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It’s no secret that soda is terrible for your health.
With 10 teaspoons of sugar per can, questionable artificial ingredients, and phosphoric acid (yes, the same rust remover you use on the RV) potentially messing with your calcium absorption, there’s just no nutritional value at all. And diet soda drinkers, you aren’t doing yourself any favors by drinking the sugar-free versions, either. A study done at University of Minnesota found that even just one diet soda a day was linked to a 34% higher risk of metabolic syndrome, that nasty group of conditions known to increase your risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. Plus, a Harvard Medical School study found a direct correlation between drinking diet sodas and kidney decline. Yikes!
We all know we need to kick the soda habit, but “knowing” and “doing”…well, therein lays the problem.
With soda fountains at pretty much every RV pit stop we take, sometimes our hedonistic must-have-instant-gratification evil sides win.
Of course, there’s plain old water. But that’s like eating the same old cobb salad for lunch every day. Healthy, sure, but boring.
“Mildred, what do you want when I go in and pay for the gas?”
“I’ll take a Big Gulp Coke!”
Clearly Mildred didn’t read this article. If she had, she’d be sipping on something refreshingly thirst-quenching like this:
Want a fun and healthy alternative to help you ditch the soda habit? Before your next RV trip, gather a few of your favorite fresh fruits and herbs. Puree them, and then freeze them in an ice cube tray (use the tiny ice cube trays if you plan to fit them in store-bought water bottles). Pop the cubes in a baggie, and bring them along in the RV freezer:
Add one cube (yes, just one…that’s all it takes!) to your water bottle for a jazzed up natural, guilt-free, delicious drink. It’s a great way to wean you off of soda, but still stay hydrated in the RV.
James and I have tried many versions of these flavored waters, and here are our top 4 favorite recipes. Of course, you can switch around ingredients according to your own tastes. If you do, send me your ideas. I’d love some new versions!
Pureed Ice Cube Recipes for Flavored Waters in the RV
1. Raspberry Orange Zesters:
Blend a small 6 oz container of raspberries with 1/4 cup orange juice, one whole seedless orange with the peel cut off, and a tablespoon of orange zest. Fill your ice cube tray only ½ full:
2. Ginger Peach Refreshers:
Throw 2 peaches and 1 tablespoon of finely chopped/peeled ginger in your blender. Fill your ice cube trays ½ full and voila! Since I get mildly car sick occasionally while RVing, this flavored water version is especially handy with its high ginger content.
3. Strawberry Basil Lime Zingers:
Blend a small container of strawberries (tops cut off) with the juice of one lime, the zest of one lime, and a rounded tablespoon of finely chopped fresh basil. Fill your ice cube trays half full and freeze. I love the earthy, fresh flavor of this one!
Here’s the Strawberry Zinger flavored water in my favorite RV roadtrip water bottle! We were just pulling out of the driveway on our recent Steamboat Springs, Colorado trip when I snapped this!
4. Watermelon Mojitos:
Add 2 cups of watermelon, ¼ cup of fresh mint leaves, the juice of two limes and 1 teaspoon lime zest to your blender. Fill your ice cube trays all the way and freeze! You don’t even need a sandy beach, you’ll be in tastebud paradise.
So there you go, 4 flavored water ideas to help you kick your unhealthy soda habit out the RV door. Your heart and kidneys will thank you kindly. They kinda like being around, and they hope you’ll help them to stay around for a long, long time.
See you on the road, friends! With our flavored water bottles!
Great post Stef. As a lover of sour things I like to juice a lemon and add it to a glass of cold water, no sweetener. If I’m in the mood for a soda (pop here in Canada) I use a can of low sodium Soda water for the bubbles. No carbs and very tasty. Oh yeah, I night add a shot of gin in the evening.
What are your thoughts on flavored water and carbonated flavored water? I do not have enough room in our RV to keep a blender. lol! But I do need to have options other than plain water to kick this DP habit! 🙂
Hey guys,
We really like your videos.
Usually I don’t like drinking just plain (bottled or R.O.) water when traveling. Three years ago I discovered Stevita, which is a company that formulates different products with stevia, a natural sweetener, including flavored powder mixes. My physician recommended it as way better than the “yellow pack” sweeter, or of course, aspartame.
Stevita can be purchased in several different flavors in small 3.8 oz. jars. I prefer strawberry, lime, cherry, and orange. They even tell you when you call Steviasmart.com that some folks mix the flavors. I like lime/cherry a lot, and
drink a liter of that a day in hot weather. Explore their “steviasmart” web site.
You can save money by watching for their email specials, or sometimes shopping on other sites, too. Their “plain” Stevita (called spoonable) is in a 16 oz size, and is ideal for adding 1/4 teaspoons to my coffee, or 1/2 tsp to my protein shakes. By the way, I’m not affliliated with the folks that make Stevita, or with Steviasmart, but like to tell others about them when I can.
Thanks for your great ideas, and keep up the great work!
JP
Thanks for your post, JP! But I’d still caution you or anyone from drinking such large amounts of stevia-based drinks and here’s why.
Natural stevia gets chemically altered to become the powdered sweetener that’s currently all the rage. Stevia goes from its original plant form and then gets molecularly transformed, to snip out the bitter part and bring out the sweetness. So, it’s far from a natural sweetener by the time we use it.
Here’s a quote from Kevin Spelman, PhD (a scientist at Herb Pharm): “Once you extract a molecule from a plant, the plant’s safety profile changes. If you extract a single molecule from a plant, you are potentially bypassing the inherent safety mechanism that is typical of whole-plant extracts.”
In looking at the ingredients list on the stevita drinks you suggested, there are also other questionable ingredients included. Xylitol, another sweetener marketed as “natural,” is actually highly processed and hydrogenated. To hydrogenate it, Raney nickel is used. Heavy metal residue in my drinks doesn’t sound very appealing. It also has fumaric acid, which in large doses has been linked to kidney disorders. And! It has tartaric acid, which can be HIGHLY toxic and lead to renal failure. Read all about it here: (http://www.greatplainslaboratory.com/book/bk5sect2.html)
I hope you’ll rethink your drink! Give these frozen cubes a try. Go for nature’s REAL sweeteners, like fresh fruits and herbs, instead.
I always want to make flavored water with fruit, but the mixes and freezing them is such a great and simple idea. Thanks, I made 3 flavors ready to go!
Awesome, Kerensa! You’ll have to keep me posted how you liked them. 🙂
I’m drinking the peach now and love it! I’ll have to remember to make one when we leave next week as I, too, can get motion sickness in the RV.
I’ve made the Raspberry and Watermelon Mojito and like them both. My husband was game to try them, but he wants more flavor. I told him just to use two cubes.
Lv this idea!!!