7 ms·

Sugar really is something else. I used to drink one of those 99c tall cans of Arizona iced tea pretty much every day. For context, I quit smoking cold turkey

• maxxxxx 8y ago
  "I'm sure I'll never drink another one again" I always think this to myself but these things get stuck in your head forever and the cravings keep coming back after years.
  • ip26 8y ago
    Replacement is a useful strategy. You've heard of smokers and their straws and carrots. You can replace soda with la Croix.
    • miles 8y ago
      > You can replace soda with la Croix. This Is Why You Should Stop Drinking LaCroix https://www.eatthis.com/la-croix-healthy/ https://www.eatthis.com/la-croix-healthy/ Why Your LaCroix Obsession Isn't So Healthy https://www.health.com/food/why-your-lacroix-obsession-isnt-healthy https://www.health.com/food/why-your-lacroix-obsession-isnt-...
      • ip26 8y ago
        Bottom line? When it comes to deciding between a can of sugary soda or a LaCroix, the sparkling water is a much better choice for your overall health [...] But like everything in life, LaCroix should be enjoyed in moderation. -- Your Link
        • miles 8y ago
          From the same links: "Due to their acidic pH, flavored sparkling waters can be nearly as corrosive as orange juice when exposed to human teeth for just 30 minutes, according to researchers at the University of Birmingham and Birmingham Dental Hospital." "BPA-based plastics are used to line food and drink cans to protect against metal contamination, but these endocrine disruptors bring on a host of health problems on their own. ... FWIW, the state of California, for example, includes BPA in its Proposition 65 list of toxic chemicals that are 'known to cause cancer or birth defects or other reproductive harm.'" "One study published in the journal Obesity Research and Clinical Practicethis link opens in a new tab found that rats that had carbonated drinks ate more and gained more weight over a six-month period than those that drank flat drinks or plain water. The bubbly-bev rats also had more of the appetite-increasing hormone ghrelin, which signals your body to eat more, which can explain the weight gain."
    • murukesh_s 8y ago
      I figured replacing sugar soda with plain soda works for me. Especially if chilled, it sort of gives the same refreshing feeling without the sugar.
    • chipperyman573 8y ago
      Soda water (water with carbonation) is also a great replacement, if you like the taste. Persoanlly I don't like la croix very much but I like soda water
    • rconti 8y ago
      Surely I can't be the only one who hates all fizzy water. After growing up on Coke, fizzy water and flavored fizzy water all tastes like bitter piss to me. My mouth feels the fizz, expects sugar, and then rejects it. I long ago quit soda, and in fact recently (and with no drama) basically quit a pint-of-cold-brew/4-6 shots/day espresso habit. Pretty much the only beverage with any taste I drink these days contains alcohol (that's a story for another day). Mostly I only drink plain flat water. But I can't stomach that fizzy, bitter junk. Funniest thing about my soda addiction is the only thing that makes me crave it is ice cream. Which is so funny; try drinking a coke after ice cream. It tastes terrible because you can't taste the sugar in the soda anymore, after the sugar rush of the ice cream. But I still crave it. All I can figure is my brain has associated the sugar rush with a caffeine hit, and my brain isn't happy when it gets sugar but no caffeine.
      • hvidgaard 8y ago
        Does that include plain fizzy water with a slice or two of lemon? I can't stand the flavored fizzy water, it tastes artificial (because it is), but lemon in plain fizzy water is really good to my taste buds.
      • Steve44 8y ago
        Lots of people don't like fizzy water, I love it though. I find it has a really lovely taste and mouth-feel. I’ve never really been a soda drinker not do I have a sweet tooth so perhaps that is an element with it. I find waters have quite a variety of tastes, my favourite by far is San Pellegrino. It also works well with a good few shakes of Angostura bitters.
  • Double_a_92 8y ago
    Then occasionally drink one... Why does everything have to be black or white.
    • maxxxxx 8y ago
      For some people the “occasionally” is difficult to do. It’s like smoking a cigarette once a week.
• NeedMoreTea 8y ago
  I'm quite the opposite! If it were not for vaping I'm sure I'd still be a smoker - I'd tried every patch, trick, cold turkey and drug and failed with all. Vaping was an instant success and let me quit completely. Quitting vaping was incredibly trivial by comparison to getting off tobacco. Most fizzy pop I can't drink - hate Coke and anything that tastes that sweet. Diet too as they aim for similar levels of apparent sweetness with bonus nasty after taste. I can drink a can or two of energy drinks, and one or two other things daily for a week or two, then not have another for a year. I assume the sweetness is masked rather than actually reduced. I also hate most of the sweetening of everything, even fruit - in the UK which is far behind the US in that respect. Take current grapes - far too sweet compared to years ago, and now so ridiculously consistent about delivering sugar but no taste. Grapes used to be nice, now they're pointless. Same with apples and much citrus, I like the less sweet but more complex flavour in varieties that are damn near impossible to buy any more. It's frustrating.
  • keldaris 8y ago
    I'm in exactly the same boat, I can't stand any sweetened drinks including basic fruit juices or tea/coffee with any sugar at all. I actually find it regrettable, since I'm chronically underweight and getting enough calories without sugar can be a struggle, especially for someone who's lactose intolerant. For all the lifestyle hacks with cutting out sugar, anyone have any ideas on how to hate sugar less?
    • jeffdavis 8y ago
      I was underweight for a while, which turned out to be T1 diabetes. After treatment, I was still skinny and tried to eat enough to gain weight and it didn't work. I have a certain build and that's it. Training/exercise made me stronger but not much bigger. Now, I'm starting to get older and I am putting on fat I'd rather not have. At no point do I think sugar would have helped me at all (except to treat low blood sugar); quite the contrary. Fat has a lot more calories, and it sounds more likely that it would be healthy for someone. Is there a reason you are seeking out sugar rather than fat?
