Soft drinks without Aspartame

[Roundthemoon]

I was drinking diet soft drinks as I thought they were slightly healthier. Now I've been hearing a lot of bad reports about Aspartame, which is the sweetener that they use in a lot of these drinks.

It seems to be in so many drinks. And so many studies show that it's not good for us.

Has anyone found any nice drinks to drink that don't have aspartame in them?

Waitrose orange squash and grapefruit squash, the high juice.versions

Can't stand the taste of aspartame so the only soft drink I tend to drink these days is proper Coca Cola. Pricier because of the sugar tax but at least it still tastes nice.

Mostly I stick to water though.

I cannot tolerate any sweeteners, yes even Stevia. I have done lots of research and here you go: Dalstons, Cawston Press, Fever Tree, Belvoir, Classic Coke, Luscombe, Appletiser, Hartridges, Heartease Farm, Virgil’s, French 7Up, most drinks from the US/Middle East still have sugar (US use corn syrup in a lot though) and no sweetener unless marked ‘Diet’.

Cordials and juice drinks: Tropical Vibes, Tiessere (sp?), Pago, Granini, Belvoir, Rocks and some from M&S and Waitrose are still
OK.

Some are available in supermarkets, some you’ll have to order online. Some you can find in random little shops. I hate that we no longer have choice with drinks but I can buy as many chocolates/sweets/doughnuts as I like. Also hate that sweetener doesn’t have to be listed as it’s not classed as an allergen, even though many of us have terrible reactions to it (for me, it’s migraines and vomiting).

M&S juicy sparkling rhubarb/apple/pineapple water - no added sugar or sweeteners.

I stick to classic Coke if I want a fizzy drink. And I ask for a can or a bottle - most draught fizzy drinks seem to be diet because I guess that's more popular.

Shops own brand fizzy soft drinks tend to use acesulfame potassium (K) which is stable and processed intact by the kidneys, but can affect insulin production. Aspartame is broken down into other chemicals including methanol in the body and affects the brain and neuro transmitters. Both are considered non toxic but unless you have kidney disease, or IBS the stable acesulfame K does seem to have less bad effects overall.
Aspartame has been linked to making several conditions worse including cognitive disorders.
Sugar is better than either.

Coca Cola
Rocks (have to make special trips to Sainsburys)

I can think of more exciting ways to earn headaches and digestive cramps than drinking stealth-diet drinks.

Tapwater gets a tad dull.

Unless you have an intolerance to it, you'd need to consume a lot of it for it to be an issue. Personally I dislike the after taste from them so don't drink it, but like anything balance is fine (unless aiming to eat 100% clean which is very challenging).

The newer research with re artificial sweeteners is about the body's reaction to it - something to do with tasting sweetness and the brain anticipating carbs/sugar but then when the system doesn't actually get them the brain then tells the body it needs sweet foods/carbs so people are then more likely to eat/over et and choose junk.

I can't remember the exact research. It's in the Chris Van Tulleken Ultra Processed People book.

That whole thing about only fat people drinking Diet Coke may have more to it than we thought!

Green Cola brand:

https://uk.greencola.com/

I've heard that too. So many obese people live on diet drinks.

Fentimans have been using Stevia for about 18 months now. Gutted as they were nice and one of the easiest to get hold of.

Full fat coke
Lemony lemonade
Belvoir raspberry lemonade

Cawston Press, I love the rhubarb one!!

@WaneyEdge Migraine trigger for me too (aspartame only though)

@Roundthemoon there is hardly any quinine, often none, in there any more, so little that where it used to be very useful for glow in the dark cookery at youth groups it's now completely useless!

M&S stopped using aspartame in 2007 OP. I don't think Sainsbury's use it in their own brand products either. This has been going on since the 90's...

All of them for me, I just don’t like the taste either. It took years to figure out and I have to be so careful and read every label. I’m in a FB group called ‘Save Our Sugar’ and we recommend drinks and where to buy them. There is someone on there trying to set up their own company…I live in hope!

Fever tree do various other fizzy drinks, not just tonic waters. The Mexican lime soda is nice, as is the blood orange one.

My bladder knows exactly when I've drunk aspartame or ace K, to the extent that I was drinking full sugar R Whites lemonade, when I checked they now add sweeteners even though it's not Diet. It's to avoid the sugar tax but I can no longer drink them.

So sorry, everyone is different and it really DOES affect some people.

Oh, and before debunking rumours I suggest you read The Ultra Processed People. It's actually frightening and all referenced.

Exactly. Like everything , it's fine in moderation. Unless you're drinking gallons of diet coke every day then it's not a problem.

Avoiding highly processed chemicals is definitely not about "scaring people" WHO also class it as possibly carcinogenic to humans. It can also cause inflammation. Avoiding UPFs is a good thing and nothing like vaccines and autism.

How do you know exactly how much causes problems?

What if someone has three diet drinks a week?

That's still intaking a Good bit.

A lot of studies show that aspartame is very bad for the body

I came here to say this. Quinine tablets much more likely to give you problems than some tonic water.

Yeah but what if drink a lot. My mum used to drink a bottle of tonic water every two days.

She now has extremely bad hearing. She's lost a lot of her hearing.

If you look up lists of things that affect hearing, quinine is on the top ten list.