4 ms·

Quitting cold turkey after a change of environment (moving somewhere else) is a good tip not just for addiction, but for any change in habit. However, a more p

Quitting cold turkey after a change of environment (moving somewhere else) is a good tip not just for addiction, but for any change in habit. However, a more practical approach is to reduce the dosage slowly. That works especially well for sweet drinks. If you have a soda maker, you can slowly reduce the amount of syrup you use. After a while, your tolerance for sweetness goes down, so things that previously felt not sweet enough feel just right, and things that felt just right before will now feel overly sweet. This will then also help with reducing sweet food.

will1am 2y ago
Gradual reduction is often more sustainable and manageable for most people. But for me that didn't work when I first started.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
2Gkashmiri 2y ago
i stopped drinking soft drinks out of spite for my siblings. now they taunt me but i dont feel any urge to drink regardless of how it takes. for me it tastes like sugar water
- 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 2y ago
  I love sugar water. On my new ADHD meds I finally managed to kick soda for a few weeks, but I think I'll limit myself to one can a week on Saturdays because I miss the feeling. It's the only drug I do and all my friends are stoners, so..
  - hombre_fatal 2y ago
    Why not just a sugar-free option like Coke Zero?
    - 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 2y ago
      The sugar-free sweeteners taste odd to me, I haven't found one I like
      - EasyMark 2y ago
        You won’t like any of them out of the gate, but if you drink it for a month you won’t notice it much at all. It’s how I got 2/3 to 3/4 of the sugar out of my life along with dropping processed foods.
        01HNNWZ0MV43FF 2y ago
        I drank my mountain dew today and it just wasn't as good as I remember. Maybe I can completely kick it
TaylorAlexander 2y ago
I go for very low sweetness drinks too. I don’t have a soda maker but I buy cans of plain sparkling water and add a dash of store bought kombucha to the can. Usually I take one sip off a fresh can and then pour in a little kombucha. You can buy flavored sparkling water but the flavorings they tend to use don’t sit well with my stomach. The right flavor of kombucha does the trick for me nicely though. I would feel sick if I ever tried to drink a Coca-Cola. It’s incredible how much sugar they put in those things.
- cubefox 2y ago
  Another possibility is to add a dash of lemon juice.
- EasyMark 2y ago
  I switched to diet cola, my sugar intake easily went down by 2/3 or more. I’m not sure I can quit cola though :) . I don’t really drink, I eat fairly healthy, I exercise, so if zero coke is my only vice, maybe I can be forgiven by the nutrition gods
amanaplanacanal 2y ago
Cold Turkey has always worked best for me. Quitting smoking by gradual reduction just never seemed practical. If it works for others, more power to them!
cassianoleal 2y ago
I found that kombucha is an excellent, really low-calorie alternative to sugary drinks. Actually, to sugar in general. I have a sweet tooth and I have difficulty managing it some times. Kombucha is filling and most times one can is enough to make the cravings stop completely. I suspect it's a combination of the slightly sweet taste with the good gut bacteria.
- MrOwen 2y ago
  You unfortunately need to be fairly careful about the kombucha you select. Many of the big/common ones sold at grocery store chains oftentimes anywhere from 10-20mg sugar for a 12/14oz bottle (I've seen them with more than that too!). Better than soda but worse than many smaller brands or even local kombucha you might find at restaurants around town or a farmers market. My favorite kombuchas hover around 5mg per 12oz serving which is perfect.
  - smcin 2y ago
    You mean "10-20g sugar" not "mg"
  - cassianoleal 2y ago
    I'm in the UK. I always check the nutritional information labels. So far I haven't found a single brand of kombucha that has more than about 20kcal/100ml. Most are around 1-5kcal. For example, this Lo Bros [0] flavour has <0.5g of sugar, and only 3kcal/100ml. [0] https://lobros.co/products/raspberry-blackcurrant-330ml-uk https://lobros.co/products/raspberry-blackcurrant-330ml-uk
- Ferret7446 2y ago
  Isn't kombucha basically the same as soda? High acidity (which is bad for dental health), which is offset with sugar (which coincidentally is also bad for dental health). (At least, as a water drinker, they both taste equally strong)
  - cassianoleal 2y ago

will1am 2y ago

Gradual reduction is often more sustainable and manageable for most people. But for me that didn't work when I first started.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

