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I’m a sucker for flavored water.
Because I know how many empty calories I usually drink from soda, alcohol, and juice, flavored water is a favorite crutch when I’m dieting. Talking Rain is a staple — carbonated water flavored with “100% natural fruit essences”. Though it’s unsweetened (and thus has no calories), it makes most meals more pleasurable.
Last week at Costco, I noticed VitaRain, another Talking Rain product. This stuff bills itself as a “vitamin enhanced water beverage” and is also calorie-free. I bought a case. In retrospect, maybe I ought to have sampled the stuff first.
Whereas Talking Rain is non-caloric because it’s just carbonated water and “essences”, VitaRain is non-caloric because it contains sucralose.
Sucralose is an artificial sweetener sold under the trade-name Splenda. Though artificial, it is derived from sugar. Sucralose is not precisely a zero-calorie sweetener, but because it is 600 times sweeter than sugar, very little needs to be used in any given product. This makes it effectively non-caloric.
I’m wary of artificial anything, though, and I have to wonder: Am I damaging my health? It turns out that as with any manufactured food product, sucralose has some vocal detractors. Though existing research seems to indicate that humans can safely consume the stuff, critics rightly note that there’s not yet an extensive long-term body of research on its effects.
I’m not going to worry too much. I don’t knowingly eat many products containing sucralose/Splenda. For now, I’m going to finish the case of VitaRain water, but not buy any more. It tastes nasty. It’s far too sweet, yet still leaves a bitter after-taste. I suppose I could throw the stuff out, but that seems like a waste. (Yet another instance of J.D. slavishly devoting himself to the sunk cost fallacy!)
Mac
21 responses so far ↓
1 Eden // Jan 29, 2008 at 6:40 pm
I also consume some products with sucralose, but I am trying to cut them out of my diet. I’ve read a lot of bad stuff about it, but of course the Splenda people have a rebuttal. I am skeptical and I would prefer to not consume any artificial sweeteners, but I am making some exceptions while I am trying to lose weight.
Have you tried STEVIA (stevia.net). It is a sweetener made from an herb. I don’t know a lot about it either, but I know some healthy people who swear by it. I use it from time to time, but it is incredibly sweet so it’s hard for me to find the right mix. Anyway, worth a look at least.
2 greenman2001 // Jan 29, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Brother, you’ve spoken a truth: water is boring.
3 monica // Jan 30, 2008 at 4:40 am
What greenman said: booooring. I know people love water - what’s their secret?
I’ve been trying to cut out diet soda with only moderate success. I try to mix it up with tea (sooo much tea) and sparkling water (with lemon or lime if I have it). Still, I find myself craving diet lemon-lime or orange-flavored beverages, and at least once a week I cave (usually more like three times a week). Since cutting back, I noticed a (dubious?) correlation between my consumption of artificial sweeteners (usually in the form of a Diet Coke, evilly available from a machine right near my desk) and late-afternoon headaches and stomach cramps. Think there’s a connection?
I’ve tried Stevia once but it tasted funny. It would be so good to ween myself off of this weird craving for soda. I wish I knew how to learn to love water!
4 Jill // Jan 30, 2008 at 6:10 am
JD- Perhaps you could cut the nasty beverage with more plain water? And keep it really cold. That will suppress some of its “flavour.”
Monica & Greenman - I used to hate water too, but after I started drinking it all the time because I had to, I started getting thirstier, and actually wanting it. That’s the secret. Thirst.
On the down side, now I’m constantly aware of being thirsty.
Eden & Monica: Stevia has a flavour that can taste bitter, but which is good for enhancing fruit. So its best to use it where you’re using fruit rather than say, chocolate. (Which I’ve tried… its a little weird. )
Everyone: Herbal tea also counts as “water” as long as doesn’t contain caffeine. You can find it in almost any flavour. At this time of year, it has the added advantage of keeping you warm. I like a rooibos-pear-vanilla blend, myself.
5 Jill // Jan 30, 2008 at 6:16 am
Unrelated question:
JD, on Get Rich Slowly, you say you don’t run ads from credit card companies because they are predatory and counter to the point and mission of the site. (I paraphrase, of course…) Does it bother you to have Google serving ads for “Lose 11 pounds every 9 days” on this site. Don’t those ads mean the same thing to healthy weight loss that extreme credit card offers do to healthy personal finance?
6 J.D. // Jan 30, 2008 at 6:34 am
Absolutely! You’re spot on. We’re aware of these ads and working toward a solution.
