 Holy crap, did I used to drink a lot of Diet Coke. Not just a can or two at lunch and one with dinner. Not just a pick-me-up in the afternoon or the tail end of a droopy morning. More like two liters a day at the very minimum - sometimes four. Had the end times come and yea and verily the East and Hudson rivers risen up and swallowed New York, I could have easily lashed together a raft of the empty plastic bottles I'd amassed in my recycling bin since the last trash day. First port of call: wherever they're keeping the rest of the Diet Coke. And I'd probably have to fight for it. A casual drinker will simply slug, quench and continue about their normal activities, but the Diet Coke freak cannot be so nonchalant. They'll pause for a moment, sinking in and surrendering to the sweet fizz. Then comes the surreptitious scan of the premises to ensure there's easy access to more. For many, it's less enjoyment than appeasement of a bubble-hungry little beast within. It's a physical need with definite emotional underpinnings, bordering on addiction. While the root causes of that are a matter of great debate among healthcare professionals who claim it's tied to everything from caffeine dependence to chasing an ever-elusive high triggered but not satisfied by artificial sweeteners like the aspartame in my precious Diet Coke, that meant jack to me over the course of the twenty or so years I spent trying to kick the habit. Frankly, I didn't care to give much mind to experts, friends and partners who suggested I cut back a tad, citing expense, lack of storage space, late-night convenience store pilgrimages and (in an anonymous, locally-postmarked letter later traced back to my roommate) concern over "Where does the caramel coloring go?" One boyfriend went so far as to ask me, on the eve of our anniversary meal at a high-end Manhattan restaurant, "Would you mind not ordering a Diet Coke at dinner tomorrow night?" I refrained from ordering one (not on his account, but because I opted for the restaurant's notable wine pairings), but not from pointing out the tables around us with Diet Cokes upon them. There, it came in small glass bottles for fanciness' sake. I was clearly not alone in my obsession. We take care of each other, the Diet Coke addicts of the world. My grad school roommate and I had an unspoken pact that even if we were running late to campus in the morning, we'd take five minutes to stop off at the local convenience store and stock up for the day - me with a well-iced fountain cup and her with a two-liter that she'd swig from throughout the day, even after it reached room temperature. Gross, but her devotion paid off; she married the cashier who sold us our fix every day. After that came a boss whose office I dared not enter for a long meeting unless I came bearing a cold bottle for her, a friend who'd also show up at parties with the requisite wine for the host - along with a two liter of Diet Coke for her own personal consumption, and my now-husband who I adored on his own merits, but even more when he started stocking Diet Coke for me in his own fridge. Bad habits appreciate the heck out of company - and I'd justify it by noting that I didn't smoke, drink to excess, do drugs or bungee jump - but it was time to quit. It was, in fact, quitting time for a long time. I was sick to death of the expense, the hauling of bottles, the financial support of a company with which I had some serious ethical issues and perhaps more than anything, the feeling that I had no control over this particular area of my life. It seems like such an insignificant thing, but there's an inherent anxiety to any addiction. I wasn't going to go all foamy-mouthed and twitchy on the floor, but I felt tremendous stress if I didn't know there was another bottle or can close at hand. If I knew I'd be staying over, I'd show up at a friend or boyfriend's home with a supply so I'd be assured a cold one in the morning, and keep bottles stashed in office desk drawers just in case the vending machine ran out. My attempts to quit were a running joke with friends, but truly, it hurt - both physically and psychically. I shook and worried and my head pounded. I'm an exceptionally friendly person (or at least I try to be), but I was crabby and short with people I love and I'm convinced it wasn't just the caffeine. That, I could get anywhere. There is something specifically in Diet Coke that pushes buttons in me that others might simply be missing. Lucky them; this was humiliating. And then the Sodastream happened. I'd wanted this magical machine for ages, but couldn't justify the counter space or the purchase price. It is simply a carbonation device - screw a specially fitted bottle of plain tap water onto a nozzle, press a button, and release. Some people choose to augment the water with flavored syrups, but as it turns out, I'm a purist. Who'd have guessed? My husband presented me with one of these for Christmas, and I appreciated the novelty. It makes a comical little honking sound upon operation, and one can opt for everything from a mild sparkle to a riotous, nose-tickling rush of bubbles. I began drinking a glass or two of carbonated water a day, then three or four or more and it wasn't until I tripped over an unopened bottle of Diet Coke on the kitchen floor one day that I realized I hadn't bought any for weeks. I have no idea how I was released from diet cola's hold, but I opt for seltzer or water in or out of the house every time now. I haven't supplanted the caffeine or the sweetness with anything else, and the most I'll adulterate the sparkling water is by adding a dash or two of Fee Brothers peach or celery flavored bitters or a dash of Tabasco sauce, because I have really odd flavor issues. I'll chalk it up to a fizz addiction which is - lame, I admit, but I'll take it. Tallied up, that's a savings of (with New York City pricing) $850 a year at the very low end of an estimate and a cool grand or more if we're figuring in taxes and bottle deposit - not to mention the 400 or more plastic and metal containers I'm no longer chucking willy-nilly at the planet. That's pretty darned cool to me. I certainly don't mind if folks around me are having a Diet Coke and a smile. I just won't be chilling out with them - for now. |
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Soda is cross.
It's too swet and sticky,and leaves this slimey feeling in your mouth.
yuck yuck yuck
when i was in army basic training we (of course) were not allowed to have sodas. i was drinking a lot of dr pepper before i went in so that kinda sucked...but i managed to get ahold of a dr pepper bottle lid and keep in hidden in my clothes so i could take it out and sniff it...i could almost taste it...and then the day i graduated i drank two liters of dp in less that 10 minutes and my bladder couldnt handle it after drinking only water for so long...ever since then i've been able to cut back, but i still treat myself. no, it's not an addiction, but it is amazing...and diet dp is TERRIBLE those commercials are LIARS.
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I avoid aspartame like the plaque, but I'm stuck on the reg. stuff. Still looking for a healthy replacement to regular coke... *sigh*
How do you avoid plaque? Isn't that why you regularly go to a dentist?
I'm addicted to the leaded Coke. I just can't kick it. And to be honest, I don't want to.
I am diet coke free for 6 weeks now. The 1st week was the hardest. I didn't realize how sluggish I would be without that extra caffeine, but I am. I am glad I stopped my 2 litter a day for 32 years habit!
I started drinking 2 liter bottles of seltzer water because I couldn't afford the coke. To my amazement after the 2nd bottle I didn't want the coke anymore. I've been addicted to seltzer water ever since, but it's a helluva lot healthier than coke. p.s. if you have a choice, most people can't tell the difference between club soda and seltzer water. They are basically the same but club soda has sodium added to it. Since most Americans get too much sodium, well, you figure it out.
I knew a guy who came in the grocery store, where I worked, and would buy two two liters of coke and be back an hour later buying two more.
One time he drank a six pack of diet coke while standing around talking to me,the man had to have a cast iron stomach.
Can I just say that I love the author used the term "DC"... in college that was my roommates' term for Diet Coke because we were all so addicted. Text messages: DC at home? Commonly heard in conversation: Want to do a DC run?
Haha. I wasn't as addicted as this poor girl – if I have Sprite Zero, diet A&W or other sodas in the house I can go off DC for a long period of time – but on average I drink 2 cans a day and if I haven't had any soda in a while, anytime i'm in my car I consider going through the nearest drive-thru for a big 32-oz large, light ice DC. :)
I am a coke addict. I have never gotten into diet coke. But I am the same as the author on my addiction to coke. I don't drink coffee so I have coke instead to wake up. But, I will drink it with brreakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks...I can't stop. Maybe I will try the carbonated water trick. I really need to stop. My son is always making fun of me when I get a coke because he always sees me drinking it with meals. Help!!
I was a coke addict.. very particular too, I had to have the 20 oz bottles, not the cans or the 2-liters or the 1-liter or 16 ouncers. To me, they tasted different. Anyway, I kicked it by buying the flavored bottle water for about 70 cents for a liter at Wal Mart. They come in a lot of flavors I like including Mandarin Orange and Golden Peach. The hard part about finding a substitute is I don't like a ton of carbonation and I like something that still tastes good once it's at room temperature. The Wal Mart bottles would last me longer and they also had zero calories. I'll still have a coke every few weeks or so, but it's a far cry from when I'd go through a six pack in a day.
I am a Diet Coke addict that got pregnant and had to quit. So that's one way to stop I guess. I still sneak one sometimes... there are days when it's the only way to make it through. (My doc's ok with that.)
If you kick caffeine, you can easily stop drinking coca cola and any other caffeinated beverage.
I rarely drink soda, but when i do, I insist on sugar beverages only, no corn syrup, and only tasty, naturally flavored beverages like gourmet root beer, or mexican fruit sodas.
I treat soda like candy, its a treat, not a way to get your H20 for the day.
I have switched to seltzer water or club soda with two fresh limes squeezed into it. The fizziness gets rid of the craving. And sans limes, it has ZERO calories.
Heh, I'm having a very similar experience with my sodastream. The soda junkies in my office bought one together when we moved to a new building, and I liked it so much I got one for home. I still do drink diet coke in the morning, but I've cut back a LOT, and now I'm more likely to drink seltzer for the rest of the day (vs. more diet coke or caffeine-free diet coke).
I am going to have to try that tabasco idea...
I used to drink at least 6 Diet Cokes per day (in ice – VERY cold). Loved them. Could not imagine life without DC.
Unfortunately, after 20 years of drinking Diet Coke, I noticed the mucus in my sinuses had gotten so bad I had to go to the doctor. The post nasal drip was so bad it was burning up my vocal cords. The doctor said I would have to take steroids for the rest of my life.
A friend of mine suggested I stop the Diet Coke for 48 hours and see what happened. When I did, 70% of the mucus cleared. That was the last Diet Coke I ever drank. After about a year I had the clearest nasal passages on the planet. They have stayed that way (5 years and counting).
Take up nice cold water and tea. Your body will thank you.
I like to dig in and then eat my Boogers....What will I do if I quit DC?
Maybe you will grow a brain...
I quit drinking alcohol 13 years and 4 months ago and recreational drugs several years before that, but regular Coke – OMG – how many times have I said "OK, tomorrow is the day I stop...." or "this is absolutely the last one." There have been thousands of times. I used to drink a lot of water but now I have coke from morning til night. The times I've made some progress is in drinking the zero calorie vitamin water drinks. They are delicious, but nothing has that fresh, aha feeling of the first drink of a coke. I can hardly believe what it's come to and I know coke is what has put on the weight. Sugar is most definitely addicting and from what I understand there's a close correlation between alcohol addiction and too much sugar consumption. I currently have a refrigerator full of ice tea but I know I'll get some coke when I go on my errands later. I find it incredibly hard to quit and I certainly speak as one who is a recovering alcoholic and can't have even one taste of alcohol. Anything with aspartame gives me headaches and I hate the taste of diet coke anyway. Maybe for some it's a bad habit, but for others it's truly an addiction and emotional comfort. It's very tough to quit but I think my kidneys are starting to have a problem and hopefully that will give me the motivation to quit this altogether too heavenly drink.
I was up to 14 cans of Diet Coke a day! I had high blood pressure, headaches all the time, and couldn't sleep. But NOOOO!, it couldn't be the diet coke causing the issue? One day I decided to quit drinking it all together just to see if I'd miss it. I had a heck of a headache for two weeks and was irritable (OK, more than usual) and couldn't sleep. Then after the two weeks it's like a light switch went off. The blood pressure is now very low, I sleep all night and no more headaches! But I'm sure it is a coincidence, no the lack of Diet Coke! LOL
No, I don't think it was the DC!
I used to drink 4 or 5 Cokes a day, I slowly started replacing with water, Iced water, real real cold. It didn't help me loose any weight cause I still eat like a fat pig but at least I took that sugar out of my diet.....Diet...What a strange word really...LOL.
That's right, ice cold water replaced Coke and I dropped 10 lbs in a year.
I've had a couple of people tell me that drinking cold water is bad for you, too. Makes the duodenum work harder to heat up the water so you can metabolize it. KeeeristonnaCross. We're all gonna die anyway. I'll take my chances with a body part that looks like it belongs to Schwarzenegger. Thanks.
As a dietitian with the Calorie Control Council, I am very concerned about the misinformation presented in this article. With more than half of Americans overweight or obese, diet sodas are a safe, simple and effective tool in helping to manage weight and caloric intake. Further, the information presented in this article is not reflective of the weight of the scientific evidence nor the position of leading health and regulatory agencies such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the American Dietetic Association and the American Diabetes Association. (www.caloriecontrol.org/what-experts-say) Low-calorie sweeteners used in diet sodas have been very thoroughly studied and found to be safe time and time again.
Most health professionals would agree that making small, lifestyle changes is one of the best ways to lose weight and keep that weight off. It is unfortunate that this article contains misinformation that may unduly alarm people when diet sodas (and other foods that use sugar-substitutes) can be a simple (and safe) lifestyle change that can easily be incorporated into an overall healthy eating plan to manage calories and weight. However, they are not a magic bullet but rather a tool to incorporate into an overall healthy lifestyle that includes exercise and a balanced diet.
– Beth Hubrich, RD with the Calorie Control Council
Well, George, how DOES a man your age stay in such good condition?"
"I don't eat."
"You don't eat?"
"No. But it hasn't affected my appetite any."
Would you mind being a little more specific about exactly what is incorrect about this article? Without specifics, I'm afraid it would be foolish to trust statements from a representative of the diet foods industry such as yourself. You have an agenda as part of the Calorie Control Council industry association.
It would seem that habits such as this and caffeine addiction (I hope you aren't seriously suggesting caffeine is not addictive) can cause the symptoms this author describes. Wouldn't you agree?
A thank you to Beth Hubrich, RD, for a little reason to leaven such idiocies as "studies have shown that the artificial sweeteners cause the body to store more fat than naturally occuring sugars", typically posted as unattributed assertions.
"Seriously" the topic below is about a Purdue study on rats with yogurt. See my post below for more info.
Read "Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills" (written by an MD). You are either ignorant or lying.
I don't think this post is meant for people who are substituting Diet Coke for sugary coke as a weightloss mechanism. I have been trying to stop drinking Diet Coke for years now... and I can't. I really can't. And because I find myself making my lunch choices based on where I can get a Diet Coke, I have to say that in my heart, I know I will lose weight when I finally kick the habit for good. Today I am on Day 5.
Hi Beth,
Your comments are a bit troubling because they are vague and unsubstantiated. The experts and organizations that you cite as the official word on whether something is safe or not have histories of misconceptions and mistakes. The FDA declared DES and Thalidomide safe in the 70's and the result was miscarriages and children born with flippers instead of arms and legs. The list of mistakes and reversals is huge and sadly the results of these mistakes are irreversible. Any drug or chemical that is introduced into the body will have some effect either immediate (allergy) or cumulative. Aspartame is an artificial sweetener deemed safe, well so was Saccharin until they decide that it might cause cancer in rats (what doesn't). There are studies that say Aspartame can damage neurons in the brain. The phosphates in Coke rob your bones of calcium, here's an experiment for you to try...take some baby teeth (human) and drop them in a glass of Coke and in 3 days they will be mush and in 5 days they will disappear. The Sodium Benzoate preservative has hundreds of studies on it where they say it has the ability to switch off vital parts of your DNA. Now before you pooh pooh the studies I have mentioned, please keep in mind that I wouldn't trust the FDA to help me make an informed decision about anything. They have too much pressure from big money forces to get something approved.
You have to do your own research and swim against the tide a bit. Diet Coke is sort of like a weak poison that builds up over the years and insidiously hooking you into with the caffeine. I realize you are a Registered Dietitian but that only goes so far. The person who wrote the article is writing from real life experience. You can't beat real life from laboratory life. If you want to know more about me Beth, I wrote a reply on sept 28th around 4 oclock...it starts with , I'm 54.... So no offense intended but I think the person who wrote the article did a service and it was for people with an addiction that would like to see how other people deal with it.
Ma'am, it is obvious that you are a shill for the artificial sweetener industry. Aspartame and Sucralose are the worst kind of garbage you can put into your body. I wlll stick with water and unsweetened iced tea, thank you very much.
Well, I won't be going to YOU. I used to believe that I was getting a free pass by indulging in numerous Diet Pepsis a day. Problem was, either the caffeine or the reaction my body was having to the perceived sweetness I was ingesting would cause my blood sugar to crash–hard–at which point I would eat anything just to stop shaking. Since I've given up DIET Pepsi, I am dropping weight–I drink seltzer water instead or homemade tea, which, even though it has caffeine, does not result in the same crash as diet soda did.
I'll say one thing ... I look around my office and see all these fat bottomed chicks knocking back 4 or 5 REAL Cokes a day and then I laugh when they wonder why their behinds are getting so huge. There's a couple hundred calories in each can, as opposed to zero in a diet drink. And don't give me that garbage about you can't stand the taste of artificial sweetners. you can learn to like anything if you really want to. Course, if that fat butt is that important to you, just keep on a chuggin' ...
Actually, studies have shown that the artificial sweeteners cause the body to store more fat than naturally occuring sugars (such as sucrose, dextrose, fructose, etc.) do. Drinking diet sodas is not better for you and drinking real Coke will not cause you to gain more weight than drinking Diet Coke.
Where are you getting your facts from? Have you seen the calorie count on a can of regular Coke? And you say that "... drinking real Coke will not cause you to gain more weight than drinking Diet Coke." A couple hundred calories vs. ZERO calories and there's no difference in weight gain???? Sorry, but you'll have to explain that one to me ...
Anally extruded facts are next to impossible to prove.
This is correct.
The particulars (Author, book or journal title, publisher, date) of just one of your referenced "studies".
