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Quitting Diet Cokes...maybe

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  • benenglish

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    I've done some reading, enough to convince me that the consumption of large quantities of caffeine and artificial sweeteners is a bad idea.

    When I switched from regular Cokes to Diet, I lost quite a bit of weight so I have some experience with changing a deeply-ingrained habit.

    However, leaving my caffeine habit behind will, I feel sure, be much harder. I drink a huge quantity of the stuff, generally close to a gallon a day. (Mercy, I hate admitting that.)

    Who here has taken this step and what was the experience like? Any tips? Have you managed to stay off the stuff in the long term?

    TIA for any experiences y'all are willing to share.
    Military Camp
     

    Vaquero

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    You asked.

    I quit sugar (most all sweets) about 15 years ago. Maybe more.
    Pretty smooth sailing honestly. I'm hypoglycemic.

    For those who don't wish to google, if my blood sugar begins to climb, from a candy bar or soda, my insulin dump is total, not metered.
    Only way to keep going is more sugar to offset the insulin dump.

    All's good till a few years ago.
    Heartburn. Up 1/2 the night heartburn.
    Self diagnosed and remedied. Caffeine.
    I still drink a travel cup and thermos full of coffee every morning.
    Amounts to around 10 measured 8 oz cups.
    Water after that till beer thirty. Tea is out!
    Yep, I miss a good glass of iced tea. I surely do. It just aint worth it.

    No blood sugar issues in over 10 years.
    No heartburn in at least 4, minus the occasional unsweet tea at lunch. Those haunt me.

    Hypoglycemia requires a high protein diet.
    Red meat, peanuts or derivatives., etc.
    I'm 53. 5' 10", 160+ lb.
    I feel my age. I don't miss a work day due to anything doing with personal health.
     

    Ole Cowboy

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    Switching to diet drinks I am not sure he helpful. So you want low or zero cals, no sugar but you want it sweet. There is ONLY one thing on the market that works: Stevia, its the leaf of a plant, they grow well here in Texas and it has ZERO cals, is sweet and has zero effect on diabetes!!!

    That said Stevia can be found in most stores even Wal Mart, BUT you are NOT getting pure Stevia. That is hard to come by and expensive. I buy it about 4 oz at a time, which is a large jar full. It takes so little to sweeten you will be stunned. That 4 oz will last me a good 6 mo. And I use it a lot as I drink a lot of tea in the daytime (caffeine free).

    I have diabetes which came from heavy exposure to Agent Orange. I am 6'2", 192 lbs and not in bad shape for a guy almost 70. The difference between diabetes from Agent Orange and typical Type 2 adult is that mine diabetes has no cure, most of those with Type 2 can be cured with exercise and changing their diet and getting their weight down.
     

    robertc1024

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    Wife quit - I don't want to post any more than that. Good luck Ben. More power to you.
     

    Mic

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    When I was a teenager I switched from reg drinks to diet by doing partial mixes (30% diet, then 50, 70, until I was at 100% diet).
    About 2 yrs ago I decided the artificial sweeteners wer not going to do me good. I was drinking a LOT of diet Dr P and the generic equivalents (prob about same amount as you are). I just said one day that I'm done and stopped. It went pretth smooth, but I found sweet tea after a while and had been consuming quite a bit of it.

    About a month ago I got some kind if stomach bug. Right at the beginning of it I had been ddrinking a lot of swet tea. Despite the fact that I know the sweet tea had nothing to do with it, I think of that sickness when I think of sweet tea, so I almost exclusively drink water now. Occasionally Gatorade will go down the hatch and on very rare occasions I'll drink a soda, but I have no cravings for anything anymore so water grts the nod. It hasn't been hard.

    Good luck!
     

    mantawolf

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    I quit diet drinks but I don't have an addictive personality.switched to juice and water. Didn't give up coffee becau caffine wasnt my targer, artificial sweeteners was...se
     

    TheDan

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    Gah... I find "diet" anything so gross I can't imagine anyone addicted to it. Anything with artificial sweetener in it tastes like it's coating my tongue.

    Back in my 20's I used to drink a lot of soda, but I realized I was putting on pounds. I quit pretty much cold turkey. Drank mostly water ever since. I used to drink juice whenever I wanted something sweet but one day I was looking at the sugar content and realized the juice had more sugar than the same amount of Dr Pepper. :laughing: I'll have a DP or sweet tea once or twice a month now.

    Good luck, man.
     

    Texasjack

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    I never really had a problem from the caffeine but diet cokes taste bad and there are a lot of chemicals in there that aren't particularly good to consume in quantity. I'll have a diet coke every once in awhile (when there's nothing else to drink, mainly), but drinking them for the caffeine is just a bad idea.

    Switch to tea and/or coffee.
     

    JohnnyLoco

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    Good luck to you on trying to kick caffeine.

    I gave up coffee almost a year ago and have never felt better. The first night without it you will get a massive headache, just to warn you.

    Little bit of tea here and there is all now. Most of the time just good quality juice and water.

