Diet Drinks

DIET DRINKS

WHAT IS A DIET DRINK?

A diet drink is drink in which any additional sugar had been replaced by intense tasting sweeteners.
Diet drinks generally contain over 99% water.
Because of this only drinks made from fruit contain carbohydrates as they are found naturally in fruit (on average 1%).
However, be careful when drinking flavoured water as they may be sweetened or contain added sugar.

LOW-SUGAR DRINKS

Low-sugar drinks contain less than 7g sugar per 100ml.

DIET DRINKS HELP WITH DIETING

Diet drinks are suitable for everyone because there are no added carbohydrates (except for anyone who is allergic to any of the ingredients is or suffering from phenylketonuria).

Diet drinks help to keep you well hydrated throughout the day. However, your daily fluid intake must not revolve solely around diet drinks; to keep healthy you are advised to stick mainly to drinking natural water.

FROM A NUTRITIONAL POINT OF VIEW

To put it bluntly - 1 glass (250ml) of a diet fizzy drink contains on average 2.5 calories - compare this with 1 glass (250ml) of normal fizzy drink that contains between 80 and 100 Calories.

DIET DRINKS AND CHILDREN

Before the age of 3, intense sweeteners are not recommended for children.
After this age, it is recommended that children continue to drink water as their main drink and that their consumption of diet drinks is limited.

DIET DRINKS AND PREGNANT AND BREAST-FEEDING WOMEN

Certain studies have shown that aspartic acid does not cross the placenta.

During pregnancy and breast-feeding, women are not advised to avoid diet drinks.

DIET DRINKS AND A DIABETIC DIET

When discussing diet drinks and diabetes, it is important to properly distinguish between the two different types of diabetes:

- Type I diabetes: here 1 to 2 glasses per day of a sweetened drink may be tolerated depending on how the insulin doses are managed throughout the day. Diet drinks may also be consumed.

- Type II diabetes: People usually have this type of diabetes when they suffer from a weight problem so diet drinks are perfectly suitable for them.

It is also worth noting that if a person is suffering from hypoglycaemia, they are recommended to drink a sweetened drink to raise their blood sugar level.

HOW DRINKING DIET DRINKS EFFECTS THE BODY

The SUVIMAX study (epidemiological data) has shown that drinking diet drinks reduces carbohydrate intake throughout the day.

However, it is advised that you do not exceed recommended daily allowances. (The recommended daily allowance (RDA) will be reassessed in 2012 as requested by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA))

DIET DRINKS AND REGULATIONS

European regulations from 1st July 2007 ruled on the terms "diet" and "low-sugar" making it statutory to lower the quantity of carbohydrates to a minimum of 30% of the sugar content in the normal similar product.

DIET DRINKS AVAILABLE IN SHOPS

Diet Coca Cola 0.3 kCal/100ml
Contains Aspartame and Acesulfame potassium

Zero Coca cola 0.15 kCal/100ml
Contains Aspartame and Acesulfame potassium

Diet lime Coca cola 1.2 kCal/100ml
Contains Aspartame and Acesulfame potassium

Diet lemon Coca cola 1.2 kCal/100ml
Contains Aspartame and Acesulfame potassium

Pepsi max <1 kCal/100ml
Contains Aspartame and Acesulfame potassium

Sugar-free Red Bull sugar free 3 kCal/100ml
Contains Aspartame and Acesulfame potassium

Diet Seven up 0.4 kCal/100ml
Contains Aspartame and Acesulfame potassium

Schweppes Diet Indian Tonic Water 1.4 kCal/100ml
Contains Aspartame and Acesulfame potassium and Sucralose

Diet Orangina 6 kCal/100ml
Contains Aspartame and Acesulfame potassium

Zero Fanta 5.4 kCal/100ml
Contains Aspartame and Acesulfame potassium

Oasis with no added sugar 6.9 kCal/100ml
Contains Aspartame and Acesulfame potassium

Peach Diet Iced Tea 1 kCal/100ml
Contains Aspartame and Acesulfame potassium

Lemon Volvic 5 kCal/100ml

Strawberry Volvic 19 KCal/100ml

Lime Volvic 6 kCal/100ml

Mint Green Tea Volvic 15 kCal/100ml

DIET DRINKS IN THE METHOD

From the attack phase onwards you are allowed to have diet drinks that contain less than 1 calorie per glass (without exceeding the recommended daily allowance).

So that you choose the right drinks, you are advised to read the product labels very carefully.

WHAT PIERRE DUKAN THINKS ABOUT DIET DRINKS

"There has been some debate as to whether nutritionally diet drinks are good for us. My position is clear: as far as I am concerned, diet Coke has done more to help fight weight problems than all the government health campaigns across the world. I am convinced that if it wasn't for diet fizzy drinks there would be at least another million obese people in the United States. So then let's stop mincing around! One of my patients managed to lose 100 kg/ almost 16 stone and Diet Coke treats kept them going. The world we live in has changed and we have to change with it. Ideally you would drink 1 to 3 cans a day. Nowadays the different brands vie with each other to produce ever more imaginative flavours and offer us more choice. Just take a look at all the different fruity flavours now available that mean we can try something other than a drink with a cola taste."