4 Healthier Fizzy Drinks to Sip in 2024
The following article was written by Heinen’s Chief Dietitian, Melanie Jatsek RD, LD.
This new year, consider expanding your drink options beyond wine, mixed cocktails and sugary sodas to include Club Fx-approved beverages with a nutritional edge.
Now before you dismiss this idea, consider the fact that these unique and flavorful drinks are brimming with prebiotic and probiotic ingredients to support your digestive and immune systems.
Probiotics are live beneficial bacteria that are either added to foods or beverages or created naturally by the process of fermentation. Prebiotics are plant-based fibers used by the healthy gut bacteria as fuel to promote the growth of more beneficial bacteria.
Here are my top four fizzy drink picks to try.
GT’s Kombucha
GT’s kombucha is a fermented tea beverage made without refined sugar, a common ingredient in many brands. Instead, their kombucha is brewed with kiwi juice to cultivate 9 billion living probiotics per bottle.
Look for GT’s kombucha in the Wellness cooler at your local Heinen’s and discover a wide variety of flavors including Gingerade, Mystic Mango and Cosmic Cranberry. The sediment at the bottom of the bottle is naturally occurring bacteria, and although you may be tempted to shake it, doing so will cause spill over when opened (just like a can of shaken soda).
Note: Because alcohol is a natural byproduct of fermentation, kombucha is not suitable for those needing to avoid alcohol.
Culture POP
Culture POP is made the way you’d hope your soda would be made! A combination of organic fruit juices, ground herbs and spices and probiotics, this non-fermented, shelf-stable beverage delivers a delicious, refreshing twist on unique flavor combinations like Orange Mango & Lime, Strawberry & Rhubarb and Wild Berries, Basil & Lime, without the addition of refined sugar or artificial sweeteners.
Poppi
Poppi is a prebiotic, shelf-stable soda with a scant 4 grams of added sugar per serving. The staple ingredient is unfiltered apple cider vinegar, a source of prebiotics and health-promoting plant compounds called polyphenols.
To balance the flavor of vinegar, fruit and natural sweeteners are added. Poppi is available in many flavors, including Orange, Raspberry Rose, Ginger Lime, Grape, Classic Cola, Strawberry Lemon and Watermelon.
Olipop
Olipop’s trademark functional formula contains a blend of eight unique botanicals and prebiotic plant fibers, each hand-picked for their distinct microbiome-supporting benefits. Each can of Olipop packs a whopping 9 grams of fiber—equivalent to 1/3 of your daily needs—from sources like cassava root, chicory root, Jerusalem artichoke and gut-soothing marshmallow root.
With flavors like Doctor Goodwin (i.e., Dr. Pepper), Vintage Cola, Cream Soda, Classic Root Beer (my personal favorite), Strawberry Vanilla, Orange Squeeze, Classic Grape and Ginger Lemon, you’ll swear you’re sipping on your favorite soda, minus the sugar!
Key Takeaway
Whether you are needing to watch your blood sugar (which is something we should all be doing!), or seeking an alternative to alcohol, these tasty Fx ™-approved probiotic and prebiotic drinks are sure to delight your taste buds this year.
