Drinks that are good for you, and taste good.

[slayer]

So when school starts, I plan on quitting pop. This is going to be hard for me, since pop to me is like drugs to other people (ok well not really). So I ask you, what are some drinks that are good for you, and can help me overcome my addiction to pop?

[no-Name]

Water. Water. Seriously. Water's fucking awesome. I can't say that enough.

[slayer]

Water is awesome and I love the cool taste it has. But I was kind of hoping for an answer other than water or milk.

[Universal Mind]

Health food stores have lots of great drinks that are not "pop". Have you ever had an Izze? They are fruit juice mixtures that some genius makes in perfect portions. They taste way better than most fruit juices and fruit juice mixtures. Sparkling Clementine is the best flavor of them by far. Rice Dream, which used to be advertized here, is about as good as drinks get. I always get the "Classic" Rice Dream drinks because they don't have the crazy amounts of extra vitamins and stuff. Vanilla and Original are the best flavors. There is also Soy Dream, which is a type of soy milk. If you can find the "Classic" versions of that, you've found something really good. Other than that, I like milk with some kinds of meals, like spaghetti. The only soft drinks I drink are 7 Up and Sierra Mist, which don't have refined sugar/sucrose. They use high fructose corn syrup, which a lot of people have a problem with but I don't. I also like to make a drink by putting milk, orange juice, and a banana in a blender.

[Invader]

Green tea. Done. I think we have about 8 gallons worth right now. And get yourself some juices. Different Cranberry kinds, orange, pomegranate, mango, whatever. Your iced teas are still going to be superior in large amounts, since juices typically have many times the sugar, but the juices will have the advantage on vitamins.

[IrisRavenstar]

I LOVE the juices and smoothies from Bolthouse Farms, and they sell them in Stop & Shop. They are totally packed with nutrition, and lots of unusual ingredients I might not take in otherwise. They're delicious despite the odd ingredient lists. My favorites are Green Goodness, Blue Goodness, and C-Boost, but really, they're all good. I'm having Green Goodness now... lol... I misread the label when I first got it, and thought it said Green Goddess, so now I usually call it that. It is delicious, but has Spirulina, Chlorella, Broccoli, Spinach, Barley Grass, Wheat Grass, Blue Green Algae, Echinacea, Garlic, Jerusalem Artichoke, Lemon Bioflavanoids, Nova Scotia Dulce (seaweed), and the taste good part: Apples, Pineapples, Mango, Banana, Kiwi Fruit... and the fruit is all you taste. The Blue Goodness is loaded with all kinds of berries, including blueberries, and the C-Boost is more tropical fruits. I also make teas by large batches and keep them in pitchers and jars in the fridge. One favorite for summer is plain old Lipton tea... I make two quarts, add 1/2 cup raw sugar and 1/2 cup lemon juice. It's wonderfully refreshing when it's hot and muggy. Another tea I make with Lipton is just to brew it with fresh peppermint leaves from my garden (you could use it dried or use peppermint tea bags too), no sugar, also refreshing. I also make a lot of herbal teas, too many different ones to mention them all. Anything mint is good for summer, as it feels cool. Some herbal ones that are medicinal that I don't particularly like the taste of, I just mix half and half with pomegranate or cranberry juice, which also sweetens it without sugar and gives me more nutrients. Some teas also get honey added, local honey, as locally produced honey helps with allergies. I also like fruit juices like grapefruit or orange blended half and half with sparkling water for summer drinks. It lightens them up. Plain sparkling water is nice sometimes too, a change from plain water. In cold weather, I like herbal teas, Lipton tea (my comfort drink, really), green teas, occasional hot chocolate. I found a cannister the other day of white hot chocolate that is tucked away for autumn leaf raking days, when I know I'll burn off the calories and want something to warm me up! I'm anxious to try it, but it's too hot right now! There are a multitude of things to drink other than icky nutritinally defunct disease causing soft drinks, so congrats on making the switch!

[Catbus]

I like to brew and bottle my own iced tea. Usually I boil the water on a stove top kettle and then pour it into a glass pitcher filled with tea bags and dried fruit of some kind (usually I try to have it compliment the tea I'm using). Generally I don't use sugar, just because I've never really liked sugar in tea. After it's done steeping I just pour it into an empty water bottle and tape a note on it which has the flavor of tea and fruit used.

[Jeff777]

There's a drink I like (which weaned me off my sugar addiction) called Crystal light. It substitutes sugar for aspartame yes but it's the kind of powder you just add water to and you're good to go. Also, I buy a lot of kool-aid packs and use splenda instead of sugar when stirring the pitcher.

[CoLd BlooDed]

Uh, aspartame and splenda are two things you DON'T want in your drinks if you want them to be healthy.

