Hi,

I live in Norway and decided to start Atkins. However, there are many problems!
One is, what can I drink besides water in induction? I have searched here and cannot find any drinks that are OK. The artificially sweetened drinks use Aspartame. I would really appreciate any help from people, like how damaging it is to use aspartame in connection to going on Atkins.
An answer to this would help me so much! Thank you

My understanding is that asparteme will not affect the diet itself, but caffeine could. Dr. Atkins has some health concerns about it however. There is no concrete evidence either way. But as far as it affecting your diet, I dont think it is a problem. I drink diet rite, which uses splenda. I drink about 1 can per day max.

Thanks for your reply. I am feeling a little overwhelmed at the idea of having to drink water for every meal. It doesn't help that Norway is a very carb-dependent country and doesn't have any low carb shops or stuff like the US.
Basically I am willing to take the risk of aspartame but I want to know for sure. I blew it today, but am going to start again tommorow, I think it will help if I know other drink options. Like many I am not the best at drinking water.

Aspertame can cause stalling in weight loss in many individuals. Some people can use it with no apparent effects. Another culprit may be the citric acid found in soft drinks.

Other beverages, you could have unsweetened ice tea, herbal teas, decaf coffee (has some carbs, so do the teas). You can try your water at different temperatures and containers until you find what works for you.

If you can get into the habit of drinking water, it will be a good habit to last you a lifetime.

Elihnig

I agree. Try to drink a gallon of water every day. It is very good for you. Do you have Diet Rite or Diet Hansen's in Norway? They are sweetened with Splenda, but your body may still react badly to them.

Most of the low carb stuff you can get in North America isn't all that great, so don't feel too bad about not being able to find it in Norway.

I know that when I was in France last year I had a really hard time finding a sweetener I could use that didn't contain aspartame (I hate the taste of it, quite apart from being suspicious of it). In the end I found some liquid Hermesetas (saccharin and cyclamate), which has the benefit of being zero carb.

By the way, it's amazing how quickly you'll get used to drinking water. At least in Europe there's a good choice of fizzy water, which I love to drink with meals. My favourite is Badoit, which you can't get in Canada, but I have found an Italian one that's quite good.

By the way, there are a few others on the forum who live in Europe. Check out Stardust's journal; she lives in Sweden (Ystad).

Susan