Soft drinks that don't contain artificial sweetners

[TonyRPH]

I've been a long time Coca Cola drinker, but I'm looking for a (preferably non fizzy) soft drink that doesn't contain artificial sweeteners.

Looking around on supermarket shelves, drinks like my old favourites - Robinsons Orange etc, Lucozade - are all now sugar free.

Does anyone know of any decent flavoured drinks that contain natural sugar?

I appear to be allergic to aspartame + the various other artificial sweeteners as they aggravate my tinnitus, and also give me quite acute headaches.

[21TonyK]

Interested as well. Can't abide artifical sweetners for 101 reasons, been drinking full fat coke myself for a couple of weeks lieu of anything else.

(now on sparking water)

[ben5575]

Either Bottlegreen or Belvoir Elderflower cordial

[TonyRPH]

ben5575 said:

Either Bottlegreen or Belvoir Elderflower cordial

Thanks, some interesting flavours available from both brands!

[Grey_Area]

TonyRPH said:

ben5575 said:

Either Bottlegreen or Belvoir Elderflower cordial

Thanks, some interesting flavours available from both brands!

Lime and mint is my go to.

[ChevronB19]

TonyRPH said:

I've been a long time Coca Cola drinker, but I'm looking for a (preferably non fizzy) soft drink that doesn't contain artificial sweeteners.

Looking around on supermarket shelves, drinks like my old favourites - Robinsons Orange etc, Lucozade - are all now sugar free.

Does anyone know of any decent flavoured drinks that contain natural sugar?

I appear to be allergic to aspartame + the various other artificial sweeteners as they aggravate my tinnitus, and also give me quite acute headaches.

Could I ask you about your aspartame allergy? I drink about 2 litres of fake Diet Coke a day (yes, I know) and have had multiple issues relating to IBS. I know the easy answer is ‘stop drinking it’, but just interested as to what your symptoms are/were other than those stated - any stomach problems?

[geeks]

Rocks for Squash/Cordial they do a Blackcurrant that is pretty good and an Orange that I really like.

Fentimans for fizzy things.

For anything fizzy that isn't coke or cherry coke then I go to the likes of American Fizz or similar, often in Morrisons they have a small American section can regularly get something fizzy out of that as well.

Nicks and Kicks do a range that Mrs geeks likes as well.

So pissed off with the sugar tax, I really don't understand why as an adult I am not allowed to make my own decisions, any sweetener tastes like acid or a chemical bath to me depending on which one it is, apparently its similar to the gene that makes coriander taste like soap to some people. Also on the odd occasion one has slipped through the net (usually in food form) it gives me headaches and bloating!

[TonyRPH]

ChevronB19 said:

Could I ask you about your aspartame allergy? I drink about 2 litres of fake Diet Coke a day (yes, I know) and have had multiple issues relating to IBS. I know the easy answer is ‘stop drinking it’, but just interested as to what your symptoms are/were other than those stated - any stomach problems?

I don't recall any stomach issues, it was just the headaches and (increased) tinnitus.

I discovered it purely by chance, as a few years back I was taking Robinson's sugar free juice to work and using water from a chiller. I began getting headaches (something which I initially attributed to the orange flavouring), but then the tinnitus worsened as well.

I stopped drinking it, and within a few days the tinnitus eased and the headaches went away (the headaches were almost constant on and off throughout the day).

As an aside, I switched to drinking Lucozade (before it became sugar free) and I had no issues.

I've since discovered that other sugar free drinks like Pepsi Max etc. result in the same symptoms, so that ruled out the orange flavouring.

[ZedLeg]

If you want something cheaper than the like of Rocks and Belvoir then Asda own brand Apple & Mango or Blackcurrant High Juice are both free of sweeteners. None of the other flavours are though.

[4Q]

I get mild asthma type symptoms and a cough when I have anything with aspartame in it. It’s getting more and more difficult to find a soft drink without either it or other artificial sweeteners like Sucralose or Acesulfame which leave a horrible residual taste.

[Evoluzione]

Have you thought about pure fruit juices instead?

[TonyRPH]

4Q said:

I get mild asthma type symptoms and a cough when I have anything with aspartame in it. It’s getting more and more difficult to find a soft drink without either it or other artificial sweeteners like Sucralose or Acesulfame which leave a horrible residual taste.

