Water

Just drink liquid. It doesn't have to be water.

I only drink coffee, tea and water but to each their own.

I usually just drink plain water. blah.
but crystal light packets are so good.
water intake doesn't matter much from what I've read honestly. i only drink with my meals or at my desk at work.

I'm in the "you must drink water camp". Maybe not everyone needs to, but I sure do. I also drink tea, coffee and wine so I get plenty of liquids, but water is still my number one drink for better health and weight loss. If I don't drink a minimum of 64 ounces a day I start to retain water, see the scale number going in the wrong direction, and just don't feel well generally. While everyone is different, my body needs it to function properly. I try to shoot for 72 ounces a day but still do OK with a little less.

Lots of ways to get more water in without just drinking it plain. If I get sick of drinking just plain old water I will do one of the following: (not all at once)

Add lemon or orange slices.
Add cucumber slices.
Add fresh mint leaves.
Add strawberry slices.
Stick an herbal tea bag in my water cup and then just add more water as the day goes on.
Water mixed with a little bit of juice.
Water mixed with a little bit of kombucha.
Zero calorie sparkling water in many different flavors. Current favorite is LaCroix berry-cucumber.

You can infuse water overnight with a lot of different fruits and veggies (limited only by your taste and imagination). They even sell water pitchers and tumblers with slots in the middle to add the infusions.

Juice has a lot of calories, but the flavor is nice once in awhile. I freeze juice cubes in ice cube trays, put them in a ziploc bag in the freezer and then just pop one in with my water. I only do this about once or twice a week, so the extra calories are minimal.

Cheers!

rickiimarieee wrote: »

It doesn't hurt anything but my advice is just what my doctor said to me, she said if you're gonna eat or drink something make sure it has real sugar in it. 'Sugar free' drinks actually have an unnatural unhealthy chemical in it to sweeten it. She said it's a lot healthier! But that's just the rule I follow! Hope that helps a little!

I drink Diet Pepsi everyday. What unhealthy chemical am I drinking?

KeithWhiteJr wrote: »

rickiimarieee wrote: »

It doesn't hurt anything but my advice is just what my doctor said to me, she said if you're gonna eat or drink something make sure it has real sugar in it. 'Sugar free' drinks actually have an unnatural unhealthy chemical in it to sweeten it. She said it's a lot healthier! But that's just the rule I follow! Hope that helps a little!

I drink Diet Pepsi everyday. What unhealthy chemical am I drinking?

I depends on what country you live in, as the ingredients are different.

In the U.S., its ingredients are recorded as "carbonated water, caramel color, sucralose, phosphoric acid, potassium benzoate (preserves freshness), caffeine, citric acid, natural flavor; phenylketonurics: contains phenylalanine."[16] In Canada, the ingredient listing reads: "carbonated water, caramel color, phosphoric acid, aspartame (124 mg/355 ml, contains phenylalanine), sodium benzoate, caffeine, flavor, acesulfame potassium (32 mg/355ml), citric acid, dimethylpolysiloxane."[17] Comparatively in the U.K., Diet Pepsi is listed as consisting of "carbonated water, colour (caramel E150d), flavorings (including caffeine), phosphoric acid, sweeteners (aspartame, acesulfame K), acidity regulator (sodium citrate), preservative (sodium benzoate), citric acid, contains a source of phenylalanine."

That's a lot of ingredients, but the one most controversial long-term has been aspartame. There's a variety of studies on the effects of aspartame but no consensus on whether it's really harmful or not. Pepsi actually took it out in 2015, but put it back in a year later due to dropping sales. Their Diet Pepsi base customers started to drop off and then came back when the formula was reverted.

Also, recent reports are now claiming the caramel color in soda is a potential carcinogen. Lots of studies came to a similar conclusion. This is from Consumer Reports:

Caramel color, added to many soft drinks and some foods to turn them brown, may sound harmless, even appetizing. But in no way does it resemble real caramel. Some types of this artificial coloring contain a potentially carcinogenic chemical called 4-methylimidazole (4-MeI)

Several US states now require products that contain the above to also list a cancer warning on their labeling.

Poisonedpawn78 wrote: »

RaeBeeBaby wrote: »

There's a variety of studies on the effects of aspartame but no consensus on whether it's really harmful or not.

There is consensus, and it is unless you plan on drinking 1600 cans of pop with aspartame PER DAY, it is not toxic or harmful.

Consensus is general agreement in the field of expertise, here meaning doctors and medical researchers (which I don't believe is true for aspartame). I'm sure there are still plenty of medical professionals who question the effect of long-term consumption, but the jury is still out. Do you have a study to reference on your claim of 1600 cans of pop? Or is that just an arbitrary number?

Sorry to OP, didn't mean to take your post sideways with discussion on diet soda. Someone had just asked about the chemicals. I'm not claiming their healthy or unhealthy values but was just providing some reference info.