Are you diabetic? 9 sugar-free drinks to try

When you are diabetic, you should avoid sodas, cocktails and other fruit juices that tend to make your blood sugar levels skyrocket. But favoring water, coffee and tea is sometimes a bit monotonous and discovering other drinks, hot or cold, can be enjoyable. This, for the sake of it or because you are looking for specific effects for your health. In this article, we have gathered 9 sugar-free drinks suitable for people with diabetes. Great discovery and enjoy 🍵

SUMMARY

Barley tea or Mugicha

Buckwheat Coffee or Sobacha

Chai with or without theine

Chicory

Rooibos

Matcha

Mate

Hot chocolate

The first drink we wanted to introduce you to is mugicha . This drink, originally from Japan, is made from an infusion of roasted and crushed barley seeds. It has counterparts in Korea, China and even Italy.

It is very interesting both in terms of taste (its caramelized taste may remind you of coffee) and health . Indeed, barley contains insoluble fibers and water-soluble fibers. Water-soluble dietary fibers such as "β-glucan" help regulate blood sugar levels. Thanks to these properties and a low glycemic index, mugicha can help you drink more and better regulate your sugar levels.

How is it prepared? Mugicha is easy to prepare: just infuse a bag of mugicha in cold or hot water for 10 minutes and it's ready!

Try the mugicha latte

A few months ago, we released mugicha powder . It contains no sugar, which allows you to add mugicha latte to your list of delicious drinks to try! You can make it with whole milk or plant-based milks, depending on your preferences, and drink it hot or cold!

Let's stay with drinks based on cereal infusions and originating from Japan with Sobacha. This infusion, just as popular in Japan as mugicha, is concocted from roasted and crushed buckwheat seeds. It is also commonly consumed by our Italian neighbors!

Like mugicha, sobacha has virtues in terms of taste and health. Not only does buckwheat infusion have a surprising caramelized taste, but it also has a low glycemic index, which makes it interesting on a daily basis. It also has many health benefits, such as regulating cholesterol and supporting transit.

Our sobacha is made in France and organic!

How is it prepared? Preparing sobacha is very simple: a teaspoon of sobacha in a reusable tea bag, hot water and that's it!

After Japan, let's take a little trip to India! Chai is an infusion of multiple spices (cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, black pepper, etc.) most often accompanied by black tea, milk and honey. The result is a gourmet and comforting drink, slightly spicy.

The benefits of this drink are associated with the spices it contains. For example, cinnamon and ginger are known for their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Compared to the other drinks on this list, however, it will have the particularity of being more caloric because it is based on milk (vegetable or animal) and sugar.

How is it prepared? Chai does not have a fixed recipe: the spices added depend on tastes and regions! Chai preparation consists of infusing spices in heated milk. Depending on your tastes, you can also add tea.

💡 In some stores, Chai is made with syrup and is very sweet… this is the case at Starbucks, for example. If you want to order it without sugar, remember to ask 1) if it is made with spices or syrup and 2) that no sugar (or honey) is added.

Let's go back to France with chicory! You've probably already heard of this drink from the north of France. As its name suggests, it is made by mixing hot water with dried, roasted and powdered chicory root.

Chicory tastes a lot like coffee, and the fine foam that forms on top of the drink when it is prepared gives it a rather gourmet appearance. Chicory has a low glycemic index and is considered to have beneficial properties for digestion. Chicory roots contain inulin, a prebiotic fiber that can promote intestinal health.

How is it prepared? To prepare chicory, you just need powdered chicory and boiling water. The mixture is instantaneous.

Rooibos grows on a small shrub native to South Africa whose leaves are dried to be infused. The resulting drink is a reddish hue that has given it its name “red tea” although it does not contain theine.

The taste of rooibos is very mild. Often associated with vanilla, the infusion is round and pleasant. The drink also has health benefits. Like all infusions, it has a low glycemic index and is rich in flavonoids that facilitate digestion.

How is it prepared? Rooibos is very easy to prepare: it is infused for about ten minutes in hot water.

Originating from Japan, matcha is a drink created from selected green tea leaves reduced to powder, emulsified in hot water using a small whisk. It is rich in theine.

Matcha is a rather bitter-tasting drink that is worth discovering. Traditionally, it is drunk without sugar or milk, but Western consumption of matcha tends to add sugar and vegetable milk. When the drink is prepared without sugar, its glycemic index is low. The benefits of matcha are numerous and are identical to those of green tea, of which it is a more concentrated version: it contains more than 137 times more antioxidants than a brewed green tea!

How is it prepared? Preparing matcha requires a little practice. It is prepared in two stages. The matcha powder must first be emulsified in a little hot water with a small bamboo whisk (the chasen). Once the mixture is homogeneous, water must be added.

💡 In some stores, matcha, and especially matcha latte, is systematically sweetened. Remember to ask for it without sugar if that's what you want!

This drinks tour takes us this time to South America, and more precisely to Argentina and Uruguay, to discover mate! Often confused with tea, because of its name, its color and its taste, mate, also called “yerba mate” does not come from the same plant. In fact, it is prepared from the leaves of the Ilex paraguariensis plant.

The taste of mate is similar to that of a very bitter green tea. We can also find its grassy taste. Rich in mateine ​​(same molecule as caffeine and theine), it has a low glycemic index. It is interesting in terms of health because it brings a boost, promotes digestion and contains many antioxidants.

How is it prepared? The preparation of mate is similar to a ritual. The yerba mate leaves must be placed in a calabash (a kind of spherical cup) and covered with hot water. The bombilla (similar to a straw) is then inserted into the calabash to sip the drink while avoiding grabbing the leaves which are left at the bottom.

Hot chocolate (and its cold counterpart) is a delicious drink that you can totally incorporate into your diet as a diabetic looking for foods with a low glycemic index. To benefit from this low index, however, you will need to use instant dark chocolate powder or melt dark chocolate directly.

Unlike milk chocolate and white chocolate, dark chocolate has a fairly low glycemic index, which makes it interesting for this purpose. As for milk, it can be consumed whole without increasing your blood sugar. It even seems that whole milk could help reduce the risk of developing stage 2 diabetes.

How is it prepared? There are two different ways to prepare hot chocolate. Either by mixing hot milk and instant chocolate powder, or by melting dark chocolate in milk. While the first method is quicker, it is a little less gourmet and requires selecting a reference of chocolate powder without added sugar.

Barley tea, rooibos, hot chocolate: sugar-free drinks suitable for people with diabetes are not limited to water, tea and coffee! Discover many different tastes and textures to excite your taste buds and treat yourself!