No, I didn't think so.
All, this person is referring to the Purdue University Ingestive Behavior Research Center's rat study published by Drs. Swithers and Davidson which compared yogurt sweetened with Saccharin to that sweetened with sugar. They found rats who consumed the Saccharin yogurt later ate more calories in other food and gained more weight than the rats that ate the sugary yogurt. A simple google search will find this paper for you if you are interested.
I also must say that one rat study doesn't make something true, but it is just a little piece of the puzzle...all part of this messy scientific process we call progress :)
"They found rats who consumed the Saccharin (a specific sweetener) yogurt later ATE more calories in other food..."
is indeed plausible, but that's hardly the same as
"...artificial sweeteners (all?) cause the body to STORE more fat than naturally occuring sugars", now is it?
Anyhow, thank you for the (more accurate) reference.
M. Drop, couldn't agree more. Plus, rats are not humans. However, the study cannot be discarded as hooey when considering the relationship between weight gain and food consumption.
i was a life-long Coke "addict" up until recently; i'm in my early 40s. i could never stand the artificial sweetener taste of diet products. i loved the burn of my specific tasting carbonated soda. but my habit, while still daily, had dwindled to just a few shots with a meal; i like drinking something of flavor if eating something with a bite that hangs on. i realized the sweetness of Coke had become a turnoff. i like my sweets, but drinking that sugary syrup had become virtually disgusting to me. so i quit. i drink unsweetened green/white tea now, delish and healthy (and yes, naturally caffeinated). i didn't really miss the Coke. what i missed was...the burrrn. so i get my fix of carbonation now only when i have a beer or insert some seltzer water into the mix. i love that i'm not just drinking pure cr@p anymore.
You're all a bunch of pansies!
I drink 10-12 Diet Mountain Dews a day. It's my only vice and I ain't givin' it up. You think you're on a caffeine high with Diet Coke? Compared to Diet Mountain Dew that's like drinking bottled water or tap water (both of which i despise).
tellin' em, by God!
so you are consuming around 200lbs of sugar per year. diabetic yet?
Read the post again, Bill. I said DIET Mountain Dew: Zero sugar, Zero carbs, Zero calories. I believe that comes out to 0 pounds of sugar per year.
And yes, I am diabetic. Have been for 41 years. Which is why I drink DIET drinks, not sugary real ones.
Bill got owned.
Soda and especially diet soda has aspartame, an addictive neurotoxin that first damages the nervous system and then goes on to damage all of the body systems.
Ok so all of you saying you CAN'T be addicted to Coke or Pepsi, you are wrong!!! I don't drink either one of them just because I don't really like it. But my dad was an addict but stopped drinking it a little more than 10 years ago. He would drink about 12 to 13 one Litre of Pepsi a day and sometimes more! He literally always had one in hand and one on his night table when he was sleeping. It's just the one day when his doctor advised him that if he didn't stop or reduce his amount of Pepsi he would die of either heart attack, diabetes or wtv. My dad got scared as hell and just stopped it cold turkey! He never had a sip ever since but he craves it every day even after 10 years. So if you don't call that an addiction than I don't know what you're talking about! And you don't need to seel your body or stuff wtv to be addicted to something... Pepsi & coke are ALOT cheaper than drugs btw!! lol
*sell
to donate my body to Medical Science, but they wouldn't take it, so I gave it to English Literature.
Sadly, I'm a regular Coke addict (Diet Coke tastes too diet for me). I once had a 5-6 can/day addiction that I kicked cold turkey. Then after about 7 months I had a BAD day and chugged a can as if it were the oxygen I needed in order to breathe. Now I have to limit myself to 2 cans a day. I don't know if I'll ever get that delicious bright red shiny monkey off of my back.
you people are such weak minded creeps. addicted to cola and whining about it? get a clue, you dont have an addiction, it's called a bad habit, if you want an addiction that you can moan about to total strangers then start drinking, smoking or shooting ron
Have a coke and a smile ...
I'd like to buy the world a Coke, and keep it company.
...by, God, you weak-sister pantywaists!
Go out and get yourselves a real MAN'S addiction, and THEN come back and moan to me!
Like p0rn?
...come back and moan...
Eh, never mind.
Hey man, ...DON'T LOOK, don't look, moron!... can I cop some ron?
I haven't seen anyone mention specifically MCDONALDS DIET COKE!! It's the best. I don't even care about other diet coke. What's lurking in McDonalds diet coke?! Special sauce?
It's the saccharin. It's in alot of fountain-dispensed Diet Coke. McD's, 7-11, various restaurants.
You are absolutely right! It is the BEST. I don't know why either. I thought it was just me....
Most people don't realize it, but the F-1 engines in the Saturn V rocket were powered by Diet Coke and Mentos.
it's the caramel coloring in any soda that is one of the causes of bladder cancer.
...caramel covered apples at Halloween cause bladder cancer?
My mother loves diet coke. My husband favors it. I, personally, am "one of those people" who cannot abide by the taste of diet soda. Diet Dr. Pepper does NOT taste just like regular Dr. Pepper.
YES IT DOES!!! YOU TAKE THAT BACK!!!
lol
...to air. Seriously, I can't go for more than three or four MINUTES without a fix.
This article is a slap in the face of anyone who has had a real addiction. When you're selling your body for Diet Coke, come back and write an article. When you're stealing from your family to pay for DC, then call it an addiction.
If you'd steal your mother's insulin to sell for a fix...
...you may be an addict.
If the only thing an addict has to worry about is the company they're keeping under the umbrella term "addiction" then they're probably not focusing on their recover enough. I'm sorry you're suffering either as an addict or as a victim of an addicted persons behavior, but that doesn't give you the right to be rude to someone who is addressing, in a mildly humorous way, one of the leading causal agents of obesity, diabetes, and other medical problems. Before I started limiting myself to a couple of 20oz bottles a day I was drinking more than two 2 liters. It damages teeth, can reduce calcium, and a host of other stupid things.
PS: or you could just chill out and let us all deal with our crap the best way we can while you deal with your crap.
I just didn't think this article was funny at all, not even in a mildly humorous way. I found it trite bordering on idiocy. It's typical "waaaaa meee!" behavior put into words.
I understand you too were "addicted" to soda, so you're biased. However, I've yet to see anyone in rehab for Diet Coke. When you see one, tell me. The article also mentions her boyfriend and later her husband, so she was able to have healthy relationships with "non addicts" while she was "addicted". Yeah that sounds about right for an addiction. This Diet Coke addiction is more of this generations ridiculous attention seeking behavior.
Your agitation over this borders on ideological correctness run amok.
Here, we talk of being addicted to football; and, indeed, football as a religion, without even the fundamentalists taking offense.
More to the point, Diet Coke is legal and hardly consciousness-distorting, so the anology is indeed lightly humorous.
Certain businesses are referred to as "cash cows". Should dairymen be upset?
Don't forget what was in the original formula, or what the name Coke derives from.
So sick of hearing every bad habit called an "addiction."
thank you for saying that. I'm over it too.
I think the term "addiction" is being used in a more sarcastic manner here. It's not like this woman is going through some sort of 12 step program to get away from it.
After moving to Germany due to the military, there's nothing quite like Cola Light – the European version of Diet Coke. OMG, soooo much better than the American Diet Coke crap. They can't use the same chemical sugars over here, so the diet sodas are actually better for you than the US/Canada sodas.
Coca-cola Lite is the worst! It has a very bitter after taste. I swear, I think they use sweet-n-low as a sweetener. Do they even sell Sweet-n-low still in the US??? Who would use that for anything now that they have nutrasweet and spenda!
Can you guys just drink water.
No
Congratulations! You're lucky you quit so easily. It took me three years of consistently trying to defeat my Diet Pepsi addiction. Haven't had any in ten years and my heath improved drastically. I am absolutely certain that that poison is addictive. I experienced severe withdrawal symptoms every time I tried to quit. Glad I kept trying.
Congrats to all the people that have kicked their soda habit – whether it's regular or diet! Regular has too much sugar and diet is a CAN FULL OF CHEMICALS. Diet soda – no calories, no sugar, no natural flavors – ewww.
I used to be a mild addict – maybe a can or two of Diet Coke a day, but I have known people who drank 12 cans a day or more, a couple of 2 liter bottles, etc.
You have to stop and think about what you're doing to yourself and your wallet! If you need caffeine you can get it from a natural source – coffee or tea. Iced tea with lemon, sugar or not, is so delicious and cheap and easy to make.
My AHA moment was in the supermarket when I realized how much $$$ I was spending on soda – really, really stupid!
Now my family drinks water, milk, iced tea, fruit juice, lemonade and seltzer water. It's so much cheaper and so much healthier.
All those chemicals that make up a can of soda cannot be good for you no matter what the experts say!
Every material substance in nature, -every one-, is a chemical. (Purists might exclude the elements).
Sucrose is a chemical.
Water is a chemical.
The alloy aluminum the can is made of is a chemical.
Apples are made of thousands of chemicals.
D@mn straight, Skippy! Take that naysayers!
Yeah!
Damn straight!
All power to the people!
...er, and do what with it?
(But that would be illegal, my name's not Skippy)
No offense intended. Just caught up in the moment of reading rational post for a change.
Got it.
Thanks.
NEWS FLASH: ALL THOSE BUBBLES ARE WHAT CAN GIVE YOU KIDNEYS STONES AND INFECTIONS. Diet Coke also has the sweetness factor and you might still gain weight from it but it's the bubbles of carbonation you have to be concerned about.
Actually, it's the caramel coloring that gets deposited in your kidneys as sediment that causes stones – I've had them myself. Any dark colored drink like teas and sodas can do this. The bubbles don't cause stones. I think they're bad for you for entirely different reasons, but they don't leave deposits in your kidneys to form stones.
Yup, I was gonna say – I had already cut WAY back on my soda consumption since leaving college, but the first time I ended up in the hospital with a kidney stone I essentially completely cut sodas entirely. I might have part of one from time to time, but they usually taste way to sweet/syrup-y to finish. Not worth that kinda of pain.
Is it a pop, soda, soft drink, or fizzy water?/
Whatever you call it, it's garbage.
I used 2 liters of soda everyday. I realise that it was not good for me when i gain so much weight. I didn't realise until someone told me that u seem to gain like 10 pounds. So i stop and start exercising. Stop eating sweets all together. now I am at a weight i haven't seen myself in like forever.
I used to have a Diet Coke addiction myself. I would drink about 3 liters a day. My boyfriend drank regular Coke, and could drink a 24 pack of cans in 2 days. One day, we were looking at expenses and decided to try giving up soda. That was in April. Neither of us has bought a soda since then. I have consumed one soda since then, at a company event, and I didn't even finish the can. I will still drink an occasional sweet tea from McDonalds or mug of regular tea, but otherwise I haven't even had caffeine since then, and I was a pretty hardcore caffeine addict. I actually prefer drinking water now, although I will admit I used an empty soda bottle to drink water from as a psychological crutch for a little while. My boyfriend drinks a lot of chocolate milk and water, but he also hasn't had soda since April. We are saving, on average, about $30 per week. And it's a lot easier to get my groceries in the house since I'm not carrying in all that soda.
I found an extremely effective way to end an addiction to Diet Coke. I switched to Coke Zero–haven't wanted a Diet Coke since.
Obama is the antichrist and drinking diet coke will send you to hell.
What The F***?
geezus dude – you sound like you just couldn't have waited to say that...
"And I broke the seventh seal, and saw that his tongue was like fire, and Diet Coke was around his waist."
I dunno, somehow this isn't as scary as the original.
I tried the SODASTREAM and it does NOT taste the same as a diet coke. Its not bad per se but still does not have that "kick"
as a DC. I have been been drinking the small 12 oz plastic bottles so I do LIMIT myself somewhat...who am I kiddin' LOL!
I would love to drink more water, but unless I am only 2 foot from a bathroom, I do not. I cannot work and spend half my day in the bathroom due to the effects when I drink a bottle of water. My friends tell me that my kidneys and bladder will adjust and eventually I won't be running to the bathroom, but it isn't happening for me.
I only drink rainwater and pure grain alcohol, to keep my bodily fluids pure.
Mixing pure rain & grain alcohol dilutes the alcohol. Sacrilege.
Purity Of Essence!
Women... women sense my power, and they seek the life essence. I do not avoid women, Mandrake, but I do deny them my essence.
Diet Coke with Splenda is terrific.
You broke the Strangelove Spell.
The Zen-like banality of your comment is strangely pure, however.
Well too bad for us pure coke addicts. It is the fructose corn syrup, which is not in the diet version, which is what keeps us hooked, and is really bad for your health.
I tried snorting Coke and it it just ran out of my mouth. Whatever ...
The twitch in my eye left after I quit Diet Pepsi, I now drink 8 bottles of water daily...ahhh I feel wonderful;)
I drink regular Coke too, and I've never had to pause after a swig to collect myself. Rarely even an "ahh" like the commercials. She makes it sound like opium so either one of our brains isn't right, or I need to learn to tolerate the taste of aspartame.
Was saying ahh for the water. I feel like a million bucks now. Now more headaches.
I meant no no more headaches. Found out jayman that water washes out the brain of all chemicals. Our brains are 90% water. Which is prob why ppl get addicted to the stuff.
Ah, Paula, actually, our brains are less than seventy per cent water.
Coke is the most hated company in latin america they murder their workers for wanting better working conditions open your eyes people and stop supporting these companies that violate human rights Coke paints a pretty picture thanks to their Public Relations team but look at the horror they enslave apon their workers
...the sweetener in Latin Coca-Cola is ground-up workers?
Wow, that IS evil.
BTW, may I suggest that all you diet Coke "addicts" either volunteer somewhere where people are fighting REAL addictions, or somewhere where the people's only beverage is filthy water from a muddy waterhole. This kind of nonsense makes me ashamed of Americans.
BTW, may I suggest that you lighten up?
Completely agree with you, TJ.
I agree TJ for goodness sakes...
OMG JFT, WTF over?
I'm surprised the author has any kidneys left – and what's more, there was no habit kicked, just traded a cheaper version of carbonated crud for Diet Coke. Sort of like substituting your Tanqueray with Thunderbird.
If all she is drinking is carbonated water (with the occasional dash of a flavor) then she is drinking a much healthier beverage than soda. Certainly no worse than people who are adding crystal light or other flavors to their water. All that the machine adds to the water is CO2. No syrup or anything else, unless you add a flavor.
there isnt any proof about carbonated beverages causing kidney problems
Right, and substituting religion for alcoholism (AA) isn't the same in any way, is it.
Guess it's better than being addicted to the 'other' coke...but it's not a healthy addition to the diet, either. Frankly, I can't stand carbonated drinks, the stuff is just plain nasty so I can't imagine drinking two or three liters daily. I'll stick with my cup of coffee each morning.
I did not read this article at all, however I believe he's completely correct, except when he's not.
I did not read the article, just want to say as addicted I as was to any carbonated beverage, one day I decided no more of that and this Dec will be four years since I last had one. Not once in this whole time had even a sip. I wish I was that strong regarding other matters, lol.
Wow! 52% of the people who read this article admit an addiction to Diet Coke. I am, and I've personally met several others who are. We discuss that this is very specific to Diet Coke- no other Coke product, no other beverage. I don't understand why that would be, but I'm here to tell you, it's very real. Diet Coke drinkers have diet Coke as their primary source of liquid intake. Someday I'll make the decision to quit. Maybe someday the Coca-Cola company will tell us what's really in there that gets us all so addicted.
It's one of the ingredients on the can, the one that u really can't pronounce unless you are into chemicals. It's the hook. I feel like if you can't pronounce it, what's it doing in my body. But once I got off it, I can't ever go back, I had a twitch, my head hurt all the time, and I was gassy. I lost 40 pounds in 6 months just drinking 8 bottles of water a day, as I do now. What a difference:) And I have cash in my pocket like never before...LOL
I drank until I threw up and then I drank some more on the weekend during NFL services, on holidays, birthdays until I had a major stroke. I now have what doctor calls,"beer heart", and I have not taken a drink in 10yrs this October but before you congratulate me I smoke and it's been 4 days since my last. At the hospital where I go for check ups I have to say excuse me to all the employees that's smoking in front of the building and I can't help but notice some whom are partially paralyzed like i am. I bum a smoke.
ASPARTAME – IN ALL DIET DRINKS IS A POISON. Look it up!
YOU look it up:
http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/aspartame.asp
found to be false
http://www.snopes.com/humor/iftrue/antpoison.asp
found to be ... wait for it .... false
Site a reputable source for your alarmist claim and we'll talk. Otherwise stfu.
I don't need a study to prove that every time I drink anything with aspatame in it, I get headaches. Not just soft drinks, but anything. Study concluded, now go talk to yourself
Hahaha! The best!
That's not what her post was about. The headache issue was addressed in another comment. Anything taken out of context can be made to sound stupid. KUTGW.
This was a great article! I think you really captured the intensity of those of us who are addicted to diet coke and those who don't understand it all that much. I got to the point that I was drinking so much diet coke that I had gone several weeks without drinking water (I had survived on diet coke as my only form of hydration). So, in an effort to lose weight not only have I reduced my calorie intake, but I have also drastically reduced the amount of diet coke I drink in a week. I have gone from 80-100 ounces of diet coke a day to about 40 ounces a week. The interesting thing is that now that I am drinking a ton of water (like 120 ounces a day) the taste of diet coke seems different to me. Strange, huh? Anyways, I hope others out there will be strong if they feel the conviction to cut back or eliminate diet coke from their diet.
