There are tons of reasons to choose a drink without alcohol - but people tend to have this idea of non-alcoholic drinks as boring.
They couldn't be more wrong.
It's easy to understand where that idea might come from if you don't think beyond water, juice, or your basic cola or lemon/lime soda. But there's a whole WORLD of drinks out there to make your tastebuds do the same happy-dance they do when they get tacos.
Reddit user Far-Refrigerator-2 asked:
"What is the most underrated non-alcoholic drink?"
Let's get your tongue dancing.
Hugs
Food Fruit GIFGiphy"Drinking a mango lassi is like being hugged from the inside."
- Apprehensive_Goal811
"I once had an awful case of neverending diarrhea in southeast Asia and just randomly ordered a cold mango lassi from a bistro."
"That settled my stomach immediately and it's my favourite drink whenever I'm about to eat something adventurous or spicy."
- BudovicLagman
"That sh*t is amazing! Sweet mango, sour yogurt, I can seriously enjoy that any time of the day."
- Somerandomedude1q2w
A Tart Tongue
"Gingerale and cranberry juice!"
"There's a tart little tang to it that just hits you on the side of the tongue. 50/50 ratio."
- Pyanfars
"Throw a slice of lime and a slice of orange in it and you have my favorite at work drink!"
- IGotThatYouHeard
"Swap ginger ale for a lime Bubbly or Berry La Croix for a crisper, less sweet combo. Over crushed ice it tastes like $12 cocktail."
- delmersgopher
Arnie Palmer Alert
"The Arnold Palmer - half lemonade, half iced tea."
- JohnnyRoanoke
"ARNIE PALMER ALERT!"
- thisortheapocalypse
"Greatest beverage of all time."
- mcqueen424
"Arnold Palmer is overrated."
"It is identical to putting lemon in sweet tea yet we convinced the world that if we go through the trouble of making lemonade it’s an entirely different drink."
- badnbourgeois
"Au contraire mon frère. It is not the same."
"Lemonade has sugar added to it and it also dilutes the iced tea."
- JohnnyRoanoke
Drinkable Chocolate
"Chocolate milk."
- Levi_2k4
"How is this underrated? I've never met a monster, I mean, a person that doesn't like chocolate milk."
-ChakaZG
"I’m the monster"
"I think chocolate milk is terrible. I also don't really enjoy hot chocolate or coffee. Am I a monster?"
-daltonwright4
Beer Bros
he's not actually drunk root beer GIF by hoppipGiphy"Root Beer."
"Yeah, there are the big brands (Mug or A&W) but since I gave up liquor there's a fun and a challenge to trying many different brands which vary in different ways ( creamier, sweeter, drier, etc.)"
-Groovy_Chainsaw
"Not to mention the related world of birch beers and sarsaparillas — sioux city's a good one."
-mcpusc
'Yes - Birch beers too. If I get a bit burned out on root beer I'll go to birch beer for a week or so."
-Groovy_Chainsaw
"I like your style dude"
-blofly
Ginger
"Ginger beer. It's like ginger ale, but spicier."
-Grentain
"Ever add more ginger to ginger beer?"
-HerbertKroopen
"I have not, though I frequently add ginger beer to ginger."
"I am the ginger. The ginger beer is in me."
-Grentain
The Sweetest Shirley
"When I was a kid the bar my dad would bring me to always used the syrup from the maraschino cherry jar for the Shirley Temple."
"One of the bar tenders would always fish out extra cherries for me to snack on before he would make my dad’s drink."
"Those were the best Shirley Temples."
-wiggysbelleza
Cloudy Apple Juice
"Apple Cider."
"Once accidentally drank 3 litres of it in a day. So good"
-Lilliebun94
"I mentally added ‘vinegar’ to your comment and was thinking WTF?? 3L of apple cider vinegar?"
-BronzedLuna
"Ah right, we call that cloudy apple juice in the UK."
"Cider is alcoholic, same % approx as beer (3-10%)"
-ALA02
"We have hard cider here too but the cloudy juice is delicious."
"Warm it with cinnamon and allspice and just a dash of clove, sweetened with honey... makes your whole house smell like apple pie."
-Sleepdprived
Science Slaps
Soda Love GIF by McDonaldsGiphy"A McDonalds fountain Coke"
-Commander_Fem_Shep
"This is the correct answer"
-theinternetswife
"Did you know that they run all the soda lines under the ice wells so the soda is always ice cold for much longer than anywhere else. Deliciously cold and crisp!"
-RainbowWheelofDeath
"I’ve heard they get a slightly different formula than what goes into the bottles and that’s why it tastes better. Maybe cuz it’s mixed from the sludge right there and not sitting in plastic for months?"
"I don't know all the science; all I know is that sh*t slaps"
-Financial_Warning_37
Little Jars For The Win.
"Lime Jarritos."
-someredditdude13131
"You sir, are a man of impeccable taste."
"I always end up getting either the tamarind or piña ones because aside from Hispanic markets I can't ever find the lime ones around."
"If you ever see it, the Mexicola one is solid as well"
-oh_hai_mark1
"Most any jarritos in my opinion."
