Diet Soda

Diet soda is a double edged sword, on the one hand it offers you a very low calorie drink that feels like the junk food that you've cut out and on the other hand it could lead you down the path to caffeine addiction depending on the type you choose. Also there is a near never ending stream of information available that will tell you that diet soda will give you cancer or various other worrying medical issues or that it will make you put on weight more than regular soda (never mind that a can of Diet Coke has 1 calorie and a can of regular Coke has 139 calories!).

Well my advice (for what it's worth) is to read up on the effects of caffeine, sugar replacements and additives yourself and decide if you yourself have concerns - does drinking aspartame have the potential to cause you more medical issues than alcohol? Than smoking? Than inhaling the urban pollution? Decide for yourself, there's plenty of information to hand at both ends of the argument and as you're able to read this I'm sure you are capable of risk assessing the situation for yourself!

My current addiction is Diet Coke & Cherry Coke Zero and I'm more than happy to trade off loosing weight with having to break the caffeine addiction when I've reached my healthy BMI.

First of all you should note that a drink called "zero" doesn't have to have zero calories in it, this is because under EU regulations a product containing no more than 4 calories per 100ml can be called zero; so for example Coke Zero contains 1 calorie per 250ml and Red Bull Zero contains 4 calories per 250ml so if you're taking calorie counting seriously don't just assume that your diet soda is calorie free.

Another common error is caused by 500ml bottles being labelled as containing 1 calorie per 250ml and people making the mistake of thinking that the number of calories refers to the bottle as a whole when in fact the bottle contains 2 calories. Even some entries on My Fitness Pal make this error, so if you're determined to micro manage your calories make sure you pay close attention to packaging.

Now to the list of Diet sodas I have used during my diet (Note that a standard can is 330ml and the plastic bottles are 500ml):

Diet Coke

Diet Coke comes in four varieties:

1. Diet Coke - 330ml = 1 calorie / 500ml = 2 calories
2. Diet Coke Caffeine Free - 330ml = 1 calorie / 500ml = 2 calories
3. Diet Coke with Cherry - 330ml = 3 calories / 500ml = 5 calories
4. Diet Coke with Citrus Zest - 330ml = 4 calories / 500ml = 6 calories

Coke Zero

There are two varieties of Coke Zero:

1. Coke Zero - 330ml = 1 calorie / 500ml = 1.5 calories
2. Coke Zero with Cherry - 330ml = 1 calorie / 500ml = 2 calories

Dr Pepper Zero

There is just one variety of Dr Pepper Zero - 330ml = 1.5 calories / 500ml = 3 calories

Red Bull

There are two types of low calorie Red Bull:

1. Red Bull Zero Calories - One can contains 250ml = 4 calories
2. Red Bull Sugar Free - One can contains 250ml = 8 Calories

Fanta Zero

There are two varieties of Fanta Zero:

1. Fanta Zero Orange - 330ml = 11 calories / 500ml = 16 calories
2. Fanta Zero Icy Lemon - 330ml = 6 calories / 500ml = 9 calories

Lilt Zero

There is just one variety of Lilt Zero - 330ml = 11 calories / 500ml = 17 calories

Iron Bru Sugar Free

There is just one variety of Iron Bru Sugar Free - 330ml = 3 calories / 500ml = 4 calories 

Diet Pepsi

There is just one variety of Diet Pepsi - 330ml = 1.5 calorie / 600ml = 2.4 calories (Pepsi gives you an extra 100ml in their plastic bottles)

Pepsi Max

There is just one variety of Pepsi Max - 330ml = 1.5 calorie / 600ml = 2.4 calories

There are many other diet sodas available, but the above are the main ones I use, of note is that I find the Caffeine Free Diet Coke just as addictive as the regular Diet Coke. 

Also of interest is the difference between Diet Coke and Coke Zero. Coke Zero is supposed to taste like regular Coke while Diet Coke is meant to have it's own taste, due to this the caffeine levels are different in these drinks:

Full fat Coke: 9.7mg of caffeine per 100ml

Diet Coke: 12.8mg of caffeine per 100ml

Coke Zero: 9.6mg of caffeine per 100ml

Or you Could just go for sparkling mineral water for a true zero calorie option but the full fizz experience!