Diet Pepsi replacement....on my grocery store shelf

johnarnold101
johnarnold101 Posts: 6 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Okay, I'm about to snap! I DON'T WANT TO DRINK MORE WATER! What can I buy at my local grocery store that is a better alternative to Diet Soda?? Again, at a regular commercial grocery store! Zero or low calories. Everything I see online is either water (screw that, I want flavor) or something I've never heard of located at some back street health food store. ANYONE??? Thanks.
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Replies

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  • coconutmango16
    coconutmango16 Posts: 544 Member
    Crystal light is nice for some flavor and it's so cheap that even if you need to experiment a bit to find a flavor that you love it won't break the bank. I also enjoy buying fruit teas, tossing a few tea bags into a pitcher with cold water, and leaving it to steep in the fridge.
  • johnarnold101
    johnarnold101 Posts: 6 Member
    Vitamin water/PowerAde I'm told too many chemicals, beer....calories, wine...can't drink as much as Diet Soda (although I try), no vodka. Sparkling water, chemicals or the plastic..etc etc.
  • mathandcats
    mathandcats Posts: 786 Member
    What about diet soda are you wanting to avoid? (I.e. please clarify "better alternative to diet soda")

    Tea is 0 cals, you can sweeten it with stevia or something.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,091 Member
    edited July 2016
    Fruit juice spritzers (start out at 1:1 juice and seltzer or club soda, and gradually decrease the juice)

    Something I've started recently is cold-brewing teas and herbal teas for iced tea, and turning those into spritzers with seltzer.

    ETA - there's nothing wrong with diet soda from a weight loss or health perspective, so you could just continue drinking that. But spritzers you make yourself, or iced tea or coffee you brew yourself, will likely work out a good bit easier on your wallet.
  • johnarnold101
    johnarnold101 Posts: 6 Member
    I'm looking for something I can buy off the shelf. Not something I need to make, cook, or blend. I was looking at teas that are on the shelf but I get told they have hidden sugars, aspartame and are 100 calories per serving. Zero calories like diet pepsi????? Diet Pepsi doesn't have aspartame but I guess it does have chemicals that will kill me or make me gain weight anyway.
  • xvolution
    xvolution Posts: 721 Member
    mathandcats wrote: »
    What about diet soda are you wanting to avoid? (I.e. please clarify "better alternative to diet soda")

    Tea is 0 cals, you can sweeten it with stevia or something.

    It could be to avoid carbonic or phosphoric acids that are found in sodas [if you're trying to avoid phosphoric acid, those are only in dark-colored sodas, except for root beer].

    I personally use those individual flavor packs made for 16.9 oz water bottles. I'm so sensitive to sweets that I can flavor a liter of water with one of those and it's just sweet enough.
  • grubb1019
    grubb1019 Posts: 371 Member
    Coffee or tea sweetened with stevia, (my addiction) Arizona Green tea with ginger, I also give some flavor to my water by putting a little cranberry juice in it.
  • MaxT370
    MaxT370 Posts: 274 Member
    Zevia is carbonated flavored water. My local Kroger carries it in the organic section, comes in 6 different flavors. Can also be found at whole foods, fresh thyme, probably trader joes. The cream soda is the best imho.
  • johnarnold101
    johnarnold101 Posts: 6 Member
    Thanks, I want to be able to walk up and grab a bottle of something just like I can a bottle of diet soda. Again, I don't want to mix tea, make coffee, stir in something to something else. Bottle of something off the grocery shelf into the grocery basket into fridge. Zero calories, no caffeine is fine.
  • kbmh611
    kbmh611 Posts: 110 Member
    What about sweetened diet tea that comes bottled by Lipton? They have different flavors and are, I believe, like 5 calories a bottle. I think there are some that are zero calories as well. The peach and green teas are my favorite.
  • MaxT370
    MaxT370 Posts: 274 Member
    Zevia is caffeine free, no sugar, no sweetners...well erythritol is in it. It has a few carbs but nothing else. I've only seen it sold by the 6 pack until yesterday when I found a new flavor at whole foods and also say they sell them in single larger cans there.
  • mathandcats
    mathandcats Posts: 786 Member
    Again - what is the issue with diet soda? Is it the carbonation? The artificial sweeteners? It is hard to suggest alternatives when we don't know the issue.

