Aspartame - diet drinks...views please...

[Emmiedarling]

I have always drunk 7up free (diet lemonade)

I LOVE the stuff and consider it my only vice. (I eat clean foods, dont drink/smoke)

But since being pregnant (im 25 weeks) I have become concerned about the artificial sweetener in it, but only recently did I look into any research.

It was scary reading.

I have managed to go cold turkey from it for about two weeks now (I realllllly miss it) but drank about 1 can per day before and even more when not pregnant.

What are your views? Are you all drinking diet drinks or avoiding them like the plague?

I have some diet drinks but its not something I drink often. I'm kind of surprised by how 'good' you all are about food, presumably you are a different group of mnetters than those who talk about all their naughty food cravings!

For me, the biggest positive change I made to my diet the year before I got pregnant was eating less overall and increasing the proportions of salad/veg on that smaller plate. I had a BMI of >50 and got it just

Has anyone come across stevia yet?

It is plant based so not artificial and health foodists class it as a 'natural' sweetener. And it is calorie free.

I've seen it stocked in a few supermarkets lately and have been thinking that I'd like to give it a try when I'm not pg any more.

Anyone tried? is it as good as it sounds? or does it taste terrible?

Spiritedwolf I'm definitely not 100% "good". There's another thread where upon I'm discussing my very guilty secret addiction to chocolate croissants

I think it's just - once you start looking at the crap they put in food, the more you start wondering and worrying about the crap you're ingesting. Sugars, chemicals, preservatives, synthetic compounds - it's awful. Why can't you just buy something that just is what it is?? But my reasons aren't about calorie intake or weight loss/gain - it's about being healthy, which can be entirely different!

I'm definitely no angel but I try to sandwich the bad stuff between the good stuff. I eat TONS of vegetables and quality protein, and mostly cut out the bad stuff. But I do have the occasional Magnum, and currently battling with said chocolate croissants. But I also make a lot of paelo style treats - homemade ice cream made from coconut milk and fresh raspberries or whatever. Or nutty/blueberry/pruney protein balls to try and meet my cravings Or! Cocoa and raw avocado chocolate ganache!

FIL, MIL and BIL are type-1 diabetics and find that sweetners screw up their blood sugar levels.

I also never, ever touch it and am horrified by the mass quantities consumed by most people including children. Stick to water!

Seriously, watch that prog on BBC iplayer, how much governments have bowed to the food and sugar industry is utterly shocking. The invention of corn syrup especially.

That said I have a terrible sweet tooth and had to wean myself off sugar in tea etc a few years ago. Felt better for it. I do like my honey on porridge in the am!

Aspartame has a history of controversy and has been linked to many scares, yet has been proven "safe" for human consumption in numerous studies. However, my friend's consultant did tell her, during treatment for breast cancer, to avoid the stuff like the plague and suggested that her fondness for Diet Coke and similarly artificiallly sweetened drinks may have put her at risk. She was gob-smacked!

Just a suggestion but pret do fizzy apple and orange drink and has no nasties at all. ( they pride them Selves on being natural etc) and they are really good.
I suffer from skin condition that is aggravated by preservatives and chemicals/ Colourants so found 7up free as its relatively ok or so I thought but now have switched to prets. They are really thirst quenching too.

I avoid all artificial sweeteners, as best as I can (even when not pregnant) but have had an occasional (like once or twice a month) full-fat coke or Dr Pepper. I think it's not harmful to have the occasional fizzy drink, but I just loathe the idea of artificial sweeteners and flavours.

I stopped having anything with artificial sweeteners in when pg, and have never re introduced them to my diet, for all the reasons that made me stop. I can identify a drink containing them just by taste alone now, they taste foul. I have never allowed DCs to have them, and never will. you are doing the right thing. I think information regarding them and the effects should be made more public.