Ween off of Diet Soda or Quit Cold Turkey?

DawnVanSlim

Don't quit cold turkey, cold turkey rules! especially the day after Thanksgiving. So I guess I pick ween off diet soda

mattschwartz01

I'm a huuuuggggeeee Diet Soda drinker, like I could finish a 6 pack of the bottles in one 12 hour work shift. Should I just quit cold turkey or should I try to lower my intake. I don't drink coffee because I have a heart arrhythmia So I've relied on Diet Soda to keep my pep in my step when everything gets crazy in the ER. I'm usually a pretty happy person but to be honest giving up some of my favorite mood stabilizers (chocolate, Milk shakes, french fries) has given me a bit of a tude at work lol and now my diet soda whyyyyyyyyyy lol anyway any suggestions?

All that artificial sweetener is really not good. Have you ever tried SweetLeaf Stevia drops? They come in many flavors and are a non-caloric natural sweetener. You could add the chocolate drops to coffee for energy.

Christin09

I quit it cold turkey! I used to be the same 6-8 a day! Now i have one once a week if that. Just make sure you have a couple of days off when you do it because you will go thru withdrawals! (no worries its not that terrible)

EmRN06

Hi there! I use to love drinking Diet Coke. Although, I didn't drink as much as you (I only drank maybe one bottle each day), I was able to quit cold turkey. My trainer suggested I try cutting back to one bottle 3 days/week, because diet pop can have an effect on belly fat and cravings. Instead of cutting back, I decided to go cold turkey. Surprisingly, it was very easy for me. It has been about 2 months, and I no longer crave it. I only drink water and sometimes if I need some flavor I will have a powerade zero or vitamin water, however now I find that those are even too sweet at times. Since you drink a larger amount of Diet Coke per day than I ever did, I would recommend trying to cut that in half for a few weeks, and see how it goes. Good luck to you!

fbmandy55

I drink a diet coke a day and I am not dying. I use Sweet N low in my coffee every morning too. Are they killing me? No. I've tried stevia and hated it. Didn't mix well or taste good.

If you like to drink it, do so in moderation.

nzs110b

I use to drink a lot of it too. I had to quit cold turkey or I wouldn't have stopped. I do have one every now and then, mostly for the caffeine.

They say, all though I don't know if I experienced this, that drinking diet pop screws up your metabolism/ sweet cravings because there is no sugar in them for your body to process.

baileybiddles

Well, here's the thing.

I quit caffeine cold turkey about three weeks ago. I did it on a weekend to ensure that I wouldn't be miserable at WORK and not be able to do my job. I had my last coffee on Saturday and enjoyed it greatly. Sunday, I had decaf in the morning and by noon I was throwing up with a horrifying MIGRAINE: not a bad headache, a migraine. I was absolutely, positively, MISERABLE, but I wouldn't go back and change it. I TRIED to ween myself off and failed miserably. Finally, I just threw my hands up and decided to be done. Sucked it up through the withdrawals. The next day I had a minor headache but was able to get my work done, and the day after, no symptoms.

links_slayer

lol @ "aspartame is bad for you" ITT

stardancer7

I quit cold turkey, but my habit was with caffeine free diet coke, so I had no issues around caffeine withdrawal--those headaches are fierce! (And I will NEVER give up my Kicking Horse Kick *kitten* coffee.) But my decision was for financial and environmental reasons as well as nutritional--why pay for a beverage in plastic/metal containers when I have free fresh water from the tap?

eclectic_ladee

I'd recommend cutting down slowly.

I was a diet-soda fiend as well - 3 or 4 cans a day was my usual intake. I started by limiting myself to 1 can in the morning and one in the afternoon.

The thing about diet sodas is that they're loaded with sodium - which (in my case) wrecks my blood pressure.

which kind are you drinking? My coke zero has 40 mg of sodium. In a day, I'm allowed 2500. 40/2500=0.016 or 1.6% of my day.

SO......I'm not seeing the sodium numbers to match your claim.

I drink Coke Zero and it's been going well. Sprite Zero, and other zero calorie coke products, are not bad at all! I wanted to stop cold turkey but there is nothing like a good cold one every now and then!

keeleen

I think it's whatever will work for you.... I used to drink regular coke all the time! I could easily drink way more coke than water, and I didn't even keep it in the house for this reason, and I still drank a lot of it! I tried the whole ween off of it thing... It didn't really work for me. I had to quit cold turkey, and I've quit cold turkey a couple times now, and relapsed.... Even though it tasted really sweet when I would drink it again after several weeks of no pop at all... It's like just having that one, made me want another, and then it would spiral out of control from there.... I went almost 2 months, and bam! I was addicted again, then I went 6 weeks recently, and then had another, and was out of control for a week. And now I'm 5 weeks without one again... So for me, I have to quit cold turkey, weening off just doesn't work for me! If I felt like I was having a headache from not having the caffeine, I'd drink tea, and it worked for me...

