Gave up Diet Coke but ice tea doesn't give same lift?

[ew1]

I stopped drinking soda over a year ago and started brewing a pitcher of plain tea to bring to work and sweeten with Stevia.
Once in a while I have a soda, i.e a team lunch at work. So how come I feel better and more alert after a Diet Coke? Have even tried using green tea, but doesn't do it as well either.
Any thoughts? I am trying to eat healthy and mainly cook my own meals and bring them to work for breakfast and lunch.
THX

[LowCarbine]

It could be a placebo affect or some strange metabolic reaction to the chemicals in the soda. I have a strange recipe for euphoria that seems to work 100% of the time for me. Ketosis, Everclear and diet soda induced hangover, sleep, followed by acetaminophen, a multivitamin, and a bottle of water in the morning. So far every time this combination has made me euphoric for a day or two following. Weirdest thing. It's too hard on the liver to be a sustainable euphoria though.

[coffeelover]

I know what you mean ew1. For some reason I get energy from diet pop too - in my case, even if it's decaffinated! I wonder if it's the Aspertame or carbonation?

Lowcarbine - very interesting combination. Unfortunately I don't drink so I won't be testing your results.

[picklepete]

Carbonation or acidity maybe? Try a seltzer with fresh lemon/lime next.

[NineOhNine]

You could supplement with a caffeine tablet, or half of one. Tea has a lot less caffeine than coffee.

[Big Stevie]

There is something in Diet Coke that speeds me up radically. I just need to drink a couple swallows and I start grinding my teeth. I don't know what is in there that does it, but it sure happend every time. It was useful during college, LOL!!!

[LowCarbine]

I still vote placebo. If you could convince yourself that any substance was anything you want it to be, and you could believe it completely, it just might work.

[Amber_Baby]

In my opinion definitely caffeine related.

[LowCarbine]

Right, it could be that the tea has less caffeine. I'm from the south, so our tea is dark and sweet. I figure the way we make tea it probably has similar amounts of caffeine compared to a soda.

[Biochic]

Is iced coffee an option. Sweetened with Davinci and dome heavy cream it is a real treat with the bonus boost. Not something to drink all day, but for an afternoon pick me up... Yummy and effective

[Lillianna]

I'd bet it's the Phenylalanine (I may have butchered the spelling) in the aspertame. You can take Phenylalanie supplements...I think it's an amino acid. I seem to remember that it works on Dopamine transmitters. I've read that people who are hooked on diet soda are usually addicted to the Phenylalanine. It took a lot of effort for me to give up my Diet Pepsi addiction.

[LowCarbine]

What are everyone's reasons for quitting diet soda? I figure it's not so bad, being my only vice with my healthier lifestyle.

[ew1]

Thanks for all the ideas. Yeah, I think it is probably more caffeine than the tea plus the aspartame. I don't use that stuff as a sweetener, I use Stevia and only use Splenda when I use a DaVinci syrup or I have a baking blend of sugar and Splenda for the holidays.
I don't drink soda that often and when I do it's usually only Diet Coke so I agree, if that's a small vice, then I will enjoy it

[picklepete]

I feel better when diet soda is not my default beverage. At the end of the day it's the brain that regulates hunger and a steady stream of sweet signal is probably unwise, but 1-2 servings on the weekend is probably harmless.

Like any other food, asking yourself honestly who is in control is a good guideline.

[margame]

Originally Posted by LowCarbine

What are everyone's reasons for quitting diet soda? I figure it's not so bad, being my only vice with my healthier lifestyle.

i have never had a soda addiction, but when i would have a pop i would always opt for a diet one thinking it was "better" until i found out what actually was sweetening my drink. here is a website that explains the different sweeteners much better than i can. google "westonaprice.org" and search for the "sugar-free blues" article. this is from that article:

"Researchers at Utah State University found that even at low levels aspartame induces adverse changes in the pituitary glands of mice. The pituitary gland is the master gland upon which the proper function of all biochemical processes depend.
" When aspartame is digested it breaks down into the amino acids phenylalanine and aspartic acid, plus methanol. Methanol, or wood alcohol, is a known poison. Methanol is also found in fruit juices, and our regulatory agencies have seized upon this fact to assure us that the methanol by-product of aspartame is not harmful. They fail to point out that the methanol content of a diet soft drink is 15 to 100 times higher than that of fruit juices."17
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines the "safe consumption level" of methanol at 7.8 milligrams per day. One liter of a beverage sweetened with aspartame may contain as much as 56 milligrams of methanol.18 Other sources also link aspartame consumption with Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease and the Gulf War Syndrome experienced by U.S. soldiers after serving in Iraq during Operation: Desert Storm.19

[cfine]

I stay far away from artificial sweeteners!! Dr. Mercola has a book on his website about the dangers of AS. I would personally take a caffeine pill before I would drink a diet soda.

[Geekin' in Utah]

Originally Posted by margame

i have never had a soda addiction, but when i would have a pop i would always opt for a diet one thinking it was "better" until i found out what actually was sweetening my drink. here is a website that explains the different sweeteners much better than i can. google "westonaprice.org" and search for the "sugar-free blues" article. this is from that article:

I would really like to see the original journal article on this, because I can't find anything remotely like it. Google Scholar turns up nothing. Google's normal web search shows the same thing being said by every "natural eating" and conspiracy site on the web (NOT saying those are the same thing).

To me, this feels like an urban legend along the same lines of aspartame turns into formaldehyde as soon as it reaches 100 degrees.

But, like I said, I'd love to be proven wrong with a repeatable, peer reviewed article. I'm sure aspartame is not the world's healthiest substance, but I'd be dead if it were as deadly as people say.

[picklepete]

Originally Posted by Geekin' in Utah

But, like I said, I'd love to be proven wrong with a repeatable, peer reviewed article. I'm sure aspartame is not the world's healthiest substance, but I'd be dead if it were as deadly as people say.

Ya, i feel like I've done my due diligence trying to find the dirt on sugar substitutes. They DO have a toxicity threshold, as does every other substance in the world, but it seems to be much higher than the tiny amounts used in foods/drinks.