diet coke alternatives

mish24canada

Hi all you wonderful MFP people. I want to find alternatives to diet soft drinks that actually taste good and are not has bad for you as diet pop is.

Garthamatic

Cold water?
Milk?
Dr. Pepper 10?

Not sure where you're going here or what's wrong with Diet Coke...

newhealthykim

If you really want to stop drinking diet sodas (or any variation thereof), either start weening off of them or quit cold turkey. My summer trip to Paris, France last year had an added benefit of not having cheap regular access to diet sodas. After a week over there, I came back to the states and couldn't drink the stuff. It tasted awful. I switched to regular soda and that added on extra calories. I started weening myself off of them by drinking tea, crystal light, powerade zero, chocolate milk, etc. I would force myself to drink no more than a 20 oz.of soda. After that I had to pick something else. Eventually I didn't like the calories even those drinks added. I pulled out a water bottle I had with a straw, and I was amazed at how much more I was drinking. It's the taste of water I don't like, but my body needs it. A straw bypasses some of my tastebuds and helps me to drink more. I know that may sound crazy, but I can typically drink 3-4 more cups a day of water just by using a straw. Now I'm down to 8-12 oz of soda every 2-3 days. Eventually, I'm hoping to get off of it completely. I've already stopped buying them for myself at the store. I have plenty to last me till I get to the end.

sashafischang

I have been drinking natural flavored carbonated water such as Dasani or La Croix sparkling water. They are delicious and something with flavor for when I crave it. Also, they are all natural and don't have any artificial sweeteners or calories.

TamGlo

I love plain selter / sparkling water* with a few drops of flavored stevia. It comes in all flavors but try the cola or root beer. 5 drops in a glass should give flavor and sweetness without a glycemic load. I bought them at sprouts, but they're also on amazon.

*don't use club soda because it has added sodium in it that you may not want.

Wilbur_NOLA

MIO in a bottle of water

wkwebby

Berry teas might be an alternative. The Lipton cold brew is great. They have all sorts of flavors (not all in cold brew), but they have a hint of berry flavors and then you can add a smidge of either sugar or artificial sweetener. The benefit is that you control how much stuff you put into it.

lasistin

I like Zip Fizz (fruit punch flavor). I still struggle with my craviings for a morning 44 oz regular pepsi but I add a tube of zip fiz to my 24oz water and it seems to be helping me.

TeaBea

Hi all you wonderful MFP people. I want to find alternatives to diet soft drinks that actually taste good and are not has bad for you as diet pop is.

What's wrong with a diet soda once in awhile?

If you're drinking lots of soda.....don't trade that habit for fake sugar plus water (Mio, Crystal Light, etc). You're still going to have the habit of something sweet all the time. Instead, try drinking more water (if you don't already). You can bump up the flavor with mashed fruit, add ginger slices or cucumber or mint. Keep your water refrigerated, and cut back on the flavorings after awhile.

One diet soda everyday replaces a "snack" for me. Because it's only ONE diet soda, I make it last. All things in moderation.

mygnsac

Cold water (plain or infused with fruits), teas (iced, hot, herbal, green, black, ginger/turmeric, etc), milk (cow and nut) are my main beverages. I made myself step away from the daily sodas a couple years ago (diet A&W root beer was my fav). I like the Mama Chia drinks and Neuro Bliss (white raspberry, lightly carbonated) and Sleep (tangarine, non-carbonated) drinks, but I just sip on them throughout the week. A bottle of those will usually last me the whole week, if not longer.

bugaboo_sue

Flavored seltzer water.

I am not a fan of soda at all. The regular stuff is too sweet the diet stuff is too fake but I do like bubbles in my drink ever now and then so I do seltzer.

I've tried the Mio stuff and the other "flavors" for regular water and it was way too fake tasting for my liking. If I want flavor to regular water I throw in some True Lemon which is just dehydrated lemon.

conniehgtv

I was addicited to Diet Pepsi, am currently down to less than 12oz a day. I put 4 oz of water in a bottle with lemon,lime or orange slices. WhenI am ready to drink I add water. Th water stays cold and the frozen fruit seems to release miore flavor. Don't know if this would work for you,but it did for me.It is 3:36 pm and I have an unopened 12 can of Dp in my lunch sack.Good luck.

leahraskie

If you're looking for alternatives you better read the bottles of everything. Most contain at least some type of artificial sweetener, which I assume is what you're trying to get away from. Food also contains them so you'll have to watch like a hawk if you want to cut it.

