For those of you that missed, I quit Diet Coke. Yesterday was rough – someone came by my office and said, “Are you feeling ok?” I wasn’t feeling sick, but could feel something was wrong. My thinking was foggy, my reaction time was low, I had a terrible headache and even got shaky. I was experiencing withdrawals. No different from a drug user, aspartame withdrawals are real and you can get them when quitting Diet Coke.

To be clear, I haven’t quit caffeine — I’ve done that before and it isn’t pretty. I’m going to continue to drink caffeine (gotta have my coffee with butter in it) without artificial sweeteners.

I did a little research and found that aspartame withdrawal is real. So real, in fact, that someone has created the Aspartame Detox Program. I can’t make this stuff up.

Janet Starr Hull (creator of said program) recommends several interesting things in her program, which I don’t agree with all of them.

Here’s what I recommend for those of you that want to stop Diet Coke:

1. Drink tons of water. I like drinking something carbonated and a little (natural) lime flavor. Try this Perrier Citron Water.
2. Take some Flush-Free Niacin. Niacin, in short, helps improve circulation in the body (including your brain, where I really needed it yesterday). If you’ve never taken it before, you might get a little red and warm – but that just means it’s working. Don’t freak out.
3. Eat some carbs – GASP, I just said it. When your body isn’t working the way it’s used to (in my case, an aspartame-induced state), it needs some easy energy. Eat some simple carbs to help keep going, but only for a couple of days.
4. Fruits and Veggies: I’m the worst at eating fruits and veggies. I’ve tried to do more juicing and eating Athletic Greens. Here’s a cheaper (but worse tasting) alternative: Green Vibrance.
5. Rest. You are going to be tired. Listen to your body and get plenty of rest.

Several of you have written that you quit already – congratulations. Seriously.

Let me know if you have any questions about aspartame withdrawal.