How to Drink Less Sugar?
ninjakowski
Posts: 158
I grew up drinking mostly just plain water, I was only allowed one or two glasses of watered down juice a day as a kid so I'm just used to drinking it and have no problems, infact too much juice or soda just makes me feel ill.
My husband is driving me mad. He hated the taste of plain water, and drinks almost exlusively sodas, sugar filled juices, tea heaped with ridiculous amounts of sugar etc. I found a cordial made from real fruit juice for him, but its still loaded with sugar and he mixes it strong.
Any ideas from non water likers on what else he could drink? He's not a fan of artificial sweeteners either.
His motivation for changing his diet is not high but I'm starting to worry about his health for a few reasons and looking for some simple ways to start helping him to improve things. I figure this might be a good place to start.
My husband is driving me mad. He hated the taste of plain water, and drinks almost exlusively sodas, sugar filled juices, tea heaped with ridiculous amounts of sugar etc. I found a cordial made from real fruit juice for him, but its still loaded with sugar and he mixes it strong.
Any ideas from non water likers on what else he could drink? He's not a fan of artificial sweeteners either.
His motivation for changing his diet is not high but I'm starting to worry about his health for a few reasons and looking for some simple ways to start helping him to improve things. I figure this might be a good place to start.
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Replies
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Get him to watch "sugar: the bitter truth" - it's on youtube. Should open his eyes a bit
I've tried this many members of my family. They now take zero sugar in their beverages.
The key is gradual change.
If they say for example take 3-4 teaspoons of sugar in their drinks, give em 3 and a half and not tell them. they will not notice the difference!
After a while, take it down to 3...then 2 1/2, then 2...1 1/2 then 1. etc
Hope that helps.0 -
How about unsweetened tea? Or peppermint? I don't like water unless I am exercising, but I drink a huge amount of peppermint tea.0
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It is difficult for me to drink plain water also but I will because you need to. Have him try some Powerade Zero's. My wife got them for me and I love them. She makes the best tea in the world but that is what I drink if I am not drinking her tea. LOL!0
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Have you heard of stevia? It's a completely natural plant extract which is very very sweet. I'm not sure where you are in the world but you can buy it in most supermarkets/health food stores in the US and UK. I'm a die hard no added sugar ribena fan (I live on a boat so the water tastes awful!).
Make some flat lemonade with some water, lemon juice and a little stevia. Or if he just likes his liquids sweet, add a little to normal water. It will give the sweetness without the "danger" of artificial chemicals.0 -
Get him to watch "sugar: the bitter truth" - it's on youtube. Should open his eyes a bit
I've tried this many members of my family. They now take zero sugar in their beverages.
The key is gradual change.
If they say for example take 3-4 teaspoons of sugar in their drinks, give em 3 and a half and not tell them. they will not notice the difference!
After a while, take it down to 3...then 2 1/2, then 2...1 1/2 then 1. etc
Hope that helps.
I did this to my partner. My dad cut down his sugar from 4 to 1 the same way too.0 -
To help with drinking water try a mint tea (I buy Gevalia Honey Ginsing Mint); it's a tea bag I just drop it in my water bottle (no need to heat up the water) and it doesn't add caffeine or sugar to my water but gives it a nice mint flavor.
or Cascadia has some bubbly water (be careful which ones you pick some have added fake sweetener in them); I select the ones that only have the added fruit flavor (look at the ingredients).0 -
It is difficult for me to drink plain water also but I will because you need to. Have him try some Powerade Zero's. My wife got them for me and I love them. She makes the best tea in the world but that is what I drink if I am not drinking her tea. LOL!
Ouch just read the ingredients to powerade zero. although it has zero 'sugar' per say, it has two types of artificial sweeteners:
sucralose & acesulfame K
http://www.medicinenet.com/artificial_sweeteners/page10.htm
Sorry to say. anything artificial specially sugar/sweeteners , avoid like the plague. You're actually consuming zillion times more "sugar" then actual sugar. All soda waters are like this
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Get him to watch "sugar: the bitter truth" - it's on youtube. Should open his eyes a bit
I've tried this many members of my family. They now take zero sugar in their beverages.
The key is gradual change.
If they say for example take 3-4 teaspoons of sugar in their drinks, give em 3 and a half and not tell them. they will not notice the difference!
After a while, take it down to 3...then 2 1/2, then 2...1 1/2 then 1. etc
Hope that helps.
I did this to my partner. My dad cut down his sugar from 4 to 1 the same way too.
Great shout. Glad it helped
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If he's not motivated to stop poisoning himself, then the first step would be to find some way to motivate him. Of course, you have to be careful, but he might resist any motivation from you due to underlying insecurities (eg. doesn't want to fail quitting soda).0
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I don't think you can change his mind or his diet. That's his decision. I don't fault you for being a good influence.
http://www.alanaragonblog.com/2010/01/29/the-bitter-truth-about-fructose-alarmism/0 -
should I not drink diet soda0
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should I not drink diet soda
If you don't have any adverse reaction from artificial sweeteners (a small % of people do) then you can enjoy diet soda provided you're not drinking ridiculous amounts of it (I'd keep it to a few cans per day as a limit, and not a full case).0 -
Just. Drink. Water.
If you need something else in the fridge, drink unsweetened soy or almond milk.
That's it! Nothing more, nothing less. You should NEVER drink your calories. Even juicers are bad for you because you don't get the fiber, protein, or fats from the fruits/veggies; if you need to drink your calories (hate the taste of food) then use a blender and BLEND IT ALL.0 -
Just. Drink. Water.
If you need something else in the fridge, drink unsweetened soy or almond milk.
