Alright, hear me out. I've been on a diet for several years now, and I've lost over 150 lbs. Part of the key to my success is having a variety of low / zero calorie things that I drink, perhaps most importantly including one sugarless energy drink per day. What makes them work within the context of my diet is that they're very flavorful, and take a very long time to drink relative to stuff like water, tea, soda, etc., and drinking them over that long period suppresses my appetite for the duration.
But I don't want, or need the "energy." And I sure don't need the heart palpitations, either. So basically, I am looking for "energy" drinks in terms of intensity of flavor, but without all the stuff that makes them "energy" drinks.
While looking I've seen some that are caffeine free, but they're still "energy" drinks. Do you guys think being caffeine free alone is enough to lessen the strain on my body?
And before anyone mentions drinking water: I DO drink water. I drink at least two liters every day. But just sitting here chugging water all day doesn't quiet the unceasing scream in my brain that tells me to eat an entire family's worth of food in one sitting.
To echo what @ennemi@hexbear.net and @plinky@hexbear.net have said, try making your own kombucha!
Kombucha is tea that ferments kind of like vinegar does; it has lots of live probiotic cultures, plus lactic acid and acetic acid and a couple other things, that give it a strong taste and make it hard to chug. It has a small amount of caffeine in it, but nowhere even close to what an energy drink has. It may help with satiety; I also had a friend who used it to help overcome a dependency on alcohol.
Many store-bought brands have a considerable amount of sugar in them, plus they're kinda pricey. If you brew it yourself, you can control the tea/caffeine strength, as well as the sweetness and tartness (as time goes on, the sugar in the batch turns into acids and carbon dioxide), and eventually you can even mix other stuff like green tea, white tea, herbal teas, or other flavorings in with it.
All it takes to make your own is a couple black tea bags, a little vinegar, some sugar, a large enough jar, some starter, and a bit of patience. You brew the tea, you sweeten it to southern sweet tea levels, you drop its pH below 4, and then you wait. In 8-12 days, the sweetness should diminish to only a faint level.
I recommend at least a quart-size jar to brew it in. If you're interested, I can mail you a starter, I need to start my next big batch anyway.
Doesn't sound like the sort of thing I'd usually be into, but I'm definitely not opposed to trying it. Sounds kinda fun to make if nothing else.
You can try water kefir too. Made in a similar way but doesn't have the vinegar taste. Its pretty good and you can make it with whatever flavor you like.