Teas and water are your best bet. Be careful with tea though, they have a lot of sugar that you wouldn't think was in it. Drink add-ins like mio and crystal light, unless otherwise specified on certain types, all have artificial sweeteners added to reduce calories.


Artificial sweeteners to look for: sucralose, aspartame, acesulfame potassium, saccharin are the most common.

1911JR

Hi all you wonderful MFP people. I want to find alternatives to diet soft drinks that actually taste good and are not has bad for you as diet pop is.

Water

sherambler

Berry teas might be an alternative. The Lipton cold brew is great.

I agree. I love the cold brews. I also drink a lot of seltzer. I didn't love it at first, but now I prefer it to any soda (diet or regular). Plus, they're always coming out with new flavors so there's a lot of variety. Though I'm trying to cut back on the carbonated beverages because someone told me it can make your bones porous.

lstpaul

I drink 1 mug of green tea every morning (for summer I've been drinking iced green mango - yum) for the caffeine (but started with black tea when I first quit diet pepsi), and then I have a bubbly flavored water like H2O at my desk - because I miss the bubbles in diet pepsi.

ew_david

Diet Pepsi

You're welcome

KelGen02

Hi my name is Kelly and I am a former Diet Coke Addict... I drank over two 2 liter bottles of DC each and every day. I don't like regular soda, don't like the taste of it, nor do I like any other diet soda. I was a DC girl all the way. Obviously with all the recent studies of all the chemicals they put in these artificial sweeteners I decided it was time to stop killing myself so I quit cold turkey. It was hell and I now have a new appreciation for why drug addicts can't kick the habit. I literally went through the shakes, headaches, mood swings the whole nine of detoxing. It took about a week and 1/2 for the headache to go away and I finally began to feel human again. I drink a ton of water now, but do miss the fizz so I drink seltzer water. I find adding a splash of 100% cranberry juice makes it delish as well as cutting up fruit and putting it into a pitcher of water over night then drinking it the next day. I have fallen off the wagon a couple times and each time I did the DC tasted disgusting to me so it just made it that much easier to just let it go. I don't drink coffee, but i do drink herbal teas with lemon or raw honey in it.

I know people say everything in moderation is fine, but for me the chemicals that they put in the DC is just not worth it, after seeing what my body went through giving it up i can only imagine what it was doing to my body/brain all those years of drinking it. so I'll stick to my beer in moderation and let the DC be a distant memory... LOL

Good luck to you!! :drinker:

SnuggleSmacks

Tea is usually zero cals, and there's a huge variety of flavors, and many of them are good cold without being sweetened, especially when you get into herbal tisaines in addition to true teas. I purchased an electric kettle for work, and now I just drink tea all day and maybe have a soda with my meal.

DownsizingAaron

Crystal Light. Not Diet Coke flavored at all, but lots of good flavors that are satisfying. I add more water than the instructions provide, which means a little lighter flavor and it goes further that way.

odusgolp

Might I recommend a

Jacwhite22

coke zero, diet dr. pepper and pepsi max. diet coke tastes like crap.

marissanik

Carbonated water with whatever flavour of Mio you want! Or natural soda (I buy a brand called Zevia but I think it's only in Canada)

megmarie81

Make sun tea. I like to use a blend of black tea and flavored teas - orange, raspberry or mint. I make a huge pitcher on the weekends to last during the week. Also sparkling water with lime. But I don't think diet soda is all that bad as long as you aren't drinking gallons of it every day.

Outwardlycalm

I gave up diet coke about 3 weeks ago. Cold turkey! So far so good.
The big test was when I went to the movies.
Drinking water with my popcorn didn't kill me. Surprise!
I use to drink about a 2 liter a day, if not more.
Couldn't imagine going to the store and not buying some.
It feels a little strange. Like I forgot something.
I decided to give it up after my doctor said it probably contributed to phylops in my colon, which then required surgery.
Also people keep telling me that it was keeping me from losing weight.
We shall see.

j4nash

get a soda stream and make soda water

laurenjill

Might I recommend a

Oh, so water, then?

Liftng4Lis

I gave up Coke about 4 months ago, and now I drink a seltzer water for the fizz, when the need arises.

ValerieMartini2Olives

Flavored seltzer water if you like the sparkly stuff

welshtigger

I was addicted to coke zero, and in the end went cold turkey on it. I used to be easily able to drink 2/4 litres a day. I now have the occasional bottle and don't really like it much anymore. Been reading all the answers and was wondering what 'Seltzser water' is please? have never heard of it x

jjhintz

Crystal light is key to helping me get 1.5-2gallons of water/day. I recommend the fruit punch.