Take care,
Sara Anderson
http://foodaddictionconfessions.wordpress.com/
Wow, I can't believe the seriousness of most of the comments. It's as if everyone is in a giant AA chat room. I have 20 years of sobriety from alcohol. When I quit drinking I started drinking caffeine-free diet Coke; about a 12 pack a day. Guess that would put me in the "addict" category for addiction to soft drinks. Comparing soft drink "addiction" to alcohol or drug addiction is just plain ridiculous. It's as if everybody wants to be able to say they have an "addiction." My friends and family and I are all grateful that I am sober and drinking a 12 pack of of caffeine-free diet Coke. If I hadn't stopped drinking when I did I would probably be dead by now, or in very grave health. However, I am healthy and have never had any problem with my soft drink "addiction" as I did when I was drinking. Caffeine is addicting and withdrawal from it isn't pleasant but it in no way compares to alcohol withdrawal. Without medical help alcohol withdrawal has the highest mortality rate than any other drug.
Had an addiction to Crystal Light Ice Tea.I drankd it like water. I had some strange side effects. Body Aches, muscle spasms, headaches, as did my hubsand and kids. We stopped the Crystal light and all symptoms cleard up.
Thank you so much for the plug for Fee Brothers Bitters. We have 13 different flavors. Find us on the web at http://www.feebrothers.com
There is absolutely nothing other than water that you could drink to such excess and not have serious health problems. I'm sure your diet was out of balance as a result of your habit and that, too, leads to health problems. There is no reason not to enjoy Diet Coke in moderation and as part of an otherwise balanced diet. It appears you were doing neither of those things.
While fun to read, this "tongue in cheek" piece has no scientific merit and only adds to misinformation about addiction. I’m a registered dietitian and believe moderation is the key to success when it comes to eating and drinking. Research shows that sensible amounts of diet soda and low-cal sweeteners are fine. Drinking four liters of anything a day is excessive and I would tell that to my patients and clients. Instead of self-diagnosing our addiction du jour, perhaps we could all just use some common sense.
Carol Sloan, RD consultant to the food and beverage industry including Coca Cola
I am the same way with Diet Dr. Pepper OR diet Mtn. Dew. Have to have it, or i get ill and shaky.
Two hours in a 350 degree oven works
If the fact hat soda is about the worst possible beverage you can drink doesn't do the trick not much will.
Worse than booz? That would explain all those Diet Coke Anonymous meetings I keep hearing about. Oh, wait .... those are AA meetings. Silly me.
Oh, the drink...If that's an addiction put me in rehab for eating lunch.
Hubby's a fizz addict. It's definitely the "fizz" he's addicted to. Doesn't matter if it's 7-Up or Sprite (no caffeine), or Coke or (for preference) Dr. Pepper – he's got to have it. I just drink filtered water out of the tap, so I guess we balance out.
This is interesting. I have always been a Coke drinker, switched to diet many years ago, but nothing to the level discussed by the writer and many of those commenting here. I cannot imagine needing a coke (diet or otherwise) so badly that I would hoard it, for fear that there would not be one when I need it. I also cannot imagine drinking multiple cans or 2-liter bottles of anything in one day. In fact I can't buy the stuff in 2-liter bottles because I don't drink it fast enough and it goes flat. I guess it goes to show we all have our little quirks in life. As for people saying how disgusting diet coke is, fine, then don't drink it, you have that choice. But don't be-little others because they happen to enjoy it. And for those who say it will cause cancer, kidney stones, headaches, etc., everyone is different. Perhaps it will cause those things for some people, but not all. Some people are allergic to peanuts, so they don't eat them. If you are susceptible to the diseases drinking a soda might cause, don't drink it.
Diet Coke? Not around my house. But I will confess to a major addiction to the real Coke... four or five cans a day.
I thought this article was going to be about kicking a real coke habit...You know, the kind that costs $50 a day and gives you bloody noses. Quit whining about being addicted to a freaking beverage. Try getting off cocaine and you'll learn what a REAL addiction is. In the mean time just switch to coffee you big sissy!
You expected an article under "Eatocracy" to be about cocaine?
Have you ever had to suck a ¢°¢k for weed...no? Didn't think so
Bob Saget- Half Baked
Did you seriously just talk about a "$50 a day" coke habit?
What kind of weak-minded loser gets in trouble on $50 worth of coke per day??
Seriouisly, I spend more than $50 on gas driving to pick up my blow.
I bet you are addicted to porn, junk food and ebay, too.
It's your mind, loser, not the substance....
Actually, caffeine (in D. Coke) is one of the most addictive drugs we have–it's also one of the most socially accepted drugs we have. Fortunately, the effects of caffeine are not as bad as those of hard drugs.
What the hey? If it don't get ya a buzz, why drink it?
Well one day you'll figure this question out.
I'm a Pepsi drinker. Until several months ago, I drank a couple of liters of (regular) Pepsi a week, even knowing sugar's not healthy. 6 months ago my FBS (fasting glucose) sugar was over 100, and my A1c was high in the risk range for diabetes. That was the motivation! I'm terrified of the idea of diabetic blindness or neuropathy. I've drastically cut down on sweets, and have reluctantly switched to diet soda or flavored seltzer water. It's taken this long for me to get used to the taste. I let myself have sugar'd soda only once or twice a month, and my recent bloods were FBS slightly under 100 (yay!!) and A1C reduced (although still in the risk range).
I quit drinking soda 6 weeks ago and I lost ten pounds. Soda's not good for the human body.
Contrary to what so many want to believe, not all Type 2 Diabetics became diabetic because of weight or diet. Many have a family history of it. In my case at least some in every generation for the past 150 years on one side of my family have been diagnosed in middle age with Type 2 Diabetes-many were not overweight and did not eat crap. Quitting Pepsi may not keep you from developing Diabetes, but it WILL keep your glucose from being out of control, which is key. Diabetic Retinopathy (which leads to blindness), neuropathy, etc are generally caused by out of control or poorly controlled glucose levels over a long period of time. My great grandmother was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes when she was in her 40s-she died at age 92, having never had retinopathy and only mild neuropathy (a little tingling in her legs) toward the end. If you can reverse your "pre-diabetic" condition great. If you can't, it's not the end of the world. How you control your glucose levels will largely determine whether you develop complications, not the disease in and of itself.
I drink a 2 liter bottle of Coca-Cola a day and have for the past 24 years. It's my preferred beverage.
I haven't gained the weight some of you folks are talking about, even after having 4 kids, so what are you fatsos doing wrong? (Hint: I get exercise on a regular basis).
Good for you but do you have to be so nasty? It's not that serious.It's just about Diet Coke.
Bet your arteries are clogged with that stuff on the can you can't pronounce. "Preferred beverage?" It's chemicals, toots. You are drinking sugar/salt combo. 24 years? That's around $145,000. Lots of money to get your arteries clogged sugarcakes. Feel sorry for ya. And you may not have gained weight, but I bet you are gassy.
RachelM, some people get more exercise than others, some have higher metabolisms than others and some are just plain freaks of nature. One thing is for sure however, nastiness and negativity always comes back to bite you in the end. We're all so happy that you've been drinking a 2 liter bottle of regular Coke for 24 years without any problems. However, there is the distinct possibility that your luck may run out on you. As some have said, your arteries could be clogged and you don't know it, you could be on the verge of becoming diabetic (when was the last time you had an A1C test?), any number of calamities could be in the making as a result of your habit-you never know. It would be a real shame if you had a stroke or heart attack, or developed complications from undiagnosed Diabetes and you became one of those "Fatsos" you seem to enjoy belittling. Karma's a b--.
I switched from diet coke to cocaine then heroin and crystal meth. Diet coke was my gateway drug. Forget weed that stuff is weak compared to the real high diet coke gives you.
I too, am a hardcore Diet Coke addict. I have had multiple, unsuccessful attempts at quitting in the last 10 years I have been drinking the stuff and the longest I've ever gone without my delicious carbonated beverage is about two months. I use it just as other addicts use their drug- for stress relief, to get going in the morning, to avoid withdrawal, and simply because I love the feel of the carbonation sliding down my throat. I currently drink at least 4 liters a day but am planning another attempt at quitting. I can echo every single line of this story and I appreciate someone sharing this because it's NOT an easy thing to stop. I would venture to say that most addicts know their addiction is bad for them on some level, but it's not that easy to quit when you've relied on something as a crutch for so long. Hopefully this next quit will be for good!!
I am a hardcore Diet Coke addict. I can drink up to 10 cans a day, plus a 24 oz or 2 during the work day. I don't like that people assume that because you drink DIET Coke, you're trying to lose weight. I just really can't stand the taste of regular pop. I've been drinking it since high school. I did quit once, but slowly picked it back up. I don't understand how the Sodastream would help my addiction. It is definitely the caffiene that has me hooked (other than the fact that I really do love the taste). I drink so much of it, that the caffiene doesn't help wake me up, and it doesn't hinder falling asleep...but if I don't have it, my head aches until I drink some. I really would like to kick the habit, but the headaches are killer. And I can't stand the thought of being both Diet Coke and Decaf Diet Coke and mixing them until I'm off. It just seems like double the expense. Any ideas on how to kick it?
I went cold turkey a few months ago. I drank up to 2 liters a day for MANY years and suddenly developed an extreme sensitivity to the caffeine with heart palpitations. After struggling to figure out what it was, I wondered if if was Diet Coke. Much to my surprise, stopping Diet Coke eliminated the symptoms. I had to use lots of Advil to get through the bad headaches, but now I feel great. It's so nice to wake up and not worry about if there is Diet Coke in the house!
I drank diet coke, probably 3 to 5 cans a day, since high school. I also started noticing heart palpitations that seemed to get better when I stopped drinking the stuff. I think people can get sensitive to it over time. I think it's more the sweetener than the caffeine because I still drink 2 cups of coffee a day and that doesn't seem to aggravate the palpitations.
I had an addiction to CocaCola for a long time, not near so serious, but enough that I knew that when it added several unwanted pounds to my body, it was time to quit. I've also seen people who are Dr. Pepper addicts, going through cases a day, with fountain drinks inbetween the cans, and having a stockpile of 2 litres at home as well....aside from the health benefit, I no longer get headahces from needing a caffiene fix.
Another misleading CNN bit. Coke and Diet Coke are not the same. Eliminate sugar in your diet and your body will burn fat. Eat sugar and the body will burn the sugar and store the fat. Real Coke in a can, ice cold, first swig after a bite of pizza.... oral ecstasy. Load another bong and repeat.
Another anti-CNNer who continues to patronize its pages. A baffling irony.
Guess what...diet coke has something worse than sugar: fake sugar. They say that people tend to gain weight when they start drinking diet sodas, probably having something to do with all the crazy chemicals that create the sweet taste without having to list actual sugar on the ingredient list.
Minimalistmenufesto's anthem, "I'd like to teach the world to sneer at Coke and Pepsico." The Cola-nization of the world continues apace as the sugar, salt and fat purveyors make more money and our health declines from circulatory problems and obesity. Can we get a warning lable on their junk food-not a scull and crossbones, but maybe a little chubby, Buda-bellied guy grabbing his chest?
That amount of sugar water that is eating away at your teeth, stomach, bones, and who knows all the other chemicals you can't pronounce is disgusting to even consider. Drink water or wine. Those are the keys to health and longevity. Soda is disgusting and a wast of money and your health.
Diet coke is horrid, I could never get addicted to that. I drink 2 cans of coke/soda a day, I doubt that qualifies as an addiction since theres not much else I can drink for lunch/dinner on a regular basis. I dont crave it any more than I crave certain types of food.
I am probably addicted to water though, I go through several glasses a day and always have to have a glass handy. If I dont have any water handy I start obsessing over it and my mouth becomes really uncomfortable and dry. But I hate drinking water with food...
I have about a Coke a day – and even as a grown woman, I get lectured by my mom about this. I used to drink a lot more, but have gotten more used to drinking plain water instead.
I am 54 and I've been soda free for 4 years. I chain drinked (drank?) 14 cans a day at work (when one was done, another was ready to be opened). I then proceeded to have at least 1 2 liter bottle on weekdays and 2 or 3 during a Sat or Sun.
I cold turkeyed the habit and went through 3 days of detoxing not unlike an alcoholic I assume. I was not an alcoholic due to the fact that I was too busy drinking soda. I had a mindnumbing headache, sweats, chills and the shakes as I came off of the caffeine. My motivation was my wife discussing Sodium Benzoate and the Phosphates in the soda. My knees were killing me, they felt like rusty hinges, she told me that the soda was both robbing me of calcium and dehydrating me. I started to drink water (8 glasses a day) and nothing else, it took 3 days for me to notice a difference in my knees. One week in and all of the pain in my knees was gone, I guess she was right about the soda thing. It's been 4 years now and my skin is clearer, my teeth are whiter, and believe it or not I've lost weight (must be that water).
Quitting soda is a hard thing to do, I still have many moments even after 4 years that I want to have a Diet Coke. A coke and a slice would be very nice but snapple will have to do. Thanks for listening.
Paul,
I thought I'd stop and say good job! I'm glad you are noticing your benefits. I feel I'm addicted to the regular Coke. I tell myself that I can have one a day but then it turns out to be two 10oz bottles. I notice the more I drink the more I want. I am never satisfied. I have quit before but one leads to another. After reading everyone's comments we can see Coca Cola knows exactly what they are doing to us. I appreciate your details of ingredients and how they affect you. I kept reading to find a chemist's response but they probably don't have those problems and skipped the article completely. May you stay strong and healthy!
Thanks for taking the time to respond Michelle, good luck to you too
As I set here drinking my Diet Coke, smoking my Marlboro,sipping my Whiskey,reading my CNN,surfing my net,eatting my chips,ordering my pizza,texting on my cell,watching my TV all while driving to work, I realize we all have addictions that really don't help our life but they sure make it liveable!
"but truly, it hurt – both physically and psychically." Yeah, I feel my psychic abilities take a hit when I stop drinking diet pop too.
Any carbonated drink will leach calcium from your bones and deposit the calcium carbonate crystals in your kidneys. Osteoporosis and kidneystones are the results.
I stopped drinking soda and went from 235 to 205 lbs. without any other changes in diet or activity. The weight loss made it easier to exercise though, and I stopped eating junk food too. I am at 185 now, exercising hard 3-4 times a week. Feels great.
Hey Tex71
Keep up the good work on becoming healthy! What you had to say made me think I should tell you something I recently read to help prevent getting the painful kidney stones. The article I read said if you drink cranberry juice everyday you should be able to prevent kidney stones. It was said much better but you probably get the point. Take Care!
stupid btttch little men of the world think you can vote for what you want people to be or not to be. You protect yourselves as a group of bttches but each and every one of you little men cant protect your own naked ass up against the world
Booze is to me what diet coke was to this lady.
She was lucky with her addictions...
Red Bull!
HA! RedBull messes me up. I drink oneI and my comment looks like RedBullRedBullRedBullRedBullRedBullRedBullRedBullRedBullRedBullRedBullRedBullRedBullRedBullRedBullRedBullRedBullRedBullRedBullRedBullRedBullRedBullRedBullRedBullRedBullRedBull
If you lived off of $30/week you'd have kicked that habit a long time ago girl friend. Bet your bootie is carrying that guilt now.
This article is a mess. I thought it would have some scientific merit, and is more of a comedy dissertation, and anything but science. "Yay for the author not throwing bottles in the trash to hurt the environment." ????
Scott- You're a mess. Don't read it if you don't like you d0uchebag.
My dad used to be a diet coke addict, and the aspartame was giving him melon-splitting migraines (IDK if he was allergic or what.) But once he quit drinking coke altogether his blood pressure has greatly improved and he doesnt get those headaches anymore, (and it hasnt done his waistline any harm either ;-))
did he just start snorting it instead?
so, did he blow his coke habit?
I too am kicking my Dt. Coke addiction with a new found love for carbonated water (who knew that I really was in love with the bubbles more than anything?!). I haven't tried the soda stream, but I am seriously in love with La Croix's Grapefruit carbonated water – no sodium, no sweetener, no calories. Love it!
I don't drink diet anything. I mean, what the hell is "aspertame" anyway? I figure it's just a matter of time before medical science comes to the conclusion that it is damaging to your body in one way or another.
"Aspartame is a combination of two amino acids joined together. The amino acids are Aspartic acid and Phenylalanine."
http://www.vitargo.com/01UK/Other/Dictionary.html
"... known by the trade name NutraSweet – an artificial sweetener. Certain people should avoid products that contain Aspartame. They are people who cannot metabolize the amino acid Phenylalanine, which is an ingredient in aspartame; and people who are susceptible to headaches."
http://www.prohealth.com/glossary/index.cfm
I learned something from this, too. It explains why I don't get headaches from drinking DC because I don't have any amino acid issues. Thanks for the query Bill.
You are here as a disinformation agent.
I'm siting sources. What have you got? The ability to form sentences. Score for you.
My C0ke habit? Three words: Post Nasal Drip
Want those fancy glass bottles? How about the all aluminum bottle? I have them!
The first thing... diet coke is nasty and disgusting. The taste is just gross. The thing is, regular coke is not. THAT is addicting. I nearly kicked it once (in my case its Pepsi). But I have managed to keep it down to about two to three cans a day. Expense? Not so worried about. The gaining weight thing is whats bothering me.
Ricky Martin
"Your comment is awaiting moderation. " Skrew you.
I'm a c0ckaholic and proud of it.
I was a mountain dew addict. I loved that 'bite' the first swig would give me. I went cold turkey over 3 years ago. I don't miss it, don't need it. And I feel better for not having it.
I used to do about eight ounces a day. That was until I realized I was out of razor blades and nasal spray.
so what you think, stupid?
Never heard of an addiction to soda, it's good that you are off the stuff. It's all chemicals. Isn't there a controversy about a link between the coloring and cancer? I have about two Mexican cokes per year and they give me the hiccups.
