4 Simple and Healthy Drink Alternatives

Recently I gave you a list of some drink alternatives that you could go for instead of spending money on the popular “health drinks” that are currently being marketed to you. Those drinks advertised as being “healthy” actually contain crystalline fructose, and if instead you choose the “fun” and popular sodas, they contain high fructose corn syrup.

These types of drinks are everywhere, from movies, to sitcoms, and even reality shows. What about other choices that aren’t necessarily in the lime light?

I still have my opinion that the #1 healthiest alternative to these drinks is pure, clean water. I understand though, that sometimes you just want something different, and since publishing my last list of alternatives, I’ve come up with a few more to give you. I actually forgot to list one of them in the other post, while the others are new, but simple, discoveries. Enjoy!

1. Trader Joe’s Tejava Premium Iced Tea – I tried this a couple of weeks ago and thought it was great. The ingredients are: “Pure Java Tea brewed from water and select Java tea leaves.” That’s it! The label reads “handpicked, microbrewed, unsweetened”. It costs about $1.50 for a 33.8 oz bottle.

Now for me, it’s more economical to buy a box of tea and brew my own iced tea, which ends up tasting almost the same as the Tejava tea. I do have a reverse osmosis unit for my drinking water however, so if I were making my own iced tea with tap water, I think that the Tejava tea would taste out of this world. So this would be a great alternative for you if you like iced tea and want to skip the additives, sugar, and sweeteners.

2. Torani Sugar-Free Syrups – These are sugar-free syrups that you can use in water, coffee, slushies, or even in cooking. Add a small amount to some low or no sodium sparkling water and you’ll have a great alternative to cola. I’ve been using these for a few years and forgot to mention them in my last article, however they are a nice alternative to give you something different to drink once in awhile. I find them at Cost Plus World Market, and you can also find a list of their sugar-free flavors online.

These syrups are not as pure as the simple Tejava tea, because they do contain the ingredient natural flavor. You can learn more about that in this article, however a brief description is that they are artificially produced flavorings. I learned about this a few months ago when I was researching the article that I wrote on natural flavors.

They are also sweetened with Splenda, an artificial sweetener that I do currently use as it doesn’t give me the problems that Nutra Sweet always did. Not everyone likes to use Splenda, though.

3. Lemon Juice and Splenda – This is so easy to make, and it’s been my new favorite this summer, after iced tea, of course. All you do is combine ice, water, lemon juice, and Splenda in your glass, and mix it up. You can experiment with how much lemon juice and Splenda you need, however I don’t use that much (I don’t measure it).

I must caution you though, that you might want to monitor your cravings after having this. If you find yourself wanting to eat sugary foods or eat when you aren’t hungry, then this isn’t a good drink for you. I mention this because I’ve had the experienced increased cravings when I’ve had too much of this lemonade.

4. Herbal Teas – There are so many great herbal teas available, especially if you like Celestial Seasonings. You can drink them hot or over ice, and I’ve even used tea in recipes before. Herbal tea isn’t my favorite, but it’s something that I will drink for a change of pace once in awhile.

Please note that I’m not recommending the teas that are marketed as “dieter’s teas” as some of them can be very dangerous for your health.

Each of these drinks is an acceptable part of the Six Week Body Makeover if you are following that program. These beverages would be in addition to the 100 oz. of pure water that you drink each day per the 6WBMO.

Even if you aren’t following the Six Week Body Makeover, these are excellent, healthier alternatives to colas and bottled “health” waters that contain corn sweeteners and other various and sundry ingredients.