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It’s no surprise that soda is pretty addictive. I actually used to drink a six pack every day during college, mostly while playing WoW. When I was trying to give up soda, I ended up finding quite a few ways to satisfy that soda craving in a healthier way. Lately, that soda craving has been coming back… so I’ve listed some of my favorite healthy, sugar free alternatives to soda below!
Flavored Water
Crystal Light has been around for about as long as I can remember, but I actually try to stay away from this one. There’s a lot of citric acid in Crystal Light, which can wear away enamel. The main source of sweetness in Crystal Light also happens to be artificial sweeteners, which aren’t really the best for gut health, and can even lead to weight gain!
Instead, I like using a stevia-sweetened beverage flavor like Stur. I found this stuff online, and it was basically love at first sip. It’s made from real fruit juice and stevia, but has minimal sugars and no artificial ingredients. Plus, it’s delicious!
Flavored Seltzer
Okay, so this is for those of you (like me), that can’t bear to give up the fizzy aspect of soda. I find myself drinking a lot of seltzer water – so much so, that I actually was given a Soda Stream for my birthday. It’s awesome! Just be sure when you’re looking at seltzer that it’s not that sweetened, flavored water you often see close by – that stuff is typically full of hormone-disrupting artificial sweeteners.
Zevia & Blue Sky
Okay, sometimes you just need actual soda. Both of these brands sweeten their soda with stevia, and don’t use artificial colors. Win!
Lemon Water
Lemon water is one of those things you hear health “gurus” talk about all the time…but it’s actually super helpful. I’m going to avoid using buzzwords like “detox,” but putting a teaspoon of lemon juice (or a few slices of lemon) in a glass of water can help to move things along in your system.
A teaspoon of apple cider vinegar, and a pinch of cinnamon is also great for supporting your digestion!
Herbal Tea
This is definitely more of a cool-weather solution, but herbal tea is great because it can not only satisfy that urge to drink something flavorful, but can actually provide some nutritional value. Herbal tea contains small amounts of minerals, that your body needs to function. So, drinking different varieties can be beneficial, as opposed to soda and other beverages that leech minerals.
