A question I get asked a lot by my coaching clients is what to drink when avoiding sugar and eating lower carb? This blog gives you some ideas for healthier soft drinks that I hope you find inspiring. It is a myth that sweeteners are a good alternative to sugar and so I have focused on a range of more natural suggestions for flavouring water. I will come back to alcohol in a future blog 😉

Artificial sweeteners

Artificially sweetened beverages are often promoted as a suitable alternative to sugary drinks and supposed to help with weight loss but the evidence they actually do this is just not there. I am talking here about chemical additives such as aspartame, dextrose, saccharin and sucralose. But there are plenty more.

They can help reduce tooth decay, compared to ingesting sugary drinks, but are certainly not inert and can have a negative effect on the gut microbiome. Blood sugar levels can also still be affected by artificial sweeteners and they confuse the brain through causing a metabolic response.

Drinking them regularly will also not help wean you off the taste of sweet things.

If we have less sweet tastes, less often, the taste buds on our tongue change so we become more sensitive and increasingly enjoy things that taste less sweet. We want to avoid getting into a vicious cycle of needing more and more sugar to have the same impact as our taste buds desensitise with more sugar. If you can cut out or down on sweet tastes, you will find your cravings reduce over time and they will get easier to control.

Occasional diet drinks with sweeteners are unlikely to do much long term damage, and can be a useful transition tool to help us move away from full sugar options, but they won’t make you slimmer and really aren’t a great choice. Having them too often also won’t help reduce those cravings for sweet-tastes.

As a final point sweeteners are not great for the environment as your body doesn’t absorb them fully and the rest goes down the toilet into our waterways. Which doesn’t sound great!

What about natural sweeteners from plants?

Sugar alcohols are touted as a better, more natural option than artificial sweeteners. These have names that generally end in –ol. So mannitol, sorbitol, xylitol, erythritol. And I would put Stevia in this bucket.

These are naturally occurring sugars found in plants, extracted to make them more concentrated so they can be used as a sweetener additive. We don’t absorb them very well and they can cause digestive problems at high concentrations, mess with our gut microbes and still keep us hooked on that sweet taste.

Stevia or erythritol are probably the best options. If you must. I will mention Coke Life at this point which contains stevia and was launched a few years ago as a natural diet version. It was however discontinued due to complaints about the taste and fascinatingly (for the biologist in me) it stimulates both sweet and bitter receptors at the same time.

My advice? Use all of these sparingly, if at all, as just because they are naturally occurring substances doesn’t mean they will be good for us as additives.

Flavourings for still or fizzy water

I have put together a list of suggestions for natural flavourings for your still or (push the boat out) fizzy water. Most taste better if left to infuse for a few hours so make up a jug and leave overnight in the fridge for the next day.

Fill up your Chilly’s bottle if you are travelling or going out somewhere and you don’t know what will be available beyond water…

Why not do some experimenting and create your own favourite combinations?

Cold pressed coffee

My daughter has been home these past few weeks and her Starbucks training has come into its own in the hot weather. We have been going cold pressed coffee mad in our household and it is a revelation.

Make your cafetiere coffee as you would do normally, but use cold tap water and half the amount of water you would normally but in. Stir the coffee into the water, add the plunger but don’t plunge and put in the fridge overnight or a minimum of 6 hours. Plunge and enjoy over ice however you like you coffee – I like mine with a splash of whole milk.

Non-alcoholic Pimm’s style summer drink

Looking cool in the garden in the picture at the top of this blog!

Ok, it isn’t Pimm’s and lemonade but has SO much less sugar. I make it with 50:50 light tonic and sparkling water, so it has some sugar in it, but not a lot. And is a great treat for a hot day - especially enjoyable when drunk in the garden watching my plants grow.

My recipe is in the recipe section of this website if you want to give it a go 😊

Stay hydrated and enjoy the summer!

Low Carb Living Made Practical Coaching Module

‍You may be interested in my Low Carb Living Made Practical one-off coaching module designed to review what you are currently eating, helping you identify the changes likely to make the biggest difference and creating a realistic action plan together.

This module is relevant if you are:

Worried about prediabetes, blood sugar or future type 2 diabetes?
Struggling with weight gain around perimenopause or menopause?
Heard about low carb eating but unsure how to make it work in real life?
Want to lose weight, naturally, without calorie counting or constant hunger?

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If you would like help with your weight or blood sugar challenges please talk to me

‍Drop me an email, use the Contact form or book in a free 30 minute session to chat through where you are at and how I could help you: watch-your-waist/discovery-meeting

‍I can help you move from dietary confusion to clarity and confidence.

What to drink?