many cheerful, helpful posts re caffeine and herbal teas with stevia, juice, or
honey, for Angielea in LiveJournal.com/hip_domestics: Murray 2007.05.17
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1429

http://community.livejournal.com/hip_domestics/5105687.html

angielea (angielea) wrote in hip_domestics, @ 2007-05-17 14:09:00

Artificial sweetener free diet drinks?

Hello hip domestics!

My mom has recently developed an allergic reaction to artificial sweeteners,
mostly to Splenda, but can also be flared by nutri sweet (aspartame) but not as
bad.

My mom used to drink Diet mountain dew, and then diet coke/pepsi, but now has an
allergic reaction to all of these (red bumps on the neck, itchiness, etc)

She also hates coffee, and non flavored teas.

So, hip domestics, are there ?
A. any diet beverages you can think of that contain minimal artificial
sweeteners and
B. Bonus if it contains caffeine. She's really dragging at work now without the
diet mountain dew.. and she works with heavy machinery, so that's no fun.

I want to be able to suggest something tasty for her to drink that isn't too bad
for her, or cause an allergic reaction.

Thank you!


*edit -- you guys are fast! Just to clarify, she doesn't really like anything
that actually tastes like tea, but she likes lipton rasberry white tea. (fruity,
not really tea tasting)

Also, she lives in central Iowa, so trader joes, and whole foods are out. i will
stop by there though, and pick her up a few things before I go to visit next. I
will suggest the honey sweetening, perhaps it will make a light tea more to her
liking!


onegirldown 2007-05-17 01:16 pm
green tea!

bttrpt 2007-05-17 01:21 pm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevia - she could brew regular flavored teas, and
sweeten it with Stevia. I have been able to find it at both Whole Foods and
Trader Joes. It's a little more expensive, but you use much less.

leatherfemme 2007-05-17 01:33 pm
Seconded. Just make sure you get the pure Stevia, not the one with extenders /
fillers. I love the liquid Stevia with flavor at Whole Foods - the English
Toffee is my current favorite.

angielea 2007-05-17 01:38 pm
Thank you! I will send her this link

leatherfemme 2007-05-17 01:49 pm
A little Stevia goes a long way, so if you get her a bottle from TJ's or Whole
Foods it should last her quite a while.

semiauto 2007-05-17 04:45 pm
she should be able to get stevia at wheatsfield coop here in ames.

vernacular_life 2007-05-17 01:23 pm
individual bottles of perrier, esp the lemon ones?

Flavored Seltzer?

IZZE beverages (via target), but those get $$ (make at home: mix fruit juice and
seltzer)

otherwise, my advice would be to brew up some flavored tea and sweeten to taste
and with appopriate chemicals, then take in her own bottle. Black Currant and
Pommegrante teas are especially potent and non-tea like!

vernacular_life 2007-05-17 01:26 pm
oho, and forgot to add.... IMHO people are too worried about calories of drinks
and NOT about what things are imitating sugar... with sweetening it yourself,
you can use honey which is still caloric, but takes less to sweeten than white
sugar

diziara 2007-05-17 03:08 pm
Honey's good for you too, if you eat local honey, it helps build resistance to
local allergy triggering pollens. :)

ashlupa 2007-05-17 01:25 pm
Whole Foods brand sodas are sweetened with sugar instead of HFCS, if carbonated
drinks are an absolute necessity. They also have some tea-based sodas with
minimal sweetening.

libwitch 2007-05-17 01:33 pm
Brew up regular ice tea, but add a few bags of herbal tea (blueberry, orange or
mint works very well).

Mix soda water with DaVinci flavored syrups, which are usually flavored with
straight sugar and no HFCS or arfifical sweeteners.

Obviously, the best choice is just to stop drinking it all together and switch
to water. I thought I hated the non-sweetened stuff too, but its really just a
habit that can broken. When I still needed the caffefine, I took a caffefine
pill, because at least then I wasn't getting the sugar.

bitterdessa 2007-05-17 01:35 pm
I second everyone who said iced tea! I'm a big fan of making iced tea out of
flavored teas that actually taste pretty good unsweetened. My favorite is
Constant Comment, which is black tea and orange and some spices and it stands
up, flavor-wise, without sugar. It's also super-caffinated. Some herbal teas
taste pretty good without sugar too, but they lack the vital caffine spark.

marshmallow 2007-05-17 01:36 pm
Blue Sky is pretty good, and have a few flavors in their "lite" line (The cherry
vanilla cream is especially good...). If carbonation isn't needed, I'm totally
addicted to Fruit Water. It's going to be a much lighter flavor than like diet
Mountain Dew, but still plenty tasty, I think.

