ArcaMax

Summer Sippers

When the sun comes out and the air warms up, people want to get out on their deck. They want to be poolside if they have a pool. And everyone wants something tasty to drink.

Some people call them their summer sippers. Some call it a tasty beverage. Some just pop open a beer. Not all these drinks contain alcohol, but it sure would be nice if we could have options that don’t add a lot of weight gain.

I have some ideas.

Let’s start with tradition. Lemonade.

Now there’s a scary drink.

An eight-ounce glass of lemonade made the old-fashioned way with sugar is 38 grams of carbs. That’s the equivalent of a half day of carbs in one glass. Not happening. Not in my lifestyle.

So try this recipe made with stevia drops...

Read the full column at PlanZDiet.com

No Sugar Lemonade

Lemons contain fructose just like any other fruit. Fructose is not good for you in larger quantities. One of the benefits of eating lemons is they help keep your pH in balance and that’s a good thing. 1 cup of lemon juice in this recipe is 21 grams of carbs. If you weren’t going to be adding 4 cups of water to this recipe I would not recommend it. In contrast, a cup of apple juice contains 111 grams of carbs. YIKES! I still cannot figure out why someone would feed that to a baby…

Anyway…I would not drink this all day if you are trying to lose weight, but a couple of glasses should be fine.

Ingredients:

¾ cup of lemon juice. You can juice your own or a few stores sell plain lemon juice. I recommend Meyer lemons if you can get them. They are juicier and a bit sweeter.
4 cups of water. You can use plain water or if you want your lemon juice sparkling you can add plain sparkling water.
½ tsp of liquid stevia drops (or to taste). This much was almost too sweet for me. You decide. Don’t go over 2 tsp of stevia in a day (liquid) or it might catch up with you and slow down your weight loss.
mint (optional)

Instructions:

Mix all in a pitcher and chill. If you want, you can add thin slices of lemon to your pitcher or a sprig of mint to jazz it up. Serve over ice.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola