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What Are the Different Types of Sugar Free Beverages?
There are various reasons why a person might want to reduce or eliminate sugar from his or her diet. Some people want to reduce their calorie intake in order to lose weight, while others, such as diabetics, may decide to reduce the amount of sugar in their diets for health reasons. There are many sugar free beverages available to satisfy one’s thirst. These beverages include soft drinks, teas, coffee, and flavored waters.
Carbonated, sugar free beverages can be found in virtually every flavor. A person who wants the sweetness of sugar without the calories can drink soft drinks sweetened with either aspartame or sucralose. These sugar free beverages contain no calories. Cola and root beer are popular, but many also like orange, cherry, vanilla, or grape soft drinks.
For the person who want sugar free carbonated beverages that are not soft drinks, seltzer, club soda, tonic water, and mineral waters are also available. Seltzer, club soda, and tonic water traditionally have no flavor, only carbonation. More recently, some of these beverages have become available that are mildly flavored with natural essences that don’t contain any sugar.
Another popular sugar free drink is tea. Teas are naturally sugar free beverages unless sweetener is added. Black, green, and oolong teas come from the evergreen tea bush. These teas are available with or without caffeine. Herbal and fruit teas are also sugar free beverages.
Teas are popular hot or cold. Some sugar substitutes people commonly use to sweeten tea are saccharine, aspartame, stevia, and sucralose. Some herbal teas, such as licorice root tea, and some fruit teas are naturally sweet. Lemon is often used as a sugar free flavoring in tea.
Many people drink coffee for an energy boost in the morning and throughout the day. Coffee is available both with caffeine and without, and is naturally sugar free. To sweeten coffee without using sugar, the same calorie-free sweeteners that people use to sweeten teas can be used in coffee.
As people have become more conscious of their weight and health, water consumption has increased, which contains no sugar. Some get bored with drinking water since it has no flavor, so flavored waters are available. They are sweetened with sugar free natural fruit essences so that people can receive the health benefits of drinking water while enjoying the flavor of their favorite fruit.
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![A sugar free soft drink.]()
A sugar free soft drink. -
![A lime in tonic water.]()
By: IrochkaA lime in tonic water. -
![Some herbal teas are naturally sweet.]()
By: hitdelightSome herbal teas are naturally sweet. -
![Coffee and tea are unsweetened beverages.]()
By: food pictures studioCoffee and tea are unsweetened beverages. -
![Plain and flavored water are sugar free drinks.]()
By: Andrey KuzminPlain and flavored water are sugar free drinks. -
![Some alcoholic drinks can be made with sugar free mixers for a low calories drink.]()
By: Andres RodriguezSome alcoholic drinks can be made with sugar free mixers for a low calories drink.
Discussion Comments
@clintflint - The only thing in life that is really safe is water, and even then, only if it's the purest spring water served from a porcelain cup.
I think moderation is the key in all things. If someone is drinking huge amounts of anything, including tea or coffee or soda or lemon water, there's probably a reason for that. If they understand the reason, then that's fine, and if they don't, they should look into it. But I don't think anyone can judge other people's eating habits because no one is perfect here.
@browncoat - Sugar free soft drinks aren't perfectly healthy either. In fact, in some ways they can be worse than sugared drinks, because people treat them like water and drink more than they really should. So many of them contain huge amounts of caffeine, not to mention the artificial sweeteners that get a lot of bad press.
There is no reason for people to drink soda at all. There are plenty of other choices in the world that are actually healthy, rather than only being able to claim that they aren't as bad as the version with sugar.
I've often heard people criticize folk who ask for a diet coke along with a large meal. The critic seems to think that it's ridiculous to try and cut down calories in the drink when there are so many in the meal and that the person is just fooling themselves.
But honestly, I would much rather have a fatty meal than a big cup of normal soda. Aside from the fact that a large soda still has a significant amount of calories, whether or not the meal does as well, it's almost pure sugar which is much worse for you than fat.
I stopped drinking sodas with sugar in them a long time ago and my health improved almost immediately, even without making any other changes. I'd be more likely to make fun of someone who was getting a drink that contained sugar than someone who who chooses to get a sugar free drink.
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