1. Water Is the Way
Of course the most important beverage on a low carb diet is water. Make sure to drink water to prevent constipation and hydrate you. Add 1 or 2 tbs. of lemon or lime per day for variety. Pick low carb beverages like club soda and essence-flavored seltzer water. Beverages for low carb diets include clear broth or bouillon and herb tea. Make sure the herb tea does not have fruit sugar or barley in it.
2. Bubbles and Pick-Me-Ups
It is a controversy among low carb gurus whether or not coffee and soft drinks knock you out of fat burning mode. Caffeine can cause an insulin spike. Low carb advocates recommend switching to decaffeinated drinks, but many low carb veterans say caffeine does not affect their weight loss. The variety of sweeteners used in soda and diet mix drinks is also a low carb controversy. Atkins discourages the use of anything except Splenda (yellow packets) flavored sodas while some dieter's claim Nutrasweet (blue packets) and aspartame (pink packets) does not cause them any slow down in fat burning. Trial and error will determine your own response.
3. Happy Hour
Avoid alcoholic beverages with a higher sugar content. Port, schnapps and liqueurs are too high in sugar on a low carb diet. Check the carbohydrate and sugar content in a carbohydrate counter book on any questionable drinks. Be wary of mixers. No juice, tonic or non-diet sodas while you are low carbing. Dry white and red white are acceptable low carb drinks, as is light beer. Count four grams of carbohydrate for every glass. Some low carb authors ban drinking alcohol completely on a low carb diet. Because alcohol is a by product of yeast digestion, it is possible that drinking can create carbohydrate craving that day or the next.
4. Warm and Creamy
For dessert, try some creamy low carb drinks. A diet soda with some pre whipped heavy cream is heavenly. Some heavy cream with Dutch cocoa and some Splenda makes a gourmet hot chocolate. Commercial diet hot chocolate will run you about five grams of carbohydrate per mug. Make smoothies with some low carb frozen yogurt, strawberries and some protein powder. These drinks are especially good when you are battling a carbohydrate craving. The high fat content tells your body you're full and satisfies a momentary sweet tooth.
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