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Soft drinks and different sweeteners

M

mikered

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 3c
Hi all,

Recently diagnosed, and lover of fizzy soft drinks & flavoured water I now have to move to zero sugar versions

Ive found many seem tasteless (Highland spring strawberry, Sprite) and but fanta even caused bloating and pain.

So I checked sweeteners and was surprised at the variety used:

Name Sweeteners
Highland SpringSucralose
Tango no sugarSucralose, Acesulfame_k
Diet coke*Aspartame, Acesulfame_K
Sprite zeroAspartame, Acesulfame K, Sucralose
Dr Pepper zero*Aspartame, Acesulfame-K, Sucralose
Fanta zeroCyclamates, Acesulfame-K, Sucralose, Steviol Glycosides From Stevia, Neohesperidine DC

Pretty sure it's stevia in fanta that caused me trouble, they use quite a cocktail- shows you have to study ingredients!

FWIW Tango won the taste test, mango and cherry flavours with strong taste.
 
I tend to drink the usual orange , blackcurrant, apple squash from the supermarket

Most of the sugar I my diet came from junk food , takeaways , crisps , chocolate etc and flavoured squash , diluted is fine for me
 
Welcome @mikered 🙂 There was a member a while ago that had problems with stevia. I have an occasional drink with sweeteners but mainly try to avoid them as none of them are great IMO.

You could try Dash or Aqua Libra. Neither of those have sweeteners. They’re also very tasty and have some interesting flavours, eg


And:


Amongst a number of others.
 
Hi @mikered, I'm also a long term fizzy beverage drinker but have been off all full sugar versions even well before my diagnosis as I wanted to avoid liquid calories. I think the recommendations Inka recommended with Dash / Aqua Libra would be worth trying - I've tried them and found them to be quite refreshing.

Mostly I drink shop own brand Sparkling Flavoured Water from Morrisons and Aldi (others do them as well such as Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury's but I can't speak to them as I very rarely buy from there). They typically come in 1L bottles and I find they help suppress appetite and be quite refreshing especially when chilled. They do have sweeteners (Acesulfame K, Sucralose) and flavourings (negligible from what I understand) so the sugar is typically 0g or 0.0Xg per 250ml.

They have different flavours depending what you prefer - they typically do still versions as well:


www.aldi.co.uk

Peach & Passion Fruit Flavoured Sparkling Water

Peach & Passion Fruit Flavoured Sparkling Water
www.aldi.co.uk www.aldi.co.uk
 
Reaux said:
Hi @mikered, I'm also a long term fizzy beverage drinker but have been off all full sugar versions even well before my diagnosis as I wanted to avoid liquid calories. I think the recommendations Inka recommended with Dash / Aqua Libra would be worth trying - I've tried them and found them to be quite refreshing.

Mostly I drink shop own brand Sparkling Flavoured Water from Morrisons and Aldi (others do them as well such as Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury's but I can't speak to them as I very rarely buy from there). They typically come in 1L bottles and I find they help suppress appetite and be quite refreshing especially when chilled. They do have sweeteners (Acesulfame K, Sucralose) and flavourings (negligible from what I understand) so the sugar is typically 0g or 0.0Xg per 250ml.

They have different flavours depending what you prefer - they typically do still versions as well:


www.aldi.co.uk

Peach & Passion Fruit Flavoured Sparkling Water

Peach & Passion Fruit Flavoured Sparkling Water
www.aldi.co.uk www.aldi.co.uk
Click to expand...
My favourites are apple and elderflower or white grape and blackberry, other half likes the lemon and lime which is very refreshing with a slice of lemon.
 
Leadinglights said:
My favourites are apple and elderflower or white grape and blackberry, other half likes the lemon and lime which is very refreshing with a slice of lemon.
Click to expand...
I usually drink from the bottle as it's only me but I'll have to try the slice of lemon / lime especially with summer coming up!
 
Reaux said:
I usually drink from the bottle as it's only me but I'll have to try the slice of lemon / lime especially with summer coming up!
Click to expand...
If you are going to finish the bottle in one go, drinking from the bottle may be OK but don't forget your mouth is full of bacteria which could contaminate the drink and that would not be so good even if it is only you.
 
The good thing about the two I recommended is the lack of sweeteners. Although sweeteners don’t have any carbs, some have been said to mess with the gut microbiome. This was particularly mentioned in relation to Type 2. Others have had other health scares. Best avoided as much as possible, I think. Also, I’m sure I read that the sweetness of the sweetener sweetened drinks can confuse your insulin response, make you hungry and contribute to weight gain.
 
Inka said:
The good thing about the two I recommended is the lack of sweeteners. Although sweeteners don’t have any carbs, some have been said to mess with the gut microbiome. This was particularly mentioned in relation to Type 2. Others have had other health scares. Best avoided as much as possible, I think. Also, I’m sure I read that the sweetness of the sweetener sweetened drinks can confuse your insulin response, make you hungry and contribute to weight gain.
Click to expand...
Noted, thank you - wasn't aware of the potential gut microbiome impact and will have to look into that as I've been a long time user of sweetened beverages. I was aware the sweeteners could trigger an insulin response and cause you to feel hungry / have cravings but (for me anyway) the carbination of the drinks offset that.
 
There are quite a few alleged risks @Reaux There was a fair bit in the papers recently about one sweetener. Here’s something from the BHF:

www.bhf.org.uk

Are artificial sweeteners safe?

Researchers have recently been quoted in newspapers saying, “Artificial sweeteners should not be considered a safe alternative to sugar.” But what’s the truth? We look behind the headlines.
www.bhf.org.uk www.bhf.org.uk

Going off on a bit of a tangent, this is one reason the sugar tax annoys me. Filling squash and the like up with sweeteners doesn’t sound a good idea to me.
 
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