Diet Drinks

Fringe

Ok, today at lunch, went to buy a bottle of Pepsi. We were on our way back to school when I took it out for a drink. I drank it and instantly noticed that it was diet. I've had really bad experiences with Pepsi Max and I was really saddened =(

However, my friends are saying that there's no difference between sugar and sweeteners. Can anyone else taste the difference or is it just me?

emeraldstar

i don't actually drink fizzy drinks in general, but imo diet coke is far far nicer than regular coke. I would never ever drink regular...it's not half as nice!! as to any other fizzy drinks, diet or otherwise, i dont drink them ever.

brianthebard

Yeah I can taste the difference although I seem to have a very sensitive olfactory system.:D

There's very little difference between pepsi max and pepsi in my opinion, but I find diet coke to be waterier than ordinary and not as sticky...

dudara

There are differences between the sweeteners used in diet drinks and traditional sugar.

Aspartame (read here for more info) is considered to be 180 times sweeter than sugar (when equal weights are compared), but has the benefit of having less energy content. It is claimed that the sweetness of aspartame develops later than that of sugar and also lasts longer. However, there is serious concern over the health risks posed by aspartame.

Another common sweetener is maltitol, which is 90% as sweet as sugar. Like aspartame, there are health risks posed with its use.

Tree

some ppl (like me) find a horrible bitter after taste from most artificial sweetners

Blub2k4

I can't stand artificial sweeteners myself, never touch them.
I don't drink much tea/coffee, one cup a day at most and I don't drink many soft drinks, but when I do I'll go with real sugar, not some lab construct that might cause all sorts of problems, thanks.

xzanti

7up Free is nice, although I wouldn't drink a lot of sugary drinks and if I do I use a straw to stop tooth decay, I always shudder when I see people guzzling coke or the like straight from the bottle or can, even though I did it myself for years but its so bad for your teeth..

BuffyBot

Also the "recipie" (or more accurately, formulation) or diet drinks isn't always the same, hence the taste differential between Diet Coke and Coca-Cola - they aren't identical mixes of ingredients. Coca-Cola Zero follows the Coke recipie which is why it tastes more similar to Coke despite having sweeteners in place of sugar than Diet Coke.

DublinEvents

For some people, the sugar in soft drinks causes acne. If you drink lots of soft drinks and can't figure out why your acne never goes away, you might just have found your answer. For parents, it's better to train your kids to shun soft drinks and just drink good old water.

bruce.cavallari

DublinEvents wrote:

For some people, the sugar in soft drinks causes acne. If you drink lots of soft drinks and can't figure out why your acne never goes away, you might just have found your answer. For parents, it's better to train your kids to shun soft drinks and just drink good old water.

Yeah I was reading about that! http://naturalacnetreatment.anosen.com I think it was in the category "diet"!

ruprect

I can taste a difference, moreso the texture. At ~11% sugar it is a "thicker" syrupy drink. Also diet coke will be bad for your teeth too, it is not just the sugar that is bad, nearly all diet drinks contain citric acid, or phosphoric acid.
Diet club orange is my favourite, not calorie free, they still put real orange juice in it, but calories are reduce a lot, taste is not.