I hope this is okay. Not trying to advertise a product, but I do have some recommendations I wanted to share.
I can’t stand the taste of plain water. Milk and juice have too much sugar. I don’t like iced tea, and hot tea warms my body too much. So I drink a lot of diet soda. (Of course, I also need to avoid caffeine due to other health issues.)
What’s been great for me lately has been making my own soda at home. SodaStream started it, but I try not to use them due to some ethical concerns about their factory. (Although the company does still have its advantages.) Fortunately, there are plenty of alternatives these days. DrinkMate has a similar machine with an improved design that’s more efficient so the gas cylinders last longer and you can carbonate juices and wines and so on, and not just plain water.
But the real fun I’ve had is experimenting with flavorings. Ralph’s Sodamix has a good line of sugar-free traditional flavors. Skinny Mixes makes sugar-free syrups intended for use in dessert cocktails, but it turns out that mint chocolate chip, cherry, cotton candy, rocky road, and so on can make for some pretty great soda flavors. Northwoods Soda not only offers a bunch of flavors, they’ll custom make any flavor you want at no extra charge. They did a great job when I asked for cinnamon cola. All of the above are caffeine free, too.
You don’t even technically need the machine. What I’ve ended up doing is just keeping a few bottles of plain seltzer in the fridge at all times, and then whenever I pour a glass I add the flavor(s) I’m in the mood for. They usually tell you to add the syrup to the seltzer bottle and shake it up, but I find that if you add a splash to the glass (either before or after filling it with the seltzer) the syrup diffuses fairly quickly and evenly on its own. That gives me the flexibility to experiment more with mixing different flavors.
Just thought I’d share because I think it’s a good way for diabetics to safely have fun, have sweets, and maybe even drink a little more without affecting BG.