I USE TO DRINK DIET COKES LIKE THEY WERE GOING OUT OF STYLE
AND ONE DAY I SAW HOW MUCH MONEY I WAS SPENDING
AND I QUIT COLD TURKEY AND I LOST 30 LBS
JUST BY STOP DRINKING DIET COKES
If you cant do anything cold turkey, you fail.
Way to encourage others, Sunshine! Cold turkey works for some, ramping down works better for others.
I think he's right though, cold turkey works, ramping is harder...takes more self control versus just a black and white decision
Coke Zero is a heck of a lot better tasting.
You are so right, snarf! Coke Zero all the way. And if you make smarter food and portion choices, Diet Coke, etc, does not affect your weight at all. As for kidney stones, I've been afflicted with them since 1985, and Nutrasweet hasn't been out that long. Debunked that theory.
I used to drink 2-3 Liter of Mountain Dew a day and claiming it was to help keep me awake in the mornings. This went on for a most of a year and then I went in and had my self tested for sleep troubles. I was diagnosed with minor sleep apnea and the doctor said that my soda consumption was probably causing most of my issues.
I stopped cold turkey that day. The next week was difficult as could be, as kicking most addictions are. I did not touch another drop of any soda for almost two years. Now, I may have an occasional root beer or Sprite, but can not do more than 8 ounces or so before I get rid of it. It is amazing how much better I have felt since.
How many people thought this was going to be about cocaine?
YAY0 ! !
Relax Tony!!!!
I had a suspicion it was about the drink, since the C in Coke was capitalized. It wouldn't have been if it was an article about cocaine.
My husband is addicted to regular Coke (he cannot stand the taste of diet soda) although not to the extent that the author was addicted. I was never a big soda drinker but when I was pregnant with my second daughter the taste of soda was so nasty to me during the whole nine months I rarely if ever drink soda now.
I thought I was the only one to do those things! I quit Diet Coke last year and felt much better. I would once in a while buy a 20 0z. bottle but didn't like it as much because I love it in the can. I would make a mental note whenever I saw a place that still sold it in cans, just in case I wanted one. I slowly started drinking more, until eventually I was back to 1 per day. I keep it at 1 or 2 per day, but really just want to be done with it. When I drink it, I lose my taste for water. It will be hard – quitting the first time was, for me, harder than quitting cigarettes.
YAY0
The title says "How I kicked My Coke Habit." I guess I'm weird because I was thinking the powder instead. Oh well, I guess there's still hope...
My wife is a serious diet pespi junkie. Not so much back when we were dating or I just didn't notice it. Most weekend morning she has put down 32 ounces of the stuff before 9 am. On the day she will work from home I am tripping over the bottles stacked up on the steps in the garage. She did kick the habit for a few months and I noticed a definite difference in her personality. Less fidgety, less likely to snap, was sleeping much better, fewer bad dreams. Then it all started again a few months ago and I really don't know what to do now. We are trying to start a family I would really rather she didn't drink that chemical slurry all day every day. It really is like having a alcoholic in the house just minus the drunk part. There is no getting around it. She is an addict and there is something that she is addicted to in it.
If you're trying to start a family, she should stop drinking Aspartame for at least a few months before she gets pregnant. Aspartame has been linked to certain birth defects, some serious, in children.
Balderdash! State your source. Don't just spout ignorant drivel, support it .... so we can shoot it down.
Science, not gossip. Nutrasweet and Splenda are the sweeteners of choice for diabetics, and during my 3 pregnancies I didn't scale back my usage. My kids are normal(whatever normal is) and have no "defects."
No matter how you slice it, Aspartame is a chemical. It is a potent neurotoxin that penetrates the blood-brain barrier and causes several disorders and diseases down the line. It might not 'hurt' you now, but after years of continued use; it will. I strongly suggest everyone here does the research on Aspartame.
It is poison.
Divorce her now, because it's going to happen anyway.
Hey Kat Kinsman, you're hardass... Until you've sucked d!ck for coke, you don't know what an addiction is...
I know someone who died from liver cancer who was addicted to Diet Coke – he drank like 18-24 cans a day! From the time he was diagnosed he was gone 6 months later. Read the label – if it will cause cancer in lab rats – it will also cause cancer in humans!
I have so many bad habits I can't list them all, but I love my coke zero, sometimes up to seven icy cold cans a day. I drink them before I get up to go to the bathroom in the morning, they are great with coffee and just about everything else in the world. I also have a few really bad habits that I will not go into any detail about. If I do not drink another coke zero for the rest of my life; I will still die and still go to heaven. The world has become such a mess that I may try to quit some of my habits but coke zero can be a monkey on my back until I arrive at the pearly gates. I bet they even have coke zero in heaven. And if I go to hell; I hope they are icy cold too!
You're obviously addicted to being stooooopid.
Such language,and to think you use that same mouth to score a 75 cent can of Coke.
This is news ? Get a life, stupid Americans,get a life !
It's not news. It's a simple commentary in the Lifestyles section. Get a grip.
The convenience of something in a can or bottle is hard to beat. But if you are home, why not treat yourself to something healthier and almost as convenient? I regularly add one part juice (cranberry, orange or grape for instance) with 2-3 parts of sparkling water. Sometimes adding a splash of lemonade to liven things up (you know, the simply kind from the dairy case). I find even juice with pulp can be very refreshing as long as you dilute and chill to your liking. Of course there are some product lines already in line with this such as Orangina, the newer products from OceanSpray and Izze. You'll also feel good when you're in the store and you just skip past all those cans and bottles of junk. I should also say that I am certain that any product with aspartame – even in small amounts gives me a headache.
Orangina is awesome! First had some from a vending machine in the Paris subway. Was stoked to find it occasionally stocked in a local grocery a few months after I got back.
Don't get me wrong, though. I still love me some Diet Dr. Pepper.
I am so glad you wrote this article. My wife is Diet Coke addict to the same crazy level. I always wondered if there were other people out there and if it was specifically Diet Coke. Amazing.
It's not just Diet Coke though. I'm hooked as heck on Diet Pepsi and I've known others who are the same.
I always have at least 3 or 4 one-liter bottles in the fridge and if I don't, I get worried.
Weird, I feel like a crack-head when I say it like that.
I am a Diet Pepsi addict. If you tried to type my blood, it would come out type Diet Pepsi. When a storm warning comes out, I stock up on a few 8 packs of Diet Pepsi. Our local stores used to carry 24oz bottles, but have switched to the 16.9 1/2 liter bottles. I could make the 24oz bottles last a few hours, but the 1/2 liters, I can drink straight down. I stop every morning at a gas station and buy 2 1-liter bottles for the day. Hey it's 2 for $3.50, so it's a better price than buying just one. Everyone in my family knows you do not touch Mom's pop! I drink one bottle in morning, 2 1 liter bottles at work, and 2-3 at home in the evening. Weekends, I drink even more. I have no desire to quit at this time.
Diet Cherry Coke is my poison. Seriously, try the stuff; it tastes like a fully sugared soda. I used to drink at least a six-pack a day, but finally had to kick the habit when it started giving me heartburn. Now I usually have one a day. Great stuff, though; and an addiction it is.
I am an addict too..have drank diet coke for as long as i can remember...i get the headaches from the aspartame, the burpathon and it does wonders for my diabetes...i try to think its better then normal coke but its all the same..addictive, i will buy a 6 pack thinking this will last the week and by the next night im out again and trying to find excuses to go to the shops for more...there is something addictive in it and its more then caramel and aspartame although reading how bad aspartame can get is a pretty good reason to avoid it...but like cigarettes which i managed to quit more then 20 years ago..the diet coke is too rediliy avaiable and cheap...comparred to cigarettes and even socially acceptable, you see sales all the time for 2 liters for 99c....its a cheap fix and if someone finds out about coke ever putting anything in there it knows is addictive they will have a class action law suit the likes of which would scare walmart to death
I also used to be a Diet Coke addict. Loved the delicious, cold fizz, the sound of a new can being cracked open, the first sip... Soooooo freaking good. I was sick for a while and stopped drinking my Diet Coke. When I started again I noticed that I got awful stomach cramps after drinking it. I realized that I had developed an aspertame alergy. I'll be honest, I miss my Diet Coke every day but I don't miss the stomach pain.
Hmm. I'm not a diet coke addict, but I know someone who is! My sister on the other hand is a Dr. Pepper addict. Not diet though. Seriously. She drinks more soda in a week than I probably do in a month. I think if I had to choose, my favorite soda would be Barques Root Beer. It's like serious addiction in her. She gets just plain mean over it. God forbid someone other than her drinks the last 5 of them. Ugh. It's just not good for you to drink that much of it!
I've been soda free, after drinking one version of Pepsi or another for 30 years, for 1 year, 9 months. It now tastes like what it is, fizzy chemicals, however the sound of the pop top and the following fizz still makes me salivate. Although coffee, tea and water can get boring I don't miss the GERD and achy legs
I may be a diet coke addict but if i were given the choice of diet coke or tea and had to choose one over the other id choose tea...I'm English..its like mothers milk...heck..it is the main reason for the industrial revolution...the first anti toxidant....used to be used to pack the china being shipped from china to England and so they sold it on the shore to the poor and it took off....ridiculous but true
My mom is addicted 2 diet coke
did you know at high enough temps, aspartame is broken down into methanol and formic acid then formaldehyde? Yes–THE formaldehyde used to preserve dead bodies. As a lover of diet coke myself, I know it's bad for you but at least I am preserving my brain in the process!
http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/aspartame.asp
So what does potassium Benzoate break down into? Last time I check benzine was really bad for you.
That's why no one drinks it hot or warm.
I have been an avid diet coke drinker for as long as I can remember. When I was pregnant with my son 11 years ago the doctor told me that i just needed to switch to caffeine free diet coke, which I easily did. Thank goodness my son is completely healthy and even advanced....considering some caffeine is ok, while aspartame is potentially very hazardous to developing little ones. Anyhow, I just found out that my husband and I are expecting so I quit...I quit completely the very day I found out. I don't feel sick, I don't miss it, I drink plain old water because we need to afford diapers and not a soda stream...If I even think about a diet coke all I have to do is look at my belly! I am positive I won't drink it again!
Just because you're drinking diet soda does not make you a healthy person. You look like a fool rather. Just man or woman up and drink a non diet soda every once in a blue moon. Fat Americans
One summer, I was doing data entry for 8 hours a day, so I was consuming caffeine–Cherry Coke Zero–constantly. The combined caffeine and chemicals gave me vertigo. That forced me to quit pretty quickly (it's been 2 1/2 years and diet sodas still give me an instant headache).
Zero and Diet Dew
Coke, inc. will make sure this article disappears quickly.
Is it just me or do all fat people drink diet soda? There are skinny people who drink diet soda (a few) but all fat people drink diet soda. What is up with that?
Because somehow they think that that extra few hundred calories from soda is somehow going to make a difference when piled on top of their 7 big mac combo's a day.
More than likely, the chubby persons went on a diet – started drinking diet soda – went off the diet but found that regular soda (with sugar) tasted way to sugary – waayyyy toooo sugaryyyy – for the palate and continued with the diet soda – They have distinctly different flavors.
Not me – I'm fat and I drink straight Coke – I hate diet and yes, I hate seeing overweight people drinking diet too – it seems like a lie ........... might as well embrace the good stuff or only drink water. I'm not dumb, I know soda is bad for me, yada yada yada...but it's just so damn good that I roll with it. I'd rather be fat and happy then skinny and bitchy.
"I'd rather be fat and happy then skinny and bitchy"??? Wow! That's about the sadest statement I've EVER heard! It's ashame you don't (and probably never will) realize that skinny people are much happier, they have a lot more energy and they feel SO much better than fat people! But whatever makes you "happy" right?? Isn't it all about being happy? Who cares if you're obese, have diabetes, heart disease and can't walk 20 ft without losing your breath.....as long as you're "happy" right? Scary thought process you have Heather!
I was also once a sex addict, it took me sleeping with several hundred woman I didnt even find attractive to make me stop. Maybe a couple liters of bad tasting soda would do the trick.
When I initially saw the tagline I jumped in here to say something witty such as "It's easy to quit coke as long as heroin is still around". But then I realized it was the wrong type of 'coke'.
Nonetheless this article makes me wonder, why is it specifically about Coke? Did Pepsi pay for this advertorial?
I doubt it, but the sugar manufacturers have sure taken a hit from artificial sweeteners. What better way to stymie your competition than convince consumers the other guys product will kill them? Proof? Nah. Who needs proof when this kind of garbage science is willingly, and continually reprinted. That said, my garbage makes more sense than their garbage.
diet coke with about 2 oz of O.J. in the morning. At night, same combo with an equal amount of red wine to diet coke proportion.
The fact that our government allows people to drink 4 liters of soda (pop) a day and I can't hit a joint (legally) before I go to sleep is insane.
Well, soda doesnt screw up your head, a joint does and makes you unsafe around others. Mary jane is a drug that i have personally seen thousands of people turn violent on. Pot is the worst addiction in the world.
Haha, joke post of the year. At least I hope it's a joke.
Thousands of people? Really? Maybe you were just dropping some bad acid and imagined the whole thing.
Post of the year, I bet your a christian too
Wow.. You truly have no clue when it comes to addictions. Where does it states that marijuana is the worst addiction? Have you ever read up on oh let's see.. Meth or Heroin? Probably not.. Wow come out of the closet and see the truth already.. Marijuana is in no way considered dangerous.. LOL.. I do have to give you props for giving me a laugh today.
Weed/Pot/cannibas gives you a 2 hour buzz. Two hours...and it is not addicting. You do not withdraw...I have been smoking for 30 plus years and am fine with or without it. I have been witness to people who smoke it in every arena you can imagine – the worst case scenario is alcohol mixed with weed. That will lead to inhibitation and if it is an angry person, they express their anger. It is not the weed.
Weed may cause paranoia or nervousness but never anger. People searching for a way to medicate themselves out of a state of emotional distress take many concoctions in search of relief. Combinations lead to trouble. Weed alone will make you hungry and then sleepy and then 2 hours later, you are back to normal.
THC has proven to have an impact on growing cancer cells; inhibiting them in their search of fuel – your organs – I am a cancer patient and my tumor was so dormant – it began shrinking – had a ki67 of 0.05 – practically indolent – even though my tumor had been in my breast for 2 years (missed on mammogram).
Do not spread misinformation.
you're high.
You are full of sh!t.
I drink at least two liters a day, often more of diet pepsi. It is all I drink, Ive given up water, milk coffee as they are times I can be drinking diet pepsi. Im addicted but I dont think its really that bad for me, so i think i would actually recommend anyone with addiction issues to pick up this addiction.
Getting to work by 6:00AM I drank 6 diet cokes before 8:00AM. Another 2 to 4 before noon. Another 4 before 5. And at least 2 at home before going to bed. My brother told me carbonated water aggravates arthritis so I quit cold turkey. My arthritic pain almost disappeared. Now I drink a gallon of unsweet iced tea a day.
I hope you won't miss your kidneys when they fail – I work in medical field – we would go to the dialysis floor – and the nurses would greet us with "Drink your water ladies, or you too may end up here, hooked up to machinery that will keep you from dying because your kidneys have failed – after forced to work to flush toxins out of your sysem 24/7 for 40 or so years, leaving you with 20 years to go and no kidney function. Moderation.. Nurses on the dialysis floor have a bottle of water within reach all of the time. Water intake is essential.
I cannot even comprehend the level of stupidity required to drink 4 liters of soda a day. It is no different than eating an entire block of butter every day but you don't see millions of people doing that.
My favorite from the soda morons is "I don't like the taste of water". How can you not like the taste of water? It has no taste. It's like saying you aren't going to breathe anymore because you don't like the taste of air, so you will just chain smoke 15 packs of cigarettes a day.
Actually, yeah.
"My favorite from the soda morons is "I don't like the taste of water". How can you not like the taste of water? It has no taste."
You've obviously never tasted – yes tasted – Florida tap water. Full-bodied flavor, often with a hint of chlorine. Growing up on that made my first taste of true mountain spring water a reality check. I recommend one of those for you.
WEIRD. One mere second before opening CNN.com I was telling a co-worker I was getting worried about this persistent craving I have turning into an addiction. Then this was on the homepage. We both freaked.
One question: does Coke Zero count? That is my drug.
I would imagine Coke Zero counts, since it's sweetened with a combination of aspartame and acesulfame potassium. Honestly, try to stick to water – if you want something tastier, you can add a little fruit juice, makes a world of difference. Diet soda is more than just "flavored carbonated water." Treat your body well.
I switched to all natural LaCroix and feel much better about not poisoning my body.
Addictions, I can understand. Fizziness, caffeine, all very desirable. But Diet Coke? It tastes plastic-y and fake. I know DC addicts, but I've never understood it. I myself love a good, COLD fizz – Dr. Pepper or beer that has been put in the freezer for 10 minutes first. AAAh! But those actually taste good....
Really beer? Lets not kid ourselves and says that it tastes good. Dr. Pepper I totally agree with and DC does taste like plastic but really you had to say that beer trumped DC? There is no such thing as a good tasting beer, the better beers just taste less like urine, but not good.
Oh, BTW, even though I was looking forward to losing weight since I kicked the sugary stuff, I didn't lose a pound! Oh well, I'm still glad I'm off of it.
Generally speaking, there is a bit more to losing weight than simply stopping doing something. A lot of it has to do with things such as your level of activity. Not that I would recommend going about it this way... but I daresay one can lose weight quicker and more permanently by drinking 2 bottles of coke and running a mile every day, than simply stopping cola intake altogether but still lounging around.
