Am I addicted to soft drinks (Pepsi Max)?

[ynwa_lfct1]

Been drinking Pepsi Max pretty much daily for at least 9-10 years now. Sometimes I genuinely enjoy it, other times I just drink it out of habit and don’t even like it that much. I keep telling myself I'll cut down or give it up but it's proving a bit harder than I expected. Particularly drinking a lot when working but even on the weekends I will drink a few.

Anyone else struggling with the same thing? Would love to hear how you're managing or if you've found ways to cut down.

I've seen the fizzy drink guy on TikTok but don't seem to be able to do more than 3 days without one.

 

[debs248]

I used to drink it every day for years, like you. What you replace some or all of it with depends whether you're drinking it more for the sweetness, the caffeine or the fizz.

I find I'm more than happy to drink either tea or sparkling water now, I don't miss the sweetness at all. In fact now I find artificial sweeteners taste disgustingly bitter.

Good luck finding alternative drinks that work for you.

 

[DJC3]

Been drinking Pepsi Max pretty much daily for at least 9-10 years now. Sometimes I genuinely enjoy it, other times I just drink it out of habit and don’t even like it that much. I keep telling myself I'll cut down or give it up but it's proving a bit harder than I expected. Particularly drinking a lot when working but even on the weekends I will drink a few.

Anyone else struggling with the same thing? Would love to hear how you're managing or if you've found ways to cut down.

I've seen the fizzy drink guy on TikTok but don't seem to be able to do more than 3 days without one.

I’m sure it’s addictive. My daughter and her partner buy it by the crate and drink several cans a day. They keep saying they are going to cut down but never seem to. The thing that worries me most about it is the aspartame. Pepsi are fighting back but it seems to have been linked to kidney and liver disease and mood swings (which might explain the addictiveness) Big Food are masters of addiction.
I’m afraid I don’t have any pearls of wisdom to offer you but if the girls manage to stop I’ll let you know how they did it ( and I’ll keep looking back here in case anyone comes up with a suggestion). Good luck.

 

[EllieM]

I used to drink a lot (a can or more a day) but have stopped buying it and now only have it when out at a restaurant or pub and don't want alcohol. But I gave up caffeine 18 months ago so no longer have caffeine cravings so maybe that made it easier.

As a T1 I don't worry too much about aspartame on the grounds of prioritising lower blood sugar.

 

[EllieM]

Some alternatives....

fizzy water with a squeeze of lemon juice
herbal teas

???

 

[zand]

Yes, it's addictive. I drank 2 litres of diet coke a day for a few years. It took me years to manage to kick the habit. I read that the black coloured fizzy drinks were worst so switched to lemonade for a while. Then sparkling mineral water. Now I happily drink tap water.

I did have a few Coke Zeros on a recent holiday as it was so hot and I got fed up with drinking water. I've not needed to resume the habit now I'm home though. So 15 years on from having 2 litres a day I think I've actually managed to kick the addiction.

 

[zand]

I’m sure it’s addictive. My daughter and her partner buy it by the crate and drink several cans a day. They keep saying they are going to cut down but never seem to. The thing that worries me most about it is the aspartame. Pepsi are fighting back but it seems to have been linked to kidney and liver disease and mood swings (which might explain the addictiveness) Big Food are masters of addiction.
I’m afraid I don’t have any pearls of wisdom to offer you but if the girls manage to stop I’ll let you know how they did it ( and I’ll keep looking back here in case anyone comes up with a suggestion). Good luck.

I think they need a motive to cut down. My own reason was that i couldn't lose weight. My doctors weren't any help. They didn't believe my food diary. I went to a naturopath for help. She requested my last few years blood test results and from these told me I had NAFLD.
I read about fatty liver and found it causes insulin resistance, which in turn can cause obesity. Some sources suggested that all artificial sweeteners were a problem for the liver. So I gave up diet drinks in order to help me lose weight.
Maybe your daughter has other reasons to want to cut down? Fizzy drinks aren't good for the teeth and she could save money by not buying them?

 

[Sarah69]

I’m like that with chocolate. Not as bad as I used to be but still I can’t give it up. I used to eat ‘more to share’ bags of buttons for years. As long as I eat something chocolatey every day I’m ok.

 

[j4v3d]

I use to drink loads of Coca Cola and Pepsi - around 8years ago I've stopped drinking them after having too much back home in Pakistan, the fizziness went to my head and it was a horrible feeling, i felt like my head was going to explode, I now have sugar drink drinks like Diet Coke or 7up Zero Sugar.

I've cut down how much of it I drink and upped my intake of water (still not drinking enough)

 

[Michael 1701]

I have two 2 litre bottles of Pepsi Max a week - less than two cans a day.
WHO recommends (for men) less than 17 (330ml) cans per day Who the heck drinks that much! Barmy.

 

[peterb999]

Reading this made me laugh a bit.

My know it all brother had a bit of a go at me during a family dinner last week. He was going on an on about how bad asparteme was and that the 17 cans a day thing was rubbish and the documentary said it was bad having more than 1 can a day.

I asked what he drank instead as I know he doesn't drink alcohol. He drinks the normal coke as "there is no asparteme in that". Haha, isn't bothered about the 10 teaspoons of sugar in every can but can't have asparteme. He then genuinely told me that the asparteme is much worse for me then sugar - bearing in mind he knows I'm diabetic, quite funny really.