Hello all,

I know that diet coke is not allowed on Atkins because it contains aspartame. However, I live in Indonesia and the diet coca-cola I find here contains only saccharin as the sweetener. Are there any other reasons for me not to drink diet coke? Does the caramel (for coloring) in diet coke have any significant affect on weight loss? I’d really love to have a can of diet coke for the occasional sugar craving! Thanks.

I have never heard of coke with saccharin, thats just weird to me.

Saccharin is one of the sweetners thats 'allowed' so I dont see why you cant. Many here drink diet coke with the aspartame anyway. Just make sure you drink your water too and I'm sure its fine... especially if you only plan on having the occasional can, like you mentioned.

I am a diet coke aholic and it hasn't affected me at all Caffeine free of course

I drink diet coke and so far have had no problems

Just watch if it triggers cravings (some people react to anything sweet) and make sure to drink enough water. Coke can't substatute for your daily water need.

Dr Atkins mentioned saccarine as ok but second to sucralose.

What is Tab sweetened with? It is different then dietcoke.

Supposedly we are not allowed to drink diet soda or coffee. I however drink both and I owe much of my success to this.

All Sugar-Free/Diet Products used to be sweetened with Saccharine and/or Cyclamate. But, after the Rat-Cancer Scare, both were banned. Saccharine was allowed back on the market with a Warning Label: "USE OF THIS PRODUCT MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH. THIS PRODUCT CONTAINS SACCHARIN WHICH HAS BEEN DETERMINED TO CAUSE CANCER IN LABORATORY ANIMALS." To this day, Cyclamate is still banned in the US.

Because of this new label, most companies [in the US at least] switched to the newly approved Sweetener ASPARTAME. A handfull of manufacturers [mostly Gum/Candy Makers] continued to used Saccharine with Sugar Alcohols, but all of the Soda makers switched over to Aspartame. A few years back, the law requiring the warning labels on Saccharine was repealed.

Coca-Cola reformulated TAB. It is now sweetened with a combination of Saccharine and Aspartame. Interestingly enough, most fountain Diet Colas are sweetened with a combination of Saccharine and Aspartame. This is probably the reason, I can tolerate Diet Coke from a fountain better than I can from a 20 oz. Bottle. Diet RC is sweetened with SPLENDA (Sucralose.) Diet Rite, Clover Valley Diet Cola, and a number of others are sweetened with a combination of SPLENDA (Sucralose) and SUNNET (Acesulfame Potassium.) Pepsi has some drinks (Pepsi ONE if I remember correctly) sweetened with Aspartame and SUNNET (Acesulfame Potassium.) They also make a Diet Slurpee for 7-11 with Tagatose (a Sugar that is only partially absorbed and has very little effect on Blood Sugar/Insulin,) Erythritol (a Sugar Alcohol,) and SPLENDA (Sucralose.)

I was digging in the back yard of the house I grew up in a few weeks ago [I was planting Vegetables] and I found some stuff buried under the dirt from the 70s. It had probably become buried after Hurricane David flooded the area in 1979. One of them was an old TAB Bottle Cap, which listed the ingredients. Saccharine was the only sweetener listed. I wish they'd go back to using Saccharine or switch to SPLENDA and/or SUNNET.