A woman who has downed 43,500 cans of diet cola, drinking at least six cans a day for the best part of 30 years, says her health has changed after switching to mineral water. Cat Tomalin, 50, decided to ditch her habit after meeting Doran Binder, owner of a new brand of spring water being bottled in the Peak District.
Cat said: “We used to be given cola for a treat as kids, on holiday and for special occasions, things like that. I didn’t drink it to excess then but I think that’s where the association that it was a ‘treat’ began. I drank more as I got older and then when I discovered there was a diet version, it was a no-brainer for me.
"I liked the taste. I’ve never liked tea, coffee, or milk - I didn’t really drink anything else other than tap water with squash or fruit juice, so it was another option and I thought it was the ‘healthy’ version. Caffeine and aspartame weren’t really mentioned back when I started drinking it – I actually thought I was making a clever choice by opting for diet."
She added: “It was my late teens when I started drinking a lot of diet cola. I was permanently on a diet (like most other girls I knew) and sometimes we’d have a diet cola and a cigarette instead of lunch at school. I thought I was being clever – I could drink as much as I liked without the calories and get a sweet fix without eating junk. At the time, we all thought of it as the ‘healthy’ version but obviously the artificial sweetness tasted great because my blood sugar was probably usually low."
For Cat, it was the beginning of an obsession that would last well over thirty years, escalating to the point where she would get panicky if she was short on supplies of her favourite fizz.
“I wouldn’t have it first thing in the morning (I never liked it on an empty stomach) but apart from that, I’d drink it pretty steadily throughout the day, including right up until going to bed. I’d estimate four cans was a ‘good’ day, it was usually about six, but on a ‘bad’ day it would be loads more.
“I also switched to drinking vodka with diet cola on nights out instead of other drinks with more calories, so that bumped my intake up too.”
“I was always on the lookout out for multipack / offer packs and would definitely stockpile plus have ‘emergency’ supplies. I would permanently have one eye on the supply in the fridge and plan supermarket trips accordingly.
“I’d get really anxious if I knew I didn’t have any diet cola in and I used to get splitting headaches if I went without. I realise now that was the caffeine withdrawal kicking in. I would actually hide emergency cans around the house so that no one else could have the last one and leave me without. I’d also make emergency trips to the all-night garage.”
Cat added: “I didn’t really think about how hooked I was on diet cola until I was in my thirties, when I started to hear more about how bad it was for you. We came back from holiday once – I’d always drink more diet cola on holiday when it was hot – and I decided to stop drinking it. By lunchtime that day, I had a migraine, so I had a can of diet coke and immediately felt much better. I put it out of my mind for another few years.
“Interestingly when I was pregnant with my first child, I couldn’t go near diet cola even though I wanted to, as it tasted horribly metallic. I guess this was my body being clever enough to know what wasn’t good for it that time and override the craving. I was straight back on it afterwards when the taste was back to normal afterwards though. When I was pregnant with my daughter four years later, the exact same thing happened. Those two occasions are the only time in thirty years that I haven’t drank diet cola every day until now.
“I went to one of Doran’s water-tasting sessions at The Crag Inn, where he takes you through the different mineral waters from around the world and explains their difference in taste and texture. It was here that we got talking about my love of diet cola. He was horrified when I told him just how much I drink. What I didn’t tell him was that I actually toned it down a bit. I drank much more than I’d said at the time.
“This is when he threw down the gauntlet. He offered me as much spring water as I could drink if I promised not to drink any diet cola…that was four months ago, and I’ve not looked back.
“The first few days I suffered badly from headaches and then day three it was like I had a drum pounding in my head. I couldn’t shake the headache for the entire day. I was determined to push through though, every time I felt a craving for a diet cola, I had water instead. I found it much easier to drink the sparkling water as it has a slight citrussy taste and of course the fizz reminds me of diet cola. By day four I was up to drinking about 3.5 litres of water and trust me, if you’re drinking that much water you really don’t need anything else. I noticed for the first time that night that I slept amazingly well. Usually, I would wake up with a bit of a headache, something I never really noticed until I stopped drinking diet cola, but on the morning of day five I felt amazing.
“I’m really proud to say that I haven’t had a sip of diet cola since the end of March and I honestly don’t miss it at all. I’m consistently drinking three to four litres of water a day and I feel fantastic. My skin is glowing, I’ve been sleeping really well, I have more energy and I have been exercising more too.
“I can honestly say I don’t even think about diet cola now, I feel like I’ve cracked my 30-year habit!”
Doran Binder of Crag Spring Water said: “I’m extremely proud of Cat for tackling her dependency in the way that she has, but I knew she could do it.
“With caffeine addiction the physical symptoms don’t last very long at all and by replacing it with something that will give her a whole host of benefits, it was easy once she got through the difficult first few days. That’s when she began to notice how good she felt without caffeine.
“I’d definitely be up for working with somebody else who has a similar addiction – perhaps coffee or tea, something that can be easily substituted with water. So, if you feel you have a habit to crack then why not get in touch.”