Diet Mountaion Dew is the most addictive soda in history!!! Truly
You got that right. My husband used to be soooo addicted to that stuff. Kicked it when he went into the hospital. Now he's a 2 liter a day Diet Pepsi junkie. Diet Coke destroys his stomach. Wish he could quit – and everyone else too. Can you imagine the impact on our economy if we all did quit? OK, maybe we shouldn't all quit at once...
I think that Pepsi usually causes less stomach acid than Coke in last few years, that's the one issue about soda that makes people want to quit I think. Cheap soda is too carbonated for me. I drink Pepsi 2 liter every day usually and the sugar type for years with no weight gain, like latte drinkers whom have medical lobby lauding their favorite addiction as healthful, I crave the energy from the sugar and caffeine and ignore the side effects if I can.
the thing i find amazing about this article is that someone thinks 2, 2lts a day is a problem. i love d.p. but i am down with the dew also, if there is no d.p. to be found or on sale i will go for d.c. i start off each day with a 52oz sheetz fizzonator mug filled with the dew then i usually have 4 or 5 24oz d.p.'s through out the day until i get home to watch a little tube. at that time i crack open the 2lt's, one or two depending how i am felling. i don't know if it is an addiction because i have never even thought about stopping, i also drink about a gal of water a day. i think the only thing that would make me think about quitting would be the cost, but here in pa you can usually find 4, 6pks of d.p. on sale for $12, that's 24oz bottles for 50 cents which aint bad and then they always have either d.p. or d.c. 2 lts on sale for a buck at the local store.
I agree with the posters that mention the side-effects of aspartame, but guess where else it is found? All of the juices and products we feed our kids that scream 'Lower Sugar' on the front. Read the label, and it's also aspartame.
Yes, you are right! I know I look like a nut in the grocery store because I stand there in the aisle reading the ingredients on all the packaged foods that I buy (it's amazing what they will put aspartame in!)
Okay, the title says "How I kicked my Coke habit." But after rambling on and on about how much she enjoyed it she finally admits she doesnt know how she kicked it. Thanks for nothing.
I quit the COKE habit cold turkey about 2 years ago. I was hooked 6-8 a day!! Holy crap. I woke up one day & said "no more" & that was it. It doesn't help that my wife likes Coke though.
I was addicted to cigarettes once, when it came time for me to stop smoking I stopped cold turkey and have not smoked since. Believe me when I say I was addicted for I smoked for 33 years, but I quit several years ago and now can't stand the smell. Diet Coke is the same as with any other addiction I feel for those people for I was an addict once. I now say bless those that kick their habit for it is very difficult. I still think about smoking, and or whatever, I'll never ever smoke again.
My kids will only drink soda if I have it in the house, so I don't buy it although they do get the occasional fix from the drive-through. I too bought a Sodastream about a month ago and it is great!!! We drank a lot of bottled seltzer water and the "do it yourself" Sodastream saves on plastic consumption and is just as satisfying as soda. I highly recommend it. (and no I don't work for Sodastream!!)
A bunch of weak fuks addicted to diet soda, nice. The world needs a new plague to kill some of you doosh bags off.
you seem like a delightful person with a really fulfilling life.
I admit I kinda rolled my eyes at this article, But I don't stoop low and demean the people this article applies to. Have a little compassion for the common man and don't be a jerk...
I'm guessing you get beat up a lot.
Never have been, never will... It pays to be nice and not a jackass...
hopefully you will be the first to get this 'plague".
Thanks so much for adding to debate! Find something better to do!
Poor little Matt,
I imagine you get sick of seeing them while on your night shift flipping burgers
Maybe you should get out of your momma's basement and see a little bit of the world and would realize there really are worse things out there.
The only 'doosh' bag I see here, Matt, is you. I have no doubt that you are a crass bully with low standards and self-esteem issues. Why don't you run along and grow up some? My guess is you're about 14 or 15 and angry at the world because mommy and daddy don't believe in a little discipline.
Dear Matt, your wit is as sharp as your spelling.
there's a bigger epidemic of weak minded people that don't know how to spell "doosh"
Yep I'm addicted too, clicked on this article the moment I saw and KNEW there would be others. They're putting something in this stuff to make money. A decade ago it was Regular Coke (my teeth are still paying the price), but now it's Diet. I buy the grocery store brands for cheaper but am SICK to DEATH of having one bag of groceries for every 3 bags of pop. I've quit before and if I take a sip after 3 'clean' days, the stuff tastes awful. But yet I go back because it only takes that second sip. Well no more. I just swallowed my last gulp of pop (was gonna go to the store in about 10 minutes for more) but instead have poured a glass of mineral water that's been in the fridge, unopened, for months. Enough is enough.
I'm convinced it's largely the aspartame, and here's why: I used to drink diet coke religiously until I gave up all caffeine for Lent one year and suddenly was unable to drink caffeinated beverages after noon without being up all night, so I switched to caffeine-free diet coke, which satisfied the craving in me just as regular diet coke had before. Now I unfortunately (or maybe fortunately!) can't drink anything with aspartame in it because I get strange neurological symptoms – don't believe me? look up aspartame and seizures, there is scientific evidence for the connection. Diet coke with splenda is okay, for the fizz, but just doesn't do the same thing for me that regular diet coke or caffeine free diet coke did.
It is the Aspartame. But, please look up Splenda- it is no better for you than the Aspartame. Good for you for listening to your body! Most folks don't.
For me, it's not the fizz, carbonation or bubbles. It's the TASTE of coke/pepsi. I can pass up a root beer, Dr. Pepper, orange soda, mountain dew anytime but i cannot pass up the taste of Coke – there's something about THAT taste. I am addicted – this I admit. The 100 calorie mini-cans are a big help in trying to wean oneself off of it. But how do you get past the taste??
For me, as a generation X'er, it's the taste and the fizz. I once busted a bottler because I could taste a hint of Dr Pepper in some 12 packs. They wrote back to tell me they were not following cleaning protocal correctly between whatever they were bottling, and sent me coupons for 12 12 packs and was a little amazed I was able to catch it.
I once tried to quit, and the headache and vomiting after 8 days broke me. Caffiene for me was like kicking Herion. I'll stick with my Diet Coke.
I was seriously addicted to Dr. Pepper since I was a kid (I actually remember when I was first turned on to it), and my jones kept growing. I had tried to cut back or quit many times, with no success. I finally quit by accident. I was planning a skiing trip out west, and to prepare for high altitude I decided to drink only water for a week prior. It was awful, but I did it, probably because I believed it was only for a week. Then when I was in the high altitude, all I wanted was to drink water – nothing else satisfied my thirst. By the time I returned home, I had been off of the Dr. Pepper for two weeks. I knew if I had even one, I'd be right back where I was before. So I tried to avoid it, literally one day at a time, as they say. It was rough, though, and I was on the verge of relapse at any moment. I observed the things I was withdrawing from: caffeine (not so bad), sugar (much bigger deal, but substituted other sources), and finally, the bubbles. I learned that it's the bubbles I absolutely can't live without – the carbonation. So I started drinking Vintage (the best) seltzer water, and that did the trick. Now I drink more fluids each day, and my kidneys feel a whole lot better (I was having trouble before). I had tried seltzer water before, but it didn't work either because I didn't choose the right brand, or I hadn't detoxed yet. Flavored waters didn't work either – they only made me more thirsty. Now I still crave Dr. Pepper sometimes, and it's especially strong when I have a migraine, but I know I can't have even one or I'm done for. So if you're thinking of quitting, you will feel so much healthier if you do. Hopefully Vintage seltzer water will help you too. The Sodastream sounds good too, and much more economical. Vintage is more expensive than soda – $1 per liter.
Seems like TPTB want us to drink the tap water. Second article today promoting tap water.
I completely agree with you, Roger. That gave me a chuckle. Thank you.
I stopped cold turkey. I was 5" 11" and weighed 242 lb.s. I do lift weights so I was not all fat.
I literlly dropped 22 lb.s in the first 5 weeks without increasing my exercise or altering any other part of my diet.
I highly recommend "0" pop for anyone who has enough will power to stop.
PS: Since then I have altered my diet and exercise and lost another 20 lbs.How, I simply exercise and track my calories with a journal from http://www.personalized-weight-loss-journal.com. If you track it, you can change it.
Greg
We were in the same boat (except I was drinking regular, not diet). Multiple liters of soda every day, and I was at 5'11" and 230lbs at age 16. I woke up one day, decided I didn't want to look like that anymore, and never touched soda again. That decision was the beginning of a radical diet change for me, and I've lost right at 100lbs and never looked better!
Sure Gregg...Whatever you say...Seems you like to frequent any board on weightloss and health to claim you were in the exact same situation so you can have a moment to spam the board with the web address leading to your ad-filled website...Fail.
How about a regular coke addict? Yummmm....
My wife also broke her coke addiction with a sodastream. At first I was skeptical but it works great. Now I'm drinking soda water too. I like it with a couple of dashes of angostura bitters.
I kicked the Coke habit......I now drink PEPSI....................
LOL!
This is me. I could have wrote this. :) My friend at work sent it to me and said this could be you. Every single thing you did, I did. I quit cold turkey a little over a month ago. I think I, too, miss the fizz. I will be looking into the sodastream. Thank you for the wonderful blog that made me laugh and made me feel better abut not drinking pop. :)
Alright, we get it – you live in New York.
Seriously! Bloggers that live in NYC just can't stop talking about NYC. I've been many times... it's still just a city. Get over it already.
Did I write the testimony in this story? Oh no, wait, I am still an addict. :-) Help Me Please!!
I absolutely understand! I have quit and started many times with diet Coke or diet Pepsi. Here is how I quit.....it is how we moved from whole milk to 2% or 1%. Remember that? Mix Diet Coke with caffeine and Diet Coke without caffeine. 1/2 glass with the first, 1/2 glass with the second. Do this for a week. Then slowly get to all non-caffeine cola drink. Then, cut that consumption in 1/2. It works, and no headache will follow. If it does, just take Tylenol or Advil until it stops. Recommended dosage. Then, NEVER pick one up again, because, if you are like me, I get that taste again, and off I go. Good luck!
I'm DC and I'm diet coke addict.
Hi DC
Want to stop drinking soda, stop getting fat??? STOP SHOVING STUFF DOWN YOUR PIE HOLE! Go outdoors and walk! GO DO SOMETHING!!!!!!!!
Wow, such an insightful message. Your brilliance is unsurpassed...what have I been doing with my life until your brilliant remarks made their way onto the net? Take your opinion and shove it up your ass.
Methinks the fat lazy person has many issues with anger, refuses to get off mom's couch and go for a walk.
I know it hurts, fatty, but ihopper is right.
1) Reduce intake
2) exercise
3) burn off more calories than you consume
4) Lose weight
6) Profit
Seriously, go for a good walk 5 or 6 times a week and eventually that anger and self-loathing will go away.
You'd be better off to get off diet coke and Aspartame all together. Aspartame is a neurotoxin associated with brain cancer, Parkinsons, MS, migraines and a whole host of other major, as well as minor, health issues. I was a Diet Pepsi addict for 28 years. One three day weekend, I quit cold turkey. I experienced intense headaches, vomitting, muscle twitching and other symptoms for those 3 days and these symptoms came back intermittently for about 2 months afterward. I later learned that they were caused by the build up of phenylalanine in my brain, which happens with massive consumption of Aspartame over time. I haven't had any Aspartame in about 30 months now and I've never felt better. I can think more clearly, I don't have the frequent headaches that I used have and (most importantly) I don't feel like a slave anymore. I also have greatly reduced my chances of getting the health problems I described in the opening of my comment. Getting off the stuff was tough, but it's the best thing I ever did.
There are a number of articles and documentaries on the history of Aspartame and its dangers that you can find by searching the Internet. One is a movie available on U Tube called "Sweet Misery". Its not the best edited documentary, but it gets its point across well enough.
Aspartame is perfectly safe, this is all made up rubbish. If there was a problem with this additive people would have been dropping like flies for years, give me a break!
I can't drink diet drinks. They do horrible things to my digestive system. I know it's the aspartame, so I avoid it like the plague.
Unfortunately, it took me about a year of drinking diet drinks to figure out that was the source of my problems. At least I figured it out!
There is no science directly linking aspartame with any of the diseases you sited. The notion that it is a neurotoxin is quite laughable. The only 'association' with these medical conditions is from alarmists, jumping to conclusions before there is any hard science in.
Show me one double-blind clinical trial proving a direct link with aspartame and any negative health condition, and then we can talk!
I drank Diet Coke for eons, years ago, but more significantly to your point later in the article... I'm a fizz addict. I'm a bubble fiend. I bought a SodaStream earlier this year, and I used various diet flavors and also drink it plain. Flat bevvies just don't have the same zingy ooh la la - I need my fizzy fuzzy bubbly fix!!
Diet sodas are the biggest scam. They make you fat, but gullible zombies drink more "diet" soda so they won't get fat and they end up getting fatter and drinking MORE "diet" soda to curb their fatness and they can't quite figure out the correlation so...have another diet soda Fattie!
No, calories make you fat, and diet soda doesn't have any. The problem is when people get in the mindset that since they are avoiding 150 calories by drinking a diet soda instead of a regular one, they can have "a little extra" during their meal, which ends up being much more than the 150 calories they "saved".
Exactly. I am guessing that research would show that 75% of the people that order the double quarter-pounder meal from McDonalds, get it with a diet coke!
The U.S. is in the midst of a diabetes epidemic.
Do you think high-fructuse-corn-syrup or aspartame or sucralose, etc. have played a part in this?
I say absolutely.
.
I have so been saying for years that caffeine wasn't the reason for my calorie free, caramel colored, asparatame sweetened, carbonated beverage addiction. My demon is not Diet Coke, it is Pepsi Max. But, should a Pepsi Max not be available (gasp!!), I will go with the next best thing....a Diet Coke. I am so glad to know it's not just me. I can't kick the habit...I have tried. Props to those who did though.
Please try to kick the habbit and keep trying until it works. You're poisoning yourself with that stuff.
My husband is a tried and true Diet Coke addict, and has been for about 30 years. He was originally addicted to regular Coke when he was a kid, but his parents switched him to Tab to avoid so much sugar. Little did they know that they were starting him down the road to hopeless addiction! :) Once Tab was off to the market, he switched to Diet Coke and has never looked back. He used to drink about 24 cans in 24-hour period, but he recently started getting 2-liter bottles because he goes through fewer ounces that way. Every weekend, I buy about 8 2-liters at the grocery store, and I usually have to make a stop by Wednesday or Thursday to get more.
I figure that Diet Coke is his one vice - he can have it. But, there's a joke in our family that he won't have to be embalmed when he passes away. because of all the perservatives!
My wife says the same to me about not being embalmed.
Why do you continue to enable his addiction? Make him buy his own soda with his own money.
I used to be a Diet Coke (DC) addict, drinking an average of 6 cans daily during college. Recently, similar to the author of the article above, I have turned to flavored seltzer. I'm still buying the bottles, but there's something about the bubbles and the nice hint of flavor.
The long story is that breaking my Diet Coke addiction was forced by my stomach. It essentially put me on notice. Suddenly I could not drink one without having stomach issues. So I was forced off. Years later, with weight lost on Atkins and feeling good, the urge returned. Dite Rite with Splenda just wasn't cutting it. Eventually, I dropped Atkins, went back to my way of eating and my addiction returned but now with Coke. Oh the deliciousness! I now vary between Coke and Diet Coke but mostly flavored seltzer.
My name is John and I am a Coke addict. Cocaine, not diet or regular Coca-Cola.
Hi John. Welcome and it gets better.
This looks more like a long-winded advertisement for Sodastream than a news article.
I did the same. I have used both soda stream and La Croix sparkling water. Kicked the habit!!
Hi Guys:
I have been off diet coke for just over 4 months now. I drank it 24/7 – In the middle of the night if I woke up I had one right by my bed, It was my one and only drink.
If anyone even told me about how bad it was for me I would shut them out.
I never quit until I got sick and sick I did get. It was awful, I couldn't sleep at night so I would take benadryl and that stuff is expensive.
How I Quit – I just stopped – water tasted awful at first but now I love it.
the asparteme int the diet coke is what's so addictive. it's the same chemical in ant-sting treatment. it's highly addictive, carcinogenic, and one one of it's components is a petrochemical. Drink up!
I was going to say, I dispute the caffeine claims because I am addicted to Caffeine free DC; ( though I know people do have caffeine addictions)
I switched from diet coke to excedrin migrane.
I am a 100% a diet coke addict. I drink about 7 or 8 cans, sometimes more of diet coke a day. Be it morning, afternoon, evening, late night...does not matter to me. I tried to quit one time-I had withdrawals, had a massive headache and I felt miserable without it. I do not drink any other drinks except water and diet coke. I know i should quit this habit, but at the moment, just can't do it.
i am much the same, with diet pepsi. i have 4 a day
Someone who understands my addiction! I used to be addicted to Diet Coke (20+ years), but I've been a Diet Dr Pepper addict for the past five years. I travel with cooler in my truck so I'm never far from one. I pack a small cooler to work so they're handy at my desks. When I go to parties, I bring several cans with me. Two litres? I can do that in an hour! I tell people it's where I get my oxygen. Who cares about the caffeine! I can get that from NoDoz. It's the Diet Coke or Diet Dr P that gives me the sweet, bubbly goodness that causes my heart to start pumping regularly again and my brain waves to calm down.
I don't drink soda for the caffeine. I need no caffeine in the mornings, and I don't drink soda until I get home from work. If I don't have soda for a few days I have no ill effects. The sweetness can also be obtained from other sources. I firmly believe that my addiction is related to the carbonation alone.
I, my name is David, and I'm a Coke addict. Regular Coke, not the Diet.
