15 zero calorie beverages that are actually delicious!
All people who go on a Diet face one major issue while dieting and that is hunger. When you first start dieting, he will have no problem turning off the fat and staying full. However, as they progress into the diet almost all of them experience major hunger attacks. The reason behind this is that your body is trying to fight back to keep you alive because it thinks that you are starving to death what makes you hungrier on purpose to force you to eat whatever is in front of you. Frankly, your body doesn’t care what your aesthetic goals are. Before you start crying and binge eating and sabotaging all your progress, hold on for one second because there is an easy fix for this problem. Fortunately, we live in an age where zero calorie beverages exist and while many people take those zero calorie beverages for granted, zero calorie beverages are a dieter’s savior. Not only are they calorie free, but they are also healthy contrary to popular belief. The following list of calorie free beverages also features products that are flavorful, delicious and can boost your metabolism and thus help you lose even more weight. These are beverages that you will enjoy and could complement any meal. In fact, these zero calorie beverages can be a great compliment to any of the low calorie diet foods mentioned in this article which will help keep you even fuller for longer.
15) Water
Well, this is an obvious one. However, water is the best zero calorie beverage you can possibly have. Not only is water essential to our survivor, water keeps you hydrated, well-nourished and guarantees that your body performs at its optimal levels. In fact, in of many studies conducted on water effects on body composition, the researchers concluded that increased water intake was the main cause of weight loss, and more precisely fat loss in overweight women. Water is the only nutrient that must be consumed daily, and if one is dehydrated for only a matter of days he will die! In conclusion, drink more water because it’ll boost your metabolism, it is calorie free and is essential for every bodily function. Tip: have a bottle of water next to you at all times and you will sub-consciously start drinking without even knowing!
14) Vitamin Water ZERO
Let me point out that I am not referring to regular vitamin water that is packed with sugar and electrolytes, that version is absolute garbage and you should stay away from it. However, with the new trend of health and fitness, the beverage giant, vitamin water has created a “zero” version of their product and it is delicious. Vitamin water ZERO still has plenty of electrolytes such as potassium and sodium to keep you well nourished, yet it is calorie free. Vitamin water ZERO also features a wide variety of flavors to fit everyone’s taste with no problems. My personal favorite is the blue vitamin water, which is blueberries. Yummy!
13) Lemon Juice
Natural homemade lemon juice has virtually no calories! Best of all, it is also packed with electrolytes and vitamin C to keep your immune system well-functioning. Lemon juice has a maximum of 5 calories, thus it is considered a zero-calorie beverage. Do not get too worked up on the 5 calories, you will live! Tip: squeeze half a lemon into a glass of ice cold water, add an ice cube, 2 zero calorie sweetener, a pinch of dried spearmint and enjoy a calorie free sangria!
12) Diet Soda
Everyone is familiar soda, and Americans have one of a kind relationship with soda. Not only is soda delicious and zingy, but it also comes in a variety of flavors that complement almost every meal. Who does not want to have soda with a slice of pizza? Exactly. Diet sodas offer the perfect alternative to regular soda since they contain no sugar and are sweetened with either sugar alcohols -no, it is not alcohol- or zero calorie sweeteners. Beware that sodas in general including diet soda usually contain approximately 35-50 milligrams of caffeine per can or 8 fl. oz. but the good news is that soda companies also produce zero calorie zero caffeine sodas which are great. Sometimes, you can have your soda and drink it too. 😉
11) Seltzer Water
For those of you who have problems drinking plenty of water, seltzer water offers the best of both worlds. Seltzer water is merely carbonated flavored water. Seltzer water is great because it comes in a great variety of flavors, unsweetened, will encourage everyone to drink more water and will keep you refreshed. Heads up, beware of tonic water! Tonic water is carbonated water that is SWEETENED with high fructose corn syrup, which contains a lot of calories and is not healthy for you. Tonic water might give you a boost of energy due to its high sugar content, however, it’ll spike up your insulin unnecessarily and rack up some calories. Anyway, these reasons are why seltzer water made to this list of zero calorie beverages.
10) Green Tea
Green tea is a great source of polyphenols which are a magical type of antioxidants. Polyphenols help fight the free cell damaging radicals that are circulating your body as I am typing this. Due to its high levels of polyphenols, green tea will also boost your immune system. In addition, green tea is delicious, especially Macha green tea and could be prepared in different ways.
KENKO Matcha Green Tea Powder [USDA Organic] Ceremonial Grade – Japanese 30g [1.06oz]
Green tea can be prepared with regular hot water. Green tea can be prepared in an iced tea style and even better, you can add some milk to it, a couple of ice cubes and throw everything in the blender for a moment to get one of the most refreshing and tasty beverages ever! Since green tea is a bit better, try adding a couple packs of a zero-calorie sweetener to break the bitter taste. Cheers!
9) Black Tea
What zero calorie beverages list can ever exist without including the classic beverage of our ancestors? None. Black tea is one of the most popular beverages ever with its history dating back to 3 AD! Just like its brother, black tea is full of antioxidants, mainly polyphenols that have also been shown to fight cancer. In addition, black tea contains a good amount of caffeine that will give you a quick boost of energy and help rev up your metabolism. In fact, one study by Acheson Kj et al. has shown that caffeine boosts the metabolic rate in obese individuals and increases the fat oxidation rate in normal weight people.
