The World Health Organization declared last week that the artificial sweetener aspartame is "possibly carcinogenic to humans." But you'd have to chug quite a bit of diet soda to enter the danger zone.
Its new guidance for safe consumption is 40 milligrams of aspartame per kilogram of body weight, meaning that a diet cola fan weighing 150 pounds could drink as many as 24 cans a day. Still, the news may give the jitters to diet drink die-hards. If you're ready to swear off the stuff, or cut down, here are 10 aspartame-free alternatives.
Iced tea: It doesn't look or exactly taste like diet cola, and it's not even fizzy. But the tannins in iced tea mimic some of that carefully honed Diet Coke complexity, and the caffeine will keep you from dropping off at your desk. Just go easy on the sugar.
Kombucha: Lightly caffeinated and made from fermented black or green tea, it's gently effervescent, judiciously sweet and may even be good for your gut microbiome — or whatever microbiome your diet drink habit has left you with.
Sparkling water: It fizzes and is available in a can, which gives you that same satisfying hiss-snap when you crack it open.
Seltzer and bitters: A bar staple for many pregnant women and teetotalers, it's zippy, sort of sophisticated and very satisfying.
Pomegranate juice and club soda: This concoction hits the same bright and tangy notes as an icy Diet Coke, and even better, the foam is a perky pink.
Prosecco: True, alcohol is listed by the WHO as clearly carcinogenic, perhaps even in modest amounts. And prosecco is hardly low-calorie. But hey, pick your poison.