If you keep on drinking regular Coke, have your cholesterol & triglycerides checked regularly. I didn't and ended up having a heart attack (I'd been a vegan for 8 years at the time it happened, so the only cholesterol in my body was that which occurred naturally. Your liver is extremely efficient at converting sugar to triglycerides / cholesterol, especially if you consume it late at night)
This article sounded very familiar to me! Caffeine was not the reason I liked Diet Coke (I drank caffeine free) it was the carbnation and sweetness. I was drinking about 4 liters per day. I decided to try and give it up for Lent so as an alternative I switched to polar seltzer. No calories, no salt, no artificial sweetners....at first I struggled but after a few days I didn't miss Diet Coke at all. When Lent ended (about 40 days later) I tried a diet coke and found out I could no longer handle the sweetness...it tasted disgusting. I also feel better about not putting all those chemicals in my body. Try seltzer as an alternative if you really want to quit...it may take a little while but in the long run you'll be better off
I switched to mainly water now. I feel much better too. The longer i go the less i think about my once favorite drink, diet cherry pepsi.
If you're going to drink soda everyday, at least drink one with natural sugar, like Sierra Mist. High fructose corn syrup is garbage for your body. Too much natural sugar isn't good for your body and teeth as well. But if I had the choice, I'd rather put real sugar into my body instead of that nasty high fructose corn syrup.
There's no fructose in diet sodas.
Wow, TONS of comments on this article. I was addicted to regular coke for years, and it IS an addiction people. When you haven't had something for a while, and thinking about it causes physical pain, and you NEED one right NOW, that is an addiction, I don't care what people say. And I didn't drink much of it, relatively speaking, just one or two cans a day.
I ended up doing a "soda bet" with a friend of mine who also wanted to quit. Basically cold turkey, and whoever caved first had to endure some humiliation and donate some cash to a charity of the winner's choice. It worked very well, kicked the habit. We have since amended the agreement, and let each other have soda one Saturday each month. So each month, on the following Sunday morning, I feel like complete garbage, and remember why I gave it up (of course the following month I will again drink it on that one Saturday, always seem to forget how bad it makes me feel...).
this makes me want a diet coke
Here's a shocker for all you naysayers who would quickly condemn a person for quaffing gallons of diet soda: Coke Zero is the ONLY soft drink that I can consume safely! I'm even allergic to tap water, and it's all due to the chemicals in our environment. Not talking about a little rash or a headache. My reactions are swift and anaphylactic, which requires me to live like the Lady in the Bubble. It's expensive, isolating, and very painful. But Coke Zero is my sanity! My theory is that, because the water used for soft drinks is ultra-purified, all the chemicals I'm allergic to are removed before manufacture. Then, because of some miracle, nothing is added to the mix that causes my body to react. This is only true of the canned soda, since I'm also unable to have any beverages from the fountain or in plastic bottles. The plastic is obvious, but I don't have a clue as to why the fountain drinks are so bad. So I'm good at home with 6 to 8 cans of Coke Zero a day and pray they never change the formula!
I am going to call BS on this one. Have you actually been to an allergist and been TESTED? You speak of your 'theories', that leads me to believe that you have not. If you were truly allergic to 'regular' water, than you should be able to drink a bottle of distilled water with no problems – nothing by H2O.
You should go get some help for your hypochondria.
Hypochondria is an over-reaction to real or imagined illness. It doesn't involve real, documented episodes of anaphylaxis involving swollen throiat, problems breathing etc. My ER visits for exposures to chemcials in food, water and air average 2-3 times per year, always documenting the episode as all too real. I have respiratory aids at home and a list of criteria given to me to gauge at what point the episode requires immediate medical assistance. It's similar to the reactions people have to peanuts and bee stings, but in my case I have been identified as a rare "environmentally sensitive" individual. Yes, I've been to an allergist. He sent me to a rheumatologist who diagnosed lupus. I also have Crohn's disease and nearly constant bleeding from the gastro tract. This cluster of conditions is sometimes mistaken for hypchondria, by those who do not wish to understand it. I'm calling BS on you!
1. The water they put into soda is not "ultra purified"
2. If ultra purified is what you need, they make purified water. You can even buy a filtration system.
3. If it were the water you were allergic to, wouldn't you also have some side affects from showering and brushing your teeth then rinsing? (Yes.)
Distilled water and purified water, as well as bottled water, come in plastic containers rendering them unusable for me. I do have problems with showering and brushing teeth, etc-but it passes quickly enough when it's not taken in through the digestive tract. Believe it or not, I'm miserable a majority of the time which most people don't want to hear. I realize there is little sympathy for my situation, but people die every day in ER's from "mysterious" reactions. I could easily be the next one as my reactions include problems with commonly used medical supplies. For instance, EpiPen contains the preservative sodium metabisulfite. It's in many IV and injectable solutions, but is so toxic to people allergic to sufites that it cannot legally be put on produce and salad bars. Go figure! I'll stick with Coke Zero as a beverage as long as it doesn't hurt me and gives me some pleasure.
My wife also kicked the diet coke addiction by using a Sodastream and she too is a purist, not adding any flavors to her seltzer.
My wife drinks Diet Coke like anyone else breaths oxygen. She even signed up for their rewards program and we usually get at least one coupon for a free 12 pack of Coke products every other week. If you look in our fridge we usually have Diet Coke, water, milk and beer.
The sad thing is I'm actually drinking a diet coke...which I usually hate.
Didn't you just replace one addiction with another?
Wow. Really? This is such a first world problem to have. Just stop drinking it and start drinking water, problem solved.
Ah. Well gee, I wish I had considered that solution years ago. How is it possible that such a simple solution escaped my mind? Unless...that particular solution is not simple after all.
It's not? Please explain.
Actually it is. You make a conscious decision to drink soda. So make the conscious decision not to drink it.
Because it's an addiction. It's like assuming a meth-addict is going to be able to go cold turkey and be successful. It's a lot less an exercise of free will than you would imagine.
Comparing meth addiction to drinking soda is just ridiculous.
Suggesting that a soda addiction is easily abrogated by merely making a conscious decision to stop is equally ridiculous.
Actually, my point is valid. Your assertion that soda/caffeine withdrawal is in the same league as meth addiction is ludicrous.
Actually, your point is invalid. So he easy it is to do that without any supporting information whatsoever? I'm right, you're wrong. So easy to say. Not so easy to prove.
Pretty sure you don't see people in rehab for caffeine addiction or have to detox from it at a hospital.
Actually, it is an addiction, to the fake sweetener. And yes, people do have similar withdrawal symptoms as when quitting drugs or cigarettes or alcohol (because aspartame and other fake sweeteners are drugs).
What this should make one realize though, is that if your body goes into withdrawal from not having diet sodas, then there is something seriously wrong with putting that into your body.
It might not be the easiest thing in the world to do, but it is certainly not that difficult. You just have to make the decision and commit to it – mind over matter, get yourself some willpower.
I'm addicted to Diet Coke, no other diet drink, or sugar free drink. Non diet drinks are too sweet for me. It's Diet Coke that has been my nemesis, since 1985. I worked on my college newspaper that was in the basement of the guys' dorm. I'd work till 4am, and what do you think was the only beverage left in a machine in the basement of a guys' dorm. Yup, Diet Coke. I have gotten as high as 3 literes a day from time to time, but and have gone straight for many months at a stretch. I am definitely addicted. When I stop, I get irritable, my digestion goes to sh*&, headaches, shakes. These are not alleviated when I pop the top off a Diet Dr Pepper or Diet Mountain Dew, it's definitely something in Diet Coke itself. Don't belittle an addiction till you know more about it.
It's not in the same league as withdrawing from heroin, meth, or coke ect... Sure I'll admit that the sweeteners ARE drugs, and you DO have withdrawal symptoms, to some degree, but nowhere near the same level. It's not that hard to understand really.
I'm a diet mt. dew addict – no joke. I've "cut back" to about 3 cans a day, but who am I kidding – that's still way too much.
Me too! I drink lots of tea and use my sodastream to keep of it, but as soon as I run out of teabags or CO2 it's to the grocery for those shiny green two liters, and i can't justify it at all.
I only drink the fountain diet coke which has saccharin instead of aspartame. it tastes oh so much better. I cant stand can or bottle diet coke.
Saccharin is no better than aspartame. Don't fool yourself. Your only safe bet is to cut out soda period.
All these beverages and foods with sugars/chemicals are designed to keep you coming back for more. Additives are addictives! Remember that. If you want a healthier option, go with flavored selzer water, not club soda.
Coke, coke, coke...I love Coke...down it goes...into my belly....
Both my grandpa and my dad worked at Coca-Cola for a combined 88 years, so Coca-Cola has always been a part of my life. Lots of warm memories with cold Coca-Cola at the ready, and years later I find myself hooked on Diet Coke. I guess it's better than heaters or snorting a line, but, an addiction nonetheless. I guess I can relate to the idea of not wanting to be under control of something, which is my #1 reason for wanting to quit.
I like having a glass with a burger once in a blue moon, but what's all the fuss about? LOL it's a fizzy drink with no alcoholic kick, so how great can it be? hahahha I don't think the product itself is addictive, more likely the habit and experience is addictive. It can be quit, never fear.
I prefer soda to an alcoholic kick. And just because something is not addictive for you, doesn't mean it's not addictive in general.
What it's called is an eating disorder. Don't make cute about it. Seek professional help. You have a problem.
i pee in u cok!lol!
I'm a total addict, and I've tried kicking the habit several times. A few years ago I had to stop drinking caffeinated soda, so at that point a totally stopped, but after about a month or so, I slowly backslid. Now I'm back up to 4 cans or so, but Diet Coke (Decaffeinated), so I'm pretty sure isn't not the caffein, since I'm still just as hooked on it. I try to reduce it once in a while, but it never lasts... It's funny, this author pretty much describes me, including the worry about where my next one will come from
If Coke gets tight with China, that will break my addiction in a hurry.
OMG! Hello fellow Coke addicts! Now I don't feel so alone. For me as well as many others above, it's REAL Coke, not diet. i hate anything diet! And, there is nothing better than a Mexican Coke which has real sugar. I have been trying to cut down because I'm tired of being bloated and it makes me gain weight in like a milisecond. I cut down once and lost several pounds immediately. But I went back due to stress. And I'm back on full force now (again due to stress). I don't buy it at home now, but I just end up stopping by the convenience store on the way home to get a can for dinner (gotta have a can - hate the bottles, they go flat). So I still have it but just end up spending more since I don't get the case. I am trying ;) But there is nothing better than that dark, caramel colored goodness. I also justify by saying i don't smoke or drink alcohol. Damn, the Coca Cola monkey is on my back for sure!
You are my soda-soulmate! Real full calorie Coke in a can or certain places from the fountain. I have been known to drive across the city for a perfect fountain Coke.The heart wants what the heart wants.
I agree that nothing beats a great fountain Coke! But it's really hit or miss. A lot of places really skimp on the syrup and it doesn't taste good. You have to have a good syrup to CO2 ratio. Nothing worse than a bad fountain Coke with not enough syrup, or not enough CO2 (when there's hardly any bubbles). But if I find a place with a good fountain Coke, I am their number 1 customer!!!!
I'm addicted to sugar free koolaid. Tastes great and not terrible for you! I get my energy from working out and getting enough sleep at night. And yes I have a high stress job, family and always on the go but I make sure to manage my time the best I can.
you cant get addicted to that sh*t! People just love the way it tastes, and are too careless to drink something else. Soda is extremely bad for you!
What a sad story. No, sorry, I mean what a booooring story. If you have problems weaning yourself off soda I suggest you stay far away from Lay's potato chips.
What the heck is Soda? I have heard of pop before, is this same thing?
Generally speaking, folks from the south say soda or sometimes soda pop and folks from the north say pop.
Slightly wrong. No one in the Northeast says pop.
Yeah, nobody in the North calls it pop. Soda is typical. I New England it's even called tonic. Pop is a mid-western thing.
Flamongous,
Southerners say "Coke" to refer to any sugary carbonated drink. If you say soda anywhere south of Kentucky and east of Oklahoma you will be pegged "not from around here" in an instant. Pop seems to be a midwest/parts of the northeast thing. And Soda is the go to everywhere else in this country.
I think you have this backwards, I grew up in Massachusetts, it was always called soda...
I'm from the Midwest and grew up saying, "pop." But my friend from Chicago calls it soda, so now I'm used to that and don't call it pop anymore. But I remember how dumb it sounded to me when I first heard him say 'soda' and now I'm that person to others lol both feel bizarre to say now. Can't we get a national word for this?
I'm from Chicago and we say pop. However having lived in many other parts of the country (especially east coast) I have learned to say soda or people look at my like I'm a hick. So i say it, but it makes me cringe… It's POP!!!
You must be a northener. We call it Soda, as in Soda Water, pop is nowhere to be found in the name. Pop is a sound. Pop is the sound of my rice krispies but i don't call my cereal snap, crackel and pop, I call it rice krispies. I call Soda Water Soda, end of story.
Soda Water, as you mean it, is called seltzer around these parts (New England). I agree though that there is no "pop" associated with it.
I'd also like to add that pop is a smack. "as in I just popped you one on the shoulder". Just like that cheesy red headed guy on the Hawaiian punch ads. So say pop, but beware heheh.
Isn't it called "tonic" in NE?
I love soda and it took a long time for me to realize that I'm actually addicted to the carbonation, so drinking seltzer water or club soda satisfies me just as much as drinking a diet coke. My husband was a serious Dr. Pepper addict for years. Shortly after we were married, I convinced him to at least switch to diet Dr. Pepper and over time he's managed to quit drinking soda almost altogether, typically no more than one a day.
I kicked my Diet Pepsi habit by switching to Pepsi Max! Great stuff.
I read the first paragraph and felt an urge. I had to force myself to read a few more paragraphs before getting up to get a Diet Coke. Before I reached the end of the article, I had opened a cold can and let out a sigh.
Here's a hint: STOP BUYING SODA.
Why are the only survey options based on the premise that a sodas are addicting? I love Diet Coke, as do many friends, and yet I don't feel even remotely as helpless as you describe yourself to be. Sit down, open a can, and get a hold of your life in ways where there are real issues.
You may not feel the urge, but a lot other people have a borderline addiction. It is also a proven carcinogenic, and it increases glucose levels to people in general, so it may not have calories, but it causes the damaging effect of increased insulin levels. It is also proven to increase the total caloric intake in humans. Do your research on peer reviewed medical journals and do not lie to yourself. Good luck.
I don't care for Soda/Pop in general. But my wife was addicted to Pepsi. It drove me nuts... Partially because of the extra expense on something so unhealthy but mostly because when I helped her bring up the groceries I was always left with a heavy bag filled with Pepsi that I needed to lug up, and the weight save could have allowed me to get 4 more bags in hand.
I was hopelessly addicted to real Coke, now it's even worse with Diet Coke.
I'm promiscuous, too.
Almost any "painted" diet soda will do.
I don't like the lemon-lime ones for some reason.
After I drink the gallon or so in the house, I'll quit.
This time I really mean it!
Honest.
You know you have a Diet Coke addiction when you wake up after four days in a coma (after heart surgery) and your first thought is: I haven't had a Coke for four days – I've kicked the habit. But they allow Coke in the hospital to help clear your head of anesthesia. Yes, I'm back at it.
I am a Coke Zero addict after quitting regular coke, 1 can a day and on weekends Rum and Zero
For some reason, I was born without the ability to burp. So when I drink soda my chest feels like it's going to explode and it hurts so bad, but I don't burp! I love Mtn Dew and it depresses me that I can't drink too much soda...but after reading this, maybe it's a good thing!
After going through withdrawals during my first trip to Europe (Coke Light is NOT Diet Coke people), I now take 12 packs along with me when I travel...sad yes, and so is the fact that I'm drinking a diet coke as I read this.
I gave up soda when the prices shot up. I switched to "diet "sports drinks", only to switch to Mio water enhancer. I no longer lug home tons of soda bottles, and recycle only a little bit every month
I used to have a horrible sodastream addiction. 15 years of complete addiction. Then I discovered Diet Coke. I am finally kicking the sodastream habit.
Hah!
luckly i don't drink diet soda, however i can consume about 12-15 cans of pepsi a day if i fel the need, im addicted to the carbonation more then the caffeine. and when your in a kitchen for 8 hours a day and get no meal time a can of soda is a quick lunch.
I know first hand about it. I currently drink about 15 cans of regular Coke a day (sometimes more if I am bored or stressed out). I have put on weight and I never feel well. But, I don't believe the ending of her story. There is no way I would be able to drink water and be content. I don't drink juice, water, milk or other sodas. I get the most terrible headaches when I try to quit or go without one for a couple of hours. I know I need to stop but can't.
Kicking the habit isn't easy. Try this. Start by cutting back on the most important soda you need to have each day, whether it's with breakfast, lunch, your break time, whatever. The one you crave the most. Just delay that one soda by a half an hour, then the next day 45 minutes, etc. Do that for a week. Then move to the next most important soda. You have to wean yourself off, but you have to start with the most important one. Don't start with the weak cravings, you'll only reinforce the strong cravings.
you can do it!!! i used to drink more coke than breathe air- it was soo good. my recycling bin was bright red with shame at the end of the week.
we got a sodastream, and i am just effing bonkers over it like OP here. it's all of the awesome fizz without the syrup. i still have a couple cokes a week- but it's much better than several cokes a day.
here's the other cool part: once you start drinking sodastream seltzer you can stop feeling guilty about drinking coke- for price reasons, health, whatever- and just drink 70 bazillion glasses a day BECAUSE NOW IT'S GOOD FOR YOU. FTW.
I am a Diet Dew addict. I limit myself to two cans a day as cans are smaller. I wish I never started. I have noticed when I try to quit...my workouts aren't as good. I suspect the caffeine even in just the two cans helps. Anyway, the difficult workouts always send me back to the Diet Dew.