The main problem is that because of the way Google works, both Get Rich and Get Fit share the same ad blacklist. This list is already full of spammy “get rich quick” ads, so there’s no room to add “get think quick” ads. We’re in the process of setting up a new account, but it takes more work than it ought to. Eventually, we’ll begin blocking all those diet ads. Great question!
7 Leslie // Jan 30, 2008 at 6:51 am
I think that the key with drinking plain water is that you just get used to it. I gave up caffiene years ago but could not give up soda entirely because I was just as addicted to the sugar jolt as I was to the caffeine. So, I drank Sprite for years. When I got serious about losing weight though I realized what a huge number of calories I was drinking every day (I never could get myself to drink diet soda). It takes some self discipline the first few weeks because you crave the sweet taste in beverages (soda, juice, whatever). Eventually that fades though and plain water does begin to taste good. Problem is that if you backslide and had a soda, even once, you are sort of back to square one on the “plain water tastes boring” thing.
8 monica // Jan 30, 2008 at 7:01 am
Jill - great tip on the herbal tea. I LOVE Rooibos and Rooibos blends (I have a few very good ones from Serene Teaz in Wheaton, IL - raspberry, orange and almond, and “pecan pie”).
9 greenman2001 // Jan 30, 2008 at 7:21 am
I’m afraid I might have created the wrong impression, so let me clarify what I mean.
Water is boring; in fact, it might be the very definition of the word boring: non-carbonated, no flavor, unsweetened.
So what? Why do you need your beverage to be not boring? Only a human being in the 21st century would give a moment’s thought to the idea that his beverage could enhance the level of excitement in his life.
And why are you messing with these artificial substances? How much more do you need to hear about food additives, artificial ingredients, and processed foods to switch entirely to natural foods and whole foods and put the entire question behind you?
What if I said to you, “I hate index funds. They’re so boring: year in, year out, the same old boring market return. I miss the excitement of stock picking, the roller coaster ride of a downturn, the thrill of screaming at my mutual fund manager because he didn’t beat the market. I need more RISK in my life.” You would tell me to get my priorities straight, consider the costs and benefits, and not make a simple thing complicated.
This is your frugal side talking: why settle for boring old water when you get a sweet, tasty beverage for FREE: no calories (of course, it’s not really free in the monetary sense, but this is caloric frugality we’re talking about, right? For the J.D. of GetRichSlowly, the choice between a free beverage like water versus a beverage you pay for would be a no-brainer.) Maybe the Stevia is bad for you, but the jury’s out, so why worry about it? It’s easier to motivate myself to hydrate my body if I’m not bored, and this is all about willpower, isn’t it?
10 Jill // Jan 30, 2008 at 7:30 am
I’m with Greenman on his first five paragraphs, but as for the last one I’d suggest this (and finance both) are not about willpower, but about training good habits, which become automatic with or without will.
Other ways to flavour water: squeeze of lemon or orange, slices of cucumber or berries at the bottom of your pitcher.
11 Jim // Jan 30, 2008 at 7:35 am
The sunk cost fallacy doesn’t really apply because you would probably buy something else to replace this stuff if you threw it away.
12 Debbie // Jan 30, 2008 at 8:25 am
Hi JD. I am a fan of your “Get Rich Slowly” blog and am looking forward to following your progress on “Get Fit Slowly.” This is the first time I have ever felt compelled to leave a comment on any blog. Several years ago, I started the Adkins diet and lost 9 pounds in 2 weeks. At that time, I started using products containing Splenda. The 9 pounds was sufficient for me to pretty much wean my way off Adkins, but I kept buying products containing Splenda, such as soda, ice cream, and candy. I would say I used Splenda in various ways for about a year - not excessively, maybe a couple of scoops of ice cream here and there or a soda every so often, but each morning, 1/2 packet with my coffee. During that time, I started having problems with loose stools, then I started noticing my heartbeat, then, scarriest of all, I started having all-day dizzy spells (it felt like the inside of my head was floating on water.) I went to two different cardiologists, who both said nothing was wrong, the heartbeats I was feeling was that my heart would skip a beat and I would feel the next one. One told me to cut back on caffeine. When I had my 3rd dizzy spell in 3 months, I went to an ENT and a general doc and neither could say what was wrong with me. The loose stools was still a problem, too (I thought a minor one compared to the other issues), and I decided to do some research on my own. When I typed in “diarrhea” on my computer, I found a website that said “do you use splenda?” and found that others had symptoms similar to mine. I immediately stopped using all Splenda products and all my symptoms went away. Please don’t use that product! Good luck with your new healthy lifestyle. If you can tackle your financial issues as you have, you can surely talk yourself out of making bad choices about what you put in your body.
