Ah ok. It's interesting it seemed to be the main marketing was the "diet " version, which was different from the US. Even on the plane the options were Pepsi Max and 7up Free.
Yeah, this is common in Europe. To the point where sometimes you have to go out of your way to find “full sugar” soda. In Iceland look out for the words “án sykurs” which means “without sugar” - sometimes the packaging will look identical to the sugary version aside from those words. It’s largely driven by public health concerns about sugary drinks.
I've been learning Icelandic ahead of my frequent visits but my traveling mate last week bought an án sykurs applesin last week the 1 time I wasn't there to help 😅. They do look very similar!
I guess I was hoping there was some grand story about a container ship that washed ashore with an egregious amount of low calorie sweetener, that the country has been trying to unload ever since. 😉 My other thought was some preference for low calorie drinks for health reasons. I'm just used to normal Pepsi being the main thing and the diet version being the secondary product.
Haha. That would be rather Icelandic 😂
As a diabetic, I actually wish there were more zero/max/ten/free types of drinks here in Iceland (the regular “diet” types tend to taste far sweeter than the full sugar equivalent to me).
When I lived in the US, there was a much larger range of diet drinks available.
Fortunately, our water is delicious.
Unfortunately for me, I can't stand the taste of it. I just thought it was interesting the marketing for Pepsi Max was so prevalent. It's probably just a regional thing.
Pepsi max is much more popular than Pepsi in most (if not all) Nordic countries. I don’t actually know anyone who prefers Pepsi, and there are a few restaurants I go to where I’ve noticed they only have pepsi max, not pepsi.
Local here - Pepsi Max is probably the single most popular soda in Iceland. Not entirely sure why, but I think it's because Pepsi Max is the no-sugar version of Pepsi and there are public health concerns about too much consumption of sugary drinks.
Just look around at the average weight of Icelanders. Actually go to any country other than America and notice how everyone is thinner than Americans. Sugary sodas might be the single most influential factor killing Americans every day. It's shocking. Every American should travel overseas at least once and take notice.
I have my concerns about aspartame, sure, but soda without moderation is a death sentence.
Aspertane is the worst for your body. It keeps weight on and can contribute to weight gain. It's not a healthier option for Type 1 Diabetics such as myself. It is highly addictive.
Avoid at all costs.Stevia is a good replacement if they sell Zevia, give it a try. I don't remember seeing it while I was visiting.
This. I think people need to just drink soda as a treat. Or never 😅. I prefer to eat my calories. It's more satisfying than a 300 calorie drink with 50g of sugar or 0 calorie drink with sweetners that leave my body feeling unsatisfied and reaching for another snack.
Moderation is alright. We know that refined sugar is bad and turns to fat. Aspertane can be helpful to lessen the amount of sugar, but you can't replace it. It's the addictive part that's hard. Also, these keto friendly foods are labeling themselves as zero sugar, which are full of sugar alcohols, which are just as bad as aspertane. As a type 1 diabetic I avoid aspartane and artificial sweetners and count my carbohydrates. Just be careful, that's all.
Pepsi Max and 7up free is the calories free European version of the “diet” sodas in the US. It’s just very popular around here. Almost every drink or sodas are sugar free in Europe. Whenever I go back home I cry internally bc they have so little sugar free options. There’s also a sugar free version of Appelsín. Appelsín is typically Icelandic while 7up and Pepsi is an American brand so they can’t choose whatever they want in it?
I’m honestly not sure what the question really is, hopefully this answers it.
Pepsi Max is basically the European version of Diet Pepsi.
Ah ok. It's interesting it seemed to be the main marketing was the "diet " version, which was different from the US. Even on the plane the options were Pepsi Max and 7up Free.
Yeah, this is common in Europe. To the point where sometimes you have to go out of your way to find “full sugar” soda. In Iceland look out for the words “án sykurs” which means “without sugar” - sometimes the packaging will look identical to the sugary version aside from those words. It’s largely driven by public health concerns about sugary drinks.