That's it! Nothing more, nothing less. You should NEVER drink your calories. Even juicers are bad for you because you don't get the fiber, protein, or fats from the fruits/veggies; if you need to drink your calories (hate the taste of food) then use a blender and BLEND IT ALL.
What about soup, can you drink that out of a bowl, or is that a no no?0 -
I add mio to my water.0
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Just. Drink. Water.
If you need something else in the fridge, drink unsweetened soy or almond milk.
That's it! Nothing more, nothing less. You should NEVER drink your calories. Even juicers are bad for you because you don't get the fiber, protein, or fats from the fruits/veggies; if you need to drink your calories (hate the taste of food) then use a blender and BLEND IT ALL.
What about soup, can you drink that out of a bowl, or is that a no no?
No, you'll destroy your daily sodium intake and drinking them doubles the impact. No drinking of soups.0 -
It's pretty tough to change the mind of someone who so obviously doesn't want to change.
Are you the one that does the shopping or mixes any of these drinks together? Maybe you can do what one of the PP's suggested and gradually change over so he doesn't notice. Or buy something that's comparable in taste but sugar free. He may think he doesn't like sugar free but if he actually tried the right one, he might not even notice the difference. My Hubs is like that with anything "healthy" or "diet foods". if you out right ask him, he'll say he hates it but I've made tons of switch ups without letting him know (turkey sausage, whole wheat pasta, leaner burger, low fat cheese, etc) and in most cases he couldn't tell.
Earlier this year we thought Hubs was having sugar issues so we switched from regular koolaid to sugar free Koolaid and Hi-C drink mixes. We weren't fond of either so I went looking for another brand and discovered WalMart's Great Value Brand of sugar free drink mixes are really good. They're quite sweet and don't really have that artificial sweetener aftertaste. The fruit punch flavor is the best!
Some of the Mio water is pretty good. The orange one tastes just like orange soda to me.0 -
I used to drink a TON of sodas and juices, my sugar intake in drinking alone was insane. Guilty pleasure? Sweet tea, which of course is basically all sugar.
How have I cut that out? I get those Mio liquid things you can add to water. They have a ton of no calorie, no sugar flavors, and even some that have an energy boost. I found one that is sweet tea flavored but without the sugar, so I put it in my water and can feel like I"m drinking something sweet when really it's still 0calories. They also have knock off brands that are pretty good because it can get a bit pricey. I find that one bottle (which says it's 24 servings) will last me two weeks because I drink a lot of water now. I'm even really picky with "diet" or "sugar free" alternatives, but these are really good.0 -
"Hint" flavored waters are great, zero calories, and have no artificial ingredients.0
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If he's not motivated to stop poisoning himself, then the first step would be to find some way to motivate him. Of course, you have to be careful, but he might resist any motivation from you due to underlying insecurities (eg. doesn't want to fail quitting soda).
^^ THIS. You cannot babysit him 24/7. You need to make him motivated about it on his own. Otherwise you are just going to get upset at him for not seeing things your way.0 -
"Hint" flavored waters are great, zero calories, and have no artificial ingredients.
Umm What?0 -
should I not drink diet soda
If you don't have any adverse reaction from artificial sweeteners (a small % of people do) then you can enjoy diet soda provided you're not drinking ridiculous amounts of it (I'd keep it to a few cans per day as a limit, and not a full case).
There's no conclusive scientific data that diet soda is good or bad, but the inconclusive data that we do have (mostly epidemiology) sure seems to point more toward bad than good.0 -
crystal light, many flavors to choose from. Works in our house!0
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Would he drink crystal light instead of juice? Naturally flavored selzer/club soda instead of soda?0
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If he really wants to drink less sugar he will find a way.
It's as simple as slowly lowering the amount of sugar in tea/coffee and slowly adding more and more water to juice until he is drinking just water.
There's nothing wrong with pop and juices if they are drank in moderation. When he slowly lowers the amount of sugar he drinks he will get used to it.
Flavour water with oranges, lemons, strawberries, cucumbers, etc.0 -
Just. Drink. Water.
If you need something else in the fridge, drink unsweetened soy or almond milk.
That's it! Nothing more, nothing less. You should NEVER drink your calories. Even juicers are bad for you because you don't get the fiber, protein, or fats from the fruits/veggies; if you need to drink your calories (hate the taste of food) then use a blender and BLEND IT ALL.
What about soup, can you drink that out of a bowl, or is that a no no?
Depends on what you add to the soup wouldn't you agree? If you make your own soup and you use healthy whole ingredients, wouldn't that be just as good?0 -
Just. Drink. Water.
If you need something else in the fridge, drink unsweetened soy or almond milk.
That's it! Nothing more, nothing less. You should NEVER drink your calories. Even juicers are bad for you because you don't get the fiber, protein, or fats from the fruits/veggies; if you need to drink your calories (hate the taste of food) then use a blender and BLEND IT ALL.
What about soup, can you drink that out of a bowl, or is that a no no?
Depends on what you add to the soup wouldn't you agree? If you make your own soup and you use healthy whole ingredients, wouldn't that be just as good?
So in some cases you would agree that drinking calories is fine0 -
Buying a Soda Stream water carbonator was worth every penny to me. Every time I was craving pop it was usually because I was dehydrated - the carbonated (tap) water gave me the bubbles without the sugar and sodium.0
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Just. Drink. Water.
If you need something else in the fridge, drink unsweetened soy or almond milk.
That's it! Nothing more, nothing less. You should NEVER drink your calories. Even juicers are bad for you because you don't get the fiber, protein, or fats from the fruits/veggies; if you need to drink your calories (hate the taste of food) then use a blender and BLEND IT ALL.
I don't think you actually read beyond the title of this post....0 -
Make fruit smoothies..
add fruit to water
show him how he's killing himself0
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