domestinatrix 2007-05-17 01:47 pm
Can she either drink things without chemical sweetners or learn to drink
something unsweetened?

angielea 2007-05-17 01:55 pm
She can, I'm just hoping to find something for her that's diet, and caffinated
that she likes. She's a factory worker, and diet mountain do has become a
morning/evening habit, depending on the shift. I'm trying to find at least 1
thing to kind of bridge the gap between 100% artificial to a more 'natural'
lifestyle.

starsthatguide 2007-05-17 01:55 pm
Brew up a strong cup (or pot) of caffeinated black tea, and mix it with fruit
juice until she finds the appropriate level of sweetness and flavor. Strong (not
bitter) tea will provide a caffeine kick, and the fruit juice will provide
flavor and natural sweetness without the need of artificial stuff.

My own favorites for this are Cranberry-Grape, Concord Grape, Pomegranate, or
Tangerine, mixed with 1/3 juice to 2/3 Tazo Awake tea.

angielea 2007-05-17 02:13 pm
that sounds great, I will try that when I am at home. My boyfriend works at
starbucks, so I can get a discounted to free box of tea from his weekly
allotment for her. I will ask for the "awake" blend.

starsthatguide 2007-05-17 02:23 pm
Awesome -- glad it works. Personally, I will steep one bag of tea in about 10
ounces of water for 4 minutes, with a plate or lid placed over the cup to keep
in the heat. But, I like my tea to be strong enough to stand up to milk and
honey, too. :-)

leilay 2007-05-17 02:02 pm
Have her check the Health Market section of HyVee. They have regular colas, but
may also have diet. I don't look because they are really expensive. >.> There
are also health markets all over Ames, and I'm sure a few in Des Moines that may
carry those type of things. All depends on where your mom is and can get to.

I recommend a good pitcher of Green Tea (brewed not too long, so it isn't
bitter) with a can of fruit dumped in, juice and all. Very nice, and not so
expensive. ^^ But check the fruit for sweeteners.

angielea 2007-05-17 02:08 pm
Yay! Someone who knows hyvee! right now she shops at Fareway in Boone, and
stops occasionally at one of the natural food places in Ames. She's slowly
moving to a more organic lifestyle, but was holding out on the beverages. Now
she's kind of been forced!

I will try the tea/fruit combination for her when I come home. I think she's
afraid she won't like it, and be stuck with all this tea. I think i'll try her
on Jasmine tea, as its more of a green tea blend.

Thanks for the help!

faecat 2007-05-17 03:11 pm
I will say -- I HATE tea. HATE HATE HATE. And then I discovered that what that
REALLY means is that I hate GREEN and BLACK tea, but I love red and white tea.
They're both rather milder in flavor, and go very well with fruits/juices. :)
So it might be worth trying those out first, if she's not a huge tea fan.

angielea 2007-05-17 03:25 pm
I think this fits my mom. She liked rasberry 'white' tea, because it didn't
taste like "black tea".

My step dad makes really strong sun tea, so that probably turned her off to it
as well. :)

I as well thought I hated tea, but it turns out I just hate black tea. (YUCK!)

I went to Japan, and found out I love green tea, went to china and found out i
love jasmine tea! who knew??

itsjustsomegirl 2007-05-17 02:10 pm
Maybe try agave for sweetening too? It's a great sweetener. I'm not sure how
"diet" it is... but I don't think it's very high calorie.

lady_mariana 2007-05-17 02:27 pm
I second or third or whatever the Stevia. It's a natural sweetener that's been
used in Europe and stuff for years. You can find it other grocery stores besides
Trader Joes and Whole Foods. I live near Detroit (it's right across the street)
so we don't have any "boutique" supermarkets by us, but I've found it at a
Kroeger's (I don't know that this chain exists outside the midwest, but you get
my point). So, I'm sure if you called around you'd find it at plenty other local
grocery stores. I know a lot of diabetics who swear by it so it's got to be
available in more places besides SE MI. =)

violentmae 2007-05-17 04:27 pm
I just got my mom, who's trying to give up soda and drink more water, Celestial
Seasonings' Zingers To-Go. They don't have any artificial ingredients and are
sweetened with stevia. I didn't try any, so I don't know how good they taste,
but it seems like a good option. It says they're low-cal, and that's what diet
drinks are, right? I think they're suppose to be a more natural alternative to
those crystal light drink thingies.

meadowgirl 2007-05-17 05:23 pm
and why must it be a diet type soda beverage? is there a specific medical reason
she won't just drink regular Mt. Dew or other sodas?

