[Antman27]

Hello all , I am a big Soda and Coffee drinker and want to start to TRY and drink something a bit more healthy
something like Juice
But I am sure some of the juice out on the market is loaded with BAD stuff also
any thoughts on

http://www.dolejuice.com/Products/Chilled/BerryBlend.asp

 Thanks

[TheChairGuy]

If you're looking for something without the whack of caffeine and sugar, try Green tea.  To find the pre-packaged ones without sugar is difficult, tho 

Brewed at home and refrigerated, it's quite tasty if you don't steep it too long. There are all sorts of healthful ingredients in green tea (som of which are also present in coffee)

[Antman27]

Humm an 8oz glass of coke has 100 Cal and 27 G or sugars and this juice has 140 Cal and 30 G sugar
I do like sweet drinks like Ice tea
I thought the juice would be better than soda and still taste good
Thought I would like to drop a few LBS if I cut out the soda
any thoughts on the splenda in the coffee Vs sugar (I take it light & sweet )

[loki1957]

water is good

[gitarretyp]

I second water.

The juice may have more calories and similar sugar, but at least it has some nutritional value. You really shouldn't be drinking mass quantities of anything besides water for multliple reasons.

[PhishPhan]

Green tea is great stuff; add a little honey and you're set. White tea is good too. It has an even milder taste than green tea and is said to pack more antioxidants.

If you want some really healthy juice pick up the pomegranate/blueberry blends made by tropicana and others. While it's expensive, it is darn tasty.

I also have a sweet tooth and would drink coke (not pepsi) everyday if it was better for you. I still enjoy a coke now and then, but all in moderation.

[Woodsea]

I third the water!  Fruit juice is usually full of sugar as well.  Grapefruit juice has less, but may interact with medications you are taking.  You could get a juicer, that way it is all natural and you will get some fiber as well.
By the way I am having water, from the melted ice that was in the shaker after I poured in some Belvedere and xtra dry vermouth, oh and the juice coating of the three pimento olives at the bottom of the glass

[zybar]

I drink lots of water, but my favorite is San Pellegrino:



I go through at least a case per week!

George

[Woodsea]

My fave in the states is

bought at the one and only Trader Joe's

[macrojack]

With your stated goals in mind, I recommend carrot juice, amazake, and water. If you can't drink coffee black, leave it alone. Green tea is a worthy substitute. Sugar and it's many substitutes should be avoided. If you require a sweetener, grain based products like rice syrup and barley malt are a better choice because they assimilate slower. Avoid all dairy products and go to a health food store instead of a super market. There will be some sticker shock involved but you will soon learn it is worth the difference. Stay away from pill stores like General nutrition. They will mislead you. This seems to be a momentous change but it quickly becomes second nature to make good decisions. What happens next is you become a P I A to everybody you know bwcause you want them to benefit as you did.
And, no I'm not in that mode. I started this over twenty five years ago.

[pacifico]

Personally I prefer phosphate buffered saline. It's the ultimate and readily available at laboratories everywhere. It mimics physiological steady-state salt concentrations and osmolarity. It's also the basis for over-sugared gatorade, which does have a great balance of electrolytes. In that sense it's thirst aid although sometimes I drink and feel even thirstier.

Interesting to note that pure water (triple distilled, no trace elements) is actually bad for you. No electrolytes.

[PhishPhan]

Interesting to note that pure water (triple distilled, no trace elements) is actually bad for you. No electrolytes.

I'm not sure where you heard or read this, but this is not true. Because it has no electrolytes? We get plenty of these from the foods we eat and are not dependent on water as a source. While it is true that you can die from drinking too much water-your blood plasma becomes hypoosmotic-you'd really have to drink an inordinate amount of water for this to happen. This occasionally happens to marathon runners who drink so much water, lose all their salts through their skin when they sweat, and neglect to refuel their electrolytes.

[Doublej]

Try Tazo Herbal Infusion Teas, specifically Passion or Wild Sweet Orange . No sugar but it does a good job of satisfying the sugar urge. Another good choice is flavored seltzer water. However make sure it is free of artificial sweeteners. My favorite is Polar Vanilla flavored. And of course water is excellent.