I also have a soda stream, but didn't think the diet version tasted like diet coke enough. I preferred the root beer. For about 3 months I only used the sodastream, but then the CO cartridge ran dry & I keep forgetting to exchange it. Oh well. I need a diet coke. Now.
Go to a home brew place and get them to set you up with a 20 pounds CO2 tank, regulator, hose and attachments (to attach to standard plastic PET bottles). That sucker will last you 4 years before you need to refill it. SodaStream is a rip-off.
I stopped drinking all soda six years ago after being diagnosed as diabetic. I drink water – plain old tap water. I feel better and look better. (I used to drink a six-pack of coke or pepsi didn't care which a day beginning with breakfast.)
I do beleive there is a level of addiciton there, I am not sure what really causes it or if it is all in your head but for many years I tried but kept going back, I think I am good now, I occasionally will have a soda but it is not that often anymore, I could go through a 12 pack in 2 days. I started seeing my kids want to drink pop all the time and I knew I had to do something about it.
Of all the things one can be addicted to, alcohol, meth, crack–I think that diet coke is absolutely nothing. 4 liters a day is too much, not to mention hard on the bladder, but I can't see it interfering with work, school or family life like other addictions do.
A story I can relate to! I had drank diet coke since high school. I'm 41 now and have not had a diet coke since July. I stopped cold turkey. I don't drink any carbonated beverages, nor coffee or tea. So no caffeine and no bubbles. It is a hard thing to do. I occasionally want a sip of a diet coke but I know that one sip will mean I am back on the stuff full force. It really is an addiction.
Diet Coke.... AKA.... Diet Crack!! Can't live without it!!
I really think that a huge part of the addiction is a "carbonation" addiction. I've been drinking plain or flavored carbonated water for several years now. Not only has it completely replaced any desire for a standard sugary soda, but the sugary (or even the diet) kind now makes me feel ill so I completely avoid them. Soda water with a splash of real fruit juice is a tasty and healthy substitute for any standard cola. Look for Le Croix or a number of other soda water brands.
This is clearly an ad disguised as an article, CNN is having more and more of these.
My wife is a diet pepsi junkie. Three two-litre bottles a day, no joke.
I like how you call this an advertisement and yet the majority of people posting are ecstatic to know that they're not alone. this is a good article with a good message for a good cause
Soda is digusting. I don't know how anyone can stand to drink it at all, let alone this much of it.
Pretty much how i feel about coffee.
Isn't it fortunate then your opinions on a topic do not make it true for anybody else.
Soda is disgusting in both taste and content. Taste is subjective, content is not. But by all means, continue ingesting food and drink that contain chemicals capable of peeling paint off the wall.
I'm not arguing that soda is bad for you. It is. But your subjective tastes do not apply to others. It is not "disgusting" for millions of people. And your insistence that your opinion is the only correct one is arrogant and rather douchey.
It's called everyone is different... It might be disgusting to you, but that doesn't mean it is actually disgusting. You probably consume things that others might think are disgusting. Open your mind...
I'll repeat it again – taste is subjective, content is not. I'm quite certain there's foods either you or I eat, that the other would absolutely despise. I am speaking in terms of content – chemicals and additives. I have quite an open mind, but not when it comes to chemically processed trash.
Go take a reading comprehension course.
Soda is the worst thing you can drinl, especially diet soda. It's simple: just stop drinking it! Stop pretending it's an addiction or making excuses, just f&^%$#ing do it!
Worse thing you can drink??? Talk about brain-washed. You should see what alcoholics' lives are like.
Actually I think bleach or liquid drano would be the worst drink in the world, I could be wrong though. I have had some nasty burnt coffee from starbucks before.
I am a big-time Diet coke addict for almost 25yrs. At one time as much as 6-8 cans a day. Now a bad day is 4. And it may be personal preference but I can not drink it out of a fountain, or out of plastic. It MUST be from a can (since glass is no longer available) and it MUST be very cold. I am activly seeking to kick the habbit and it is comforting to know i am not alone.
I don't do diet drinks, I don't like the taste, so Pepsi is my addiction. But I find that I like Pepsi in a plastic bottle better than in a can. Interesting isn't it?
Cans are more addictive. Try drinking coke or pepsi from a 2 liter bottle warm, you don't drink as much but be sure to keep the cap on the bottle to keep from getting too flat, some flatness you get used to. I used to drink beer that way but found it numbs the brain which soda doesn't do.
I actually had the same diet coke habit and also kicked it with the soda stream. Weird!
I'm a recovering Diet Coke user. Used to drink 4 liters a day. Rapid heart beat and dehydration forced me to stop after at least 20 years of drinking it. Glad I no longer drink but an occassional 28 oz.
I've read this article twice and have I missed something? The title is "How I kicked my Coke habit" but in the third-to-last paragraph she simply states "I have no idea how I was released from diet cola's hold, but I opt for seltzer or water in or out of the house every time now." Is the title misleading or have I totally missed a passage in here? I would not be surprised if it's the latter (sleep deprivation).
i grew up on soda. about 23 years ago i had gained some weight, so went on a diet and work out regimen. as part of it, i stopped drinking soda of any kind (did not want to have sugary taste in my mouth). 6 months after quitting, i had lost the weight and had a soda. disgusting. i have not had a soda since (in a pinch, i have had part of a 7-up, and occasionally use ginger ale as a bourbon mixer). i firmly believe diet soda can be as harmful as normal soda for many people, as it keeps the drinker regularly consuming sugary fluids - the taste impair's one's ability to have a sensible diet - thereby, gain weight.
stuff is disgusting, and one can only know it if you quit for a while. my kids are 9 and 7 and they have never had a soda, and are fine with it (nor have they had any fast food).
ugh. great–more boring self-righteous americans on the way! (bring a book)
Thinking like that is why the girls at my all girl catholic school got knocked up as soon as possible. One of them married the janitor, had twins and is still married to him 25 yrs later, and she was the valedictorian. Wind up anybody that tight and they will overindulge. You should be teaching your kids moderation and nutritional facts(yes I know DC has none). Haven't you ever SEEN the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Movie? No wait, bad example. nevermind, your right, soda is evil, we are all stupid yadda yadda.
I've never been an addict but I got into the habit about a year ago of drinking maybe a can a day. Once it became a regular thing I did some research into Aspartame. It's inconclusive but why take the chance? At around the same time I started working in an office near a little Italian restaurant. So I started getting San Pellegrino water with my lunches instead of pop. And I grew to love it. The author is right, it's the bubbles! Then I heard about the SodaStream but was turned off by the cost and the hassle of exchanging cylinders all the time. You only get 60 litres from a $30 gas cylinder. So I did some Googling and found all kinds of DIY options for home carbonation. I found everything I needed at a local home brew store. For a little over $200 I got a 10 pound CO2 tank, a regulator, some hose and some connections. My 10 pound tank costs $20 to refill and will carbonate 500 litres of water! Far more cost effective than the SodaStream. Go with a 20 pound tank and it's even cheaper! It would end up costing you about 2 cents a litre (once you recoup your original investment). I usually drink the water straight but I have a handheld citrus press (looks like a giant garlic press) and will sometimes squeeze and entire fresh lime, lemon, grapefruit or orange into my water. SOOOOOO much better than pop!!!!
Carbonation is actually what you might be addicted to........the gas activates cells that express a gene called TRPA1 and serve as general pain receptors....hence your body relieves a little bit of endorphins every time the bubbles hit your tongue
Whoa! That is fascinating - and somehow would make a LOT of sense. I'm gonna go find out more - and possibly carbonate everything in the house.
Yup. I love the fizz. Read my post above. I went to a home brew place and got them to make me a home carbonation setup. Costs 4 cents/litre with my 10 pound CO2 tank or only 2 cents/litre with a 20 pound tank (since the cost to fill a 20# is only a few dollars more than filling a 10#). SodaStream costs 50 cents/litre. Which is actually more expensive than no-name brand club soda from the store.
That might explain why my mouth feels so much better with Coke Zero! I have been diagnosed with Crohn's and my mouth is always swollen and red-but drinking the soda relieves the severe pain. Water seems to irritate it, so for that and several other reasons I'm sticking to the Coke. Thanks for the insight!
My husband is a Coke addict. He drinks, no word of a lie, a case of cans per day. I wish I was joking when I say that if he runs out unexpectedly, he freaks his freak. On car rides that are going to take any longer than fifteen minutes, he brings it with him, and typically a six pack. He's accumulated so many Coke Reward Points that, should he cease buying it today, he will still have enough codes to punch in on their web page for roughly a year. The only two beverages that he ever drinks are Coca Cola and coffee. That's it. I've been trying to get him to quit for over three years now. A year and a half ago, his doctor discovered lesions on one of his kidneys. They are benign, but they are still there. Is it from the soda? I can't say for sure. But I can't say that I don't think it could be.
I am a Pepsi addict, at least a two liter a day.
Let me guess..... your way overweight??? LOL Tyoical Sugar addict...
Typical judgmental thin person who has no sympathy for an addiction simply because they're not afflicted.
I hate diet anything,but I am an addict of regular coke I have kicked it for a couple months before but always end up going back and i end up drinking more and more each time..I really HATE the Coke company and I hate I am supporting them.
This is exactly what happens to me – it doesn't have to be Coke persay, it can be several different types of soda. Everytime I stop, exactly 3 months on the dot roles around and I crave Root Beer like you would not believe! And Root Beer isn't even a normal "staple" in terms of carbonated beverages I consume! Glad to know I'm not alone!
I, too, am a coke addict. I can quit at will but always go back. The coke with real sugar is the best. The US, I believe, is the only place Coke uses corn syrup and it sucks.
The title is "How I Kicked My Coke Habit" and then she goes on to say "I have no idea how I was released from diet cola's hold ..." I thought she was really going to give some good information on kicking this "addiction"–so much for that! What a waste of a read.
I used to drink soda several times each day, and one day I just stared at the can and thought about what I was doing to myself. Since then, I have about 1 soda each month and have switched over to unsweetened iced tea.
Diet Coke is not bad for you, that's just a public rumor. People always get worried, but there is nothing to worry about.
Anything artificial in excess is bad for you.
correction: ANYTHING in excess is bad for you. Even water (true life, google it.)
I am a diebetic with midl kid probelm. Reading a health report, I tested my kidney function before and after stopping diet coke (or any soda). There was a marked increase in kidney function and my physician was suprised. I did this check several times:every time I took diet coke, renal function (kidney) was impaired. My strong advise to you people with diabetes(who have metabolic syndrome) and impaired kidneys, do not take diet soda or any carbonated water: Switch to iced tea but better yet plain water. Save your lives and long term kidney damage by following this precaution . I do not have an opinion on healthy people drinking one or two sodas daily but clearly it may be pressing on kidney function and you may not know until it is too late.
Great solid information.....thx I also experienced rapid heart beats during my caffeine free diet coke addiction and headaches when I hadn't had any for awhile.
I never got into Diet Soda, but regular soda, about 1 liter a day.
But I drink Crystal Light now. It taste like Kool-Aid, but you can use more or less mix/water to taste.
Virtually no calories or sugar. That's what I would recommend. And it should save you some money too!
BD
I used to go through six to eight liters of Diet Coke a day, easily. I never felt addicted per se, I just enjoyed the flavor, and the fact that despite it being zero-calorie, I truly enjoyed it; I never forced myself to drink it.
My habit came to a screeching halt when I moved to Japan. They don't have Diet Coke here. They have Coca Cola Zero, which I don't enjoy. So nowadays I mostly drink regular Coca Cola (or, if it is delicious, the seasonal offerings from Pepsi). It is rare (but not unheard of) for me to break one liter per day.
But I still look forward to my trips back to America, where I indulge to the tune of two to four liters per day, for the short duration of my vacation. I don't feel it was ever a problem for me, addiction-wise, but I suppose I am glad for my health to have cut back so much on overall cola intake.
Clever. An advert crafted like a personal article...topped off with a census mechanism for how many people actually read the advert. Marketing is evolving to more advanced strains every day.
Sodastream and Feebrothers...my hats off to you for hiring the firm that though of this. And also hats off to CNN for trying to scrape in as much money any way they can from advertisers. And folks say that CNN is not as good as FOX...
Wow, you're right. This is a friggin' advertisement in disguise. CNN is sinking to all-time lows.
Funny...I was thinking the exact same thing.
You are spot on! I thought this was going to be an article about kicking the habit of drinking soda, instead its an advertisement to make soda at home. Just when I thought the media couldnt sink any lower....
oh, please. nobody puts this much time into digital content ads anymore. more often than not, the pr company writes it for the sites and the sites publish it as is–and those pieces are not very good. In this, I see no grammatical errors, no cheesy jargon or serious cliches. For once on CNN, this is a well written and entertaining article. More like it please, thanks.
Agreed. If they are claiming it is an ad they obviously did not read the piece.
Wow, this woman was an addict in almost every sense of the word, except that it probably did not interfere with her life. (But with her health?... Only time will tell that.) More science needs to be done on soft-addictions such as these, including addictions to bizarre objects, habits, behaviors, and to social media, i.e., FB, twitter, etc.
It DOES interfere with one's life.........read some of this again. She (and I at one time) have to plan to have her 'fix' wherever she was going. If you travel, you better have access to a Diet Coke in the morning. I don't drink coffee, but I expect it is the same thing. Everywhere you go, you have to plan for your fix. That what it is to be addicted. And, if you don't get it at lunch, that horrible headache is coming. It does start to run your life, in a way.
It's not an addiction. The author of this "article" should look up the word in the dictionary.
So should you. She is the epitome of definition #2.
ad·dict
1. A person who is addicted to a particular substance, typically an illegal drug.
2. An enthusiastic devotee of a specified thing or activity.
For me, it is regular Coke I crave but only if I am under stress. I just started back to work and my boss is a wienie. (For example, he asked me to come in late so I would not go over my hours then yelled at me for coming in late on the day of a meeting he did not tell me about.) I work near a Quik Trip and as soon as he starts up all I can think about is that happy, 32 oz fountain Coke with a splash of cherry. Ahhhhhhhhhhh.
Kat, you and your grad school chummies are a bunch of tools
Your dick's so small, bacteria laughs at it.
Has anyone ever investigated the addictive nature of Nutrasweet? I swear that stuff is more addictive than drugs, and is what keeps Diet Coke/Pepsi drinkers attached.
Good for you for kicking the DC habit. I noticed you didn't bring up health risks, which are NUMEROUS and scary for diet soda. But whatever motivated you, cost, space, loss of control, be glad you did it.
Aspartame is the fecal matter of E-Coli. Google it.
... And honey is bee vomit. Get over your scare tactics.
Honey is natural. Aspartame is not. It is a potent neurotoxin, and has been attributed to many disorders and diseases. Most notably, Alzheimer's disease, mood disorders, cancers, and epilepsy.
Facts are not scare tactics. Facts are facts.
You are fecal matter .... therefore your name is Aspartame. And look! There's your name, right up there!
Aspartame will, over time penetrate your blood brain barrier and kill what is left of your brain. As you can see in this juvenile commentator's case, he has drank way too much aspartame.
Aspartame is bad for you. It is the fecal matter of e-coli.
I've been addicted to water all my life..my addiction is so bad ..I just can't live w/o it.. :(
I hate diet soda but I am a Pepsi addict. I will drink two liters a day if my husband doesn't stop me...
Wow, the woes of the Western world. And I thought starving babies in Africa had a chance.
Africa is the way that it is because the leaders don't know how to run a country... it's the US of A's fault Africa is as poor as it is.
How would it be the US of A's fault for Africa's state of being? Its so easy to just blame it on the US of A...yes the US of A can do more, but so can other countries. So can African countries.
For 24/7 gloom & doom, head over to FoxNews – otherwise stfu.
lol...sorry...but if you're looking for that kind of news, someplace other than Eatocracy is more likely to have it. I too kicked the diet coke habit....and lost 22 lbs in 2 months. I'm sure it wasn't just that ( am watching what I eat more and drinking tons of water) but still.....
Love your Nacho Scoops recipe.
I hardly ever drink any kind of soda anymore, just occasionally when we go out. My husband is the full-blown diet soda addict – not any kind of cola (he can't stand the taste) but pretty much anything else. I wish he could cut back or give it up altogether, because I know it's making him eat more, but it is definitely an addiction! My personal vice on the sweet side is tea – I grew up in GA and gotta have my sweet tea, made with real sugar (I'm allergic to all artificial sweeteners, including those supposed "natural" ones like Splenda).
On a side note, Dragon- Splenda isn't natural. It's chemically derived. Try Stevia (pure), it IS an actual plant, no chemicals added or used... and tastes much better than artificial sweeteners! :) My sweet tea is now stevia sweetened, and it's lovely! :)
I love it. Its natural so it has to be safe.... Poison ivy is a plant but I wouldn't put it in my sweet tea.
Hi. My name is CJ and I have a problem. I love love love my Diet Coke. Can't imagine living without it. It's nice to see that I'm not alone in my obsession.
Very funny!
I was a diet coke addict. It was an obsession and i was always in a hurry, impatient and i couldnt think straight. I bought the soda stream and it helped me kick the habit. The problem is i drank 6 liters of soda water a day. It depleted my sodium which is a serious problem..i understand it can put you in a coma. I am trying to keep it to 2 or 3 liters a day.
Strange that I never hear about regular Coke addicts... I drink a lot of Mountain Dew/Mello Yello, but I have never been able to stand Diet anything. The taste is just gross. I used to drink the Dew morning, noon and night, but then I wondered if that was healthy and cut down. Some days I don't have any, although I usually have one with lunch. I never had any sort of withdrawal simptoms, and this is after years of drinking. I also try to balance it out with juice and lots of water, so maybe that helps.