i personally believe artificial sweeteners are the devil so it's probably a good
thing, healthwise, for her to not be able to drink those types of things.

but having said that.... like other people recommended Whole Foods have all
kinds of "healthy" carbonated, good tasting beverages.
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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1427
more from The Independent, UK, Martin Hickman, re ASDA
(unit of Wal-Mart Stores) and Marks & Spencer ban of aspartame,
MSG, artificial chemical additives and dyes to prevent ADHD in kids:
Murray 2007.05.16

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1426
ASDA (unit of Wal-Mart Stores WMT.N) and Marks & Spencer
will join Tesco and also Sainsbury to ban and limit aspartame,
MSG, artificial flavors dyes preservatives additives, trans fats,
salt "nasties" to protect kids from ADHD: leading UK media:
Murray 2007.05.15

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1271
combining aspartame and quinoline yellow, or MSG and
brilliant blue, harms nerve cells, eminent C. Vyvyan
Howard et al, 2005 education.guardian.co.uk,
Felicity Lawrence: Murray 2005.12.21

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1277
50% UK baby food is now organic -- aspartame or MSG
with food dyes harm nerve cells, CV Howard 3 year study
funded by Lizzy Vann, CEO, Organix Brands,
Children's Food Advisory Service: Murray 2006.01.13


Fully 11 % of aspartame is methanol -- 1,120 mg aspartame
in 2 L diet soda, almost six 12-oz cans, gives 123 mg methanol
(wood alcohol). The methanol is immediately released
into the body after drinking .

Within hours, the liver turns much of the methanol into formaldehyde,
and then much of that into formic acid, both of which in time
are partially eliminated as carbon dioxide and water.

However, about 30 % of the methanol remains in the body
as cumulative durable toxic metabolites of formaldehyde
and formic acid -- 37 mg daily,
a gram every month, accumulating in and affecting every tissue.

If only 10 % of the methanol is retained daily as formaldehyde,
that would give 12 mg daily formaldehyde accumulation -- about
60 times more than the 0.2 mg from 10 % retention
of the 2 mg EPA daily limit for formaldehyde in drinking water.

Bear in mind that the EPA limit for formaldehyde in drinking water is
1 ppm, or 2 mg daily for a typical daily consumption of 2 L of water.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/835
ATSDR: EPA limit 1 ppm formaldehyde in drinking water July 1999:
Murray 2002.05.30

This long-term low-level chronic toxic exposure leads to typical
patterns of increasingly severe complex symptoms,
starting with headache, fatigue, joint pain, irritability, memory loss,
rashes, and leading to vision and eye problems, and even seizures.
In many cases there is addiction. Probably there are immune system
disorders, with a hypersensitivity to these toxins and other chemicals.


aspartame (methanol, formaldehyde) toxicity research summary: Rich
Murray 2007.05.17
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1404

"Of course, everyone chooses, as a natural priority,
to actively find, quickly share, and positively act upon
the facts about healthy and safe food, drink, and
environment."

Rich Murray, MA Room For All rmforall@...
505-501-2298 1943 Otowi Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/messages
group with 75 members, 1,429 posts in a public, searchable archive
http://RMForAll.blogspot.com

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1340
aspartame groups and books: updated research review of
2004.07.16: Murray 2006.05.11

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1395
Aspartame Controversy, in Wikipedia democratic
encyclopedia, 72 references (including AspartameNM # 864
and 1173 by Murray), brief fair summary of much more
research: Murray 2007.01.01

Many scientific studies and case histories report: * headaches
* many body and joint pains (or burning, tingling, tremors, twitching,
spasms, cramps, stiffness, numbness, difficulty swallowing)
* fever, fatigue, swollen glands * "mind fog", "feel unreal",
poor memory, confusion, anxiety, irritability, depression, mania,
insomnia, dizziness, slurred speech, sexual problems,
poor vision, hearing (deafness, tinnitus), or taste
* red face, itching, rashes, allergic dermatitis, hair loss,
burning eyes or throat, dry eyes or mouth, mouth sores, burning tongue
* obesity, bloating, edema, anorexia,
poor appetite or excessive hunger or thirst
* breathing problems, shortness of breath
* nausea, diarrhea or constipation * coldness * sweating
* racing heart, low or high blood pressure, erratic blood sugar levels
* hypothryroidism or hyperthyroidism * seizures * birth defects
* brain cancers * addiction * aggrivates diabetes, autism, allergies,
lupus, ADHD, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple chemical
sensitivity, multiple sclerosis, pseudotumor cerebri and interstitial
cystitis (bladder pain).
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