8) Herbal Tea
You do not have to be British to love tea. However, if you do not wish to consume much caffeine, I urge you to give herbal tea a try, otherwise you are missing out! Herbal tea come in plenty of different flavors such as but not limited tea: peppermint, lemon zest, English tea, grey tea, cherry, berry mix… and many more that I simply cannot write in one post, you just have to find your favorite flavor(s). Herbal tea is naturally decaffeinated and contains no calories.
7) Vegetables soup
Do not call me crazy for calling vegetables soup a zero calorie beverage without reading the following first. I might be crazy, but vegetables soup without any added fats or stock, has no calories! Due to the boiling process of vegetables, all you get eventually is flavored water that is rich in essential vitamins, nutrients and antioxidants all without the excess calories. If you would like to add a cube of chicken stock, you can do and you won’t sabotage your progress because an average chicken stock cube has approximately 35 calories which dissolves in a big pot of water and vegetables and eventually you only consume a fraction of those calories, therefore, you have my permission to add some stock.
6) Coffee and decaffeinated coffee
America is widely known to be the #1 fan of coffee and for a good reason. Coffee is delicious, zingy, gives you a boost of energy and helps you focus on whatever task you are carrying out. Best of all, coffee is a zero calorie beverage that can also increase your metabolism due to its caffeine content. In addition, according to the American Heart Association, caffeinated (regular) coffee primes your body to release free fatty acids from adipose tissue to be burn off as energy. Coffee is also a diuretic, which helps with your urinary movement.
5) Iced coffee and tea
Just go to your local coffee cart, Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts and enjoy the variety of iced coffee or tea they have. Just make sure you don’t buy any flavored or sweetened iced coffee/tea, rather just use one of their free zero calorie sweeteners.
4) Ginger
I know that many of you do not like ginger, however, ginger could be a refreshing, delicious and healthy zero calorie beverage to enjoy while dieting. In fact, one study has indicated that ginger is indeed an effective treatment for nausea and can fight colon cancer. Furthermore, ginger is a potent anti-inflammatory agent due to its COX-2 suppressive effect.
Tip: Add a teaspoon of ground ginger to a cup of ice cold water, add some zero calorie sweetener to taste and some ground mint and you will have a mighty delicious and refreshingly healthy drink.
3) Diet Snapple – 5 calories
If you live in New York City I’ll automatically assume that you are familiar with the delicious soft drink, Snapple. However, if you do not live in New York City, Snapple is basically a refreshing iced tea soft drink that’s mighty delicious. However, regular Snapple has a lot of sugar, between 37-45 grams to be precise. The good news is that Snapple is also available in a diet friendly version in which the makers of Snapple replaced the excessive amount of sugar with aspartame. Best of all, it has only 5 calories, thus it counts as a zero calorie beverage.
2) Iced Tea
Iced tea is another American native beverage that fits well with any kind of food. A major problem many iced tea brands have is that their products are usually packed with a substantial amount of sugar, which is not very healthy and adds up unnecessary calories. One specific product I have stumbled upon recently is Tea2Go by 4C. This product is basically a box that features 4 different delicious flavors; peach, raspberry, green tea and lemonade. The box includes on the go packs that are easy to prepare, all you have to do is empty the content of one pack into a glass of cold water and Voila! The box comes with 40 packs in total including 10 packs of each flavor. Tea2Go is sweetened with Splenda, thus it qualities as a zero calorie beverage.
1)Unsweetened Cocoa powder – 5 calories
This one is a hidden gem that not many people know of. While everyone likes a nice cup of hot chocolate, they seem to forget the amount of sugar and thus calories that are packed in a single serving. Fun fact: an average cup of SWEETENED hot chocolate has approximately 100 calories on average, just think about that!
Unsweetened cocoa like this one by Hershey’s has only 5 calories per 5 grams without the added sugar. Raw cocoa powder is packed with antioxidants and vitamins that are good for your immune system and skin. Cocoa powder is also rich in (-)-epicatechin, a molecule that has been shown to signal nitric oxide production in the body, which is vital for blood flow and circulation.
Tip: Natural unsweetened pure cocoa powder has a tiny bitter taste, add some zero calorie sweetener to it and perhaps some almond milk to make the best alternative to regular sugar packed hot chocolate beverages.
In conclusion
Zero calorie beverages can serve as a great weapon to attack the occasional hunger while dieting. Not only do zero calorie beverages boost your metabolism, but they are also delicious, keep you hydrated, and are quite healthy. Exploit the benefits of those top 15 zero calorie beverages mentioned above by drinking them regularly and you will lose even more weight and fulfill your hunger without ruining your progress.
References
Acheson KJ, Z.-M. B. (1980, May). Caffeine and coffee: their influence on metabolic rate and substrate utilization in normal weight and obese individuals. Retrieved from PubMed: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7369170
Jeanie Lerche Davis, B. N. (2008, September 11). Antioxidants in Green and Black Tea. Retrieved from WebMD: http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/antioxidants-in-green-and-black-tea
Stookey JD, C. F. (2008, November 16). Drinking water is associated with weight loss in overweight dieting women independent of diet and activity. Retrieved from PubMed: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18787524
Mary Lou Heiss; Robert J. Heiss. The Story of Tea: A Cultural History and Drinking Guide. citing Mondal (2007) p. 519