    Having kicked soda several time, not to mention beer and other things, I can vouch for the replacement method.
     

    benenglish

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    I gave up coffee almost a year ago and have never felt better. The first night without it you will get a massive headache, just to warn you.
    You don't have to warn me. I'm there. If it gets much worse, I'm going to consider asking my sis for a morphine.

    No, I'm kidding.

    I think.

    It's not just the headache, though. The whole body feels, well, almost like I'm coming down with the flu. I'll know better after a night's sleep.
     

    benenglish

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    Heartburn. Up 1/2 the night heartburn.
    Self diagnosed and remedied. Caffeine.
    Overdosing on diet cokes gives me heartburn. It takes a while but when it comes on, the only solution is to lay off of them almost completely for a while.

    If that's so, then I know that the regular consumption of the things is eating away at my stomach in an unhealthy way. I'm trying to be healthier, thus the effort to give them up.

    Switching to diet drinks I am not sure he helpful. So you want low or zero cals, no sugar but you want it sweet.
    Actually, no. Some of the reading I've done has pointed out that drinking diet drinks may cut calorie consumption but the artificial sweeteners teach the body to expect sweet tastes all the time. That leads to a desire for the taste of sugar, including from sugar. For a diabetic like me, that's not a good thing.

    ... most of those with Type 2 can be cured with exercise and changing their diet and getting their weight down.
    That's my hope. I'm half the size I once was but I still have a long way to go.

    Wife quit - I don't want to post any more than that. Good luck Ben. More power to you.
    That sounds ominous. Thanks for the warning. I've discussed this with my sis who lives with me and she's got veto power over my efforts. If I turn into too much of a PITA to live with, I'll start drinking them again. I may have a long-term problem with sweeteners and caffeine but she has an immediate problem with angina when she's too stressed. We agreed that her problem trumps mine.

    About 2 yrs ago I decided the artificial sweeteners wer not going to do me good.
    That's my thinking.

    I have no cravings for anything anymore so water grts the nod. It hasn't been hard.
    That's a pretty stark contrast to the post by Robert. I'm hoping I have an experience that mirrors yours but if this first night is any indication, I'm not going to be that lucky.

    ...I don't have an addictive personality....
    I do. :(

    Good luck, man.
    Thanks. I'm gonna need it.

    I find that caffeine gives me energy, but not concentration.
    I hadn't thought of that. My concentration went to Hades quite a while ago. If this experiment gets some of it back, so much the better.

    ...there are a lot of chemicals in there that aren't particularly good to consume in quantity. ...
    My reading leads me to the same conclusion.

    ... drinking them for the caffeine is just a bad idea.

    Switch to tea and/or coffee.
    I don't drink them for the caffeine. I drink them because guzzling Coke is a long-standing family tradition. Ever since I was a little kid the entire family drank incredible amounts of the stuff except for my dad who drank it in moderation but killed entire pots of coffee multiple times per day.

    It's just a habit and I've come to believe it's not a harmless one.

    Besides, maybe less caffeine in my system will help me hold things a bit steadier during the old-style pistol shooting that I enjoy so much. We'll see.

    Gin and juice.
    Not a good idea. See my reply up-post about an addictive personality. :)
     

    txinvestigator

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    As of Sept of 2012 I have only drank water and a max of 3 cups of coffee throughout the day. Caffeine causes an insulin response just like carbs (sugar). I was a huge diet coke and ice tea drinker.



    One should drink half their body weight in ounces of water day.
     

    Hoji

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    As of Sept of 2012 I have only drank water and a max of 3 cups of coffee throughout the day. Caffeine causes an insulin response just like carbs (sugar). I was a huge diet coke and ice tea drinker.One should drink half their body weight in ounces of water day.
    ONLY 3 CUPS OF COFFEE?!!!That explains a lot. ;)
     

    outdare

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    Ben you don't have to do this in one day. Just make a plan and cut 1 or 2 cups a day till you get the response you want. It's what works best for me. Substitute a glass of water instead of a Coke and soon you'll achieve your goal. We didn't form these attachments overnight and trying to fix them that way may not work. Good luck
     

    Ole Cowboy

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    Ben I was not advocating diet drinks which I categorize as drinks using artificial sweeteners. I rarely drink any of those. An occasional Mexican coke (I buy a case and it takes me over a year to go thru it).

    Stevia, get the PURE stuff, I get mine from Amazon, one of the best moves I have ever made.

    As for caffeine I have one cup of coffee per day, its a full 14 oz cup, then the rest of the day I drink non-caffeine teas, such as Blueberry and others that are very tasty.
     
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    gdouthit

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    One should drink half their body weight in ounces of water day.

    I don't think this is 100% true. If I were to do that I would have to drink close to 5 liters a day. I have tried that and i'm up ever 30 minuets running to the bathroom...

    I keep it at around 2.5 to 3 L a day and I am normaly fine.
     
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    Odiferous

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    Ugh...damn...I too drink a crapload of Diet Coke...my plan is to transition from regular Diet Coke to the caffeine-free version, and then to substitute water for every other drink.

    Once I get over that, the only sugar I'll be drinking is sweet tea, but even that's usually only with dinner (and in far lesser quantities).
     
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