Diving into the World of Low-Calorie Beverages

They taught us in our high school biology class that our bodies are made up of about sixty to sixty-five percent water, and that water transports nutrients to our bodies’ cells and carries the wastes out. In other words, without water, we’d be rather, ahem, dried up.

Most of us know about the health benefits of drinking eight glasses of water a day – but when it comes to actually doing it, well, that’s another story. If you’re bored with gulping down plain ordinary water, hoist a toast to these drinks:

Fruit2O contains absolutely no calories and no sugar, just natural spring water plus flavoring. And oh, such flavors. Give me a cherry flavor and cheer me up; let me grin over the grape, ogle at the orange, purr from the peach Fruit2O, smile at the strawberry Fruit2O, and roar at the Raspberry flavor.

Mix sparkling water or seltzer water with a tablespoon of sugar-free Italian syrup. For example, try sparkling water or seltzer water mixed with Torani sugar-free black cherry, sugar-free mango, or sugar-free strawberry. Your taste buds will be freed from the chains of boredom!

Aquafina FlavorSplash is somewhat similar to Fruit2O, but slightly sweeter. Particularly good are the Aquafina FlavorSplash Wild Berry and Aquafina FlavorSplash Raspberry.

You say you like sparkling water that’s flavored but don’t have time to mix your own? I won’t call you lazy – I’ll just recommend Aquafina Sparkling Berry or Sparkling Lemon-Lime for your summer pleasure.

Propel Fitness Water propels my taste buds to happiness, due to the fact that they make a magnificent melon flavor and an almost-as-good kiwi strawberry flavor. I also appreciate the fact that the manufacturer makes this product in different sizes, so that if you’ve got little kids in the crowd, you can get a big one for them to share (unless, of course, those kids include my nephews, who are notorious for wanting “one that’s all mine – I don’t WANNA share!” ).

Depending on whom you consult, you may be told that beverages containing caffeine actually dehydrate the body – or that, depending on the amount of caffeine you drink, they can be included among the eight glasses a day of beverages. Be that as it may (as my grandmother used to say before she contradicted us), I love the new sweetened-with-Splenda diet Coke. Because I like to play it safe, I drink it mixed with decaf diet Coke, resulting in a somewhat sweeter-than-usual, not-as-“dietish” tasting beverage. Tip: try it with a wedge of fresh lime.