Product Review: HiBall Energy Drinks

I'm on a diet. I've been doing Weight Watchers successfully for 10 months now. However, I'm also a life-long soda addict. I love me a fizzy, caffeinated drink! However, I don't like artificial sweeteners like sucralose and aspartame. They never taste right to me, no matter how they formulate the drinks! And many weight loss experts currently agree that diet soda probably does you more harm than good (see this University of Texas Health Science Center report for details).

I was drinking the diet soda anyway, because when I get stressed out, I crave soda like nothing else! But after several weeks, I decided I could probably stand to cut back again. I wanted to find a replacement, though, so I purchased a few sparkling water beverages, a few bottles of lightly sweetened tea, and a few HiBall Sparkling Energy Juice drinks.

As it turns out, the HiBall drinks serve quite well as soda replacements. Each juice drink contains carbonated water, organic evaporated cane juice (instead of sugar or the ubiquitous high-fructose corn syrup), juice concentrates, caffeine and energy additives (B-vitamins, taurine, guarana and ginseng). One ten-ounce bottle contains just 16 grams of sugar (17 total carbs) for 70 calories, compared to 40 grams of sugar and 160 calories in a typical 12-ounce can of soda.

The HiBall juice drinks have a pleasant taste; just enough sweetness without being syrupy, and not bitter like many of the flavored sparkling water drinks. A 10-ounce bottle is bubbly and satisfying, and provides enough energy (or enough placebo effect, if nothing else) to get me through the afternoon slump.

HiBall Sparkling Energy Juice drinks are available in Cranapple, Lemon-Lime, Wild Berry and Orange flavors. HiBall also offers a line of Sparkling Energy Water drinks, with no sugar or artificial sweeteners and only 10 calories per bottle. Both products are all-natural, with no preservatives or artificial sweeteners. They're packaged in glass bottles because HiBall believes this is more environmentally friendly and better for consumers. I found them in the natural foods aisle at my local grocery store.

If you're looking for a low-calorie, low-sugar drink without the chemicals, I can recommend HiBall Sparkling Energy juice drinks.