Think I'm addicted to soda...alternatives, anyone?

Orphia

chandelierbee wrote: »

Soda in general, all that sugar erodes your teeth but nothing's worse than coke. It's used as drain-o for crying out loud

Wrong. We did an experiment at work recently. We put a tarnished coin in Coke. There was no change to the coin despite it soaking in Coke for over a week.

angelica_lisa

I like drinking flavored seltzer water, and herbal tea. I never really liked colas because they contain phosphoric acid and have a stronger taste than the lemon-lime varieties. I also on occasion like to drink Live Kombucha soda - it tastes just like a soda but healthier for you.

If it is indeed a caffeine addiction, then switching to caffeinated tea would be a good alternative.

stephchadz

My mom had a similar problem and she was able to kick the habit cold turkey for about a year. She drinks soda again now, but before she just stopped drinking it, cold turkey. She did get headaches for the first few days but she says they weren't that bad, and once you're past them it gets a lot easier. Good luck!

Dex37

I kicked a 1-2 energy drink a day habit the end of May. I just stopped by drinking lots of water, at least 2L daily and ate every 3hrs. When I was drinking the energy drinks, if I didn't have one by 2pm I would feel drained and would start to get a migraine. Now I might drink a cup of coffee once or twice a week when I need a boost for the gym.

Timelordlady85

cut it down slowly and replace with an extra glass of water, then slowly work towards more water and teas then sodas. or you could try adding lemon and fruit slices to your water and tea to flavor it too.

Unknown

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gabrielle_largent

There is also zevia. It's a zero calorie soda with no sugar and no artificial sweeteners but does have stevia as a sweetener. I like the Orange, root beer, and ginger ale flavor a the best but there is 15 flavors.

mbaker566

soldiergrl_101 wrote: »

I used to drink about 6-8 cans of soda a day. I just switched to ICEE water its so good I dont even miss soda now. its carbonated, no sugar, no carbs, just water http://www.sparklingice.com/

yes! love these. the apple one is great when I want a hard cider but don't actually want the alcohol. taste like ciderboys cider. wonderful stuff. and the blackberry one is heaven

mbboy2065

I agree with the "taper off" approach. I loved my mt. dew. That stuff was it good, and high in sugar. I slowly tapered off and drank water with some orange flavoring in it. eventually I was down to just water with the mio orange flavoring. Now I get a headache IF I have some. Probably from all that sugar.

kat_princess12

I used flavored sparkling water to break myself of the soda habit. No sweeteners, no sodium, no caffeine. I've suffered no negative effects from it - in fact it's really helped keep me hydrated. And, possibly due to the decreased caffeine intake, I suffer fewer headaches than I did when drinking soda.

RLeighP

I was a soda/sweet tea addict. I refuse to deal with the caffeine withdrawals and the associated fatigue, so I drink a cup of coffee every morning, and brewed green tea during the day, if I'm craving something other than water. I do like water, a lot of it, but sometimes if I'm wanting something cold that isn't water, I go for flavored sparkling waters, like Dasani. The black cherry is delicious.

DanJS1

Tea helped me kick soda for the most part. Add in a bit of milk and/or honey. So many good kinds out there of tea. I reward myself with the odd Diet Coke.

Oranje12

Count me as another Coke drinking addict. I would drink atleast 1.5 liters a day all in small increments so I never noticed how much it was adding up. Couldn't go a morning, afternoon or night without one. I decided that drastic times call for drastic measures. So this is what I did... This may sound absolutely ridiculous but it turned out to be kinda silly and fun... I made my roommates host a "coke funeral" for me. We all dressed in black, I said a few words about how coke was always there for me through breakups, layoffs, and all the other hard times in my life as well as being there for me every single day without fail. I took one last sip and poured the rest down the toilet and flushed it away. The entire thing was filmed and we showed it to my nearest and dearest so they could help keep me accountable.

From that point on,, I told everybody what we had done and so I couldn't go near the stuff if anybody was with me because they would remind me that "coke was was dead to me". My roommates made sure I didn't buy or keep any in the house, and my colleagues at work made sure I didn't drink it there either. I know it may be a bit extreme but at the very least, I created a really great memory with my roommates and was able to get over the withdrawal period by drinking water with fresh lemon in it. Occasionally I would opt for a sprite or ginger ale when I needed some fizz but I wasn't addicted to those so it never became an issue.