• gameswithgo 8y ago
  tea also has caffeine which is very addictive
  • EForEndeavour 8y ago
    Their green tea contains 7.5 mg per 8 oz "serving" (each can is 23 fluid ounces = 680 ml): https://www.drinkarizona.com/faqs https://www.drinkarizona.com/faqs 8 oz of that same green tea contains 17 g of sugar: https://www.drinkarizona.com/product/green-tea-with-ginseng-honey https://www.drinkarizona.com/product/green-tea-with-ginseng-... For comparison, a double espresso shot has 80 mg of caffeine: https://www.kickinghorsecoffee.com/en/blog/caffeine-myths-espresso-vs-drip https://www.kickinghorsecoffee.com/en/blog/caffeine-myths-es... The addictive potential of the scant caffeine in Arizona iced "tea" is negligible compared to the very high sugar content.
  • nickjj 8y ago
    Yeah, I think I got hit by a double whammy because I don't drink coffee (never have) so that was my own source of caffeine.
• psadauskas 8y ago
  Similarly, I used to drink 4-6 cans of Coke a day, and quit about 2 years ago. I now make a half gallon of black unsweetened tea to take to work every day to have iced tea. I still find myself craving a Coke frequently, and often break down on the weekends and have one. I usually end up drinking the whole thing in just a few minutes, and really want to get another, it takes a great deal of willpower to have a glass of water instead.
  • Symbiote 8y ago
    I simply can't imagine drinking that much soda. Judging by the recycling bin in the office, one or two of my colleagues drink around one can put week, but the rest drink no soda at work. I drink perhaps two or three a month, when I fancy a gin and tonic or rum and cola.
• trhway 8y ago
  in my taste the sugar beyond some concentration doesn't really taste that noticeably sweeter. I.e. i much enjoy typical soda (Coke/Pepsi/Sprite/etc) diluted 4-6x times with clear carbonated water (note - that dilution doesn't make a "Diet" version which seems to be another kind of poison). The amount of sugar in a regular Coke can - 10 tsp - looks outright scary to me (and that is speaking as a big carbohydrates eater - cakes, pastries, cookies, etc. in big amounts preferably from German or Russian stores :) I suspect that i'm not unique in my sugar taste - at least whenever i see how people put sugar in their teas, coffees, etc i don't see much difference - and if tomorrow Coke gets produced with 4x less sugar i don't think most people would really notice taste-wise.
  • newman8r 8y ago
    Same here. My favorite drink is pellegrino with just enough splash of lemonade for it to become sweet. Much more refreshing and hydrating.
    • Double_a_92 8y ago
      The refreshing part comes actually from the sourness. E.g. coke is basically as acidic as vinegar, that's why they need to add a ton of sugar to it.
      • newman8r 8y ago
        That's interesting. I'm going to test that out by trying some straight up lemon juice in my sparkling water.
  • nradov 8y ago
    A regular Coke can contains 7.8 tsp of sugar, not 10 (still a lot).
• youeseh 8y ago
  So, it delivers a certain satisfaction when you drink it. Maybe there are other less sugary drinks that give you similar satisfaction - have you tried replacing the ice tea with say, cans of plain club soda? That's how I got off my sweetened drink addiction. In my case, I enjoyed the kick from the fizz more than the taste itself, so I was pretty happy drinking unsweetened fizzy water. In your case, maybe the answer is brewing your own iced tea with a milder sweetener maybe steep a tangerine in the jug like they do with sangria?
  • wnevets 8y ago
    Certain brands of unsweetened and lightly sweetened iced tea are also good.
  • nickjj 8y ago
    I tried a few things. Club soda, a bunch of mildly flavored waters and a few brands of unsweetened tea (but not all of them). It's just not the same. I prefer water over all of those if it came down to it, but water is pretty boring you know. I haven't tried squeezing my own fruit into tea. Maybe I'll give that a shot. You are right though, it's no different than how smoking was. It does cause some amount of desire before you do it, and then satisfaction afterwards. Textbook addiction loop.
• ClassyJacket 8y ago
  Sugar is awful. It changes your expectation for taste so you always want dessert, sweet drinks, and for everything to be sweetened. I genuinely enjoyed my diet the most when I didn't eat anything sweetened. The only reason I'm not doing it now is recently moving house, getting a new job, and wanting to save time and money. But I intend to return to my no-sweetened-things diet. Cheese and nuts are such a richer and more satisfying high-calorie treat than chocolate, when you're used to it. Once, I couldn't imagine drinking coffee without sugar. Now I couldn't imagine drinking coffee with it.
  • Aromasin 8y ago
    I had the same issue with salt. I added so much salt to my foods that they were nearly inedible to anyone else but myself, and likewise normal food always tasted bland unless I added extra salt. I quit using added salt, and in the following few months my tastes noticeably changed. I still crave salty foods like olives or soy sauce, but I can now eat a meal and enjoy it without reaching for the shaker.
• rygxqpbsngav 8y ago
  Sugar has withdraw symptoms.I recall watching a video of a study where rats tested for withdrawal symptoms with Drugs vs Sugar and rats addicted to sugar endured electric shocks to get to sugar and eat it.
• gowld 8y ago
  Mot likely it had to do with your state of mind/life, and luck. sa you said yourself: > Truthfully, I found quitting smoking pretty easy because deep down I wanted to quit. Sugar isn't more addictive than tobacco; but it is less regulated so there are more nudges and its easier to access.