Drinks that Help You Quit Diet Soda
February 16, 2020 30 Comments
Do you drink a lot of diet soda and want to quit? I am not against diet soda except for one thing.

Diet soda tends to be extremely sweet. Some experts think that drinking diet soda can make it hard for people to taste the natural sweetness in food - such as the sugar content of a strawberry.
I like my taste buds attuned to the sweetness of fruit, vegetables, and caramelized onions so I limit all of my soda intake. I am not the only one.
As of 2016, more Americans drank more bottled water than they did carbonated soft drinks. Of course, there is an environmental impact to all that packaging but at least people are cutting down on sugary drinks - hurray!!
What if you want to cut back on soda or diet soda? I have written two posts on water - how to drink more water and best fruit infused water bottle.
I decided to peruse the soda aisle to see the latest in diet soda and regular soda alternatives.
Flavored Seltzer and Mineral & Spring Water
The first category is the Perrier up at the top of the post. Manufacturers are adding the essence of lemon, lime, orange, etc. to bubbly water.
That bubbly water can be seltzer such as the Poland Seltzer below:

This is also true of Dasani - which has no sucralose or artificial sweetener (even Stevia) and is sparkling water with essence of fruit.

Poland Spring is spring water with flavor added (and no artificial sweetners). It is the same as the Perrier at the top of the post. If you like to know that your water came from a spring - this is your choice.

I really like these little cans and bottles when I am traveling. They are an easy way to have a cold, fizzy drink and they do not taste sweet.
Water with Zero Calorie Sweeteners Added
I’m not sure how this next category isn’t just another form of diet soda. I believe that these drinks have a health halo because they have a little fruit juice in them - but they still have some form of artificial sweetener or Stevia in them.
Sparkling Ice has 1% juice and added antioxidants and vitamins, and no caffeine - which is different than a Diet Coke - BUT it also has sucralose which is the same as Diet Coke.

I did give these a try and found them quite refreshing. The juice flavoring covered the cloying flavor of the sucralose and I think it is a nice treat. It did not taste super sweet to me so maybe they use less sucralose than your regular diet soda.
I also tried bai - which is very strange to say the least. This drink has 1% juice and has erythritol added as a sweetener - which is a sugar alcohol and it may cause digestive issues. It is not my favorite sweetener.

I was sucked in by the packaging which is pretty adorable.

This drink has 45 mg of caffeine!! No wonder it is going to kick my mouthpants. 45 mg is the same as you would get in a diet soda.
It tasted a bit like soap and I’m not sure who would like this drink. It wasn’t super sweet - it was strange.
What have you found as a good alternative to diet soda or regular soda? What do you think of all the flavored waters?

Other posts you might like:

How to Drink More Water
How do you drink more water? I know there are some water haters out there.....

The Best Fruit Infused Water Bottle: Review
I am prone to hyperbole when it is warranted and this is the best fruit infused water bottle....
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