Beverage for Pregnant Mom

I haven't seen what others have said about this so I'm sorry if I'm repeating. I had the same problem this pregnancy with that weird taste and I would just carry long lasting good flavored gum with me. no worries about too many calories there! and it really seemed to help

Izzie "pop" is delish...really just carbonated juice!http://www.izze.com/#

Updated

Izzie "pop" is delish...really just carbonated juice!http://www.izze.com/#

When I was pregnant I lived on Sparkling Water with a splash of juice (Cranberry, apple, really anything). The sparkling water has no artificial anything (just water with bubbles) and the splash of juice just gives it a bit of flavor. You can buy the cheap grocery store brand of the sparkling water for usually less than 99 cents for a 2L bottle. I still drink this to this day (my daughter is 3 now).
Good Luck!
B.

We asked our OB/GYN during both pregnancies about using artificial sweeteners. Sugar is best because it's natural (though most is refined), but he said you'd really need a truckload to have a profound effect on an unborn fetus. He had pursued a PhD in Biochemistry before going to med school, so I feel really confident with his opinion on this.

When I don't want all the calories of juices, I'll do 80% water to 20% juice to get the flavor. We love SimplyLemonade, SimplyLimeade, etc. and I find I don't that the taste is really compromised with the dilution.

We got Luzianne Decaffeinated tea bags at Sams Club and kept that in the refrigerator ALL the time during both pregnancies. I learned to like it unsweetened, and it kept my husband from drinking a ton of soda.

Hope that helps.

You may want to try adding some citris (lemon, lime, or orange) to your water for a slight change. You could also try flavored seltzer.

I like the flavored teas. My favorite is raspberry that I use to make pitchers of iced raspberry tea.

I would stay away from Crystal light, too many artifical everything.

Have you tried just a light flavor to your water? You can add lime juice, lemon juice... or for a treat - use frozen blueberries or strawberries instead of ice. Low calorie and it will help give you a different "taste" to your water. You could try sparkling water as well.

What about brewed ice tea? That's what I drink all the time. They have decaf ice tea.

Keep in mind Orange Juice is great for you -- folic acid and all that. I get the Vitamin D kind with Calcium. I find the citric acid really helps with the weird tastes I get in my mouth from pregnancy. I also find that pickle juice helps - my husband thinks I am weird, but I love Kosher pickles when I am pregnant. hah.

Hope that helps! :)

I've been drinking flavored Coconut Water...it is very good for you, keeps you hydrated, tastes good and its supposed to be good for pregnant and nursing women...I am 38 weeks pregnant now and soon, hopefully, will be nursing :)

The only problem is finding it because you can't get it just anywhere...I get mine at Sprouts...they have regular and many different flavors :)

If you haven't heard of it, look up True Lemon and True Orange they're very good :)

I drink Ensure Plus and water, the only drinks I can keep down. My OBGYn suggested apple juice diluted with water or Gatorade - there is a version called "Rain" that is lighter tasting. I'd like to see other moms' answers to this post, I'm in the same boat too. Good luck!

The new Crystal Light Pure Fitness mixes are great! They are only 15 calories and are sweetened with stevia, which is a natural compound, rather than aspartame or saccharine. They say to use 1 packet for 16 oz. of water, but I find that I can put 1 in 30 oz. and it still imparts enough flavor and sweetness to taste good. I'm @ 24 weeks and was having a hard time forcing myself to drink enough water and since I've discovered these it's really helped.

I'm sorry you're going through this! Pregnancy can have some weirdo side effects. My sister in law drinks club soda with lemon instead of all the other stuff. Also the powdered drinks can have nutrasweet and other stuff that you're kinda supposed to avoid during pregnancy. I drank water exclusively until it caused heartburn and then it really was difficult to drink anything. Milk was ok occasionally when I was pregnant. I also tried lemon, honey and hot water when I wanted coffee. Just some ideas.

I would do regular Kool-Aid with Splenda instead of sugar. I know some people want to stay away from all sweeteners, but Splenda actually tastes good. Otherwise, water down your juice (I do about half apple juice and half water and it's still yummy) and that will also help with sugar content.

Also, putting fruit in your water is a great idea. Good luck!

Congratulations on being pregnant Entrada!!

I'm a little ahead of you this pregnancy, and I'm just sick of water myself! :) But one thing that has worked for me is flavoring. RealLemon makes single serving lemon things like the single serve crystal lights, etc... only it is just lemon. It doesn't make it lemonade, BUT it does add that little bit of lemon hint enough to make it interesting! Also, in your liquid flavorings I've enjoyed adding some pineapple and some coconut. :) But go EASY on these as they can take over your water, and taste terrible actually!

