Hi - I just picked up this book last Sunday at Barnes and Noble, and today will be my 5th N-Day!!! As a chronic fad-dieter, I am already in love with the No S-diet.
I weaned myself off diet coke over a year ago, but still have the occasional DC. I try to avoid Diet drinks in general, and that leaves Vitamin waters and Snapple. Too much sugar?? whats the consensus?
Vitamin Water and other 'healthy' caloric drinks
Moderators: Soprano, automatedeating
I just heard the other day that the vitamin waters and such are really no better than Kool-Aid or various sweetened fruit punches. Better to leave them alone and drink water or other beverages.
If it has health claims on the package -- be wary.
If it has health claims on the package -- be wary.
"That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do. Not that the nature of the thing itself has changed but our power to do it is increased." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"You are what you eat -- so don't be Fast, Easy, Cheap or Fake."
"You are what you eat -- so don't be Fast, Easy, Cheap or Fake."
I try to stay away from high fructose corn syrup as well. Even though vitamin water doesn't have it, it still has crystalline fructose. Fructose in any form still is sugar, and vitamin water definitely counts as a sweet. They have knockoff vitamin waters with artificial sweetener, but that falls into diet drinks category.
A great solution is to keep lemon slices in the fridge and squeeze one or two in your water whenever you have some. It's very refreshing and it's also very good for you. Another solution is to add a smidgen of tart 100% juice such as pomegranate or cranberry to your water. Or you could add both juice and lemon juice. Or you could brew fruit flavored tea and ice it. The possibilities are endless, it's just a little less convenient than picking up a bottled drink at the drugstore. But just think of all the plastic you're not wasting and the money you're saving.
A great solution is to keep lemon slices in the fridge and squeeze one or two in your water whenever you have some. It's very refreshing and it's also very good for you. Another solution is to add a smidgen of tart 100% juice such as pomegranate or cranberry to your water. Or you could add both juice and lemon juice. Or you could brew fruit flavored tea and ice it. The possibilities are endless, it's just a little less convenient than picking up a bottled drink at the drugstore. But just think of all the plastic you're not wasting and the money you're saving.
We could always go back to what Michael Pollan asks: Would your great-grandmother recognize the various flavored waters and vitamin drinks as something that should be consumed? If not, don't consume it.
Great-grandmother (or someone's great-grandmother) would recognize water with lemon or lime or probably fruit juice and water.
Great-grandmother (or someone's great-grandmother) would recognize water with lemon or lime or probably fruit juice and water.
"That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do. Not that the nature of the thing itself has changed but our power to do it is increased." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"You are what you eat -- so don't be Fast, Easy, Cheap or Fake."
"You are what you eat -- so don't be Fast, Easy, Cheap or Fake."
good tips, all of them. thanks! I will definitly dry adding a bit of natural juice to plain water.
I also drink flavored seltzer water .. but i need to check the label on that one.
I don't know if anyone else here lives in new york or another city where you don't drive, but the convenience of all these drinks (and worse, snacks) is ridiculous. its like living in a drug store candy aisle!!
I also drink flavored seltzer water .. but i need to check the label on that one.
I don't know if anyone else here lives in new york or another city where you don't drive, but the convenience of all these drinks (and worse, snacks) is ridiculous. its like living in a drug store candy aisle!!
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NoelFigart
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Understand this is a personal opinion, and I don't think people who drink the stuff are evil or anything, but to say I'm not a big fan of "food products" would be an understatement.
Vitamin Kool-Aid (which is all it really is) is on my Top Ten Ripoff Foods list. While I don't think it would HURT you to drink it occasionally, I think it's a waste of money.
Take a multivitamin and drink a glass of water, would be my advice.
If you're loading up your three plates with good veggies, fruits, whole grains and healthy meats, you're really doing fine in the vitamin department and don't need the vitamin water. Science is finding that they really can't reproduce the goodness of real fruits and veggies in pill form. I'm very much in the Eat Real Food camp.
Now, this is not to say that I don't sometimes get sick of plain water. I do. Celestial Seasonings, a company that sells a wide range of herbal teas, gets a lot of my business. Their fruitier-flavored teas make great iced tea, though it's still cool enough here in Northern New England that I'm still drinking a lot of hot tea.
I got into it when I stopped having an Appletini as my bedtime drink and switched to a mug of Mandarin Orange spice, or Sleepytime Tea as a comfort drink before bed. Thing is, I don't fool myself into "healthy" with the tea. It's a no-calorie treat that doesn't have chemicals likely to hurt me, that's all.
Vitamin Kool-Aid (which is all it really is) is on my Top Ten Ripoff Foods list. While I don't think it would HURT you to drink it occasionally, I think it's a waste of money.
Take a multivitamin and drink a glass of water, would be my advice.
If you're loading up your three plates with good veggies, fruits, whole grains and healthy meats, you're really doing fine in the vitamin department and don't need the vitamin water. Science is finding that they really can't reproduce the goodness of real fruits and veggies in pill form. I'm very much in the Eat Real Food camp.
Now, this is not to say that I don't sometimes get sick of plain water. I do. Celestial Seasonings, a company that sells a wide range of herbal teas, gets a lot of my business. Their fruitier-flavored teas make great iced tea, though it's still cool enough here in Northern New England that I'm still drinking a lot of hot tea.
I got into it when I stopped having an Appletini as my bedtime drink and switched to a mug of Mandarin Orange spice, or Sleepytime Tea as a comfort drink before bed. Thing is, I don't fool myself into "healthy" with the tea. It's a no-calorie treat that doesn't have chemicals likely to hurt me, that's all.