Drinks?!

#1

So far on Keto, I’ve been drinking my usual coffee in the morning, then drinking filtered water and/or herbal teas the rest of the time.

Would be nice to have something else to drink to break the monotony a little, but it dawned on me that there may not realistically be too many options xD

I was never much of a soda drinker and I hate most of the artificial sweeteners they put in the diet variants in any case.

Am I up the creek without a paddle in terms of variety, or missing some obvious choices?

(Bob M) #2

Flavored seltzers. That’s about it for me.

#3

That’s just fizzy water, right? (UK here, and either we don’t use the term ‘seltzer’ or I just live under a rock)

#4

I like Propel flavored electrolyte water as a treat to break things up. IMO it doesn’t have that diet taste to it but it does have Splenda in it. Give strawberry lemonade a try.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #5

Yes. In the U.S. there is club soda, used as a mixer, which is carbonated water with salt added, and Seltzer water (Selterserwasser, which presumably originated in Selters, near Wiesbaden), which is carbonated water without added salt.

Usually, these days, there is a bit of flavour added to the Seltzer water (here, anyway). It’s not strong, but gives a little interest to the taste. In my area, Seltzer water is actually cheaper than spring water.

I don’t know what to tell you, since you covered all the things I drink in your original post. Aren’t there any herbal teas that you like? It’s hard making trans-oceanic suggestions, but Bigelow and Twinings are both British brands, and here in the U.S. they have both some great black tea blends (I am partial to Earl Grey and English Breakfast) and some very tasty herbal blends. Among the herbals, I like blends involving apple, cinnamon, and cloves. The “zinger” varieties can also be tasty. I didn’t like blueberry tea very much.

#6

I make a coffee smoothie and thicken it with 25g of frozen cauliflower, it’s good with cocoa powder and cinnamon too. Cream would go well or mascarpone but they aren’t allowed in here!

#7

Sure. There are loads I like. Just wondered if there may be any other cold drink options (no, I’m not going to drink cold tea… I’m a Brit for heaven’s sake xD)

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #8

After reading on these forums how tasty coffee was with cream, I tried it for a while, but eventually I realised I just prefer the taste of black coffee so much better.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #9

Perhaps a lemonade sweetened with a non-sugar sweetener? (You’ll probably prefer it less sweet than you would have as a carb burner.) A lot of ketonians come to enjoy water with a bit of vinegar in it (shudder!), and there is a recipe here on the forums for something we call Keto-Ade or Keto-Aid, which is an electrolyte replacement recipe. I’ve never tried it, so can’t comment on the taste.

And, like you, I prefer hot tea to cold. And hot coffee, too, even in July!

#10

I had the opposite problem; far preferred just the cream!

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #11

To each her own, lol!

#12

I never had much of a sweet tooth pre-keto, so now I should imagine that I’ll need barely any sweetness at all. Just have to find a sweetener that doesn’t make me pull a face like a bulldog licking a thistle. Haven’t given Stevia a shot yet so maybe I’ll try.

I do actually have a couple of glasses of water with a little ACV every day, and don’t mind the taste at all xD

#13

Green tea and black tea varieties are the only ones I can think of. I love matcha with a squirt of lemon or lime.

#14

I do love me a cup of Lady Grey or Earl Grey with a slice or two of lemon : )

It’s kind of hilarious how much herbal tea I’ve been buying since starting on this journey, especially now I’ve also kicked the booze. My current favourites are Pukka brand ginseng matcha green, three ginger, and vanilla chai. And for the evening before bed, Clipper’s ‘Snore & Peace’ which has chomomile, lemon balm and lavender : )

(Allie) #15

Sparkling water for me, and if I fancy some flavour, sugar free flavour drops.
The possibilities are as endless as the flavours the drops come in…

#16

I did NOT know that was a thing. Well, that opens up some possibilities : )

#17

I had a HUGE sweet tooth both before and after keto but I never liked to waste sweeteners on drinks and they are drinks, not sweets and anyway, just not eating added sugar changed me so much, I used some more tranings and now I actually prefer most of my drinks unsweetened :slight_smile:

I would think there are quite a few options though indeed, there were times I felt they were lacking.
What I drink beyond water, carbonated water, coffee (best with cream but I actually want to avoid both coffee and cream most of the time now) and various teas?