    There are bottled, unsweetened iced teas. Pure Leaf sells a few. There's also Zevia soda, which doesn't have aspartame or sucralose.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    Diet Pepsi will not kill you or keep you from losing weight. Honestly, I have no idea what would have no calories, no artificial sweeteners, and not require you making it.

    I make mint green tea and stick it in the fridge overnight. I slice lemon and cucumber and put it with some water in a fruit infuser bottle. I drink diet soda. I make iced coffee with a low cal creamer.

    If you want to go the "all-natural, no evil toxins" route, I would think you're going to have to put some minor effort into it.
  • xvolution
    xvolution Posts: 721 Member
    edited July 2016
    Oh, so a quick "grab and drink" thing. Whenever I'm in that mood, I either get a Vitamin Water Zero or a Sparkling ICE, depending on my mood [VWZ is larger, but Sparkling ICE is just a bit sweeter and is sweetened by sucralose, not aspartame].

    There's not really anything in diet sodas that make you gain weight. Some people can't process phosphates normally, but it's very rare and that only pertains to dark sodas. I drink diet sodas very often and I'm still losing weight.
  • johnarnold101
    johnarnold101 Posts: 6 Member
    The issue is I'm told the chemicals in it and artificial sweetners trick your body and you can still gain weight....and you'll get diseases and die a horrible death. Anything in a 2 liter size or equivalent?
  • CooCooPuff
    CooCooPuff Posts: 4,374 Member
    johnarnold101 wrote: »
    The issue is I'm told the chemicals in it and artificial sweetners trick your body and you can still gain weight....and you'll get diseases and die a horrible death. Anything in a 2 liter size or equivalent?
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1308408/why-aspartame-isnt-scary/p1

    My favorite thing about going to HEB is picking up a bottle of their store brand diet sodas at the end. Sparkling ICE is lovely.

  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,279 Member
    johnarnold101 wrote: »
    The issue is I'm told the chemicals in it and artificial sweetners trick your body and you can still gain weight....and you'll get diseases and die a horrible death. Anything in a 2 liter size or equivalent?

    I think you are just trolling now.

    Of course you will not gain weight from zero calorie artificially sweetened drinks nor will you die a horrible death from them.

  • johnarnold101
    johnarnold101 Posts: 6 Member
    PaperPudding, I'm not trolling....I had a dietician tell me those things.....thanks so much for understanding....that's sarcasm in case you didn't catch it. I love my diet soda but I keep getting told it's bad for me. I was going to switch to PowerAde Zero, I'm told it's bad. The bottled teas on the store shelf (like Arizona) has aspartame and I'm told it's bad. Anything that is natural (juices/teas) on the shelf are 120 calories per serving. When you go to the store for years and you grab a 2 liter bottle of diet soda off the shelf and you want to replace that, you ask for information and help from people in a location who have more knowledge and have maybe gone through the same thing.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,279 Member
    Well, for starters you need to check sources of information not just react because 'someone told you it is bad'

    Obviously everyone who consumes diet drinks does not die a horrible death - simple observation of the world around you will show you that.

    Also obvious that nothing other than water will have zero calories unless is artificially sweetened.

    Some things like lemon infused water will have almost none - but not sure if you can buy them ready made.
  • mathandcats
    mathandcats Posts: 786 Member
    Tea will have zero calories if unsweetened, and Pure Leaf sells multi serve bottles of unsweetened teas. I'm sure there are other brands. You could add a small amount of a non-artificial sweetener such as stevia to it. If you are willing to take a very small amount of effort, you can make a jug of a tea you like, sweetening it to your taste (again, use stevia or similar for 0 calories), and then chilling it in the fridge. This is much cheaper than buying it pre-brewed.

    Drinking diet soda will not make you balloon up and then die a horrible death. However, I do believe in moderation, and if you're drinking a 2L every day (you didn't say how frequently you're buying them, so maybe this doesn't apply), it's probably not so good. For instance, it's not good for your teeth, regardless of how you feel about aspartame or other sweeteners.

