Hi All,
I am glad that I have found this page. Just started out my induction and have heard from some that the diet coke will knock you out of Ketosis? What are your experiences? Or are there any other soda that you can recommend? (I live in Europe) Sometimes, I just like the coke as I need something sweet and it is easy to get anywhere. What do you say?

Hi Cocodrilo and welcome!

The Aspartame in Diet Coke will not knock you out of ketosis, but it has been known to stall weight loss in a lot of people. It's what we refer to around here as a YMMV (your mileage may vary) thing in that some people can use it without a problem and some can't. I don't know if you have diet soda products in Europe that are sweetened with Splenda, but in the US we have Diet Rite and several other local brands that are sweetened with Splenda instead of Aspartame. All artificial sweeteners can cause stalls, but Splenda seems to do it less than the others.
If you can continue to drink Diet Coke and lose weight and are comfortable with using Aspartame, I don't see any real reason to avoid it, but if you find that weight loss is slow or stops and you have ruled out other possible stallers, you may want to cut it out and see if your weight loss resumes.

try drinking water instead of diet drinks. our bodies generally need much more water than we give them; many people are dehydrated and don't realize it.

once i got used to drinking water, that's what i crave now. i have a diet soda and it tasted like a big old glass of syrup! soooo sweet and heavy.

i'll use diet sodas to mix with spirits; other than that it's nothing but a big, lovely glass of cold water! i crave it and can imagine the ice cubes clunking around. when i drink it, i can almost feel myself being hydrated. my skin is better, my hair is better, my nails grow longer...

Diet Coke can also cause problems with some because of the caffeine. Caffeine can cause insulin spikes, therefore triggering hunger in some. So try replacing it with a diet caffeine free soda- which you should be able to find without a problem in Europe. They do make diet coke in a caffeine free version. I drink a diet sprite when I want something other than water. Remember an ocassional diet soda won't necessarily hurt, but you still need an additional 64 oz of pure water each day. Good luck.
God Bless,
Amy-Lynne

Aspartame can cause problems even in caffeine-free beverages. I started drinking caffeine-free diet Coke and my weight loss stalled. I stopped drinking it and started losing again.

I drink two cups of coffee every morning and the caffeine does not seem to cause me problems (at least for now). The aspartame is definitely problematical for me.

I am drinking a cup of herb tea as I type this.

Aspartame not only causes stalls...but is toxic in quantity. I have seen varying numbers (1:50 - 1:10,000) of how many people are sensitive to penylalinine (Aspartame's main component). But, even if you aren't sensitive to it...it is still toxic in large amounts.

I would suggest that if you do consume Aspartame lade products that you don't consume them all the time. Coca-Cola and Pepsi will never admit it...but, Aspartame contains Methanol (Wood Alcohol).

In sufficient quantity Methanol is toxic. A handfull of people have consumed enough Aspartame to kill them. I doubt one soda would ever cause serious problems. But, if everything you eat and drink has Aspartame in it...you can consume a toxic or even lethal dose.

Caffeine is also toxic in large amounts. But, you don't get that much caffeine on a regular basis. At one time, I did consume a toxic amount of caffeine from pep pills. It is not a pretty experience. I quit taking pep pills after that happened. I quit consuming caffeine all together after going on Atkins.

I agree, try to up your water intake, the more you drink it, the more you crave it. (no really, it's true)
I do still have one soda a day... I use Diet Rite cola, aspartame free, sugar free, sodium free, caffeine free... it's splenda sweetened.
I used to be "addicted" to diet coke, if I ever indulge now... I get headaches... NO MORE ASPARTAME FOR ME!

Oh... Now if you need a sweet treat try Italian sodas.
That's one part Davinci sugarfree syrup (your choice of flavor), one part heavy cream, and six parts club soda... Yum-my!!!
My favorites are Vanilla (Vanilla cream soda) and Root beer (Root beer Float!

I believe the Diet Coke in Europe is sweetened with saccharin and not aspartame (at least in France and England it was).
I would still restrict to no more than one a day though.

So true about the water! When I first started upping my water intake, I thought, oh yuck! I stopped using aspartame and starting making kool-aid with Splenda (sucrolose) but now I'm supposed to limit even that? Oh no! But......

I decided to do a completely clean induction and drank nothing but water for two weeks straight (and increased my intake to about 100 ounces a day), and guess what? I decided to have a glass of the kool-aid with Splenda as a treat and even though I made it with about 1/2 of the recommended amount, it STILL tasted too sweet! I drank about 1/2 the glass and went back to water!

Although I like soda, I've never been a real cola junkie, so I don't miss it much myself.

Just keep on drinking as much water as you can, at least 64 ounces a day, and try to avoid other drinks altogether for a while, and you might find you prefer water after all!