What do you drink?

[hello_there]

Hello. I'm considering becoming a vegan and I wanted to know what people primarily drink besides water? Sad to say I'm a huge diet coke and sweet tea person and I'm wanting to know if those are 'ok' to have? Also, what are some good vegan alternatives to these drinks? Thank you so much!

[spo]

Hi, hello_there
It is good to see you on the forum.
Diet coke would be a no-no on a vegan diet because, I believe, it has an animal product in the ingredients ---isinglass, which is derived from fish. :eek: It is also a terrible thing to drink for health purposes. I'm a nurse, so trust me on this;)

Tea is great for your health, particularly green tea. What do you mean by sweet?:confused: You can use vegan sugar in tea, or brown rice syrup, or something with zero calories and health benefits. It is called stevia and it is extremely sweet. It can be gotten at the health food store.

You can also drink juices. Check out your health food store for other vegan alternative drinks.

I hope that helps. :o
Just ask us if you have other questions on what to eat, or wear, or use for cleaning or personal care items....
spo:)

[defu]

gosh i read about stevia but getting it to poland is a bit too expensive at least for my financial capabilities :/

[Realfood Mary]

Never heard of stevia before. What is it? Can I get it in the UK? What are the health benefits?

Oh goody. Cause I take too much sugar!

Mary

[adam antichrist]

I switched to lemonade to stop drinking coke products. Some drinks may contain colours or additives which are not vegan. These should be listed on the ingrediants (depending on what nation you are living in :) ) but there may just be a bunch of numbers.

For help deciphering those numbers, try our links (http://www.veganforum.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=35) section which may be helpful, or is it vegan (http://www.veganforum.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=34). You can always try a google search on 'food additives list'. The lists are different depending on which part of the world you live in.

Some vegans recommend jumping in at the deep end but I think a slow transition is sometimes the best way. Personally I wouldn't be overly worried about the food additives from the outset, rather give yourself some time to adjust from dairy/meat/fish/ etc (whatever you still eat) and let the rest happen naturally. The new lifestyle can be overwhelming for some, but you don't have to do it all in one day. If the worst thing you do is drink a diet coke now and again in the early days, that's better than giving up altogether because you got overwhelmed!

Welcome to the forum and I wish you the best in your efforts to obtain a vegan lifestyle! Remember, if at first you don't succeed, try again :)

[Poison Ivy]

Been doing a bit of reading on Stevia - and while it does seem to have some health benefits this (http://www.stevia.net/safety.htm) piece on safety from the Stevia website does list a lot of animal testing of Stevia - does this mean it's not suitable for vegans after all????

[spo]

Hi, RfMary
Stevia is a leaf that originated with the natives of South America. Here is a link:www.holisticmed.com/sweet/
I just now see, from doing a search on the net, that there appears to be some animal studies associated with stevia.:mad: This seems to be due, in part, because the FDA is "in bed" with aspartame manufacturers, who say that to use stevia may be risky.:rolleyes: Some animal studies are being done by independent labs trying to disprove faulty FDA concerns about stevia safety.:mad:

The herb, stevia has been used for centuries by the native Indians of South America and it is very sweet, yet has no calories. Aspartame and saccharine would not be used by us, vegans, for reasons of animal testing and of course, because they are truly the absolutely unsafe "no calorie" sweeteners, because they are artificial. :eek:

There are health food brands of stevia that say that they are not paying anyone to conduct animal studies on the safety of stevia. As a matter of fact, I got the idea of using stevia from PETA. Before that, I used nothing.
:(

I use "NOW" health food brand of stevia, which is widely available in a lot of health food stores, here in the States. But there is also another well known ethical brand, whose name I forget.:confused:

Check your local health food store for it, Mary.;)
spo:)

[Tigerlily]

For bottled commercial juices, watch out for animal based food coloring like carmine or gelatin in juices.

[hello_there]

thanks so much! I didn't know that about Diet Coke

[Mozbee]

Plus Coca Cola may be linked financially to a rather large company that's well known for animal testing. ;)

Why not try Whole Earth Organic Cola - it's lovely :p
Provamel OY drinks are good too if you fancy something like a milkshake style drink (chocolate, strawberry, banana & vanilla flavours) :)

[Gorilla]

i don't really like Whole Earth cola - it's too sugary. i've stopped drinking cola altogether because i don't like artificial sweeteners, but i hate sugary soft drinks. so now i only drink water or fruit juice diluted with water (that's better for your blood sugar anyway apparently).

i like herbal teas as well, i never used to like them but i made myself get used to the taste which i found very, erm, unusual at first!! ;) my favourites at the moment are chamomile and nettle.

i like Alpro flavoured milks but they still have a fair bit of sugar in them, and leave me very thirsty and dry-mouthed after drinking them, so i don't have them often.

regarding stevia, i asked for it in my local health food shop, but they say they're not allowed to sell it any more due to the supposed health risks. :confused:

[Makoto]

The thing with stevia is that the taste depends on the quality. The higher the level of steviosides (i think that's what it's called), the better tasting it is. If it'a lesser quality kind it might have a nasty bitter after taste. In any case, if you use the powdered kind, just a tiny tiny bit will sweeten your cup of tea.