Or try a Popsicle or two. Good luck!

I hate drinking water most of the time. I've been really trying hard to drink more, but it's a struggle.

So what I started doing a few years ago is diluting my juice. I started slowly, because otherwise it's just nasty. At first, I'd add just a few tablespoons of water, and every time it started tasting even the tiniest bit strong, I'd add more water. I got down to half water/half juice and thought I'd stop there, but without trying, I've gotten down to 1/3 juice, 2/3 water. That's like drinking 2 glasses of water and one glass of juice, only I've mixed them so they all taste like something.

Now straight juice tastes like I'm drinking juice concentrate! I do this for my kids, too, since I didn't do very well trying to teach them to drink plain water.

Oh, I also add at least twice the amount of water for those drink powders. I also don't like the aspartame, but sometimes I just had to have something I could take with me (I use the little tiny pouches that you're supposed to add to bottled water).

I drank a lot of Recharge. It's like a natural version of Gatorade and comes in several flavors.

I know you got a lot of answers, but I had to respond! Something I make for guests is this- just fill a large pitcher with water, add some mint leaves, cucumber slices, and strawberries (cut in half). After it sits for a couple of hours, it is SO refreshing. I get so many comments about it, and usually people don't even want to switch to another drink for dinner, just more of this. To make it stronger flavor, just 'smoosh' all of the ingredients so they are more abundant. Good luck!

In my third pregnancy, I had that in my last 2 trimesters. I had extra sugar tests, my doctor thought it might be related to that. All my lab work came back ok. I just had to deal with it. Blah! Mine was more of a metalic taste.

I have a habit of putting lemon slices in my water (as others have suggested). I started this with my first pregnancy 7 years ago and have continued ever sense.

There is a pop that is more natural (it isn't the best choice...but better than others I think) that you can find in health food stores and I think Albertsons. It is called Zevia. It is natural and sweetened with Stevia or a type of sugar alcohol. I can't remember right now. (I am pregnant also and I can't remember a thing!) But there isn't any aspartame or Splenda in it. I wasn't such a fan after my first can. But since I bought a 6 pack, I didn't want it to go to waste. I drank them and liked them after that but I only drink them once in awhile.

I haven't been able to find the drink powders without aspartame or Splenda. I used to drink those a lot until I started paying attention to what I was putting in my body. They really helped me get more water down.

Good Luck!!

I would do one part powerade and one part water when I was prenant. It adds enough flavor but it also gives you some electrolytes and such that you need anyway. If you go with sports drinks, Powerade is the better alternative to gatorade as it has less sugars.

have you tried sobe life water? its 0 calories, naturally sweetened and tastes great. I get migraines from artificial sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose, even Splenda. I was really happy when they came out with this and I am able to drink it!
another thought would be to chew some gum or suck on a hard candy that you like the flavor of while you drink your water. (I have to get special gum again for the aspartame reason, my gum has to have Xylotol as its the only sweetener I can have) There's an Asian Market in Salt Lake on 700 East close to trolley square but on the east side of the street that sells an apple mint gum with Xylotol its really a soft flavor (and a softer gum than we are used to so I chew 2 pieces) its from Korea and its really good.
be careful on your herbal teas and run them by your doctor because some of them can induce labor, its just good to check, but once you know which ones are good and get clearance on them its a good alternative. I don't like to sweeten mine, but if you do you can go with honey since the drinks are hot.
cutting up citrus fruit and putting it in a pitcher in the fridge also helps with water, try different ones like an orange, or grapefruit, tangerine-- you have to dump the fruit after a day as it starts to get a funny flavor if you leave it longer but its a nice change to lemons and limes in the water and its just a soft flavor enhancer.

HI Entrada,

Try just a squeeze of lemon or lime. Or cucumber slices and strawberries is yummy and refreshing too.

Homemade decaf iced tea :) You can control how much sugar you put in.

I have the same problem and as odd as it may seem milk helps! (especially with chocolate in it!)

I am not a milk drinker normally but now i can't stay away from it!

I was hoping to see some creative answers but I am really surprised at all the recommendations to drink stevia and other artificially sweetened drinks. Like you, I stayed away from all artificial sweetners and wanted to stay away from the calories too.
There are a lot of herbal "teas" (that are not actually tea because they contain no tea leaves) that you can drink, and if you don't like hot tea, then just chill it for a refreshing cold drink. The Roobios is a good suggestion - I LOVED these "teas" and they even have an earl grey that is divine. (I love Earl Grey, and they have a lot of different flavors) Celestial Seasonings also makes some great summertime cold tea brews like blueberry flavor. For the best selection, visit their manufacturing facility in Boulder.