You just have to figure out what will work best for you and what you can stick with... Everyone is different.

iulia_maddie

Cold turkey worked for me. I was drinking tons of regular Coke, probably 6-8 cans a day which adds up to over 1000 calories.
Gave it up about 8 months or so ago i think.

bindisdesign

This might just be a strange fluke with me or something, but I used to be a huge caffeine drinker (like 4 bottles of Mountain Dew a day-at least). My husband and I decided to do a juice cleanse for a couple of days just to jump start our diet and kind of reset our habits. Anyway, this meant giving up pop cold turkey.

I thought it would be horrible, but I had no withdrawal symptoms at all. None. Nothing. It's been one week and I haven't even had a craving for it.

My mom seems to think the antioxidants & anti-inflammatories in the home-made fresh juice we were drinking must have curbed the bad feelings. I have no clue, but this worked for me. It has been over 1 week of just water and juices. I just make sure to drink plenty of water and I am good to go.

Hope you can give it up. Soda was one of my worst habits...

katekross

I recently just kicked the habit once all my diet dr pepper was out of the house. I did a little research and I'm a big fan of Prevention magazine. I have also read in other places some of the facts from this article as well. I would have liked to do more research, but back to work it is

http://www.prevention.com/food/healthy-eating-tips/diet-soda-bad-you

Here is how it is broken down if you are strapped for time:
1. Kidney problems.
2. 34% higher chance of a metabolic syndrome.
3. Artificial sweetners will trick you into thinking its real sugar, when in reality it will cause you to drink more.
4. Diet soda have less in them which will get you drunk quicker if its mixed with your diet soda. More drunk=heavier hangover.
5. Damage to mitochondria with chemicals that are mold inhibitors. These have evidence that they lead to hives, asthma, allergic reactions.
6. Dental damage.
7. BPAs... nuff said.

Sqeekyjojo

Do they still do caffeine free diet coke?

If they do, try switching to that for half your drinks, then taper it off over time. Add chilled water whenever possible.


Nobody needs someone with caffeine withdrawal jitters treating them.

lkwalker71

I used to drink alot of regular coke and pepsi, about 4 years ago I switched to diet. It was not as hard as I thought. I have also gone back and forth as far as not drinking them and then drinking them. I don't like coffee or tea. I will drink water, crystal light and sugar free kool aid. Personally for me, I have to have the will power to stop for good and I do struggle with that. Maybe try to cut back a little bit at a time so it is not such a shocker to your system and you don't end up with terrible headaches.

thisismeraw

I recently just kicked the habit once all my diet dr pepper was out of the house. I did a little research and I'm a big fan of Prevention magazine. I have also read in other places some of the facts from this article as well. I would have liked to do more research, but back to work it is

http://www.prevention.com/food/healthy-eating-tips/diet-soda-bad-you

Here is how it is broken down if you are strapped for time:
1. Kidney problems.
2. 34% higher chance of a metabolic syndrome.
3. Artificial sweetners will trick you into thinking its real sugar, when in reality it will cause you to drink more.
4. Diet soda have less in them which will get you drunk quicker if its mixed with your diet soda. More drunk=heavier hangover.
5. Damage to mitochondria with chemicals that are mold inhibitors. These have evidence that they lead to hives, asthma, allergic reactions.
6. Dental damage.
7. BPAs... nuff said.

I have yet to read any real, reliable evidence that any of these "facts" have been proven. While Prevention can be a good magazine they aren't a place to go for true facts sometimes. Correlation of people experiencing these issues while drinking diet pop doesn't mean the pop is causing the issues.

I understand the BPA issue however BPA is still in a lot of things we handle and consume on a daily basis. A lot of regular cans (canned veggies, beans, etc) have BPA in the lining. A lot of store reciepts have BPA in them.

Ultimately, everyone needs to read and look at reliable evidence and make their own decisions. Diet pop isn't bad for everyone.

thisismeraw

Do they still do caffeine free diet coke?

If they do, try switching to that for half your drinks, then taper it off over time. Add chilled water whenever possible.


Nobody needs someone with caffeine withdrawal jitters treating them.

They do still make caffeine free diet coke! I believe Pepsi has one as well. I switch some of my normal diet coke to diet 7 UP which is caffeine free.

laurenmoe

I LOVE diet coke!!!! However I am doing acupuncture for fertility and I was told to COMPLETELY ELIMINATE all artificial sweetners. I quit cold turkey. However I still have a cup of coffee in the morning to prevent caffeine withdrawals. Switch to seltzer water with lime. You still get the fizz without all the extra crap.

schaapj2

I quit cold turkey on January 21st. Had headaches for a week-just took ibuprofen and kept drinking my water. Haven't had a pop yet, but miss the carbonation. To give me the carbonation, I drink soda water, or tonic water-great to give you fizzies without the caffeine or aspartame. Make sure they are naturally sweetened and don't have added sodium. Some brands like Schwepps are killer in sodium.