Be Light vs. Xtralife: No Competition!

I'm quite the fan of sugar free drinks as my last post about the sugar-free, non-fat, decaf vanilla latte probably dropped a pretty big clue. I just figure that I'd rather spend my calories on food than on liquid, it's a personal thing, but at the same time I still like a flavorful drink! While, water is okay, I just have never been a person to crave water. I know I should drink more water to stay hydrated and flush out toxins, but I just can't get my brain to send the right signals to make me think, "hey, you, DUM DUM, drink water NOW!" (I'm not sure why it seemed appropriate that my brain should talk like the big Polynesian head statue in the movie A NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM, but you get the idea.) Only when I'm working out do I really remember to drink water (thankfully I'm doing that 5 days a week now), but I could go all day at the office or home on the weekends without drinking a sip.

I find I can only really get myself excited about drinking something that has a really good flavor. And I'd like to argue that diet drinks can fall into that category...well,sometimes. In the US, there are a bajillion varieties of diet sodas, diet iced teas, sugar-free flavored waters, etc., you name it, they've got it. Well here in Mexico, I've discovered, that while there are a few varieties of sugar-free drinks, most people REALLY like their full sugar (or extra sugary) sodas, flavored "aguas", and juices. In fact, one of the most popular local drinks, horchata (a beverage made from water, sugar, rice powder, and spices like cinnamon) packs a whopping 100 calories per 8 oz. I have to admit it's delicious, but I finally got myself to stop ordering it at restaurants once I looked up the nutrition facts and saw that calorie count. I can't justify sucking down that many calories on a drink, and the normal glass that most restaurants serve horchata in holds far more than 8 oz. The warning from the french wife of one of my coworkers also helped me kick the horchata habit when she told me she gained several kilos when she first moved here even though her diet hadn't changed, she'd just started drinking horchata every day. That did it for me, horchata was no longer my go-to drink.

So, a few months ago, I decided that I needed to find a good replacement in the form of a sugar-free beverage. I've always been a fan of lemonade, and back stateside I could usually find a good lemon-flavored diet beverage in the form of crystal lite or something like that, but crystal lite was no where to be found here, so I had to do some taste-testing. I discovered there are two main brands providing a lemon (or limon) flavored sugar-free bottled drink: Be Light & Xtralife. Well, the whole point of this post is to sing my praises of BE LIGHT. There is absolutely no competition. Be Light makes an acceptable pleasant tasting substitute for real lemonade, Xtralife tastes like battery acid. There's no nice way to put it! I'm not sure if it's the artificial flavors they use or the artificial sweetner that makes the difference (I'll have to check into that), but Be Light gets two thumbs up from me, and Xtralife, well two thumbs down really doesn't even cut it, I give it, two thumbs, toes, head and nose down. I'd sooner pour Xtralife into my car than into my body.

Fun Related Recent Event: I walked into a local restaurant near my work this week, Pollo Brujo. I'm not a frequent customer, but I go there for lunch about once a week or at least every other week because the serve yummy grilled chicken at cheap cheap prices. Well on this visit, as soon as I sat down, the nice waiter recognized me and brought over a Be Light Limon without even asking remembering my preference for the drink, I'm guessing from my past visits. He got a nice extra tip from me, yes siree bob, and I got to start sipping on my Be Light without even the slightest wait.

Moral of the story: When in Mexico and you're looking for a good drink but want to spare the calories, choose Be Light. When looking for a liquid to clean your car engine with, choose Xtralife.

**Even though it may seem to the contrary, I was not paid by Be Light or Starbucks to write these last two articles. My personal search for the perfect sugar-free beverage provided the inspiration. And yes, I was drinking a Be Light that I picked up at Oxxo (Mexico's most popular convenience store) on the way home while writing this piece. SLUUUUURP!