I, too, couldn't stand the taste of diet anything until I tried Diet A&W Root Beer. One can barely tell that is diet. From then on, I was able to tolerate the taste of Diet Pepsi, Seven-up, ginger ale, and then diet just-about-everything-else. Fortunately, never became addicted to any of it, however. :)
... and Diet Dr. Pepper is another "gateway" diet drink for those who can't initially stand the taste of diet.
Oh... wait! Almost forgot... I came close to having an addiction for FRESCA. A diet citrus drink made by, who else?... The Coca Cola Co.
i wasn't a coke drinker but i loved my mt dew. use to drink it like i drink water now. from the time i got up till i went to bed. i quit cold turkey 8 yrs ago and have never looked back. it was hard but so worth it. in a month alone i lost 10 lbs. it helped that i also cut out all junk food i was eating as well and started working out like crazy. i wasn't fat but not healthy. feel great and look great since!
Same here. First thing I drank in the morning, last thing I drank at night. Quit cold turkey too. Headaches galore! I thought I would "treat" myself to one one day and just about doubled up it hurt my stomach so bad. Didn't realize how much damage I had done to my stomach until then. Don't miss it one bit.
OHHHHH... I thought she kicked COCAINE!
Well then... so much for me getting insight.
My name is KC and I am a Coke fiend. In my defense, I have digestive issues and flat Coke (the real thing, not diet) settles my stomach.
I, too, am a Diet Coke addict, and could relate to everything in this article. About a month ago I quit and am down to one 16-oz. bottle of caffeine free diet pepsi (alas, much easier to find than CFDC) per day, which is like the methadone treatment or nicotine gum for Diet Coke addicts.
A few years ago my dad passed away after losing his battle with cancer. As everyone unfortunately experiences at some point in their lives, things at my mom's house were rather surreal and chaotic during the ensuing days of family coming into town and planning the services. Lots of wonderful friends brought in meals, etc., but one of my mom's friends simply showed up every morning with a 64-oz. fountain drink of Diet Coke for my mom. It was an awesome showing of friendship and we will never forget it!
Coke Zero is an acceptable diet mixer for rail bourbon or rum (Captain Morgans or Jim Beam). Other than that, I avoid it.
I never liked diet coke. aspartame tastes weird and can have very negative side effects after long-term consumption.
simply apple is my addiction. I have to avoid buying it because i'll take out the whole bottle before the next morning. its liquid amazing in a bottle.
I used to wonder where all my jitteriness and headaches came from. Then I stopped drinking diet caffeinated sodas, and a lot of that went away.
Please don't state myth and your own paranoid as fact... there is very little in the way of proof that aspartame has long term side effects.
It always baffles me how 99 scientists can line up and make the same claim,
yet people always want to listen to and repeat the one scientist who claims something else.
I don't know about long term effects, but if I drink anything with aspartame in it my digestive system goes crazy with gas and bloating and other bad things going on. If I don't injest aspartame, I don't have the same issues.
That's good enough for me to read labels and avoid sweeteners.
Back in the 60's they used cyclamates for artificial sweetening, it was better than sugar it tasted so good. Unfortunately it was found to cause cancer. We had rail cars full of it in my town, great for canned fruit.
I don't know how I managed it as a kid but I was never really hooked on soda. There isn't a cola out there, any brand, that appeals to me. I look at people swigging Coke/Pepsi/etc. while eating real food in restaurants and I think "what a horrible thing to do to good food." Drink it if you must but the only benefit is to the bottlers who package fizzy, sweet water and make a bundle off of it.
Diet Coke and Coors Light had very similar designs on their cans. Coincidence? I think not.
you are an idiot. stop looking for conspiracies.
grassy knoll, with the OTHER rifle, by the two hobos.
Guy Banister and Jack Ruby both liked steak.
Coincidence? I think not!
attack of the dour literalists!
Run for your lives!
Sorry to hear you had your sense of humor removed. Crabby people are charged an extra $10 for putting up with their cr@p. Please pay at the door.
I replaced my diet mt dew addiction with S.Pellegrino with lemon. It's the bubbles!
You people are idiots. Diet soda is absolutely disgusting. The taste of the carcinogenic artificial sweetener is so horrible. I can barely drink a sip of that crap without the urge to vomit back into the bottle ( it would probably make it taste better). Stick to water and if you reaaaallllyy need the carbonation drink seltzer water instead. Its available in all sorts of flavors and has no sugar, salt, artificial flavoring or colors. Just carbonated water and NATURAL flavors.
Well aren't you just a little ray of sunshine? You just go and have an ice day under your rock, Sonny.
I am not sure which is worse, a potentially carcinogenic drink or a confirmed carcinogenic person.
You read my mind.
Bitter, party of one, your table is now available. Bitter, party of one.
Ha ha ha.... CTFU.
Wow...maybe you need to chill out with diet coke?
Hilarious, all of you, have a wonderful sense of humor!!! Thanks for the smiles at the expense of Mr Grump.
I used to drink a couple of litres a day too. I'd get cranky when I didn't have it, get headaches sometimes too. About five years back I started having problems with caffeine and anxiety, so I cut down to caffeine free diet coke. Over the years I've cut down a lot more, down to maybe two-four litres a week on average. I drink a lot more water now, and some weeks I don't have any diet coke at all. But after a while I'll have a strong urge for a drink that really tastes of something, a desire for a flavour and that's usually when I head down to the fridge for some diet coke. But I'm sure my life now is a little healthier and I'm spending a lot less money too.
I started on regular coke for years, then as I got older and people nagged me I switched to the coke that had half the sugar, then switched ot diet and finally to coke zero, then at hubby's insisting i cut back to 4 cans/bottles a day. but I just don't look forward to the headaches that I know I will have, and have tried the flavored sparkling water thing but I missed the sweet. If I could find my next addiction, LOL I would quit Coke Zero.
Sweet tastes promote the release of insulin, which causes glucose (blood sugar) to be stored as fat. This is an adaptive response, because for millions of years sweet tastes have meant that blood glucose levels are about to rise, and when there is excess sugar it ought to be stored for times of fasting, when food is not readily available. Artificial sweeteners have the same effect on insulin: sweet diet drinks will increase insulin and thus the storage of fat. In this case, though, no sugar is provided by the beverage, so the drinker stores away glucose already present in the blood, glucose that is needed for energy. The result is a decrease in blood sugar, and a corresponding increase in hunger. The drinker eats more, and gains weight.
British Journal of Nutrition.... http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=7921865
"Data from numerous publications on the effects of low-energy sweeteners on appetite, insulin and glucose levels, food intake and body weight have shown that there is no consistent evidence that low-energy sweeteners increase appetite or subsequent food intake"
Untrue or doctors would all recommend Diet Pepsi for Type 2 Diabetes patients instead of costly medicine. Nice try to demonize something compleletely harmless though
Actually, Jimi, there are research reports out there linking high consumption of diet drinks with weight gain.
Shani,
those studies more have focused on the correlation between overweight people and the consumption of diet pop.
Some will use the studies to argue that the consumption will lead to weight gain, while others resonably point out instead that overweight people simply have a tendancy to drink more diet pop that people at a healthy weight.
Overweight people also tend to consume more preservatives.... this shouldn't lead you to the conclusion that preservatives are the cause of their weight gain because a study correlates the two.
Actually, jimi, it is pretty close to the truth. I'm a diabetic. The fact that doctors won't suggest drinking a 75 cent can of Diet Coke (something they won't see a penny of) as opposed to prescribing expensive medicines (something that their livelihood depends on) just goes to show how the whole FDA mafia is making billions off of poor saps that buy into the lies and deceptions that the three piece suit wearing (not the actual scientists, mind you) executives of food producing companies, drug companies, and the 'administration' are forcefeeding our society.
Dean,
I can appreciate your logical approach but this is complete hogwash.
Several studies have concluded that aspartame has virtually no effect on insulin levels in the body.
Here is one reputable link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9734727
I used to have the Diet Coke monkey on my back too. 2 litres every day just at work. Then I got home for more.
It is an easy habit to get into.
Wow, Thomas! Congrats for getting of that much during the day! Can you share how you did that? Kudos to you!
Nothing better than that first diet coke in the morning!!
I remember Shelly on this past season of 'Big Brother' was a Diet Coke fiend.
It has been years since I've regularly drunk soda, and I don't miss it one bit.
Not Diet Coke - Coke Zero. Total addict. Help!!!
Try drinking a full glass of water before you drink any diet coke. I find I drink the diet coke slower and over time that helps lead to drinking less.
Some of us don't actually like the taste of water. I would get all of my hydration from soda alone if I didn't need water to rinse out my mouth after brushing.
So what is the diff between diet coke and coke zero? Never quite understood.
Marketing and coke zero is "sweetened with a blend of aspartame and acesulfame potassium (Ace K).... It is believed that men are more reluctant to buy diet coke because the word ‘diet’ associated with women. Therefore, to market the product ‘Coke Zero’ been produced to associate masculinity."
Source: http://www.differencebetween.net/science/health/difference-between-diet-coke-and-coke-zero/
Did a Google image search to check you out. Tough bowl cut. wickedimproper . com
Wish I could escape from the clutches of Coke Zero...but I LIKE it!
I read years ago that M&Ms are flavor-designed to not completely satisfy the chocolate craving...making you reach for more. I wouldn't be surprised if the soft drink companies designed colas the same way.
It's diet Dr Pepper for me. I'm down to one can a day and hoping to quit altogether in the next few days.
I love my diet coke so much that when I travel to Europe I bring an extra suitcase full of it. They have "Coke Lite" in Europe, but it's just not the same.
That is funny. Every time I vist my mom in the UK she fills the fridge with Pepsi. I can;t drink it though it is completely different. Found out why on the label, NO SODIUM. If the low sodium thing catches on in Morth America we all better get ready for Cola's that suck.
All Hail Ben, King of Morth America!
I'm a Diet Coke addict. I have been for 15 years. I don't drink anything else. I rarely get 8oz of water into me in a day. I don't want to quit, I just want to be able not to be "obsessed" about where the next one is coming from. ;)
I've been drinking Diet Coke since I was 14. At the heights of consumption, a twelve pack a day, easy. Faves were the bottles while out and about. (In addition to the twelve pack at home) At 51 now with Tinnitus in my right ear, I've had to cut way way back on caffeine so I supplement with caffeine free Diet Coke and save the real stuff for waking up in the morning (a bottle kept on the head of my bed) I've toyed with Diet Pepsi and other diet sodas but the real kick is always the red, white and silver....
Years ago, I was something of a caffiene addict. Other than coffee & alcohol, Diet Coke was all I drank. There was little to no water in my daily consumption. When my darling husband came into my life, bringing his Diet Pepsi jones into our relationship, a friendly but hard line was drawn in the sand by both of us: I like what I like and I'm not converting to your soda. We happily supported & supplied our own joneses.
When tonsil cancer struck my dear, loving hubby and he went thru the chemo & radiation treatments, drinking habit's for both of us began to change. He could no longer drink his beloved DP anymore because it burned his now uber-irradiated throat. To this day, 11 years later, the only thing he can drink that doesn't burn is water. Some of my health issues gave me reason to cut way back on caffeine back then, too. Doing almost a 180, now I have one 20 oz cuppa joe in the morning and one, that's ONE, Diet Coke in the afternoon – almost everything else I drink is water. If I can't get to my one Diet Coke by 4pm, I leave it in the fridge for another day.
Thank you, Kat, for an inspiring story. Keep 'em coming.
Not a diet soda drinker, but recently had to quit drinking the regular stuff due to the fact that I was passing kidney stones for the last 9 or so years. In fact, I just passed one the other day and it took almost two weeks to leave my system.
Great story, thanks for the humor!! (As I sit here sipping my first Diet Pepsi of the day....)
First, if there are similar sufferers out there, give the author should provide a picture of her freind chugging out of a 2LT diet coke bottle throughout the day. The mental image I have is horrific.
While I am not sure how this post explains the "how" of kicking the habit, the aauthor might have something with the bubbles theory. I tired to kick a Pepsi habit for at least three years, finally got over the hump by drinking diet 7up. I reduced Pepsi intacke slowly (those 100 calorie mini cans really helped), stopped puitting it in the fridge (warm Pepsi just isn't the same), then when i fell below a can a day average, I made the cold turkey switch to diet 7up which in my opinion is the only tolerable diet drink (freshca maybe), then after a few weeks I realized I hated diet 7up and I was basically cured. So maybe it is the bubbles?
Thank said, I drink tea like it is going out of style (black, no sugar), so my caffeine is delivered through a different method (helped avoid the headaches which are awful, I can attest to that). My method may have worked, but the the only real or tangible part of my cure was that I stopped buying Pepsi at the grocery store. Don't keep it in the house and it's basically bye, bye Pepsi addiction.
It really helps to talk about, but man I wish I had a cold Pepsi.
My drug of choice is Diet Cherry Coke (now Cherry Coke Zero). It's barely after 10am and I'm just about to finish my second one of the day...a little slow this morning. I try to keep myself to just 2 a day and not drink any after noon. It is the caffeine for me...I traveled to Mexico last year and France this year, knew Diet Coke would be unavailable or expensive so I brought along a No-Doz generic to avoid the "caffeine headache" problem. Now I'm trying to quit sodas all together–they can contribute to osteoporosis. Oh well...I still have my red wine with dinner.
Yes, SW! Thank you for brining that up! Caffiene inhibits the adsorption of calcium. So when you have a caffienated drink of anykind and take you calcium supplements, you are throwing $ out the door. Drink your caff.pop with a meal that has some of your calcium for the day, and kiss it bye bye! Osteoporosis is not just for women, either! Stop the caffiene, take your calcium supplements, and you will see a difference in your hair and nails. Thanks!
Holy smokes – I could have written this article. I can relate to every single point. I've quit for up to a year at a time but always go back. People who think it's silly just don't have a clue. Lucky them.
I absolutely ADORE my Sodastream Penguin. It's sleek and looks great on the counter, unlike the original Sodastreams. I've never been a soda junkie – my mother pretty much banned us from having it, so of course I wnated it – but then as I grew up the dietary concern trumped the syrupy sweet bubbles.
I completely agree with the 'fizz addiction'. I have that – and love sparkyl; water. I've never bought the syrups; probably never will. Mainly, my Sodastream replaced my canned sparkling water costs (outrageous for water in a can with some lemon!). I recommend this product to everyone. I cringe at work when it's 8am and I hear the sound of an opening can! Yuck!!
My God you can ramble on
So can I.
I am, in fact, a ramblin', gamblin' man.
I'm a Coke addict too, but not the horrible diet stuff. Only someone who could enjoy Tabasco in fizzy water could be a junky for that diet stuff!
Newsflash: That glorious "sip, sigh, slump" is a trademark of COKE itself, not just diet coke. I get it with each slug off my wonderful red & white can.
For the record, my blood sugar is fine but I wear dentures and jeans about 2 sizes larger than I should. But you can have my Coke when you pry it from my cold, dead hand!
Oh Kathleen, how wrong you are. I live & breathe for my Diet Coke. I used to be all Coke, all the time until the diet came along. Now, regular Coke is like drinking syrup. And what is up with that sugary film that coats my teeth?? YUK! No, give me my Diet Coke, chemicals and all, any day of the week. And luckily, I can use the calories for a bunch of other yummy stuff.
It used to be that only Royal Crown Cola would coat your teeth like that, but all the non diet sodas do now. What is up with that?
Agreed on the Coke-is-like-syrup POV. In fact all drinks sweetened with sugar, HFCS or Splenda taste like syrup to me. I'm from the BDC (Before Diet Coke) generation that drank Tab because we had no other diet cola choices. The second Diet Coke was available, I was off the Tab and on the Diet Coke bandwagon. FTR, I've never had an issue with man-made sweeteners.
Just like Kathleen, I am addicted to the real stuff. I am trying to cut back, but this is my only addiction. I am a mid-range Baby Boomer with a hgh-stress job and an insane family life and I need my Coke!
That's what I said.
OMG Kathleen!!!!! You MUST be my long lost twin......there is NOTHING in this world better to me than the sweet bubbily refreshing deliciously smooth and wonderful taste of the one and only COCA COLA CLASSIC.....that beautiful red & white can with all it's wonderfullness inside! God help me I've been an addict as long as I can remember! In fact, I take credit for Coca Cola Classic because I can remember as a youngster Coke changed its formula and I swear I wrote a letter to the Coca Cola company EVERYDAY till they changed it back! I love Coke! Will NEVER EVER EVER stop drinking it! Thank GOD I'm one of the lucky few who has NO health problems of any kind so my relatiuonhship with Coke Classic will never end! God Bless Coca Cola!!!!!! :o)
Was hoping this would actually be a useful story, but it ended up being an advertisement. Great. Thanks a lot.
You're welcome. You didn't have to leave a post, but you did. Thank YOU!
Read the replies, Craig and you will get lots of useful information on how to quit. Good luck!
"How I kicked my Coke habit"
...blaa blaa blaa...
"I have no idea how I was released from diet cola's hold."
The end.
You wanted her to go to Diet Coke rehab or something? She drank seltzer. That's cool. I wish I could.
So your grad school roommate met and married a New Paltz local? Did they have the wedding at Mohonk? Beautiful setting if so.
As a matter of fact, they were! Gorgeous place. We used to live right at the foot of the mountain.
BEAUTIFUL Place!
Have you done the hike to the resort? I used to do that every autumn, and used to think of it as "rock climbing" until I moved to Colorado. I do miss NY/New England at this time of year...:)
It's not good for anyone .
I am having that bonding experience that I am sure happens at AA meetings right now!
oh, that line is yours.
bwaaaaahahahahaha!