9/22/10

Zevia Natural Diet Soda


Being the fitness & nutrition buff "willing to try new healthy stuff" ho that I am, I was excited when I was asked to give this relatively new Natural Diet Soda - Zevia - a try. I do drink my share of diet C.o.ke & Dr.P.epp.er on a regular - along with plenty of water too (so SHUT UP) - and was like what the hell.

Zevia promotes itself as the first all natural zero calorie soda with only "pure ingredients." It says that it contains none of the chemically processed artificial sugar substitutes, artificial flavors or artificial colors found in other diet sodas. ZEVIA is all-natural, has zero calories, zero net carbs, zero fat, and little or no sodium (depending on flavor). On the can it says "ZERO net carbs, calories, glycemic index."

I pulled out a can of one of my regular diet sodas and compared "nutrition facts" The number of ingredients were pretty much the same, EXCEPT for the 40mg of sodium in my beloved Diet C.o.k.e. Now that is not really a lot, but if you don't watch it - 2 soda, plus a bunch of other crappy processed food can put you way over the daily intake PDQ (pretty damn quick).

Hmmmm.

Before I got started with my taste test, I decided to look up the two primary sweetners/all natural ingredients in a Zevia Natural Diet Soda.

Stevia is a natural herb native to South and Central America. For centuries, native Americans of Paraguay and Brazil called it "sweet leaf" and used it to sweeten native foods. Stevia is used as a food additive in China, Japan, all of South America and in the United States. The extract from the stevia leaf has no calories, no effect on blood sugar levels, and is hundreds of times sweeter than sugar.

Erythritol is a natural sugar alcohol found in fruits and vegetables, has no calories, and has no effect on blood sugar levels. Erythritol does not promote tooth decay.

Well, that hundreds of times sweeter than sugar thing was spot on. I popped the top on the Cola flavor and my gut reaction was DAAAAAMMMM that is REAAAALLLL sweet. I just wasn't used to a diet soda being sweet and my initial take was "yuck". But I decided to finish it with a sandwich I had made for lunch and it grew on me. Not bad...but I wasn't sure I would just go and buy it...but that damn sodium thing really was standing out to me. I needed to weight that in my mind.

I then decided after about a half hour that I would try another flavor and see what happens. I popped the top on the Ginger Ale flavor and SHAZAM! A hit. I loved it.

Unfortunately, there is a little detail about the Erythritol that is not really mentioned.
As a whole, erythritol is generally free of side-effects in regular use, but if consumed in very extreme quantities (sometimes encouraged by its almost non-caloric nature), effectively consuming it faster than one's body can absorb it, a laxative effect may result. The laxative response does not begin until the body's natural absorption threshold is crossed...

I would NOT recommend downing two cans of Zevia in a sitting...but I do feel oh so lighter for the effort. Thanks.


So, where do I find this all natural diet soda? I is not at my local grocery store, but it is at my local health food store right up the street (R.oo.ts) and at our Organic Food Store (M.o.M.s) just down the road, giving me an excuse to do better and visit R.oo.ts more often. I'm going to give the other flavors a try...the Cola, while it did grow on me, was still a little too sweet.


Enjoy.


UPDATE!!! I forgot that I can GIVEAWAY! a six pack of Zevia to one of my readers. If you would like the opportunity to give Zevia a try, leave a comment and tell my why. It's that simple. You will get another entry if you follow my blog (google, networked blogs, or FeedBlitz) and if your RT this on twitter (include @TheTravelDiva in the tweet so I know).


Easy Peesy!

This Product Was a Free Giveaway