Quartz:
Diet soda was supposed to save the soda industry in a world worried by sugar. Instead it’s only dragging it down.
American consumption of fizzy drinks has dipped in each of the past five years, and by 30% since the turn of the century. By 2018, it is expected to have fallen by 40% since 2000.
Following on our previous story about America falling out of love with orange juice comes this one with the same issue regarding soda (or pop). While I still occasionally drink orange juice, I haven’t had a traditional soda pop in about ten years. Not out of any health concerns; I just “grew out of” drinking it.
Apart from the occasional novelty of an original-cane-sugar-Coke, I haven’t sought out sweet soda of any kind in years. Diet or sugared, I find most of them cloying. But we do go through a good bit of seltzer here, because it goes well with vodka and gin.
Coke is probably one of the main reasons I am a type 2 diabetic now (7 or 8 bottles a day was not uncommon). I got used to drinking Diet Coke, but the sweetener used always upset my stomach. Along came Coke Zero and I am happy again. I enjoy the sensation of a bite is has when I drink it and the caffeine that keeps me going. If not for Coke Zero, I would not be drinking any soda today.
It is not only empty calories which fool the body.
it is also acidic which makes the stomach promote
more acidic loving bacteria which results in acid reflux.
Also gives cavity in the teeth which west has more than third world
country.
So as a consequence even orange juice is not helpful.
All liquid calories should be avoided.
In fact most of fruits are engineered thru grafting
to be sweet when in nature it is not the case.
So all this goes against millions of evolution of humans in Africa
under the hot sun with very little sugar and no salt.
I wonder, what is it about Coke and this “bite” that seems to have ensnared you so? Seriously, I have never quite understood what appears to be an addiction. Is it the sugar? The caffeine? Some other ingredient that gives this bite you speak of or something altogether different?
Back when it was large amounts, it was definitely the caffeine. I am also a heavy coffee and ice tea drinker and my job as an editor means I need all the caffeine I can get. The “bite” which is the burning sensation as I drink is from the carbonic acid in the drink. The overall sensation of drinking Coke has always been enjoyable unlike say Pepsi which just tasted like the sugar water is was.
These numbers of Coke & Pepsi may not be including the impact of all the store brands, nor the number of folks switching to energy drinks or bottled water, both markets where Coke Inc. and Pepsi Co. have a major part of the market, but are not soda.
Seems like this is only a little part of the story.
Well, if it were down to me, Diet Coke would be saving the industry. I drink way too much of the damn stuff, 3-4 20 oz bottles per work day. I have an addiction to the burn you feel as it goes down your throat. When I get diagnosed with cancer one day, me thinks it’ll be all the diet soda that does me in. On the other hand, I haven’t had a glass of orange juice in years. 🙂
Yes, for me a big part of it is the “bite” that burn you get as it goes down your throat. Some of it is the caffeine, sure, but really it’s more sensory.