For years, I have drunk cranberry juice for breakfast. It’s my version of coffee and I love it. But it’s also a lot of sugar and I’m thinking of giving it up. But if I don’t have juice, or tea, or coffee, what can I drink?
I need ideas! Rules:
Not much sugar
No green or black tea (I might go for herbal, but I don’t really like to drink hot things)
No coffee
Help me out here, Dopers!
I used to love orange juice at breakfast, but had to give it up, when I learned I was diabetic (since it’s basically a big glass of sugar and Vitamin C 
).
I usually have fat-free milk at breakfast now, though there’s some sugars in there, too.
Diet cola, maybe, esp. because you don’t want a hot drink? I know that Coke is a very common breakfast drink in the Southeast.
I usually drink milk or diet soda in the morning.
I have a glass of this with low fat milk. The high protein content means I don’t get hungry during the morning. If I eat cereal with milk I am hungry 2 hours later due to the huge carb content.
Would water with lemon be too thin for a breakfast drink? Alternatively, maybe you could mix your cranberry juice with carbonated water to cut the sugar and calories, but still get some fizz. Cut up lemon or lime slices in it, and you have a real treat!
If you want something with body, milk is good. It also flavors very well (I like mine with almond extract). Some people like soy, rice or almond milk - but watch the sugar content, some of the “vanilla soy milk” brands are pretty loaded with sugar to make them taste sweet.
Cutting the juice with water or soda water is a time tested technique for getting the taste without all the sugar, calories, carbs, whatever. I still water down the kid’s juice if they don’t catch me doing it (and if my husband isn’t around, he hates watered down juice).
Beer?
For a breakfast drink/meal, I make a smoothie.
In a blender: Blueberries (I keep them in a baggie in the freezer), a banana, one Tablespoon wheat germ, low calorie orange juice, an egg, an ice cube or two. Blend then drink.
Why not stick to the cranberry juice (it’s pretty healthy, after all), but get thelight stuff?
Greyhound.
Iced herbal tea.
The fruity ones, like cherry/raspberry, are sweet enough on their own, and you can make a big pitcher to keep in the fridge.
Mint tea is good hot or iced, and doesn’t need a lot of sweetening.
I seem to remember reading in David McCullough’s biography of him that John Adams drank hard cider with breakfast every day.
Muscle Milk Light in chocolate milk flavor is delicious made with skim milk, and I am pretty sure there is not much sugar in it.
Are you drinking cranberry juice or cranberry drink (the so-called “Cranberry Cocktail”)? If the latter, there are no-sugar-added alternatives like raspberry (or grape)-cranberry juice. You’re still getting the natural sugars, but it’s bound to be better for you.
That’s correct. It’s low glycemic, low in fat, high in protein, essentially no sugar. It’s like a milkshake vitamin pill. They also have vanilla, chocolate malt, and banana flavors.
I was going to suggest it, so I’ll just link to a product page.
I like to drink 1/3 or so Cranberry to 2/3 soda water. It’s tasty, refreshing, and you get 2/3 less calories than you were before and not as cloying as regular cranberry. This works with a lot of other juices, as well.
I mix American Whey protein powder with unsweetened chocolate Almond Breeze. It’s super-chocolately, about 150 calories, and a whole load of protein. Muscle Milk is ok, too, but I don’t like the sugar substitute taste.
Why no coffee - the taste or the coffeine? I should drink real coffee (for the coffeine, against my low blood pressure/circulation), but I don’t like the taste, so I drink a coffee surrogate made from roasted grains (and nuts) (mixed with cocoa for coffeine and taste, but that has sugar and calories).
There’s pure malt coffee, which is associated with the ultra-granola health types (who wear weird sandals) but also different grain coffe surrogates (each company has their own recipe mixture), so you might have to try around a bit to hit on the taste you like.
Put in some saccharin or similar, and some skim milk, and you have a nice warm beverage in the morning (without acid - I always have a sore throat from water loss during sleep, so orange juice is too raw on that for me).
You should find those in health shops or organic shops.
Diet Brisk.