[englishvegoboi]

I am sad to hear that there are concerns regarding stevia. I have been using it for sometime as an alternative to honey in my soy chai and it works a treat.
I use the sunrider brand. Does anyone know whether there are any ethical considerations with regards to this brand?

[WalkingWest]

so now i only drink water or fruit juice diluted with water (that's better for your blood sugar anyway apparently).

Me too.
Nothing beats a glass of 2/3 oj, 1/3 water.
I keep frozen water bottles of it, and just take one to work with me everyday. Keeps me going.

I think as veganism starts setting in, our minds start to realize that things we used to eat that aren't necessary, are just that..... and pointless to consume.
(same goes for everything) Everyone's different ofcourse, and the levels at which we each achieve this is also different.... but fundimentally the same realization.

[Pilaf]

I mostly drink water throughout the day. I avoid all types of soft drinks.. I do have a small glass of orange juice with breakfast, and one small cup of tea sometime during the day for the health benefits. Home brewed of course.

[Mozbee]

I'm weaning myself off the organic cola and relying more on pure juice and filtered water these days.

[Vegantastic]

Diet coke would be a no-no on a vegan diet because, I believe, it has an animal product in the ingredients ---isinglass, which is derived from fish. :eek: It is also a terrible thing to drink for health purposes. I'm a nurse, so trust me on this;)
Diet coke is like cola light here I think. I thought the light one was vegan. Only the name is different. There were some coca cola company products which were not vegan. Here you can find information about it:
http://www.isitveggie.com


Tea is great for your health, particularly green tea. What do you mean by sweet?:confused: You can use vegan sugar in tea, or brown rice syrup, or something with zero calories and health benefits. It is called stevia and it is extremely sweet. It can be gotten at the health food store.
Tea is not really good. It depends on which one I think. In tea you can find theine/caffeine that blocks the absorption of iron and some vitamins.
So you must not drinkt this with a meal and not to often.


You can also drink juices. Check out your health food store for other vegan alternative drinks.
Not all juices. Fresh juices with 100% juice are mostly suitable, but if these juices are cleared then you better ask with what is is cleared.

[Miel Miette]

I mostly drink black coffee, no sugar. I know that's not good for me, but it's the truth!

[eve]

My favourite tea is Rooibos, that comes from South Africa and grows naturally without caffeine. Tastes great. :)

[puffin]

I mostly drink black coffee, no sugar. I know that's not good for me, but it's the truth!
Me to. I just love coffee.

[SeaSiren]

coffee with soy milk, tea (especially green tea), water, and beer.

[Mozbee]

Watch out for beers that have been filtered using isinglass!

[Cryospark]

You get a blender you get pineapple juice banana and whatever other fruit you like the taste of and blend them, can't go wrong there otherwise just drink the regular fruit juices. I have the citric acid based beveridges with meals for the vit c to help absorb iron in whatever im eating and so as to not dilute my stomach acids with water, I have water based beveridges like soy milk and such atleast 2 hours after meals so as to not interfere with digestion.
ya i have a low quality stevia powder bitter aftertaste yet 14.95 for 25g..... I use a tenth of the smallest spoon available in a glass of whatever it has many vitamins and minerals and such but they don't seem to be mentioned on the bottle on the bottle I figure they aren't allowed to put them there. The weak missinformation in the FDA's findings has to do with a link to salmonella poisoning, funnily enough the results of the testing have been put under suspiscion of being tampered with. there is also fructose sugar taken from fruits rather natural the brand i saw escapes me but it was in woolworths where i am located near the meat substitutes from sanitarium(good old sanitarium). artificial sweeteners are very much terrible things, i've read that aspartame is a neuro toxin of sorts it simply kills brain cells and doesn't mess about in the process, this same chemical found in many energy drinks coupled with caffeine gaurana, I can't think of anything more unhealthy found in the cold drinks section, ironicly they call them smart drinks in some cases when they are flat out making people dense and unhealthy, caffeine is found in mass amounts in decaying matter do you really want it in your body? Your body doesn't want it in you that's why it speeds up and gets it out of you as quick as it can. After this your exhausted and depleted of minerals used in the process of excreting it. caffeine is in cocoa and in green tea and various other things, this makes any cocoa containing chocolate unhealthy regardless of whether it is soy based non milk chocolate or not, caffeine causes those lovely blemishes on your face, it very much does because your dead skin is what those pimples are and dead skin contains the caffeine, starts to make you wonder who you should be listening to and trusting. Who would trust the same person pushing dairy products upon you as healthy.....

[Mozbee]

Who would trust the same person pushing dairy products upon you as healthy.....
Yikes! Trouble is they wear disguises, change their clothes and cunning things like that too! :D
PS I need chocolate :eek: , it's all I've got :confused:

[Cryospark]

Something wrong with carob? I dunno haven't looked into it myself but yah if it don't taste right you just melt it and add to it somewhere around here they said liebers white choc is vegan whatever that is.

ok i looked into carob and it seems bloody good for ya with vitamins and such its a legume from an evergreen tree comes in a pod form ground into flour to make chocolate substitute it doesn't interfere with the absorbtion of calcium and i see nothing of caffeine