Hi all,

I love to drink fizzy water but most days I need a hit of sweetness and so I opt for no sugar drinks such as Coke Zero. Are sugar free drinks a suitable drink (apart from any other non sugar related potential risks) for people looking to maintain weight lost during the diet phase?

I was about to post the exact same question – I understand the re-educating the palate thing too but I really want to be able to drink a cold, fizzy drink that doesn’t have sugar i.e. diet coke, are these ok? (I drink fizzy water with a aqueeze of lemon or lime etc. but still want something different).

Hi there to you both. Technically there are problems with artificially sweetened drinks because the body thinks it is going to get some sustenance when sweetness hits and when it doesn’t it sends out signals that it wants sugar, hence cravings. The fact that it is a chemical also has the effect of the body not disposing of it easily which can cause bloating. As a now and then thing and if you are in control of your carb cravings then I dont see a problem, I cant imagine vodka without tonic and cannot bring myself to have full sugar tonic water (note to self, check carbs and calories in tonic water). However, there have been people on here who have been drinking diet drinks on a regular basis, cant say whether they were okay or not as they dont seem to be around now. Try fizzy water with a hint of unsweetened apple or orange juice, just a touch. I personally like plain water but always start the day with lemon and water.

I dont see the point in making yourself miserable if you cant have a little treat now and then.

By the way there is a lot about this if you look in the Search box, type in diet drinks or similar.

An addition, just looking at my tonic water question for myself and apparently diet drinks contain double the amount of salt than sugared drinks. This is also similar to what happens to either low fat or low sugar foods. When they take something out they put something just as bad back in to improve the taste. Guess I better get used to soda water which contains no calories naturally.

When I started out I drank an 8 oz bottle of Coke Zero a week. It was a treat that I really enjoyed. As time passed and my palate changed, I enjoyed it less and less until I cut it out altogether. Something happens to your tastebuds on the BSD that makes sweetness, artificial or otherwise, problematic where before it was pure pleasure.

Like sunshine-girl says, the occasional artificially sweetened beverage won’t do much damage. The problem arises when it’s a daily habit. Your primary source of hydration must be water. Everything else is a treat.