"The guava, grapefruit, mandarin, and lime are all contenders for my favorite depending on the day my dude. Hard to pass up a jarritos at the taco truck :)"
-XtheGreat
Sharkleberry
"Sharkleberry Fin Kool-Aid."
"I gave up beer and soda and mostly drink water but once in a while I'll make some Kool-Aid and I gotta' say that next to black cherry Sharkleberry Fin is the best flavor."
-PunchBeard
"The only Kool-aid flavor I like.'
'Weird how relevant the top answers are. My go-to drinks are this, Arnold Palmers, and ginger ale. All 3 were mentioned near the top."
"Guess I should probably branch out and try more of these, since a good portion of AskReddit has the same tastes in drinks as me."
-daltonwright4
"My 'Dad Joke' is when someone asks my favorite fruit I say 'Sharkleberry.' "
-PunchBeard
Muddle It
Drink Cocktail GIF by Absolut VodkaGiphy"Fresh basil, lime, and strawberries muddled in the clear soda of your choice (I like Sprite or Ginger Ale) 🍓 🍃 "
- Practical-Item-5808
Cookout Cheerwine
"Cheerwine, more specifically from the fountain at Cookout."
"It is by far the greatest thing to ever come out of North Carolina and makes a killer float."
- LawPup23
Carbonated Milk?
"Milkis."
"It’s like carbonated milk, but it doesn’t really taste like milk. Lot of people think it’s gross."
"It’s really not, only thing bad about it is sugar level."
- nice_wholphin
Make It So
Star Trek Drink GIF by Paramount+Giphy"F*ckin tea man."
"Hot tea, iced tea, sweet or unsweet, earl grey, chamomile, lemongrass, mugwort, ALL THE TEA MAN."
- maloudin
Umbrella Optional
"1 part pink grapefruit juice (preferably cocktail, not the pure actual juice, though that's good too) to 2-3 parts seltzer."
"Get really crazy and do 1 part pink grapefruit, 1 part cranberry to 3 parts seltzer."
"Lots of ice, festive drink umbrella optional (but oh so amazing)"
- goblyn79
Clean Water And Smoke
"Lid eugenia tea."
"I don't know about the world, but this drink is very popular in my country."
"It tastes like super clean and distilled water mixed with a little sugar, green tea and a scent of smoke (idk how to explain this but it’s that specific smoke when you burn the dried body of rice plants)."
"It’s super refreshing and can quench your thirst. My late grandma from my mom’s side introduced me to this, and bro the sh*t’s goooood."
- PFVN_Dragon
It's The Quenchiest
Fade Away Drinking Water GIF by kaiGiphy"Water straight from the fridge!!!"
"Ten years worth of thirst was quenched just by typing this."
- rviejn
Non-Americans Are Skeptical
"Regular lemonade."
"Simple syrup, lemon juice, and still water. Tart, sweet, SO refreshing on a hot day."
"Non-Americans are so skeptical because whatever the f*ck they call lemonade in Europe apparently sucks donkey balls, but I'm telling you: regular ol' lemonade is SO f*cking good."
"Add a little mint or some fresh berries if you're feeling narsty."
"(also you can add booze)"
- boiling_my_piss
The next time someone asks you out for a drink, you're probably not going to slam a few rounds of chocolate milk - but it's nice to be reminded that it's an option, ya know?
Drink up!
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Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.
Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?
But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.
It would be so great to be sure there is something else.
But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.
Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:
"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"
Sensations
Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."
PeachesnPain
Recovery
"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."
"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."
"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."
good_golly99
Take Me Back
"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."
"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."
rayrayrayray
Free
The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."
TooReDTooHigh
This is why I hate surgery.
You just never know.
Shocked
Giphy"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."
Admirable_Buyer6528
The SOB
"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."
"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”
1-cupcake-at-a-time
Colors
"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"
Hannah_LL7
"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"
huntokarrr
The Fog
"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."
"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."
Fluffy-Hotel-5184
Through the Walls
"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."
"She's quite alive and well today."
Hot-Refrigerator6583
Well let's all be happy to be alive.
It seems to be all we have.
Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.
The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.
Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.
Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:
"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"
Redditors didn't see these coming.
Shiver Me Timbers
"I’m always cold now!"
– Telrom_1
"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."
– r7ndom
"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."
– mr_remy
Drawing Concern
"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."
– dee-fondy
"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"
"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."
– LizardofDeath
Unleashing Insults
"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”
"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."
– alanamablamaspama
Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight
"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."
– KeltarCentauri
"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."
– KatMagic1977
"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."
– Jaew96
These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.
Shopping
"I can buy clothes in any store I want."
– WaySavvyD
"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."
– ganache98012
No More Symptoms
"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."
– colleennicole93
Expanding Capabilities
"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."
– Ramblonius
People Change Their Tune
"How much nicer people are to you."
"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"
– LiZZygsu
"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"
"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"
– awholedamngarden
It's gonna take some getting used to.
Bones Everywhere
"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."
– Princess-Pancake-97
"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."
– bekastrange
Knee Pillow
"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."
– snic2030
"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."
– Strongbad23
More Mobility
"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."
"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."
– dma1965
People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.
But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.
That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.
