap.comQuitting soda can be so much easier when you have a flavor you really enjoy and one that’s easy to mix up. If you also start to feel better, with less sugar or artificial sweeteners in your life, it becomes a much simpler task…because the rewards are something you can feel every day. All it takes is a little effort to find a mix you enjoy, that also has all the effects you want, and you’ll be well on your way to cutting back on soda.