Pop/soda replacement needed!!

LauraPPate

My husband drinks an insane amount of pop every single day. Not diet, but regular Sprite or Coke. Minimum 2 litres a day. Usually more like 3-4. It's usually Sprite (not that that's a whole lot better than Coke anyway). He can't drink diet anything because the aspartame in it doesn't agree with him. He HATES water. It's bland, has no character to it he says.

He doesn't look like the person I'm sure you're picturing in your head. He's in pretty good shape thanks to his job being pretty physical. He's starting to get a little belly but it's more cute than anything else at this point. He's starting to feel the effects of his outrageous pop consumption however. He gets headaches on a fairly regular basis, he has joint/muscle pain all the time, he's constantly exhausted, and he's only 32!

I know juices aren't much better but they certainly couldn't do any more harm at this point I think. He asked me to check the grocery store to see what I could come up with that isn't pop, but isn't horrible, awful water either. *rolls eyes* The only thing I can think of is Crystal Light, to at least make water a little more tempting for him. I just feel like drinking Crystal Light and calling it water is akin to drinking Sprite and calling it water. Every drink out there is just water with other things added to it, so what makes Crystal Light better for someone?

I figured you guys would have more suggestions than anywhere else....

GladImTall

Carbonated water and flavored liquid Stevia... I usually do a Root Beer flavored Stevia and carbonated water- close your eyes- tastes almost the same! No- it's never exactly as good as the original- but it curbed my soda cravings.

There are a ton of flavored liquid Stevia bottles out there- I got mine at Whole Foods... They have like raspberry/chocolate that I add to my coffee occasionally so I get a different flavor too... A few drops of the stevia and you're good to go!

littleali

Flavoured water - peach is lovely!

chocolateandvodka

not to sound completely southern here but - Tea?
Gatorade?
flavor mixins for water?
kool aid?

i hate soda, so these are the non-water alternatives i occasionally drink when good clear water isn't available.

lisapickering

What about Perrier (or other sparkling water), he will still kept the carbonation and just squeeze some lemon or lime for flavour... not much different than Sprite.

deadstarsunburn

If you find sugar free flavor water packets that's not as bad. it'll probably eventually get him more into drinking plane water =]

grimms11208

So in the water iasle at most stores...Walmart, Safeway, Nobhill there are flavored sparkling waters. All kinds of flavors there is one called Orange cream...ah-mazing! Anyways I love them because there are no calories, no sodium and some of them are all natural. He might want to try some of those out.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Clear-American-Raspberry-Blackberry-Sparkling-Water-1-l/16778146

Allyonthebeach

I buy fruit teas - Raspberry Thriller is my favourite - 2 tea bags in a jug of water. It's not sweet - I guess you could add Stevia, but it has a nice flavour and helps me get my water in and stay away from diet drinks with aspartame.

bjclaywell

Would he drink flavored teas (homemade, not store bought)? What about Mio added to water (again with the water things, but I don't know what else to offer up). Is it the carbonation he wants? Or the flavor?

tuffytuffy1

I just found some really good sparkling flavored water last night at Giant, I got pink grapefruit (delicious!) and black raspberry. I am also going to try to replace my diet soda with flavored sparkling water instead.

ansonrinesmith

I use the Crystal Light individual packets!

DaniU617

I have given up my soda! It was not as hard as I though it would be, but then again I did not drink as much as he does.
I would suggest Powerade Zero, Tea, or Flavored water.

27strange

Crystal Light would definitely be better than full blown soda pop, with its sugar, caffeine, and carbonation.

Honestly, the guy just needs to get used to water. Nothing is more refreshing than a big glass of cold ice water. It takes some adjustment, but once you get on the water kick you don't want anything else... I actually crave water now.

javamonster

President's Choice has these sparkling fruit juices that are really good, no added sugar. Going to be a bit pricier than pop of course! I like different iced teas, too. I just found this powdered stuff, Stash teas makes them. No sugar added. A little bit of agave (or sugar if you want) would sweeten up the teas. I'll also buy soda water and juice (anything, orange, a combo, cranberry, etc) and mix them. That would be cheaper than the PC cans. Just make sure you buy the 100% juice, not the cocktails.

rebsaganes

Crystal Light has a new naturally sweetened mix too.

barberella

I have to agree with the tea..Iced tea like Snapple. I used to love my diet cokes and diet mt dew but realized the carbonation makes me feel bloated and yucky. and like your hubby, i think water is yucky too although I try to force it down. So, I turned to Snapple. Bret Michaels' Snapple version is yummy! It's called Trop-a-Roca..Oh, but wait, it's got aspartame in it..Try the Compassionberry..Anyway, it's all good..Oh, I also drink a ton of Iced Coffee too..Ok, not a ton, but that also helps me to stay away from pop..

momburntdinner

Is the only thing that bothers him aspartame, or is it all artificial sweeteners? Because I believe crystal light has some sort of sweetener in it as well, and I don't think it's aspartame.. I'm pretty sure it's splenda.. They make diet sodas with splenda as well if this wouldn't upset his stomach.

Maybe you can switch him over to iced tea? They make packs you can brew in cold water. Have him add some lemon and he can use honey to sweeten it, or agave nectar or sugar in the raw or hell, he could even use regular sugar... I'm going to venture a guess here and say that the sugar he uses to sweeten that is going to be far less than 3 liters of sprite. If splenda doesn't bother his stomach, they make a 1/2 sugar and 1/2 splenda mix as well.

momburntdinner

I just found some really good sparkling flavored water last night at Giant, I got pink grapefruit (delicious!) and black raspberry. I am also going to try to replace my diet soda with flavored sparkling water instead.

I have tried that black raspberry soda water at Giant as well. My dietician said it's just as bad as diet soda.

NiciS72

I particularly like La Croix Lime Sparkling Water. All of the La Croix sparkling waters are all natural with no artificial sweeteners. I know Costco sells them the cheapest around me, but if you can get a 12 pk for $4 it's a good buy.

Good Luck!

julk_1212

I LOVE soda too, so I understand how finding a substitute is hard. You need something sweet and tasty without the sugar cals and bad stuff. I found that apple spiced tea is amazing!!!! I also like orage spice and raspberry zinger. All naturally sweet and take the edge off of needing soda. Love the stuff. Though I still have a diet cherry coke once a day... but thats a huige decrease for me!!!

katharos3

When I was pregnant, I wanted to avoid sodas, and I always avoid artificial sweeteners. So I would mix mineral water (plain, no sweetener) and 100% fruit juice together. It satisfied my "need" for soda but it has 1/2 the sugar.