The easiest way to cut added sugar is often in your cup. Sugary drinks give you sugar without much else, so swapping them for sparkling water with fruit, caffeine-free herbal teas, simple homemade “café” drinks and smoothies made from whole fruit can make a real difference while still feeling like a treat.
Why drinks are worth a look
According to the NHS guide on how to cut down on sugar, added sugars should make up no more than 5% of daily energy, which is about 30g a day for anyone 11 and older. The same page notes that nearly a quarter of the added sugar in UK diets comes from sugary drinks like fizzy drinks, sweetened juices, milkshakes and cordials, and that a regular can of cola contains about 35g of sugar. One can can go over the daily limit on its own.
Canada’s food guide is simple on this point: make water your drink of choice. It also lists unsweetened lower-fat milk as a healthy drink, suggests adding fruit and herbs to hot or cold water for flavour, and recommends choosing drinks with little to no added sugars.
How much to drink
The NHS page on water, drinks and your health suggests aiming for 6 to 8 cups or glasses of fluid a day, and more when it’s hot, when you’re active for long periods or when you’re unwell. A simple check is your pee: a clear, pale yellow colour means you’re drinking enough. Water, lower-fat milk and lower-sugar or sugar-free drinks all count.
Café-style drinks: where the sugar hides
The base of most coffee-shop and tea-shop drinks has little or no sugar. The sugar comes from what’s added: flavoured syrups, sauces, sweetened cold foam, whipped cream, caramel drizzles and large sizes. Bottled iced teas and “tea lattes” can also carry a lot of sugar. A few rules help no matter what’s on the menu:
- Read the nutrition information before you order a seasonal or bottled drink. Many chains post it online.
- Size down. A smaller cup means less of everything that’s added.
- Ask for less syrup or skip the whipped cream and drizzle.
- Cut back gradually if you add sugar yourself. The NHS suggests reducing the amount bit by bit until you can stop, and trying herbal teas or hot water with lemon or ginger for new flavours.
If you’d rather have a warm, cozy drink without caffeine, these feel just as special:
- Steamed milk or unsweetened soy milk with cinnamon, nutmeg and a drop of vanilla. Warm milk tastes sweeter than cold milk, so you may not miss the sugar.
- Lighter hot chocolate: whisk unsweetened cocoa powder into hot milk with a teaspoon of honey or maple syrup and a pinch of cinnamon. You control the sugar, unlike most mixes.
- Golden milk: warm milk with turmeric, ginger, cinnamon and black pepper.
- Roasted grain or chicory drinks, sold as caffeine-free hot drinks, with steamed milk.
Herbal teas: hot or iced
Caffeine-free herbal teas are naturally sugar-free and come in huge variety. A few that taste rich enough to skip sweetener:
| Tea | Flavour | Try it |
|---|---|---|
| Rooibos | Smooth, slightly sweet, vanilla-like | Hot with a splash of milk |
| Peppermint | Cool and fresh | Hot after dinner, or iced with lime |
| Hibiscus | Tart, berry-like, bright red | Iced with orange slices |
| Ginger | Warm and spicy | Fresh ginger slices and lemon in hot water |
| Chamomile | Mild, apple-like | Hot in the evening |
| Fruit blends | Peach, berry, apple-cinnamon | Cold-brewed in the fridge overnight |
For iced tea, steep four to six herbal tea bags in a litre of hot water, cool, and refrigerate. Or cold-brew by leaving the bags in cold water in the fridge overnight. Add citrus slices, berries or mint before serving.
Sparkling ideas
Bubbles are often what people miss most when they give up pop. These keep the fizz:
- Citrus sparkler: sparkling water with lime, lemon or grapefruit slices and a sprig of mint.
- Berry fizz: muddle a few raspberries or blackberries in the bottom of a glass, top with sparkling water and ice.
- Cucumber cooler: cucumber ribbons, a squeeze of lime and a few basil leaves in sparkling water.
- Juice spritzer: one part 100% juice to three or four parts sparkling water. You get the flavour with much less sugar.
- Sparkling iced tea: half chilled hibiscus or fruit tea, half sparkling water.
Flavoured sparkling waters are also an option. Check the label, because some are unsweetened while others contain sugar or juice concentrate.
Infused water
Add fruit, vegetables or herbs to a jug of water and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours. Good combinations: strawberry and basil, orange and blueberry, cucumber and mint, apple and cinnamon stick, watermelon and lime, blackberry and mint. Keeping a filled jug at eye level in the fridge makes it the first thing you reach for.
Smoothies, juice and other options
A smoothie made with whole fruit, milk or plain yogurt and a handful of spinach is a filling snack, and a ripe or frozen banana sweetens it without added sugar. It still counts as a sweet drink, though. The NHS suggests limiting fruit juice and smoothies to a combined 150ml a day (a small glass), ideally with a meal.
- Coconut water: lighter than juice but still contains natural sugar. Choose unsweetened and check the label.
- Vegetable juice: low in sugar but can be high in sodium, so look for low-sodium versions.
- Plant milks: pick “unsweetened” versions. Oat and almond milks can be much lower in protein than cow’s or soy milk, so compare labels.
- Maple water and birch water: mildly sweet tree waters. Compare the sugar on the label with your usual drink.
Craving something icy and sweet? Blended frozen fruit makes a good dessert, too. See our frozen fruit sorbets and whips without added sugar.
How to switch without missing it
- Know your starting point. For a few days, note every drink that isn’t water or plain milk.
- Swap one drink at a time. Replace the afternoon pop with a sparkler first, then work on the next one.
- Dilute gradually. Mix juice or sweetened iced tea half and half with water or sparkling water, then go to one-third.
- Read labels. Sugar has many names on ingredient lists, including glucose, fructose, corn syrup, honey, molasses and fruit juice concentrate.
- Make it look nice. A good glass, ice and a slice of fruit go a long way toward making water feel like a treat.
An afternoon drink break is a good time to practise this. Our post on midday energy breaks has more ideas.
Quick takeaways
- Sugary drinks are one of the biggest sources of added sugar. One can of regular pop is around the daily limit.
- In café drinks, the sugar is in the syrups, toppings and size. Order smaller and lighter.
- Herbal teas, sparkling water with fruit and infused water give you flavour without sugar.
- Keep juice and smoothies to one small glass a day, with a meal.
- Swap one drink at a time and dilute gradually.