That’s not what health-oriented people mean when they say “low sugar” - that’s part of the marketing trick of these drink manufacturers. Low sugar means water, unsweetened tea, coffee without sugar, etc. Simply replacing sugar with toxic chemicals and calling it low sugar is insanity.
Clearly, the industrial-scientific complex can only afford 3 interns to downvote disparaging Hacker News comments. I don't know how that's not obvious.
I would really like a low sugar soft drink, not artificial but one with like 1/4 the amount of real sugar. It would probably taste fine, I don't get why everything needs 32g in it!
My favorite (besides water, coffee, tea) is sparkling water with some fruit juice and no added sweeteners, e.g. the brand “Spindrift”. It’s 35 calories. I prefer it to colas, juice, and sparkling juice. It is particularly refreshing when you are hot (from yard work, exercise, etc.) when other drinks can taste too sweet.
I went through a phase of making homemade cola syrup and then carbonating it with a home carbonator to get a low-sugar cola without sweeteners (which I used to tolerate, but which gained an awful taste following a bout of COVID-induced anosmia). For me, that ended up being about 4g demerara per 100ml.
making your own lemonade is awesome! You can tune the amount of sugar and lemon you want, from "water with a drop of lemon" to whatever you like. Put some fresh mint in there if you like
If life didn't give you lemons, you're out of luck though
DRAM makes a line of reasonably-sweetened sodas (3-5g sugar per can) but they’re definitely a “luxury” product, in the range of $10-15 for a 4-pack. I don’t know of a single mass-market option.
Sports drinks. Maybe not 1/4, but 1/3-1/2 is certainly doable. The one in front of me is 150 calories per 28 oz, versus similar levels per 12-oz. serving for typical soft drinks.
At least in the UK many of the leading "sports" drinks, will add some form of artificial sweetener regardless of if it is a high sugar or low sugar variant e.g.
Seconding this. Whenever I'm at the store I can't help but grab a bottle of Health-Ade. A third of the sugar and it's effervescent and tart in a way that makes it so refreshing.
While certainly an option, just watering out a drink more isn't really what they're asking for. There's lots of other flavor compounds that you don't necessarily want watered out just because you want less sugar.
Diluted juice is still a useful suggestion as an alternative idea. I don’t get why people would down vote; that’s not what down vote is for. I like diluted juice quite a bit, 25-50% tastes fine, it’s akin to tea to me. It would be interesting if more beverage companies made a “add your own sweetener” version which is how unsweetened Kool-Aid drink mixes come. They have maltodextrin in them but say they are 0 calorie so I’m not sure if that means it’s a tiny amount or if it somehow gets away claiming zero calories. Just be aware Kool-Aid has sweetened versions as well. I still mostly drink water but some variety is nice.
Oh this is where I'm at now, I've been buying juice and adding a little to soda water so it comes out like a light Fresca sort of drink. It would be nice to have that option when going out though.
Oh I definitely agree it's a good practical suggestion, I do it with apple juice sometimes because I just want some mild apple flavor rather than the very strong and sweet apple juice taste. I don't get why someone would downvote it either.
