My Diet Coke addiction had to end

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jun/11/diet-coke-addiction-coca-cola-life

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Six months ago, on a routine trip to the GP, my diet came up. Yes, I assured him, I was eating my five a day and exercising regularly. And no, binge drinking wasn't a hobby. Feeling mildly smug, I mentioned that my only big vice was Diet Coke, but that it must be a pretty mild indulgence when ranked on the almost never-ending list of what we should/shouldn't be consuming.

The doctor raised his eyebrows and asked how much of the fizzy stuff I drank a day, at which point I felt my confidence desert me. I was drinking at least three litres a day. I was never without a bottle. I started on the stuff at 9am, and continued to quaff it until bedtime. I could give up booze, coffee and cake but I'd never managed to wean myself off the Coke.

As I admitted this, I saw the doctor look at me in absolute horror, exchange glances with the equally stunned trainee who was observing the consultation, and start scribbling notes in my file.

After being given a severe lecture on the state of my stomach lining, the effects of all that caffeine on my system (hello, anxiety!) and told to stop drinking it altogether, I left the surgery feeling mildly ashamed. That night, after reading countless blogs about the horrors of fizzy drinks, I bade farewell to my trusty carbonated friend, and haven't touched a drop since.

It seems I am not alone in my new, unsweetened life. This year, the sales figures for fizzy drinks made by the Coca-Cola company fell for the first time in 15 years. In Britain alone, the figures dropped by 10% (in fairness, that was probably all down to me). Like any company with a ferocious PR team, the brand did what it could to change this reversal of fortune – it announced it would raise its marketing budget to $4bn, and has today introduced a new version of Coke – Coca-Cola Life.

Not content with flooding the fizzy drinks market with the choices we already have – regular Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero and caffeine-free Coke – the manufacturers want to give us even more choice. A regular 330ml can of Coke has 139 calories and 35g of sugar in it. The oddly named Coca-Cola Life will have a third less sugar and calories, all while retaining that sweet, indescribable taste. It'll also be made with natural sweeteners, if aspartame isn't your thing.

Obviously, if you insist on having fizzy drinks on a regular basis, then a reduction in sugar is probably wise. In the UK, 67% of men and 57% of women are either overweight or obese, and sugary drinks are part of the problem. Companies such as Coca-Cola know this, which is why it has produced adverts showing you fun ways to burn off the calories in a single can of its product (it suggests 23 minutes sweating it out on a ridiculous circus bike, if you're so inclined). Moreover, when you read the frequent headlines about some of the worrying ingredients we absorb from soft drinks, this new low-sugar version looks a bit like a product born of desperation.

Giving up my favourite drink was as difficult as I had feared. I set about it with a determination to go cold turkey, knowing that even one can would make me slip back into old habits. For the first month, I felt exhausted and could barely keep my eyes open at my desk. Then came the nerves, the feeling that something was missing. Finally, I experimented with a variety of disgusting fruity substitutes, hoping to find something to fill the aspartame gap in my life.

When the cravings finally lifted, I felt ludicrously triumphant. No longer having to worry about whether the office canteen has run out of Coke has made me wonder why I ever drank so much of the stuff for well over a decade. After all, having a fizzy drink isn't like having a donut, or devouring a delicious ice-cream. There is no nutritional value in a soft drink. It doesn't fill you up, excite your tastebuds or get you drunk. And in my case, I wasn't even drinking empty calories – I was drinking nothing. And spending six quid a day for the privilege.

If you can enjoy a soft drink as an infrequent treat, then by all means carry on. But perhaps we should all be picturing the horrified face of my seasoned GP when we head to the vending machine, and go straight to the tap instead. Failing that, have a glass of wine. Apparently, it's good for you. Well, this week, at least.