Agree on the after taste - that echoes my own experience.

Evoluzione said:

Have you thought about pure fruit juices instead?

I do drink Tropicana Orange (100% pure orange juice) with my breakfast, however it's an expensive way into a soft drink!
And although I enjoy it with my breakfast, it's not something I can drink casually during the day.

[SVX]

I'm the same as I've had to knock booze on the head for a bit (due to some medication), it's really hard to find a decent soft drink without sweetener in it now. At home I tend to drink fruit juices with no added sugar, and no sweetener. Kombucha is also nice, but quite pricey. I'm also a fan of decent ginger beer, or make my own base cordial of stem ginger syrup, lime juice and mix it with sparkling water.

I don't have an allergy, (I just don't like the taste), but know people who get headaches from Aspartame and the like. It can't be good for you.

[Mobile Chicane]

San Pellegrino fizzy drinks (ie. Tory Fanta) contain some artificial sweetener - stevia - which seems to be marginally less offensive than the rest.

Rose's lime cordial still delivers, but try finding it!

I've given up on fruit squashes as to me they all taste disgusting. The 'double concentrated' versions are especially nauseating.

[ZedLeg]

Full fat Club Orange is still pure sugar if you have a place that sells Irish stuff nearby.

[r3g]

Mobile Chicane said:

San Pellegrino fizzy drinks (ie. Tory Fanta) contain some artificial sweetener - stevia - which seems to be marginally less offensive than the rest.

Rose's lime cordial still delivers, but try finding it!

I've given up on fruit squashes as to me they all taste disgusting. The 'double concentrated' versions are especially nauseating.

Stevia is natural not artificial.

I suffer bad headaches within 10 minutes from drinking anything with sucralose/aspartame/acesulfame K. I don't enjoy plain water, not even the 'posh' glass bottled varieties. My go-to soft drink at the moment is Ocean Spray Cranberry Classic juice in the cartons, specifically the one with stevia as the sweetener which is found in the ambient section of the supermakets (Ocean Spray do a couple of other Cranberry Classic juice versions in nearly identical cartons but these have sucralose as the sweetener). It's quite strong so I do a 60% juice 40% water mix in a pint juice which is still plenty flavoursome and refreshing. No headaches. It's £1.70 at Tesco which after watering down works out around £1 per litre, so roughly equivalent to the cost per litre of a big bottle of Coke/Pepsi these days.

"Stevia is a natural sweetener and sugar substitute derived from the leaves of the plant species Stevia rebaudiana, native to Paraguay and Brazil." (wikipedia)

"Stevia is a natural sweetener extracted from the plant species called Stevia Rebaudiana. It is a completely natural and zero-calorie sweetener that is 200 times sweeter than sugar. Stevia also contains a wealth of antioxidant compounds, including flavonoids, triterpenes, tannins, caffeic acid, kaempferol, and quercetin."

This is the specific one I buy : https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/254... . Or this from the chiller if I'm feeling flush : https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/256...

[theplayingmantis]

Mobile Chicane said:

San Pellegrino fizzy drinks (ie. Tory Fanta) contain some artificial sweetener - stevia - which seems to be marginally less offensive than the rest.

Rose's lime cordial still delivers, but try finding it!

I've given up on fruit squashes as to me they all taste disgusting. The 'double concentrated' versions are especially nauseating.

changed the recipe and made them all awful, then rebrought out the originals (at least in lemon and orange) again... all a bit new coke, no idea what there current state is as this was a year or more back

[r3g]

Did you find any winners, Tony?

I think I'll have to retract my Cranberry juice nomination above as I've noticed it's causing me headaches now. Not as bad as those from soft drinks containing sucralose or aspartame, but definitely there and unpleasant .

[TonyRPH]

r3g said:

Did you find any winners, Tony? <snip>

Yes, a clear winner for me has been "Belvoir Fruit Farms Natural Orange Cordial".

No headaches or other side effects.

[21TonyK]

Ive been drinking Lidl elderflower cordial sliued with their "italian" sparkling water. Full of sugar but better than coke, trying their alcohol free lager and diluted apple as well.