    If you are only against aspartame, diet Pepsi has switched to sucralose.

    0 calories, sweetened, large servings, and no effort is quite a restrictive list. You might consider training yourself to enjoy milder flavours than soda, and eventually plain water.
  • Wynterbourne
    Wynterbourne Posts: 2,225 Member
    johnarnold101 wrote: »
    The issue is I'm told the chemicals in it and artificial sweetners trick your body and you can still gain weight....and you'll get diseases and die a horrible death. Anything in a 2 liter size or equivalent?

    I drink Diet Pepsi, Diet Shasta, Diet Coke, etc and I've lost 94 lbs so far. It isn't tricking me into anything and I have zero diseases that are leading to a horrible death.
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    edited July 2016
    johnarnold101 wrote: »
    PaperPudding, I'm not trolling....I had a dietician tell me those things.....thanks so much for understanding....that's sarcasm in case you didn't catch it. I love my diet soda but I keep getting told it's bad for me. I was going to switch to PowerAde Zero, I'm told it's bad. The bottled teas on the store shelf (like Arizona) has aspartame and I'm told it's bad. Anything that is natural (juices/teas) on the shelf are 120 calories per serving. When you go to the store for years and you grab a 2 liter bottle of diet soda off the shelf and you want to replace that, you ask for information and help from people in a location who have more knowledge and have maybe gone through the same thing.
    How can something that has no calories (energy) cause weight gain? There's nothing that can 'trick' the body into gaining weight (it's not scientifically possible), as the only way to gain weight is with a calorie surplus. I find it odd that a registered dietitian would even say that.

    I don't get the 'logic', here. I drink 0 cal all the time and am losing weight just fine, and am not dead. *shrug*
  • cross2bear
    cross2bear Posts: 1,106 Member
    I drink diet GENERIC soda and havent died yet. I have lost close to 100lbs so I guess I am smarter than the cola, as I havent been tricked into (or out of) anything. Have a diet pepsi for crying out loud.
  • littlechiaseed
    littlechiaseed Posts: 489 Member
    Regular soda is better for you than diet soda lol
  • Wynterbourne
    Wynterbourne Posts: 2,225 Member
    littlechiaseed wrote: »
    Regular soda is better for you than diet soda lol

    Citations?
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    I drink Fresca when I want something fizzy.
  • hmltwin
    hmltwin Posts: 116 Member
    Wynterbourne wrote: »
    littlechiaseed wrote: »
    Regular soda is better for you than diet soda lol

    Citations?

    While I'm not sure if regular soda is any better for you than diet soda (I wouldn't think soda is good for you, but as long as it's not all you eat and drink, it's probably fine), the idea that diet soda is somehow worse comes from a study at Purdue University.

    Citation: a press release about the study
  • hmltwin
    hmltwin Posts: 116 Member
    edited July 2016
    OP, you can probably drink your diet soda, so long as you don't get into the thinking that, "This is diet, so I can drink a whole 3-liter bottle in one sitting if I want to do that." or "I'll drink a diet soda, because that somehow makes the huge cheeseburger have less calories."
  • Wynterbourne
    Wynterbourne Posts: 2,225 Member
    hmltwin wrote: »
    Wynterbourne wrote: »
    littlechiaseed wrote: »
    Regular soda is better for you than diet soda lol

    Citations?

    While I'm not sure if regular soda is any better for you than diet soda (I wouldn't think soda is good for you, but as long as it's not all you eat and drink, it's probably fine), the idea that diet soda is somehow worse comes from a study at Purdue University.

    Citation: a press release about the study

    And skimming over that article my personal results go against pretty much every finding they list. I'm 43 and I don't have any signs of heart disease. Not only do I not have high blood pressure, but it runs low. I almost never have cravings for sweets and on the rare occasion it's never after a diet soda. Oh, and as of this morning I've lost 95 pounds in 53 weeks so it sure as heck hasn't interfered with my weight loss. I'll keep my diet soda, thanks anyway.

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