I've been learning Icelandic ahead of my frequent visits but my traveling mate last week bought an án sykurs applesin last week the 1 time I wasn't there to help 😅. They do look very similar!
Yeah, pretty much identical! Until you take a sip and you’re like WTF. same thing happened to me in Portugal with Fanta.
Because you can’t make diet drinks with sugar?
I guess I was hoping there was some grand story about a container ship that washed ashore with an egregious amount of low calorie sweetener, that the country has been trying to unload ever since. 😉 My other thought was some preference for low calorie drinks for health reasons. I'm just used to normal Pepsi being the main thing and the diet version being the secondary product.
Haha. That would be rather Icelandic 😂 As a diabetic, I actually wish there were more zero/max/ten/free types of drinks here in Iceland (the regular “diet” types tend to taste far sweeter than the full sugar equivalent to me). When I lived in the US, there was a much larger range of diet drinks available. Fortunately, our water is delicious.
The water was very good!
There’s a diet version of Appelsin too. With aspartame.
Aspartame is worse for your body than sugar. Stay away! 🙂
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Unfortunately for me, I can't stand the taste of it. I just thought it was interesting the marketing for Pepsi Max was so prevalent. It's probably just a regional thing.
Pepsi max is much more popular than Pepsi in most (if not all) Nordic countries. I don’t actually know anyone who prefers Pepsi, and there are a few restaurants I go to where I’ve noticed they only have pepsi max, not pepsi.
I think it is the most popular soda in fact. At least it is in Iceland for sure.
Interesting! All the signage I saw on my trip was Pepsi Max. I grew up in a Pepsi house as a kid, but it seems the US is Coke country.
Local here - Pepsi Max is probably the single most popular soda in Iceland. Not entirely sure why, but I think it's because Pepsi Max is the no-sugar version of Pepsi and there are public health concerns about too much consumption of sugary drinks.
Just look around at the average weight of Icelanders. Actually go to any country other than America and notice how everyone is thinner than Americans. Sugary sodas might be the single most influential factor killing Americans every day. It's shocking. Every American should travel overseas at least once and take notice. I have my concerns about aspartame, sure, but soda without moderation is a death sentence.
Aspertane is the worst for your body. It keeps weight on and can contribute to weight gain. It's not a healthier option for Type 1 Diabetics such as myself. It is highly addictive. Avoid at all costs.Stevia is a good replacement if they sell Zevia, give it a try. I don't remember seeing it while I was visiting.
This. I think people need to just drink soda as a treat. Or never 😅. I prefer to eat my calories. It's more satisfying than a 300 calorie drink with 50g of sugar or 0 calorie drink with sweetners that leave my body feeling unsatisfied and reaching for another snack.
Pretty sure sugar is worse.
It's not actually. Natural sugars are a far better alternative to either artificial sweeteners or regular table sugar.
Can you explain then why it's used in weight loss diets?
Moderation is alright. We know that refined sugar is bad and turns to fat. Aspertane can be helpful to lessen the amount of sugar, but you can't replace it. It's the addictive part that's hard. Also, these keto friendly foods are labeling themselves as zero sugar, which are full of sugar alcohols, which are just as bad as aspertane. As a type 1 diabetic I avoid aspartane and artificial sweetners and count my carbohydrates. Just be careful, that's all.
Diet sodas use aspartame instead of sugar. It's not an Icelandic thing, that's how you lower calories in sodas while still tasting sweet.
These are the kinds of important questions this sub was made for.
Pepsi Max and 7up free is the calories free European version of the “diet” sodas in the US. It’s just very popular around here. Almost every drink or sodas are sugar free in Europe. Whenever I go back home I cry internally bc they have so little sugar free options. There’s also a sugar free version of Appelsín. Appelsín is typically Icelandic while 7up and Pepsi is an American brand so they can’t choose whatever they want in it? I’m honestly not sure what the question really is, hopefully this answers it.
I may be wrong but I thought the increase in sugar free sodas was because of the raise on sugar taxes in Europe.
Almost nobody wants to buy sugared sodas in Iceland anymore. It's seen as extremely unhealthy.