If you want to cut down on the sugar cravings you'll probably need to overhaul your diet to replace bad carbohydrates with good ones. If you read the label on everything you eat for a week you'll be amazed at how much corn syrup and other junk is being 'pushed' into your system via packaged products.  I was astonished when I went to the store to buy some pickles and they all had corn syrup in them. It's pretty sad when you can't find an honest pickle anymore.

[JoshK]

I drink a pot and a half of *black* coffee a day, maybe a can of soda or two and then a beer or two in the evening.  I also drink abouth 8 cups of water a day too. 

[pacifico]

Phishphan,

No of course itf your eating salt, it is of course noit bad for you and it is most certainly it is bad for you under extreme excerise conditions. Drinking too much relatively pure water can induce physiological shock and kill you, believe or not. It can actually mess your blood chem up (pH/CO2 balance).

Respectfully, I know a whole lot about osmolarity and have grown a number of mamalian cell lines up in culture. So I guess I have spent a fair amount of time with this as a scientific concept. I used to design buffer systems that would remain constant pH 7.00 acrooss a 30 Celcius temperature range with constant osmolarity. I also worked all types of bizzarre cell biology experiments with photoreceptor cells that are notoriously sensitve to salt concentrations. I's not just what I've heard it's what I've seen first hand.

[pacifico]

I forgot about this too (I also know this is an extereme):

 Water Intoxication :

 Babies rushed to emergency rooms because they are having seizures sometimes are suffering from drinking too much water, a rare condition called water intoxication.  This can occur when a baby under six months of age is given several bottles of water a day, or very dilute infant formula.  The hungry infant gobbles down the water, and soon is tissues swell with the excess fluid.  When the serum sodium level drops, the eyes begin to flutter and a seizure occurs.  As extracellular fluid becomes hypotonic, water enters the cells rapidly by osmosis.  Coma resulting from swelling brain tissues may follow unless water intake is restricted and hypertonic salt solutions given.  Usually, recovery is complete within a few days. 

 Water intoxication in infancy sometimes occurs among poverty-stricken families who dilute formula to make it last longer.  Another source of water intoxication in infants is bottled water products that are sold alongside infant formula.  Their placement on grocery shelves leads some parents to believe that these products are adequate nutritional supplements.  Used this way, they can be dangerous. 

[PhishPhan]

Touche pacifico, touche.

I didn't mean to come off snotty or anything, I guess I just misinterpreted what you wrote. I'm well aware of water intoxication and its dangers. I just didn't want people to come away with the idea that filtered water (not triple distilled) was bad for you.

It's interesting that you've done all this research, especially the stuff with the photoreceptors. Is it only the rods and cones that are affected/hypersensitive, or is it all the cells that make up the retina- the bipolar, ganglion, amacrine and horizontal cells?

I only ask because I'm a fourth year biology student applying to optometry school and I find this stuff fascinating.

[pacifico]

I had alot of experience with rhodopsin/rods. They have calcium-mediated currents as well as Na/K currents like typical neuronal cells. I can't speak for the cones. The Calcium currents in the rods are responsible for attenuating or amplifying the activity of rhodopsin although in an incompletely understood fashion. It's been a few years and I am really a spectroscopist by training although now I support a medium-sized cancer program.

I used to be good enough where I could isolate individual rod cells that were totally intact (Rod/cell/well-defined synapse) although there was never anything I could do to keep them in tact for more than a few hours. They really are not very stable. The rods by themselves are and actually photograph pretty well. These cells most certainly do not behave as well as a fibroblast and my guess is that they really don't have or need a robust cyoskeleton since they sit in a very complex tissue matrix.

sorry to snap at you this place can have its more than occasional pissing matches.

[Imperial]

My favv tea is Formosa Oolong. An Indonesian speciality.
My dad lived there for 18 months during a construction project, and he brought home a fantastic tea!
Formosa Oolong.
Ah!
Good stuff!

Imperial

[pacifico]

I love to drink tea, it's the only thing that keeps me awake w/o upsetting my stomach and I think has slowly improved my memory although this is subjective. i never drank tea when I basically memorived several large textbooks to paas my cumes. Although now I don't have the time to study so I need to learn and retain material faster. Ialso take fish oil caps to help with other things but they are good for the memory too.