Juice! I want juice!! I crave juice!!! I need juice!!!!

My dietician made a big deal about juice being a no-no. And I hear that loud & clear. But I so love a large, cold glass of orange juice before bed! I know. It’s sip-sip-sip with the Band, no more large glasses of anything. Okay. I got that, too. This isn’t about what-not-to or how-to drink with LapBand so much as it is a plea for a safe, tasty “juice” drink.

What I’m really hoping for is a delicious, non-aspartame, high-protein juice replacement. Any recommendations? (I’m cross-posting this in desperation!):help:

So far I’ve tried:

Syntrax nectar

(Fuzzy Naval - Splenda)

Bari-15 Cold drinks

(Grape, Grapefruit, Wildberry Passion, Orange pineapple - aspartame)

Bari-15 Cold Drinks

(Orange - aspartame-free)

Only the Bari-15 Wildberry Passion & Grape were worth drinking. (The Wildberry Passion is actually pretty good.) But they both have aspartame, and I’m one of those unlucky people with adverse reactions to aspartame. I use Isopure powders for my Protein shakes, but they’re creamy not “juice like” even in the fruit flavors.

And so my Quest for an aspartame-free, high-protein juice replacement continues…

I like Nature's Best Zerocarb Isopure drinks. The Mango peach flavor and the pineapple orange banana flavor both come as powders you mix in water. They have other flavors in premixed drinks. I don't believe they have aspartame, but you should check for yourself. I usually mix one the night before and keep it in the fridge for breakfast. Good luck on your search.

Thanks, Mike, for reminding me about the ready-to-drink Isopure. I tried one of those right after getting banded & it gave me such indigestion! Oh, the pain!!! I'd forgotten about those since then, but ought to give it another try. (Isopure is actually my protein powder of choice, which I neglected to mention at 1st.)

The Bari-15 Orange drink is aspartame free. :clap2:

You could try the Crystal Lite Sunrise (Orange). That's a pretty good alternative to OJ.

e

I miss juice too. Nutritionist said I can have it but to dilute it 2/1 with water.

I use a tad of orange juice, with pulp, a couple of frozen berries, a scoop of protein and half a banana, add ice and blend, what a smoothie.

I fogot to mention, in the summer, I add a splash of Vodka.

Thanks for all your suggestions! After spending a small fortune looking for palatable juice-like Protein, I think I’ve finally hit pay dirt here! I received a recommendation for Health Wise drinks from a company called Healthy Weight Supermarket in Springfield, MO. You can look at the product selection on their website ( www.healthy-weight-supermarket.com ), but they don’t have on-line shopping yet. I’m in VA, so I had to place my order over the phone. The very helpful clerk told me shipping would run between $7-12 depending on the size of my order. I called on a Tuesday & my order arrived the following Monday.

The drinks are aspartame-free, each contain 15g (milk-based) protein & come in a powder-in-a-bottle jug for on the go drinking or in a larger format. I ordered each of the fruit flavors, and the latte (Proticcino) in the “Fill it*Shake it*Drink it” bottles. So far I’ve had the Pineapple-Orange (protein-packed, low cal, juice-like, and tasty -- just what I’ve been looking for!), the Kiwi-Strawberry (on the sweet-side, but good), and I’m sipping at the Proticcino now (yum – very latte-like, but the powder “settles” after a while, which I did not experience with the other two). I’ve still got Wild berry & Cran-Grape to try, but I’m satisfied enough with the three I’ve already tasted to be optimistic about the remaining flavors. At the very least, the Pineapple-Orange will become a staple for me!

I’ll still enjoy a glass of real juice occasionally, but I just don’t want it to be a regular part of my diet as it’s been for as long as I can remember. Hopefully this will curb my juice craving – and be a welcomed relief from all the milky protein shakes!!

[Update: I enjoyed the Cran-Grape, too -- mild flavor, more grape than cran. I'll buy this as a stapel, too. The Wild Berry Splash was okay, but it didn't impress me as much as I'd expected. My son (4) loved it, however, so I guess it just depends.]

I actually like the Nectar Fuzzy Navel protein powder. I mean, it's not exactly juice, but it tastes a lot like those orange/pineapple/peach mixed juices to me.

I was told juice is a waste of calories, but if I allow for the calories, I have juice!

I keep those little jugs of OJ in the fridge (6-pack of 1 serving each). 110 calories per box. Instead of a snack, I have an OJ.

The light OJ (blue top) from tropicana is good too, and less calories.. but I like the individual serving boxes with the little straw..