2Gkashmiri 2y ago

i stopped drinking soft drinks out of spite for my siblings. now they taunt me but i dont feel any urge to drink regardless of how it takes. for me it tastes like sugar water

01HNNWZ0MV43FF 2y ago
I love sugar water. On my new ADHD meds I finally managed to kick soda for a few weeks, but I think I'll limit myself to one can a week on Saturdays because I miss the feeling. It's the only drug I do and all my friends are stoners, so..
- hombre_fatal 2y ago
  Why not just a sugar-free option like Coke Zero?
  - 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 2y ago
    The sugar-free sweeteners taste odd to me, I haven't found one I like
    - EasyMark 2y ago
      You won’t like any of them out of the gate, but if you drink it for a month you won’t notice it much at all. It’s how I got 2/3 to 3/4 of the sugar out of my life along with dropping processed foods.
      - 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 2y ago
        I drank my mountain dew today and it just wasn't as good as I remember. Maybe I can completely kick it

TaylorAlexander 2y ago

I go for very low sweetness drinks too. I don’t have a soda maker but I buy cans of plain sparkling water and add a dash of store bought kombucha to the can. Usually I take one sip off a fresh can and then pour in a little kombucha. You can buy flavored sparkling water but the flavorings they tend to use don’t sit well with my stomach. The right flavor of kombucha does the trick for me nicely though. I would feel sick if I ever tried to drink a Coca-Cola. It’s incredible how much sugar they put in those things.

cubefox 2y ago
Another possibility is to add a dash of lemon juice.
EasyMark 2y ago
I switched to diet cola, my sugar intake easily went down by 2/3 or more. I’m not sure I can quit cola though :) . I don’t really drink, I eat fairly healthy, I exercise, so if zero coke is my only vice, maybe I can be forgiven by the nutrition gods

amanaplanacanal 2y ago

Cold Turkey has always worked best for me. Quitting smoking by gradual reduction just never seemed practical. If it works for others, more power to them!

cassianoleal 2y ago

I found that kombucha is an excellent, really low-calorie alternative to sugary drinks. Actually, to sugar in general. I have a sweet tooth and I have difficulty managing it some times. Kombucha is filling and most times one can is enough to make the cravings stop completely. I suspect it's a combination of the slightly sweet taste with the good gut bacteria.

MrOwen 2y ago
You unfortunately need to be fairly careful about the kombucha you select. Many of the big/common ones sold at grocery store chains oftentimes anywhere from 10-20mg sugar for a 12/14oz bottle (I've seen them with more than that too!). Better than soda but worse than many smaller brands or even local kombucha you might find at restaurants around town or a farmers market. My favorite kombuchas hover around 5mg per 12oz serving which is perfect.
- smcin 2y ago
  You mean "10-20g sugar" not "mg"
- cassianoleal 2y ago
  I'm in the UK. I always check the nutritional information labels. So far I haven't found a single brand of kombucha that has more than about 20kcal/100ml. Most are around 1-5kcal. For example, this Lo Bros [0] flavour has <0.5g of sugar, and only 3kcal/100ml. [0] https://lobros.co/products/raspberry-blackcurrant-330ml-uk https://lobros.co/products/raspberry-blackcurrant-330ml-uk
Ferret7446 2y ago
Isn't kombucha basically the same as soda? High acidity (which is bad for dental health), which is offset with sugar (which coincidentally is also bad for dental health). (At least, as a water drinker, they both taste equally strong)
- cassianoleal 2y ago