True Lemonade

David, You commented "Using acidic foods, like lemon and vinegar, is an excellent way for those of us with diabetes to control our blood glucose. And lemonade tastes a lot better than vinegar." Can you tell me why acidic foods help a diabetic? I was unaware of that. Thanks! Mark David's Response: I have written a bit about these findings at http://mendosa.com/acidic_foods.htm

David, I have been drinking True Lemon and Lime with Splenda, since last year it is great and tasts good.

How about a fresh lemon squeezed in pure water,sweetned with Splenda or the sweetner of your choice? Sounds more wholesome and reasonable than a pre-packaged product..... Nick...... L.A. David's Response: Nothing wrong with fresh lemons at all, Nick. As long as you have them on hand. That and convenience are the big differences.

If you live in an area with Chick-fil-a restaurants, they have an awesome diet lemonade. The largest has 50 calories, 12g of carbs and 60% of your daily vitamin C. Not as cheap as making it at home, but great on the run (can I count it as a fruit???!) The only downer is it's sweetened with aspartame, so I don't indulge often.

David: I found and tried santa cruz lemon and lime juice. It is just the greatest. Thanks so much. RussC

What about nutrition? Fresh squeezed lemon juice has vitamin C, but none is listed on the nutrition facts of Santa Cruz Organic Lemon Juice. Thanks. David's Response: That's strange, Alan! I couldn't understand how the Santa Cruz Organic Lemon Juice couldn't have vitamin C either. So I double-checked the scojuice.com website and sure enough you're right. It doesn't have vitamin C -- or anything else! No calories, no carbs, no nothing. That is, of course, per tablespoon, the serving size, where the FDA says that companies can round anything down to zero if it is less than half. My guess it that you might get some nutrition if you drank a bit more.

During the winter I keep a bowl of TrueLemon packets on my kitchen counter, but in the summer I'm a huge fan of fresh lemonade. I put a dab of honey in it for flavor, but for the main sweetener I use Splenda. A couple of summers ago, I experimented with flavor variations and came up with several that keep me from getting tired of Just Plain Lemons when it's hot enough to drink two pitchers a day:

 

1. Raspberry -- puree a couple handfuls of fresh or frozen raspberries and add to a pitcher of lemonade.

 

2. Ginger -- slice, grate, or chop an inch or two of fresh ginger (exact amount calculated according to your taste for spiciness) and steep it in boiled water for half an hour. Subsitute it for the equal amount of water in your lemonade pitcher and the juice of 3-4 lemons and enough Splenda to sweeten. Or just add a splash of ginger water to a glass of your previously prepared lemonade. 

 

3. Lavender -- this one is a little more fussy, but not much. Steep a handful of fresh lavender sprigs in two cups of boiling water for about ten minutes (Definitely do not steep it much longer or the taste turns bitter. I actually use a french coffee press for this so that you can just push down the handle and pour the water off the top, leaving the bits of lavender behind.) Pour the hot lavender water (with the flowers strained out!) into a large pitcher.  (If your diet allows for a bit of sugar, you may like to stir a couple tablespoons of honey into the hot water for flavor, making sure it melts and dissolves while the water is hot.) Add the juice of 3-4 lemons, depending on how sour you want it, fill up the pitcher with cold water and ice, and then mix in packets of Splenda until you've got it to the right degree of sweetness. This one definitely requires fresh lemons to complement the fresh lavender taste, which is spectacular! (Not everyone likes the lavender flavor, but if you're a fan of Earl Grey tea, you'll probably enjoy this.)