There are hundreds of diet drink choices so why can’t I find them?
We have a convenience store up the road from our house. It’s a mini-mart/Chevron gas station. They have a deli where you can order fresh sandwiches, or hot food, they have 6 fresh brewed coffee choices including several different flavored creamers. They have two full walls with refrigerated beer, alcohol, every soft drink known to man, juices, energy drinks, sports drinks and my favorite, a full fridge of Snapple drinks. How many of those are diet? I can count on one hand how many diet drink choices they have.
If I want a Snapple from this convenience store, my choice is Diet Peach Tea. That’s the only diet Snapple they carry. I do like this tea but Snapple makes a diet version of almost all their products and they are good. Yet I’m hard pressed to find them anywhere. Our local big grocery store chain carries two or three diet versions of Snapple and that’s IT.
Jack’s favorite Mt Dew is Code Red and fortunately they make it in a diet version. Unfortunately, it’s not sold anywhere in our city. We have looked at every major and minor grocery chain and they only carry regular diet Mt Dew. No diet code red. Jack has a co-worker who lives in another city and state over and found a Safeway near him that carries it. So every so often Jack gives him $20 and he buys us some to tide us over a while.
If we eat out and I’m in the mood for a soft drink, guess how many choices I have? Usually one. Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi. No diet 7-Up, no diet Orange, just diet cola. With the growing number of diabetics in this country, is that really fair?
I think not.
I’m thirsty and not in the mood for water but my choices are next to nothing. It’s NOT for lack of products! There are hundreds of diet choices, but no one sells them. Why is that?!?
Oh my kids love Mt. Dew Code Red. I never knew they made it in diet.
I totally agree, being a diabetic myself for over 10 years now its HARD to find the good diet cola’s around town, thankfully we have a Wal Mart nearby but wow where are all the options for diet cola drinkers when we go out to the restaurants? It’s not geared towards the diabetic thats for sure..
I always get unsweetened ice tea and put my Splenda (that I carry around with me) in it.
Bah! Diet Drinks are nasty tasting anyway! =D
Diet Coke, and Diet Pepsi are terrible for you.
did ya know most “Diet” Colas have Aspartame in them, which is potentially deadly. A friend of ours is highly allergic to Aspartame. It’s not to the point of Anaphylaxis however, she will immediately get a severe migraine which lasts for quite a while.
Aspartame is also in many chewing gums. Nasty Stuff, no matter how much they tell you it’s not bad for you. (personal opinion, I’m not a medical expert)
Jay
Jules, diet code red is da bomb.. if you like code red. I don’t, but my kids and hubby do!
Suzanne, I completely agree.
Lorelei, good idea. I never think about getting tea!
Jay, Which is worse? What sugar does to a diabetic? Or artificial sweeteners? That’s a dilemma I face daily.
I’m loving the diet green teas and diet white teas, but I often can’t get them at convenience stores. To make matters worse, I’ve give up all pop, even diet pop…so my choice at restaurants is usually water. My husband actually carried a diet green tea into a restaurant the other night, and just asked for ice. Oh well…
I really couldn’t say which is worse sadly, partially because I’m not in your shoes..
I’m neither diabetic, nor allergic to Aspartame.
I will say this though, I can imagine, and through friends’ experiences that Diabetes is certainly not an easy disease to manage, and I sure as heck know that I would fail miserably with it. For you I’d imagine the easiest decision is the diet cola, given that you’re likely not allergic to the Aspartame.
It really is too bad there aren’t other alternatives.
Jay
Cindy, bringing your own drink is a good idea and I’ve done that before, too. My problem is we often don’t to plan to eat out.. it just happens. It’s frustrating there are so few choices.
Jay,
There’s splenda…. but it’s got drawbacks too.
[...] giggled again as I felt a bit defensive explaining I drink water ALL THE TIME. What choice to I have? I even whined about how restaurants only have water or diet cola as the beverage choices for a [...]