How to Drink Water When You Do Not Like It, Without Added Sugar

Plenty of people find plain water flat, warm or faintly metallic, and drink almost none of it. Then they hear they should finish 2 litres a day, and the gap feels impossible.

You do not have to learn to love it. This page shows how to change the water so it tastes of something, and which other drinks fill the gap. It belongs to our guide on how to drink more water, which covers the daily cues that get any drink into your hand.

How Can I Make Water Taste Better?

Make it cold, make it fizzy or add a slice of fruit. The NHS gives three fixes "if you don't like the taste of water", and each keeps the sugar near zero:

Three Fixes the NHS Suggests

• try sparkling water
• no added sugar squash
• add a slice of lemon or lime

Taste is not a small thing here. The National Athletic Trainers' Association notes that "Salinity, color, sweetness, temperature, flavor, carbonation, and viscosity all affect how much an individual drinks."

Make It Cold

Cold water is the easiest change, and it costs nothing. NATA reports that people exercising in the heat "will voluntarily ingest more fluid if it is chilled," and the CDC suggests you "Freeze water in freezer-safe bottles for ice-cold water all day."

Freeze a bottle half full overnight, then top it up with tap water in the morning. It stays cold through a warm afternoon.

Make It Fizzy

Sparkling water is still water. In a 2016 trial, people peed out the same amount over 4 hours after a litre of sparkling water as after a litre of still water. Whether the bubbles suit your teeth and stomach, is sparkling water good for you explains.

Add Fruit, Herbs or a Splash

A wedge of lime or lemon is on the CDC's own list of tips. If you like squash or cordial, the NHS says to "dilute squash drinks or cordials well to reduce the sugar content," or pick a no-added-sugar version.

Does Lemon Water Count as Water?

Yes. Lemon water is water with a few millilitres of juice in it, so a 500 ml (17 oz) glass adds 500 ml to your day. The NHS names a slice of lemon or lime as one way to drink more when plain water puts you off.

No study we read tested lemon water on its own. The 2016 trial did test orange juice, a much stronger fruit drink, and found its effect on urine output was "not different from the response to water ingestion." You will read that lemon water detoxes you or burns fat; we found no health body or study that backs either claim.

What Are Some Easy Infused Water Ideas?

Slice fruit, a vegetable or herbs into a 1 litre (34 oz) jug of cold water, leave it in the fridge for an hour or two, and drink it through the day. These combinations come from kitchens, not studies, so pick by taste.

Six Jugs to Start With

Refill the jug with water once or twice from the same fruit, then start a new batch. If the citrus starts to taste bitter, take the slices out.

Keep the Jug Clean

Wash the fruit before it goes in, since the peel sits in your water all day. The FDA advises you to "Gently rub produce while holding under plain running water," with no soap or produce wash needed.

• Scrub firm produce such as cucumbers and melons with a clean brush, as the FDA suggests.
• Rinse before you peel or slice, so the knife does not carry dirt into the fruit.
• Cut away bruised or damaged parts.
• Keep the jug in the fridge; the FDA says cut produce belongs "refrigerated or on ice."

Are Water Flavor Drops a Good Idea?

If drops get you drinking, they do a job, but read the label first. Many sugar-free drops and powders get their sweetness from non-sugar sweeteners, and the World Health Organization "recommends against the use of NSS to control body weight." WHO's advice does not apply to people who already have diabetes.

WHO's list of non-sugar sweeteners includes aspartame, sucralose, saccharin, acesulfame K and stevia. Its suggested swap is fruit, or unsweetened food and drinks.

So treat drops as a bridge. Use a little less each week, and move toward fruit in the jug or plain sparkling water.

Do Other Drinks Count Instead of Water?

Yes. The NHS says "Water, lower-fat milk and lower-sugar drinks, including tea and coffee, all count" toward your daily fluids. In the 2016 trial, tea, coffee, cola, sparkling water and a sports drink all left the body at about the same rate as water, and the body held on to milk longer.

The trial was run on 72 young, healthy men who drank a litre in 30 minutes, and the European Hydration Institute paid for it. It shows how much fluid each drink leaves in your body, not which drink is good for you.

The CDC lists "Plain coffee or teas, sparkling water, seltzers, and flavored waters" as low-calorie choices. For every other drink, from soup to sports drinks, see what counts toward your water.

A Day With Almost No Plain Water

Sam weighs 64 kg (141 lb), sits most of the day, lives somewhere mild and skipped the sex question. Glubbo's habit formula gives a goal of 1,800 ml (61 oz), and Sam reaches it without a glass of plain tap water.

Food adds more on top, from fruit, soup and salad; foods with the most water gives the numbers.

Small Habits That Help

Taste is one half. The other is having the drink in front of you when you would reach for it.

• Keep a full jug in the fridge so the cold, flavoured option is the easy one. Put a glass of it on the table at every meal; drinking water with meals explains why that is safe for digestion.
• Use a bottle or glass you like. A straw or a wide mouth makes some people sip more.
• Sip through the day instead of forcing a big glass, which is harder to finish when you dislike the taste. How often to drink water shows the pace per hour.
• Log flavoured water, tea and coffee as drinks. Every way to track your water should count them, and the best water reminder apps let you log them as their own drinks.

If you want a goal to aim at, try a month of one change at a time with the 30-day water challenge. Start with the jug: one litre of infused water a day is half of many daily goals.

What to Do Today

Start with one jug of cucumber and mint.

Your First Jug

1. Fill a 1 litre (34 oz) jug with cold water
2. Add half a sliced cucumber and a few mint leaves
3. Leave it in the fridge for an hour or two
4. Drink the first glass with your next meal, the rest by dinner

Then set your times with the water drinking schedule, and let tea, coffee and sparkling water count toward them.