My name is Heather, and I am a soda addict. (“Hi, Heather!”) Today marks day 8 without soda (or so I thought). I had been craving a bit of the bubbly. I missed that carbonation quench that water just doesn’t satisfy. So, a family member mentioned IZZE. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s basically carbonated fruit juice. I tried the clementine flavor on her recommendation and liked it a lot. Now, how does it compare?
| IZZE (Clementine) | Coca-Cola | |
| Serving Size | 355 mL | 355 mL |
| Calories Per Serving | 120 | 140 |
| Total Fat | 0g | 0g |
| Sodium | 25 mg | 50 mg |
| Total Carbohydrate | 30g | 39g |
| Sugars | 29g | 39g |
| Protein | 0g | 0g |
Uh-oh! Am I cheating by drinking these? Am I no longer soda-sober? Maybe I am a cheater cheater IZZE drinker. Let’s compare ingredients:
| IZZE | Coca-Cola |
| Pure juice made from apple, white grape and Clementine juice concentrates, sparkling water, citric acid, gum Arabic (hmmm?), natural flavor, beta carotene (color) | Carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, phosphoric acid, natural flavors and caffeine |
First of all, what is gum arabic? Per some people at Princeton, it is “a gum from an acacia tree; used as a thickener.” Second, why does “natural flavor” show up in the coca-cola ingredients? [Eyebrows up.] Clearly natural flavors is code for we’re not telling you, but we are going to make it sound good. This is what Title 21, Section 101, part 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations says:
“The term natural flavor or natural flavoring means the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional.“
So pretty much anything that is approved for use in food. Hmmmm.
There are two reasons I wanted to quit soda. #1 – I am experiencing weight gain from it, and #2 – I want to cut down on the chemicals I am putting into my body. While the IZZE drink does have nutrients in it and does not have caffiene, it does have a lot of sugar not to mention the undefined “natural flavors”. Even though IZZE boasts two servings of fruit in every bottle, basically, I’m better off with water or straight up fruit juice.
Darn. Wah, wah, wah, waaaaaaah.
UPDATE: After many many struggles with a coke (a cola) addition, I have FINALLY found something that works for me.
Well, G believes that it is just soda too, but in comparison, It is better to grab an izze off the shelf instead of a coke. He also believes that there is a huge difference in corn syrup vs. sugar. Not all sugars are bad. Coke also has chemicals
it does clean off dirty pennies ):
My vote: blah blah moderation blah blah. Yeah, that’s what everyone says, but limit the intake to twice a week and choose izze instead, it will be much more satisfying than quitting coke altogether. Water is ALWAYS a better choice, but sometimes there is no substitute for a little fizzy izze.
I also must throw in there something I learned in college. My professor said that if you have just two cokes a day, it will contribute no doubt to at least 13 extra lbs every year…. and in high school, the only soda to sink to the bottom of a cooler at the end of the week…you guessed it, coke.
You didn’t cheat because you didn’t know. Minor setback. Day 9. Good luck!
I say you keep the count going forward – Day 9. But, I’d recommend carbonated water if you need your carbonation fix. I used to enjoy the rapsberry flavored carbonated water by Deer Park (they make other flavors too). Keep up the GREAT work!!!
My band is in love with “Steaz” (www.steaz.com) – it’s a green tea soda that’s sweetened by some sort of tasty leaf. It’s jacked with b-vitamins and caffeine, and it will leave you feeling like wonder-woman.
They sell it at whole foods. $5 gets you a four pack. A much more pricey alternative to Coke, but this month (and through March?) Whole Foods is offering a buy one get one free special on Steaz. (The coupon is in their booklet at the front.)
In addition to the awesome benefits of mega-B’s (Which are vitamins that boost your energy a whole bunch) – it’s zero calories. Yep. Zero. Cause it’s made from green tea. Which is good for you! Zing!
The sugar content in Izze is what irks me. The empty calories are pointless. Go with something that’s *truly* good for you!
Baffled by the same “natural flavors” mystery in Izze. Only relevant be because it is the only soda I will buy, but the fact the no one knows what the heck it is nor can anyone find out is a red flag. Someone wrote in another blog reply that it could be anything including “castoreum”, Castoreum is the dried perineal glands of the beaver contain castoreum — a food additive usually listed as ‘natural flavoring’ in the ingredient list. This food flavoring is extracted from the castor sac scent glands, located between the anus and genitalia, of male and female adult beavers. It has been used for over 80 years in both foods and beverages as a vanilla, raspberry and strawberry flavoring. The FDA says it’s GRAS, meaning it’s “generally recognized as safe.” You won’t see this one on the food label because it’s generally listed as “natural flavoring.”
I suppose when I find out that Izze is castoreum, I will bleaching my mouth like Ace Ventura Pet Detective in that scene when he realized he kissed a man. In reality it could be anything, and because I have more issues with what I don’t know as opposed to what I know, Izze is on my banned soda list with everything else, leaving my acceptable soda at NONE………………….problem is, it’s been off an on my banned list about five times back and forth
Douglas,
I read that before about the beaver business and was appropriately disgusted. Did you know the pink in strawberry yogurt many times comes from crushed bugs? Like crushed beetles and their eggs. Ew. (Here’s the BusinessWeek article on it: http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2006-09-30/an-insiders-guide-to-food-labelsbusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice)
I have learned to love LaCroix. It took some getting used to, but I really like it now. At restaurants (especially with chips and salsa or pizza) I get soda water and put lemon in it and I get the sensation of soda without all the junk. PLUS, some restaurants don’t charge for it.
Heather
I hear you, but I interpret you opinion on Izze, just like me, they are the best. after a nights sleep I decided to “take if off the shelves” in my pantry again, because it can’t be anything good. I evolved to my own shaving cream and other things and at some point I will just have to make my own sparkling water based fruit drink. It’s just that Whole Foods slice of pizza and an Izze is like Fred Flintstone and his “Cactus Cooler” to me, if that ain’t before your time. Sometimes that cool izze is all that keeps me going through the week. Just like energy bars, chips, breads, NONE have the perfect ingredient profile for me. I let the subject matter go, but this research has got me back to square 1
….great post, we know only 8% perhaps really care about it all on this level.I am actually writing an article about it all this weekend will post it here
No, I don’t think IZZE is the best, I think La Croix is the best. I don’t drink Izze any more. Honestly, it made me gain weight. I drink La Croix exclusively, or just plain water. Haven’t had any soda (IZZE or Coke, etc.) since January.
Hope I don’t fall of this wagon. Fingers crossed.
Heather
PS – Since you are (at present) on the IZZE wagon, I will tell you that if you put it in the freezer for a bit and let it get slushy, it’s extra refreshing.
Well is IZZE is like crack to me LOL! Haven’t tried the slushy thing, but I’m off IZZE now, well maybe one slushie for the road. I dod recommend is as a substitute ingredient in this article I recently wrote about “Adult Popsicles” the link is here. I had to add this research as a disclaimer though, since I don’t know what it really is, but if it’s beaver butt or bug bowels, have to remove it from about 10 places in my blog. The link is here http://www.gaiahealthblog.com/2013/07/09/popsicle-toes-part-1/
If you have a LaCrox recipe, I would love to post on my blog……send it to me.
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