Sweet, Tart, and Salty Beverages
Convenience stores sell a startling array of beverages. Food manufacturers are developing new combinations of beverages almost as fast as new snack foods. For the most part, I'm glad to see the generous assortment of juice beverages alongside the usual soft drinks. I'm also grateful that protein drinks and water are convenient and bottled attractively. There was a time when it was hard to find water if you were traveling. If the water fountain in the corner wasn’t working very well, you were forced to buy a soft drink.
For ease of recall, I divide beverages into five categories. The first three categories are juice beverages that correspond to the taste types of sweet, tart, and salty. Then I list the protein and water beverages. Examples are given for each category as follows:
- Sweet—apple juice, grape juice, prune juice, hot cider
- Tart—orange juice, grapefruit juice, lemonade
- Salty—tomato juice, vegetable juice
- Protein—milk, soy milk, kefir, yogurt beverage
- Water—ice water, herbal tea, sparkling water, (coffee, tea)
A juice beverage may include everything from 100% juice down to the fruit-flavored drinks that contain very little juice. For nutrition, real juice is the better choice. Juice is also superior in flavor to a fruit-flavored drink. That may not seem so initially, but the more you drink juice the less appealing the juice drink will be. I don’t exclude even those beverages that have no juice at all, so long as they are similar in flavor to real juice. For example, a popular powder mix beverage may have no juice in it, but at least it attempts to imitate juice. I’ll choose these drinks if there are no other juice choices. I do not include the sugar-free juice drinks because the taste is artificial and it provides no energy lift. If you’re used to natural juices, the sugar-free juice drinks can be quite unpleasant. The natural sweet of sugar truly enhances the fruit flavors that I try to emphasize.
At first, I had to remind myself to drink juice beverages. I easily skip them or forget about them because they don’t create a compulsive reaction in me as cola does. If I start skipping those juices, my mind drifts over to some of the old taste desires for chocolate or salty snack food between meals. On the other hand, if I make sure to have a sweet or tart juice beverage between meals, I stay in touch with the more natural taste sensation of fruit. When I’m pressed for time, I’ll quickly drink a 5-ounce glass of juice to keep training myself to expect fruit flavors. If you keep up the habit of drinking sweet and tart juices, your taste buds will respond favorably to them.
Little changes can make a big difference in your liking for juice beverages. For example, I rarely chose apple juice because it tasted densely sweet to me. Then I realized that whenever I drank juice, I never put ice into the glass. When I started putting ice cubes in, my enjoyment of apple juice greatly increased. The ice lightens up the heavy flavor of the apple juice. Ice can also thin the beverage, making it less sugary, which may be preferable to many people. Juices with pureed fruit in them are thicker and smoother in consistency, which some people enjoy. They are also more nutritious, with the added benefits of whole fruit. Orange juice with pulp is a good choice, with no added expense.
Tomato juice is helpful as a suppertime appetizer. I think it prevents me from overeating for salt satisfaction during the meal. People who habitually crave salt can at least be reassured that their salt needs are being met by drinking a mildly salty vegetable juice. Salt cravers might even try drinking a sweet or tart beverage, to redirect that pesky salt craving. For myself, I’ve found that it’s best for me to just say no when that salt craving pops up.
Protein beverages, like milk, may be used as a beverage or as a food to be consumed at mealtimes. I often drink whole milk as the protein portion for breakfast or lunch. Occasionally, I choose it as a between-meal beverage. But I don't drink fully-sweetened milk beverages like cold chocolate milk. A pint bottle of chocolate milk or strawberry milk is very tasty and can be gulped down in seconds. I noticed that I consistently chose those sweetened milks over the juice beverages, so I knew they had to be taken out of my beverage list. Fully-sweetened milk beverages are placed in a different category that will be explained later. Hot chocolate is less concerning to me because it can't go down so fast. Thus, I often order hot cocoa if I'm at a coffee bar in the afternoon.
Ideally, water should alternate with any of the other beverages. If you find yourself hanging around the kitchen with nothing to do but get into trouble with the snack cupboard, take a drink of water. I can easily drink a small cup of water even when I’m not noticeably thirsty. When you have the time to sit and enjoy a water beverage, find ways to make water more appealing. Choose an attractive glass for ice water. Enjoy the gentle clink-clink of ice cubes against the glass. Perhaps squeeze a bit of lemon in your water as they do in restaurants to make water look and taste more interesting. Brew herbal tea in a favorite large mug with a comfortable handle. I drink coffee in the early morning, but I know I need to be careful. Too much caffeine can make me feel out of control, less capable of reading my own body signals, and thirsty. Those effects can work together to sabotage better drinking and eating habits.
You may notice that you like certain types of beverages at predictable times of day. I often want sparkling water in the morning. In the afternoon, I drink some apple juice while I’m preparing a fruity herbal tea. During the late afternoon, I’ve been liking orange juice.
Eventually, I established a beverage path through the day. A beverage path helped me navigate more easily through the eating day. It reminded me of the possibilities for beverages between meals. I like to think of this beverage path as a type of therapy. I find I’m more compliant if I consider my beverages to be treatment for a disorder. If a doctor had ordered me to drink five ounces of a sweet juice in the morning, five ounces of a tart juice in the afternoon and five ounces of a salty vegetable juice before supper, I would have been even more cooperative. A beverage path is therapeutic in the sense that it helps to alleviate one of the physical causes of overeating—the strong desire for taste which is amplified by thirst. Juice beverages, in particular, will train taste desires and mildly satisfy the taste-thirst urge between meals.
I want to end this section by saying something about juice glasses. An old-fashioned juice glass was very small. It held approximately five ounces. I keep that size in mind when I drink a juice beverage. A small amount of juice will train my taste buds much more effectively than a larger amount. It’s a good idea to alternate water with smaller amounts of juice beverages. That way your consumption of sugar doesn’t go beyond moderate to excessive. Plain water is the source of life, and it’s important to stay in touch with that.
