Old Favorite Beverages No Longer Do the Trick...Looking for Suggestions

I'm nearly 7 weeks post surgery, and I'm having a dilemma.  I was never a water drinker before, but now I am and that's awesome.  However...all my old favorite beverages no longer taste right to me anymore.  I've heard your tastes can change, but it's just so weird to actually experience it because my head keeps telling me, "How can changes to your stomach affect your taste buds?!"

In any event, my go-to drink for years has been Crystal Light Green Tea with Peach and Mango.  Now, suddenly, it either just doesn't taste right, or is too sweet, or something I can't put my finger on.  I just know I can barely manage 8 oz before I'm ready to pour it out and try something else.  I've tried SF lemonade, SF fruit punch, SF cherry and SF grape...they all just taste awful to me.  I've even tried mixing it myself with regular kool-aid packets and my pure sucralose...still no.

I had some apple juice mixed with contrast before a CT scan a few days ago...the leftover apple juice (cut with water) is great but the calories!!! Oy vay!!!  So that's out.

Water is great, but I need more variety.  I'm thinking my next try will be iced tea...I had hot tea a week ago and it was good...perhaps that will work?  

If anyone has any suggestions, I'm open to trying them.  Unfortunately it does have to be something sweet, SF of course, as that's how my tastes run.  

I drink Propel Zero. You can get it in bottles (Sam's has a great price) but you can also go to Walmart and get powder packs to put in your water. With the packs they are premeasued for a 16.9 oz water bottle. If it's too much you can control how much you put in. Sam's has a 24 pack of bottles in a 4 flavors variety pack for 9.98. The powder packs are 8 for a couple of bucks.

Have you tried the liquid water enhancers like Mio?  They are a very concentrated liquid that come in a small squeeze bottle.  They are great because you can control the amount that is added to your water.  

I use mio and some other crystal light flavours, but way less than the instructions say. Just enough to say it's in there. Maybe you already tried that?

i also buy fruity herbal teas, and have them hot or cold. Sometimes I add a little stevia to sweeten them.

A lot of people swear by the sugar free torani syrups, but I haven't tried any.

I use a lot of Mio.  They are more expensive but seem to be better tasting than the generic brands.  I also make my own iced tea.  I toss one teabag with water in a blender bottle overnight.  I just let them cold brew.  I take the bag out next day and just add truvia (you can add sweetener of choice).  They usually taste better. 

In the refrigerator section there is also Gold Peak Diet Tea.  It has artificial sweeteners, but they do not bother me.  Sometimes I dilute it by half just for a break.  It is one of the best tasting diet teas I've had though.

Thinly sliced orange (maybe two slices), cucumber or even mint leaves.  Crystal light pure (uses stevia in lieu of aspartame) in grape, strawberry kiwi or lemonade (a whole packet is 2 servings/30 calories, so really dilute).  If you love water, plain water is the BEST for you.

I haven't really been able to drink colds since surgery.  Room temps & hots are best for me.  I get Teavana fruit herbal 'teas'. They have a lot of different flavors, and you can mix different flavors.  I love strawberry lemonade, wild orange blossom, and berry kiwi colada, among others.

Hot green tea with lemon stevia, Mio, Costco's vitamin water and my favorite is Lipton Diet Green tea both citrus and berry. 

Wow, great suggestions everyone, thank you so much!!  I have a generic water enhancer which is AWFUL lol...I need to get some Mio and try them out.  Also, the fruity herbal teas sound wonderful.  I used to drink the Lipton Diet Green Teas with Citrus, I loved it...will definitely try it again now.  So many options to try, I'm excited.  I knew you all would come through for me!!  Ty ty ty

After surgery, my taste buds and sense of smell went haywire. Everything, even fresh air, stank. And to this day, I can't drink a protein shake without gagging. 

Once I recovered from the surgery, my senses of taste and smell went back to normal ... almost. Like you, sweet things taste "off" in some way I can't quite describe. I'm very sensitive to the presence of sugar in places I never noticed it before -- pasta sauces, french onion soup and the like. I can't stomach them if I taste any "sweet" in them.

I'm nearly two years post-op, so I think the changes may be permanent, but since healthy foods still taste great, I count the changes as a plus. Snickers bars no longer taste heavenly -- yay!

In addition to the suggestions above, you can try a few strips of freshly peeled lemon zest (use a vegetable peeler) in boiling water for a delicious lemony "tea." You don't mention coffee -- maybe you don't like it -- but black coffee or mixed w/a tad of Splenda and a dollop of cashew milk tastes very good to me. Tazo chai prepared w/Splenda and cashew milk is also tasty.

psychoticparrot