If you want a good low glycemic index NATURAL sweetner, and not extremely modified like stevia or others, use Agave nectar, which is in liquid form and mixes well with colder drinks.

I had read that stevia messes with the reproductive tract of several animals, so I didn't feel comfortable using it after I read that.

I don't reccomend the green tea either or any other tea because there is caffiene in them, and you get enough caffiene inadvertently with things like chocolate... so why drink it too... especially if you don't have to. I just saved that for when there were no other options.

My suggestion in short is to familiarize yourself with awesome "teas" that are not really teas, they aer herbal concoctions that contain no caffiene.

Good luck and take care!!

I had an awful metallic taste all the time, yick. I drank decaffeinated ice tea, oj, and also water with orange slices in it. The orange was the best for the taste I had.

Try floating several orange or lemon slices in a pitcher of water. So good!

I'm 28wks and get tired of drinking water all the time and have the same reservations about drinking too much juice or soda. I make iced green tea. Naturally decaf green tea bags brewed and mixed with honey or sugar (when you make it yourself you can add just enough to sweeten it, buying it premade always has TONS of sugar and usually other additives). I also like to crush blueberries or raspberries or squeeze a lemon and add the juice to the tea for extra flavor. This is my latest pregnancy obsession and I've even converted my husband from sugary bevs to this tasty drink. enjoy!

Hot teas (rooibos or chamomile) may help. The heat of the water may neutralize the bad breath.
Also, lemon/lime in water, or even some mint leaves add a nice touch.
One of my FAV drinks in the summer is homemade lemonade (made with real lemons or storebought lemon juice) with mint leaves crushed and added.
Its AMAZING and leaves your mouth with a super clean feel.
:)

A lot of people don't give enough protein in their meals, and one way to do that is with a protein drink. Just look for a brand that doesn't contain aspartame or high fructos corn syrup. Then I add half frozen banana and 4 strawberries and it is soooooo GOOD!

I have found a couple things that have worked really well - having my water be ice cold, adding a little citrus or a teeny bit of crystal light to it to flavor it a bit, or cutting juice with sparkling water (you could even put it in a fancy glass at the end of the day and drink it like a cocktail). GL!

I agree with adding fruit to your water. In fact Brita makes a pitcher that allows you to infuse fruit in your water. There's also Izze, which is actually fruit juice mixed with sparkling water. They are delicious for a treat every now and then.

Have you tried any of the varities of La Croix drinks? They are all natural, no sugar, and just a hint of flavor. I'm 33 weeks pregnant and have found these to be a refreshing why to stay hydrated. I love the Grapefruit. I only have 1 a day, but for you it could be nice to have along with some of the other suggestions.

Updated

Have you tried any of the varities of La Croix drinks? They are all natural, no sugar, and just a hint of flavor. I'm 33 weeks pregnant and have found these to be a refreshing why to stay hydrated. I love the Grapefruit. I only have 1 a day, but for you it could be nice to have along with some of the other suggestions.

Green Tea is a great alternative to water. I don't like water at all so I drink Green Tea all the time. There are the quick to go mixes, pre-made bottles you can buy in the store, or you can 'brew' your own. You can get different flavors, there is no cafffine, tons of antioxidents, and many more actual health benefits without any of the bad stuff for you and the baby. Good luck!

add a slice of fresh lemon or lime to your water, and make sure there is lots of ice in it

Because you are pregnant you need to be drinking at least 1 gallon of water a day. Make sure that yo are drinking only purified water. Its best if you put in some freshly squeezed lemon or lime. It alkalizes your water and your body is in need of an alkalized body. Don't add sugar at all, but if you want it a little sweet, add a little stevia. You can also make yourself natural smoothies to get your electrolytes. Use whole foods if you can.

How about those shakes at Costco? They are for weight loss but I find them to be good for a meal replacement when I'm on the go w/my little one and they have a good amount of protein? Also, Metrix sells a protein powder you mix with orange juice..........fantastic and yummy. They have a chocolate you mix w/milk but I prefer the vanilla w/orange juice. Good luck and hang in there!

I don't really have anything to suggest, just wanted to make sure you've checked with your OB about the taste in your mouth - it can be a sign of some kinds of vitamin deficiencies. Probably nothing to worry about at all, but just mention it : )

The only way I could drink water was super super cold...sometimes a little lemon or lime would help. Really the best thing for me was milk. I couldn't get enough of it. It is not calorie free, but it is full of all kinds of goodness. Good luck...I had the same taste in my mouth my whole pregnancy. It is ICKY and water really does make it worse.

I drank Sustain Sport- it is like Gatorade but less sugar and more electrolytes. Tastes yummy!

M.

http://www.WorkingGreenMoms.com