  • egg milks (eggy/creamy coffees, cocoa, vanilla… there are savory ones too, I only like the tomato ones. those are more like soup to me and all egg milks are food as they have more than minimal calories, protein, fat)
  • fruits juices with carbonated water (I mostly do that with juice from a canned fruit. certain jars only have a few mouthful and that’s plenty for 1-2 glasses for me. I can’t stand overly sweet drinks but enjoy fruits. the canned fruit is 100% fruit as I don’t know why I would add anything else, honestly, it’s the best that way though super sweet in some cases but I just add more water to my drinks). The only exception when I don’t use canned fruit so it can be used any time, is using lemon juice. I LOVE lemon, it’s my major fruit now that my default woe is carnivore-ish. (My own label, very strict to me and extremely close to eating only animal products. Lemon is the single allowed fruit, in moderation.) I can add mint or elderberry flower at the right time when I can find such things in my garden. And it makes my almost-lemonade very different from the boring normal one I almost never use. But berries can be added too.
  • pickle juices (especially beetroot - very diluted and very vinegar-y as beetroot juice is horribly sweet - and cucumber but normal vinegar+water+spice may work too. it’s just a tiny bit along with my food, it’s more like a condiment than a drink)
  • I mentioned it before but cocoa can be made without egg… It took time until I started to prefer unsweetened cocoa but it’s pretty great now.

When I do my carnivore-ish, many of them are out but I still have some nice variety. And I can drink soups too…
Oh and milk, of course, wonderful in summer and a good way to go over my 40g keto carb limit even not touching any non-animal products… I try to consume it rarely but it’s so good!!! :smiley:

I could drink any booze I have and want any time too but that’s not really drinking, I almost never want any and when I do, it’s a ridiculously tiny amount. And some of my old favs are out as I can’t handle the sweetness anymore.

I must be a savage :smiley: My tea often goes cold but that’s a drink, cold is fine… Okay, MY teas and coffees are basically colored, lightly flavored water. I drink them insanely weak. Hungarians don’t do that with coffee but as I said, I must be a savage.

But some drinks on my list are preferred warm. I could drink any cold too. I just hate lukewarm water, never that. Warm is fine, it was a surprising find when I tried to quit coffee.

I can’t drink tea with lemon without sweetening it, it’s odd… But I can drink black, yellow, green teas and fruit teas alike (white is fancy, I don’t even know if I tried but it’s probably too mild to me…?). I even handle a few herbal teas but I dislike most. But just black teas come in ZILLION very very different flavors! I just use a few cheaper ones now but I had times with wonderful tea leaves, usually lightly flavored…
Now I have quite much Earl Gray (I couldn’t order enough stuff for free shipping without it :smiley: and I will use it up… eventually), it was good but I got bored of it eventually… But my super spice chai tea comes to rescue, it barely has any black tea in it so I always add it to some plain tea, usually black but I am a savage so I put it into gunpowder tea, I decided I dislike green teas now but the spices help… :slight_smile:

Of course coffees are different too, I get a lovely caramel one gifted and sent to me from Australia sometimes… A very different black coffee experience…

I better stop now.

(Ohio ) #18

Lagunitas Hop Hoppy Refresher. Even has potassium!

I mostly avoid caffeinated beverages cus they deplete electrolytes. Thus hinder fasting.
I do really enjoy organic green tea however.

I do water with lemon. Zero issues with any lemon consumption.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #19

I’ve never heard that. Do you remember where you read it?

What I’ve learned since going keto is that coffee both enhances ketosis and inhibits ketosis. The research in either direction doesn’t appear to be all that robust.

(Allie) #20

Never heard that one.
They don’t hydrate as well as plain water would, that’s true, but depleting electrolytes… new one on me.

The literature indicates that caffeine consumption stimulates a mild diuresis similar to water, but there is no evidence of a fluid-electrolyte imbalance that is detrimental to exercise performance or health