13 Sara // Jan 30, 2008 at 10:33 am
I really like seltzer water and club soda with a little lime. The carbonation makes it not boring, but it’s still calorie free. It might have a little bit of sodium, but I don’t think it’s enough to be dangerous.
It definitely won’t cure a sweetness craving, but it might get you on the right track to reducing calories in your beverages.
14 leanne // Jan 30, 2008 at 11:46 am
JD - You know, Costco has a really good return policy. As long as you return more than half of the product (like a case of water), they’ll refund your money. So, if you’ve only gone through a few bottles, return it and tell them you didn’t realize the water contained artificial sweeteners and you don’t like it.
15 another leanne // Jan 30, 2008 at 1:21 pm
When I was pregnant, I cut my intake of alcohol and caffeine for the standard reasons (I’ve never been a big soda fan and I’m a juice sipper) but I found that drinking water all the time when I *knew* I couldn’t/shouldn’t have the other stuff just about drove me nuts. I took to carrying a bottle of lemon juice around with me, so I could doctor up my glasses of water throughout the day and, when the lemon juice got old, a splash of lime juice worked really well.
Recently, I was served a glass of water with a slice of cuke in the bottom (as someone else posted) and was surprised–and pleased–to discover that the cuke gave the water a nice subtle sweetness.
I also really *really* love making Celestial Seasonings herbal teas into iced tea and just always having that on hand in my fridge. Black Cherry Berry is like Kool-Aid without the overbearing sweetness.
16 Pam // Jan 30, 2008 at 3:45 pm
I drink way more water if I use a straw. I have one of those straw water bottles that I keep with me and I find I can suck down a few ounces without even thinking - a lot more than I would gulp at one time from a glass. I also think it is easier to drink large quantites of water when it is at room temp. Sure it tastes good cold, but then I only take tiny little sips.
17 Asithi // Jan 30, 2008 at 4:47 pm
I’ve always been a big water drinker. Growing up, soda and juice was for special occasions. Since I grew up this way, I find that I always have to water down my juices and sweetened ice teas.
Have you try a water filter? The water from the tap does not taste that great in the area I live it. But when I run it through the Pur water filter, it taste really good.
My husband do not like to drink water. I make sure that I only have bottled water with me when we go bowling. And since we usually share a drink (yes, we are too cheap) when we do other things, we end up buying water when we are out and about. He knows that I am trying to get him to drink more water. So it is a fun little game that whenever he mention that he is thirsty in the car, I hand him a bottle of water.
18 TosaJen // Jan 30, 2008 at 4:48 pm
If it isn’t too girly for you, I’d second the suggestion to try herbal tea. I have a few types that are very sweet that take care of my soda cravings (I have cans of DH’s soda behind me, and I haven’t touched them — of course, that’s probably more about the -4F weather). Ones with citrus and cinnamon tend to work best for me.
19 Nick // Jan 31, 2008 at 5:38 pm
I like to think of the whole sucralose/aspartame/etc freakout in terms of a simple equation.
f < p + a
f = freakout
p = expected paranoia
a = expected negative astroturfing from Big Corn
Until ‘f’ becomes greater than the other two, I’m not going to worry about using artificial sweeteners.
20 pril // Feb 6, 2008 at 10:22 am
Gotta watch those “health” drinks. My favorite one is the V8 fusions blueberry-pomegranate. NO added sugar of any kind. Delicious. Stevia is a great sweetener. It was not approved by the FDA for human consumption because of an anonymous tip/complaint/something, but it’s in a huge percentage of diet drinks in Japan and Europe. Americans, as a culture, have distrusted herbs for a long time. I also try to keep a bottle or two of club soda around the house and some juice (the 100% kind). I can mix up a little grape soda of my own, that way. If you mix prune juice with club soda it tastes like Dr. Pepper.
21 William Cha // Apr 16, 2008 at 7:09 pm
My dear friend,
You do not worry about the sucralose. We are one of the factory of sucralose.
If you need more information, you can send me more details of sucralose.
Best regards,
WIilliam Cha
Changzhou Kaile Biochemical Technology Co, ltd
Add: No. 1 Gangqu South, Bingjiang Chemical Park, Changzhou, China
Tel:86-519-85779873
Fax:86-519-85779875
http://www.kailebiochemical.com kaile@kailebiochemical.com
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