[Robot_Butler]

The only thing I drink besides water (and booze) is iced tea. I like to keep a huge pitcher of jasmine green tea in the fridge. It is good with a little drop of vanilla extract thrown in. Don't even worry about adding sweetener. Diet drinks are fine, but they still taste overly sweet. Part of the reason people say sugary drinks are bad for you is because they taste so sweet, they overload you. You get hooked on that syrupy taste, and crave it. Once you stop drinking sweet stuff, you will be amazed at how many other great flavors are out there. Many diet drinks fuck up your teeth, too. I don't know if that is a concern.

[kingofclutch]

My best suggestion would be V8 fusion drinks. They all contain a wide variety of fruits and vegetables and you won't even realize that it has all of those fruits and vegetables. They are actually quite delicious and are much better for you than drinking soda or regular fruit juice. My favorite would have to be peach mango, yummy.

[Robot_Butler]

If you're into fruit juice, try keeping some club soda in the fridge. I like using it to water down juice so it's not so intense, sugary, and high calorie. Plus, it's fun to mix it up like a cocktail. Throw a mini paper umbrella in there, and you've got yourself a party.

[Jeff777]

Uh, aspartame and splenda are two things you DON'T want in your drinks if you want them to be healthy. Ah yes, I forgot he wanted healthy drinks. I was suggesting something healthier than sodapops seeing as sugar is the main ingredient in them. For a healthy drink, I drink vegetable drinks. Grab a beet, some carrots, celery, ginger root, and apples. Blend them together and you'll have a refreshing delicious (and healthy) drink. Add a little bit of the pulp to your drink to top it off.

[AURON]

virgin bloody marry. it'll put hair on your chest.

[slayer]

I already have hair on my chest.

[CanceledCzech]

God dammit, no-Name beat me to it. Dude, all I trink is water. Best drink in the world Also, tea is really good for you. And there was a study that came out that said that coffee is a good drink. Except, once you start adding sugar and cream and shit then it starts to become bad for you. Also, if you leave the caffeine in, then it is really bad for you. So, dude, water and tea.

[IrisRavenstar]

A healthy sugar substitute is an herb called Stevia, but get it in it's natural form, not the processed stuff they're starting to sell in the supermarket. The natural Stevia that's powdered is green! If it's white, it's been processed. You will probably have to go to a health food store to find the natural stuff. I've noticed a lot of tea bags already include Stevia in them, especially fruity flavored ones. It is low in calories and safe for diabetics.

[slash112]

smoothies. its like my favourite thing to drink when i would rather not have coke and lucozade etc.

[Black_Eagle]

100% pure orange juice. The other stuff has loads of added suger and other crap etc. Organic milk. It tastes better than normal milk, does not contain the cancer-causing bovine growth hormone or any other crap (like antibiotics), and it doesn't go bad as fast. At least the brand we buy.

[Creation X]

Welch's Grape Juice. Welch's Mango Twist. Orange Juice. Apple Juice. Water. Chocolate milk (marva maid, ONLY OPTION). Those are all I ever drink. ever.

[ninja9578]

Acia juice my favourite.

[oniman7]

For healthy(er) substitutes, I drink: Water. Lots of water. Orange juice. (also good for dreaming, apparently) Grape Juice Tea. Lots of tea. I don't like green tea, though, like a lot of people. I like high quality black tea. Crystal light isn't bad, but it gets a bit of an odd taste after you drink it for 3 years. I don't like milk, but I find that if I eat crap the whole day, my stomach hurts. A small glass of milk after a bunch of sugar, or anything acidic, keeps that under control. Blood. Also, a lot of people are saying you can't use splenda. Well, if the family dietician knows anything about it, you can't use the powder. There's some kind of chemical or something they use in order to break it up into powder, I think. It's supposedly sticky in its real form or something like that. You can buy it in little disposable pellets, and that's supposed to be OK. I'm not sure if ALL of the above is true, but I do know that you're supposed to be OK with the pellets.

[sephiroth clock]

Basically all bottled juices are pasteurized and turn your blood acidic. They are also just a bunch of rapidly digested sugar which isn't good for a number of other reasons. Fresh juice can be good in moderation especially if you need to satisfy a sweet craving. Kombucha is probably the healthiest way to satisfy a sweet drink craving. Most store bought milk actually isn't good for you . Pasteurization has many negative effects on the nutrients in milk and causes the calcium in milk to become indigestible so drinking it actually leeches calcium from your body. Raw unpasteurized milk on the other hand is really fantastic for your body. Basically sweet drinks for the most part aren't really good for you but if you need to satisfy a craving try to do it with something healthy. Iris is right about Stevia. Stevia is the best sweetener I know of and for the most part harmless.

[Universal Mind]

Most store bought milk actually isn't good for you . Pasteurization has many negative effects on the nutrients in milk and causes the calcium in milk to become indigestible so drinking it actually leeches calcium from your body. Say what?

[slayer]

I like drinking milk with chocolate cake :3 I'll have to make more cake and cookies.