I've just discovered something.

[velvetpage]

In the six months or so since I last had a diet Coke, I've completely lost my taste for it. I can actively taste the aspartame, and I don't like it.

I have a funny feeling I won't be reverting to diet pop after this baby, as I did after Elizabeth. I'll probably just drink the regular stuff, only a lot less of it - once or twice a week, perhaps, as I've been doing since getting pregnant.

Meanwhile, I dumped the rest of that diet Coke down the sink.

Comments

[redstorm.livejournal.com]

Good plan.

BBC documentaries have linked aspartame to a lot of bad stuff, possibly cancer. Also it's addictive. Plus it's about as fattening as sugar.

I don't touch the stuff.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

I've seen those, too, but I've yet to find a study from a medically-significant source I trust that says the same things. Still, I wonder if part of the reason I was so edgy last spring was that I was drinking diet coke almost every day. I may test this theory - when I'm no longer pregnant or nursing. Not now, or anytime soon, in other words.

[redstorm.livejournal.com]

I've actually found that all carbonated drinks seem to have a "stressful" effect on me.
I'm currently experimenting with striking them from my diet. I already feel a lot better and less lethargic. I'm drinking mostly tea, water and milk, but need more natural juices if I want a really positive benefit.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

I've considered cutting out all pop, but I doubt I'd be able to stick to it. Still, I don't drink them as often as I used to - once or twice a week, usually. I do feel better. And less caffeine is definitely a good thing.

[siobhan63.livejournal.com]

Ooh... Lime Coke is teh heaven. I can't drink regular (as in plain Coke - i never drink diet stuff as it tastes like poo) Coke anymore since trying the Lime stuff. It's the best.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

I like the lime Coke, and I love Pepsi Twist with the lemon in it. They're the ones I'm most likely to pick up if I'm buying for Friday night gaming, which is one of the few times I drink cola these days.

[r-caton.livejournal.com]

Ewww. I tried the Lime Diet when they got it in the UK and reckon it tasted filthy. Literally, like dirt. I don't mind the vanilla stuff but frankly I can't abide aspartame....which is in regular Pepsi Max also FWIW.

Diet drinks - FAUGH!

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm talking the regular Lime Coke and Pepsi Twist. I haven't found Pepsi Max in ages - are they still making it?

[r-caton.livejournal.com]

Um. We don't get regular Coke in a Lime flavour in the UK...and we can still get P-Max vile muck though it is....

[kesmun.livejournal.com]

I got information from a source I trust (my mom, a nurse who specializes in labor and post-partum care as well as having 5 of her own) that aspartame can cause birth defects, at much lower amounts than saccharine causing cancer, fwiw.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

What amounts? And what are the studies that proved it?

The anecdotal evidence is enough that I'm avoiding aspartame while pregnant, but not religiously - hence that diet coke in the first place. I did that the last time, too. There's no way to be sure that Elizabeth's excellent mental acuity and strength are attributable to a good prenatal diet, but I like to think it helps.

[kesmun.livejournal.com]

I don't know what amounts, or what studies. Like I said, I got my information from a source I trust enough to avoid it. The only way it really impacts me anyway is that I use Sweet'n'Low (or whatever pink packets are available) rather than Equal (or whatever blue packets), because the pink stuff is saccharine and the blue stuff is aspartame. And I only use artificial sweetener at all in coffee, and that's only because I prefer the taste to sugar for that.

Come down to it, I'm not really convinced that "Diet" drinks and whatnot really help in losing weight. Cutting down on sugar certainly helps, but not as much as other things like simple moderation and cutting down on fat. Plus, I think our bodies probably respond to and assimilate sugar (even heavily processed) better than the artificial stuff. Heh, maybe that'd be why you don't like the taste any more. *S*

[summerfields.livejournal.com]

After trying to convince Craig that he drank too much diet Dr. Pepper...and after him quitting for about 3 days a few times over, he finally quit on his own a few weeks ago - after he read up on aspartame. He's been having problems with his eyes and he's convinced it's from it...although now he's drinking regular pop, which is just as bad (from the perspective of trying to lose weight) but at least it's not as much as the Diet Dr. P he used to drink...

That's all!
Must be a trend...

(I also enjoy the diet Coke with Lime...but diet Coke with Lemon was NASTY! Strangely, Pepsi Twist is good, though....)

[ymf.livejournal.com]

i;m of the personal opinion that diet anything tastes weird! hmm ever tried adding a bit of salt to your soda? i think it tastes good but maybe you'll want to experiment with just a little!

i drank soft drinks (soda) heavily when i was a kid. then i got hooked on fruit teas, and when i go back to soft drinks again, they just don't seem worthy of an "addiction" anymore. that may be the best plan!