Diet Coke

[noimaginationatall]

I drink too much Diet Coke and I am looking to cut it out this summer. At the moment I generally drink a can a day when working but when not at work the amount can vary a lot.
When I don't drink it I get sore heads and feel awful.
Any tips on how to cut this out without feeling awful for weeks?
Thank you!

So glad to hear its not just me with a diet coke addiction. Its a real thing people !

Aspartane does not cause cancer.

@Notallowedtobesick

Switch to caffeine free. That's what I did with my Pepsi Max problem. Now I only have a can of caffeine free every few weeks.

The first 3 days were very hard. But after that I was ok. I don't drink any other caffeine though. No tea or coffee. So I'm not feeding the beast in any other way.

It's not just the caffeine though. The sweeteners are a bigger problem. Coke isn't actually very high in caffeine. www.coca-cola.co.uk/ingredients/caffeine/the-caffeine-in-your-can

Such scare mongering. For every article like the one someone linked from 2017, there a a million others concluding it is safe. A Diet Coke a day is absolutely fine.

@MYasshoe12

Try sniffing coke and not drinking it. Being a single mum at 18 with 2 kids helps revive me stress the kids bring on me :-)

Do you mean sniffing the drink, or actually doing cocaine?

I feel like ever few months there's an article published about someone's attempts to kick Diet Coke. The addiction seems real!

www.theguardian.com/food/2021/feb/02/the-real-thing-my-battle-to-beat-a-27-year-diet-coke-addiction

www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/11969811/diet-coke-addict-28-litres-week-lockdown-habit-broken/

The addiction seems real!
It is real. I have not had the same headaches when cutting down on coffee, despite coffee containing much more caffeine, as I had coming off of a few cans of diet coke a day. It's not the caffeine.

So have an occasional full sugar coke?

I was going to say get the caffeine free but that has sweeteners as well

@ElderMillennial

So have an occasional full sugar coke?

I was going to say get the caffeine free but that has sweeteners as well

I can't stand full fat Coke, it tastes horrible to me

I’ve not had any Diet Coke for about 2 years now.

I would have allow myself a 500ml bottle a day. Then slowly I allowed myself to have 3/4 of the bottle. Then I allowed myself to have half (I wasn’t two bothered with slightly flat Coke so would drink it over two days). My plan was to keep cutting down after that but one day I got to the point where I realised I hadn’t finished my half bottle for a few days. I was about to throw it out and go buy another but I realised I hadn’t had one for a few days and I was fine, so to buy a bottle would be counterproductive.

I tried Diet Coke sometime after that and I didn’t like the taste anymore.

Problem is that I’ve recently picked up Dr Pepper instead - so I need to start the process again with that 🙄

@moynomore

What's wrong with Diet Coke?

There's a myth going about that sweetness raise your blood sugar levels the same way sugars do (they don't, I test my blood sugars 7 times a day and diet drinks have never affected them)

Holland and Barrett stock the green coke that is made with stevia rather than aspartame.

Full fat coke will taste horrible because Diet is so much sweeter! It's the aspartame that is the issue. It is addictive and will send you cold turkey if you cut it out all together.

We found our son (Aspergers) reacted really badly to diet drinks and not so badly to 'full fat' drinks! So while we limited his intake when he was younger, we found sugared drinks were a better option than sugar-free. Now he's older, he can recognise the difference in them. He can sense a shift in his mood when he has a diet option so avoids them where possible.

We have a water dispenser in the fridge so ice cold water on tap - much nicer and fresher than fizzy options!

It's a habit and hard to break but will be worth it in the long run.

I don't think it's that they raise your blood sugars @BastardMonkfish but that they stimulate your sweet tooth and make you crave more sweet stuff.

I brought soda stream so have fizzy water instead. I allow myself one can of diet coke a day

@noimaginationatall I am having the same trouble but with pepsi max. I have given up multiple times but only ever lasted a couple of months before slipping back to bad habits.

Some will say it does you no harm, but honestly I do feel like it must be bad for me. Like you I have very bad headaches when I don't have any. When I give up, after the initial few days I feel really well with much more energy.

I struggle with giving up as like you my DH also drinks it and so it is always in the house (he has no inclination to stop drinking it which is fair enough). I'm just giving up (again!) now though (down to half a small glass today and aiming for none tomorrow), so will join you if you'd like .

[quote pepsifloat]@noimaginationatall I am having the same trouble but with pepsi max. I have given up multiple times but only ever lasted a couple of months before slipping back to bad habits.

Some will say it does you no harm, but honestly I do feel like it must be bad for me. Like you I have very bad headaches when I don't have any. When I give up, after the initial few days I feel really well with much more energy.

I struggle with giving up as like you my DH also drinks it and so it is always in the house (he has no inclination to stop drinking it which is fair enough). I'm just giving up (again!) now though (down to half a small glass today and aiming for none tomorrow), so will join you if you'd like .[/quote]
It's such a challenge! I know I would fair better if DH was on board too but he's not there yet and can't force these things! Happy to keep each other motivated

I found giving up DC harder than giving up smoking! I went cold turkey, was ill and grumpy for about a week and then I was over it. Have had occasional sip of others DC since and can't understand how I ever drank the stuff! Vile!

How are you getting on @noimaginationatall. Yesterday was a success here, no pepsi, but with the usual headache. Today nothing so far, but very tempted. Trying to keep myself busy. It helps that DH has agreed not to have it in the house (I'm sure he has a secret stash somewhere else), so I don't have the option thankfully! Hope you're doing ok

@moynomore

Such scare mongering. For every article like the one someone linked from 2017, there a a million others concluding it is safe. A Diet Coke a day is absolutely fine.

You just have to look at the list of ingredients to know it's not fine

A drink once in a while is ok, every day is unnecessary and definitively not "fine".

I drink two cans a day on average and have done for years, I've lost 10 stone over the last couple of years, no health issues, teeth are great. I enjoy it, it quenches my thirst like other drinks including water don't and I'm not planning on giving it up anytime soon.

If it's the sweeteners you want to avoid then drinking tea or coffee will replace the caffeine and avoid the headaches.

The gradual cut down also sounds like a good plan. Maybe no more than one can a day for a week, then switch to a daily tiny can a day - I'm sure I've seen 150 ml ones in supermarkets and after a few days of that try none at all. Replace with tea, coffee and still or sparkling water.

Go cold turkey. It's weirdly addictive stuff.

I used to drink at least one can a day, often more like 2-3. I went cold turkey in 2015 and don't even crave it anymore. If I fancy a fizzy drink (they are lovely in summer) then lemonade or Irn Bru is great, but I don't crave them like I did Diet Coke and I can easily go weeks without.

I meant to say - I had a headache for about five days afterwards. It was never awful, just ever-present. Once it was gone, no more cravings.

The sweetener/aspartame rumours have been debunked many many times.