What drink can I substitute for diet coke which has "taste"?

I like Coke Zero

You might try Diet Rite. It has no sugar, no caffeine and no sodium. It is sweetened with Splenda. The taste is like an old-fashioned cola.

I get organic grape, pomegranate, cherry, and blueberry juices at my food coop. Since they are serious juices, I dilute them with lots of water and ice.

Another nice summer drink is water, ice, lemon juice and fresh mint. If the lemon is too acidic, skip it.

A third alternative would be a fruited herbal tea, iced and decorated with the fruit. Example; raspberry tea with fresh raspberries or peach slices thrown in.

(Nice to have you back in fluthertown, @peggylou.)

Crystal Light packets are always tasty… even the sugar free ones.

For me the bubbles make a big difference. Club soda or carbonated water, really cold, are as good as sugary soda. Add lemon or lime for more flavor.

sprite zero.

Ramune soda, but it’s hard to find & kind of expensive.

Oh, & Jones Soda.

I don’t know why people think other dark diet colas are going to be different than diet coke in terms of health?

Maybe try caffeine free ice tea? Even if you put a couple of teaspoons of sugar it isn’t that much, and you can over time lower it to one or none.

Be warned, coming off of caffeine sucks. The amount you drank will mean a big headache and falling asleep everywhere for several days. Probably a month until you stop missing it. I recommend cutting back over a weeks time, don’t go cold turkey.

I drink homemade ice tea or lemonade. A half cup of sugar for a 2 quart pitcher of tea is plenty, and I add either mint or lemon. Or soda water with lemon.

Have you tried the kind of sparkiling water that has no calories, sodium, or caffeine? There is this kind that is flavored with natural fruit. I give it to the grandkids.

pure orange juice.

Have you tried stevia? Stevia is plant originally from South America, about 400 times sweeter than sugar, gram for gram, and has zero calories. Despite the fact that no study has ever found any danger in it (one study did suggest it might have caused a very slight reduction in fertility in male rats), the FDA banned it in the United States under pressure from Monsanto—the makers of Nutrasweet. When it was revealed that the FDA had broken their own rules in banning stevia, the FDA grudgingly permitted it for sale… but made it illegal to refer to it anywhere on the packaging as “sweet.” I’m not kidding.

If you want a safe, delicious soda, I recommend the following recipe:

2 litres of low-sodium club soda
1 long squirt of lime juice from the container, to taste (or a half a lime, squeezed)
3 eyedroppers of stevia concentrate (the bottles come with their own droppers)
Spices to taste (I like banana concentrate and vanilla in mine)

It tastes a bit like Sprite, but better, and is virtually calorie-free, but has vitamin C from the citrus. Coke and Pepsi, incidentally, are bringing out their own stevia sodas in North America soon, but because they can’t patent stevia, they have developed their own genetically modified frankenlettuce which produces steviosides. Stick to the real stevia and make your own.

Thanks to all of you!! I can’t believe the wonderful ideas you all have given me. I should remember how helpful and supportive Flutherites are! I spend way too much time fussing over answers to questions. You Flutherites are fantastic! Many thanks,again. @JLeslie Thanks for the caffeine warning. I would have quit cold turkey.

@peggylou Have some advil handy, and if you work a M-F work week, I recommend your last caffeinated drink on a Thursday night. The headache will start late afternoon Friday, and you will have all weekend to get through it. Or, last caffeine early morning Friday would work too, if you want to avoid the chance of a headache during work hours.

I wanted to tell you that I quit caffeine about 10 years ago and I feel much better. I wake up better. I used to feel like crap in the morning, like led in my bed, did not want to move. Its coming off of the caffeine after going all night without it. I cheat every so often and I still love it. Love my coca cola. It is easy to get sucked in again. The best thing is to really not drink any at all once you quit.

I am with @jazmina88 – Sprite Zero is really good, especially iced cold from a can (hate the plastic bottles). Or fruit juice in soda water, I don’t do that because I avoid sugar. I know the Sprite Zero will kill you faster than sugar but not very much!!!

Iced tea. Unsweetened or sweetened by you with your choice of sweetener.

Diet Caffeine-Free Coca Cola. we drink it by the barrels, even before going to bed. it has a great taste and the caffeine does keep us awake at night. it also has more fizz than other sodas and stays stronger…..longer. try a can or bottle and see how you like it. i tried Coke Zero and it does not hold a candle to Diet Caffeine-Free Coke.

I know you said with tasted but a glass of cold water is refreshing after a few weeks of drinking this it will need natural and you won’t go back.

Moderate quantities of caffeine and acid are very low risk for healthy people. The anxiety caused by warnings about diet coke does more harm than the diet coke itself.

Personally, I’d be more worried about the aspartame than the caffeine. That shit can mess you up.

Aspartame works for me.

@mattbrowne It made my throat swell shut.

@Draconess25 – Do scientists and doctors have an explanation?

I get a weird feeling in my throat when I have the artificial sweetner that is in blue packaging, Equal, is that Aspartame? I always know when that is in a drink. I avoid artificial sweetners in general. Although I had something made with a little bit if Splenda the other day and I did not notice any reaction.

Yes, but what causes the weird feeling? The worries? Or the molecules? If yes, how?

@mattbrowne Some sort of sensitivity I guess. I was not worried when I first tried it way back when it first came out. For that matter I don’t really worry about anything I eat only once in a while. I don’t worry if I am in a smokey room, because it is so rare I am exposed to smoke. I don’t have that type of worry; I have other types LOL. Sometimes I will order a lemonaide and forget to ask if it is sugar or not, and very quickly I realize it is Equal because of how my throat feels. I don’t feel like it is going to close up, it feels kind of an odd dry feeling, tongue and throat.

@mattbrowne I don’t go to doctors. All they do is try to give me drugs.

I find that artificial sweetners usually leave a terrible aftertaste in my mouth. This is particularly true with Diet Coke and Coke Zero.

That said I don’t notice it with Sprite Zero, perhaps the lemony taste disguises it.

@Draconess25 – Well, there are also doctors who offer good advice.