ok, i drink about 2-3 liters of this stuff daily! i love it, so tasty! it's called "sparkling clear" - it has no calories, carbs or sodium. here are the ingredients: carbonated water, citric acid, postassium benzoate, potassium citrate, SUCRALOSE, acesulfame potassium, natural flavor.
now, i still drink my real water ... about 60 oz. a day. so should i not drink so much of the flavored stuff? could it have any negative effects?
thanks!!

Atkins since 1/6/04
152/145/130

I used to buy the same kind of beverage from WalMart and I drank at least 4 of them daily.

Someone on these boards, once upon a time, (a LONG time ago) told me that the citric acid contained in those beverages may cause me to stall because citric acid equates the same citric acid in real fruit.

I dunno. I was wary then with that advice, but I stopped drinking it anyway.

Perhaps someone else can shed some light here on the ramifications of consuming lots of citric acid.

Where's Zip2Play when you need him?

April
352/209/180
Down 143 pounds
29 to go...
http://www.geocities.com/aprilwyatt/beforeandafter

April,
I would have to see some kind of study to back that statement up. It is the SUGAR in fruit that causes the problems.

As to water, I found yesterday at Miejer, something called Smart Water. It also has no calories, carbs or sodium. It doesn't even have a sweetener in it.

It has just the idea of fruit, I think. It smells a lot like the fruit. (I got the Cranberry-Grapefruit)But It doesn't really taste strongly of fruit. It is very refreshing.

Ingredients:
Distilled/dionized Water
Natural Flavor
Citric Acid
Electrolytes in the form of:
Magnesium Lactate
Calcium Lactate
Potassium Phosphate

I bought 3 of them to try (3 for $3)and I really like them.

Jen

Atkins since 11/11/03

5'3" 140/128/118


I used to be indecisive...But now I'm not so sure!

Jen, I've seen those in the store and thought about buying them, too. I'll try them next time I'm at Albertson's. Do they count in the water count?

Cherub
304/280/160
5'9"
Started Atkins 01/04/04

I am going to go into a little bit of biochemistry to try and explain the citric acid thing.

The normal cellular process for using energy starts with glucose. As it enters the cell, it goes through a 10 step biochemical pathway called glycolysis (glyco=sugar; lysis=splitting) that extracts some energy from glucose. The molecules that are left over from glycolysis go into the citric acid cycle.

In the Citric Acid Cycle (and btw, citric acid and citrate are different words for the same molecule) the left overs from glycolysis go through more chemical reactions to extract even more energy. The citric acid cycle leftovers are then consumed other chemical reactions in the mitochondria that release even more energy.

Why did I post all of that? Well, you can make a good arguement that citric acid could effect your body just like a carbohydrate at the cellular level, by stimulating the citric acid cycle. This would also probably slow down the rate of fat burning, as your cells would use the immediately available citric acid.

On the other hand, I don't think citric acid would effect insulin levels.

So what should someone do? I don't know about any studies that show anything one way or another, but I would recomend limiting the ammount of citric acid. Try that for a few days to a week and see if it helps you. If the drink is listed as zero calories, then it is possible that one serving of it might have very little impact on these pathways, but if you do drink 2 liters a day, I would be a bit surprised if it was having no effects on you.

Good luck.

Started Atkins on 9/20/03
235-->185; 150 goal

This is very interesting.

I drink Crystal Geyser Sparkling Mineral Waters - ingredients are listed as: "Natural Mineral Water, with essence of natural orange (or lime, lemon, etc.). Carbonation added."

Calories: 0
Total Fat: 0
Sodium: 35mg
Total Carb: 0
Protein: 0

Would these have the same effect as the "flavored" water above?

Thx,

Remember I Cor. 13 - charity never faileth.

Paladin,

'Nuff Said!!

Thanks,

Jen

Atkins since 11/11/03

5'3" 140/128/118


I used to be indecisive...But now I'm not so sure!

Paladin,

I appreciate the way you answered this. I am a very cognitive person and I enjoy/require verifiable info I can sink my teeth into. I'm very open minded but still want evidence to investigate. Thanks again...

Yes, thank you, Paladin. I truly appreciate you explaining all of that for me and others. In fact, many times I seek your posts because I know you will provide a wealth of substantiated information.

By the way, are you related to Zip2Play in any way?

April
352/209/180
Down 143 pounds
29 to go...
http://www.geocities.com/aprilwyatt/beforeandafter

Darn....

I have been drinking Fruit2O and I love it.

Fruit2O


And now, I realize that citric acid is the second ingredient. Darn...darn...darn.....
but..but...but....it is made with Splenda....

Oh....I hate non-flavored water.....

it's a dilemma....

Peace, Joanna
Atkins since 12/3/03
299/266/130

Izus:

I am really not sure, but assuming that "essence of natural orange" is orange juice, then too much of it will be bad even if it is very diluted.

ThinJen, Kerry, April:

Thanks, I was sort of wondering if I was going a bit too far (off topic or so) but I am glad I decided to post it.


Now I have said this before, but...

As far back as I can remember (and I am including age 10 and earlier) I had always been adicted to sodas. I used to drink 40-100 ounces of soda a day for about 20 years of my life. Even during my first 2 months of Atkins, I just substituted caffeine free diet coke for regular soda. I would have been afraid of even thinking of a day without one. Water, btw often made me feel like choking when I drank it, so I rarely ever had any. Most of the time all of my fluids would come from sodas. I personally think that all the sugar from the sodas had more of an effect on my weight than food itself. It also did a number on my teeth.

Anyway, on January 2nd of this year, I had a tooth extracted. I figured that I would only drink water for the next day or so until my mouth had healed. During that time though, I realized for the first time that I could actually live off water, and (with the exception of an occasional Atkins shake) I have not looked back.

I was the king of soda drinkers, and I have not had a single soda since Jaunuary 1st. I am used to water now, and will never go back to sodas. It is not that difficult to do after you get used to it.

If I can give up my addiction to those infernal synthetic drinks, then so can anyone else.

Started Atkins on 9/20/03
235-->185; 150 goal