Replace Your Soda with Herbal Tea - 7 Helpful Tips

In the 1700s, the average person consumed 6 pounds of sugar per year and today, that number is as high as 85 pounds per year. One of the main culprits is our consumption of sugary soft drinks.

It’s one thing to save your sugar consumption for a delicious pastry or the occasional after dinner treat, but with soft drinks, you can easily consume tablespoons of sugar without even realizing it. In this blog article, we are going to discuss the perils of soft drinks, and why you may want to swap them out for a healthy, flavorful cup of herbal tea.

The Problem with Soft Drinks

When it comes to weight loss, things like desserts and snacks are an easy target, but often overlooked are those sugary soft drinks. After all, they are just liquid, so how many calories could they really have?

Quite a lot actually. In 2001, the average American was getting 11% of their daily calories from sugar added in soft drinks. This problem is particularly devastating when it comes to children, with 91% of American children aged 6-11 getting 60% of their daily calories from sugar sweetened beverages according to the Harvard School of Public Health.

Other Problems with Soft Drinks

In addition to the extra sugar and extra calories, soft drinks can also wreak havoc on your health in other ways. Here are just a few more reasons why you may want to avoid soda.

Toxic Chemicals

4-methylimidazole (4-MEI) is formed when making the artificial caramel coloring found in many sodas and ingesting this toxic chemical could increase your risk of developing cancer.

Increased Cholesterol

A 2015 study from The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has found that subjects consuming drinks with low, medium, and high amounts of high-fructose corn syrup for just two weeks had increased levels of LDL, or "bad" cholesterol, and triglycerides circulating through their bloodstream.

Increased Blood Pressure

According to a 2012 study by the Journal of General Internal Medicine, out of 150,000 people, those who consumed soft drinks that contain high fructose corn syrup had a greater incidence of high blood pressure.

Eroded Teeth Enamel

We all remember the science experiment where you dissolve a tooth in a glass of cola. This is exactly what happens when your teeth are in contact with the soda frequently, as the citric acid can really erode the tooth enamel overtime.

Decreased Kidney Function

According to a study out of Harvard Medical School, the consumption of soft drinks could really be putting increased pressure on your kidneys. Sodium is the likely culprit, and although soda is not particularly high in sodium, it is still added salth in the diet that is really unnecessary.

Increased Risk of Stroke and Heart Disease

According to research by the American Heart Association, those who drank one or more sodas per day had a 25% greater chance of developing high triglycerides in the blood and a higher chance of having low levels of HDL or “good” cholesterol. This may increase the risk of heart disease.

Weakens Your Bones

According to a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, women who consumed soda were found to have weaker hip bones than those who did not. The same was not found when it came to the consumption of unsweetened carbonated beverages. This is yet another reason why you may want to steer clear of the stuff.

Diet Soda is Not The Answer!

At this point, you may be thinking that you can simply switch to diet soda and a lot of the problems will be solved. This is a common misconception, and in many cases Diet soda can actually be even worse than the sugary kind. The reason comes down to the artificial sweeteners that they use.

Some research suggests that the brain reacts to artificial sweeteners much like it does to sugary sweets. Ingesting them frequently may increase your desire for high-calorie foods, putting you at a greater risk of weight gain.

Another study found that people with overweight or obesity who switched to diet soda were likely to consume more calories in food than people with overweight or obesity who drank regular soda. In fact, those who drank diet soda had a higher BMI than their counterparts.

How to Make the Switch

Think back to when you were a kid. Did you ever crave the taste of soda like you did the taste of cookies or ice cream? Oftentimes, kids just drink or eat what is in front of them, and unfortunately that is often soft drinks like soda.

But there is a better way to get a delicious and refreshing drink without all the side effects. Let’s talk about a few great herbal teas you can make to give you that afternoon pick-me-up without having to reach for the can of soda.

Sugar is a very acute addiction but it doesn’t last very long. After you stop adding sugar to things, it should only take a few days for your taste buds to change and you will notice the natural sweetness in foods like fruit, vegetables and even tea.

Here are a few flavorful recommendations we have when it comes to herbal tea:

Peppermint Tea

Who doesn’t love a good peppermint tea? This healthy and refreshing drink can be a great way to crush your soda craving. If you’re looking to cool off on a summer day, you don’t even need to brew the tea with hot water either, you can simply follow our recipe for sun brewed tea.

In addition to tasting great hot and cold, the peppermint is also great for you. It can soothe your stomach and it is high in antioxidants. Switching from soft drinks to peppermint tea will be a night and day difference!

Ivan Tea

Ivan tea is another great tasting tea that can help you beat those sugar cravings. According to customer reviews, people not only love the taste but they also find that it helps them with inflammation and mood! This can be the perfect way to get through your sugar detox.

Ivan tea is also known as fireweed, as it is the first plant to grow in an area that has been recently burned by a forest fire. It’s high in vitamin C and antioxidants which might be just what you need to fight against inflammation.

Teatox

Speaking of Detox, why not get serious and try this delicious herbal blend from Siberia. After years of drinking sugary soft drinks, you may have quite a bit of damage to undo and Teatox is the perfect way to help you do exactly that.

This tea is a blend of different Siberian herbs, including Senna, Oregano, Calendula and rose hips. This is designed to help reduce bloating and soothe your stomach. It can even help balance your gut and get back on track with your weight loss goals, two important things if you are coming off a soda habit.

Other Helpful Tips

You don’t have to give up on sweet drinks cold turkey! There are plenty of tricks you can use to make your tea more sweet and flavorful without adding refined sugar.

Adding Lemon

A little bit of lemon can go a long way! Just take a quarter lemon slice and squeeze it into your cup of herbal tea. This adds a burst of flavor to your drink, and some added vitamin C! This work particularly well in things like peppermint, but feel free to experiment with a few different kinds and find the combination that best suits you.

Adding Fruit

Although fruit contains sugar, it also contains fiber which helps your body regulate it. As long as you consume it in the whole fruit form and not in a juice, it can be great for you! What you can try is adding some frozen fruit to your cold tea or sun tea to keep it cold. Mango cubes work particularly well for this, but so can strawberry, blueberry and even grapes. This not only keeps your drink cold, but it also adds a delicious sweet and fruity flavor thats better than any soft drink.

Mixing Teas Together

A lot of herbal teas work great together, and it is fun to experiment with different flavor combinations. The combination of peppermint and rose hips goes so well together, we even made it into its own tea blend!

Cold Brewing

When you brew the tea with cold water, you actually extract a different flavor from the herbs. This can make the tea smoother and more refreshing, and it is colder which works great for a midsummer soda replacement!

Final Thoughts

Thank you all so much for taking the time to read this article, I hope it has helped you get one step closer to tossing out that can of soda in favor of healthy, delicious herbal tea.

If you are interested in trying these teas for yourself, you can find them all at Baikaltea.com. We work with a family of herbalists who carefully craft herbal blends with flavor and health in mind. These herbs are wild foraged on the banks of Lake Baikal, considered to be one of the cleanest lakes in the world. Try them out for yourself, and join hundreds of satisfied customers.