How to stop drinking soft drinks in Nigeria: Coke, Fanta, Maltina

If you're asking how to stop drinking soft drinks in Nigeria, start with one bottle, not all of them. Count your daily minerals and malt, drop one a week, and put a local swap like zobo without sugar in its place. FizzFree is the app built for exactly this, and I made it. It works in naira.

Key points

• Malt drinks like Maltina are non alcoholic, but they are sugary soft drinks.
• A 50cl Coke carries about 53 g of sugar, by my arithmetic from Coca-Cola Nigeria's label. The NHS adult limit for added sugars is 30 g a day.
• Cut one bottle a week, and swap rather than skip.
• FizzFree counts soft drinks and malt, shows money kept in naira, and its Android app speaks Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo.
• This is general information, not medical advice.

Is Maltina a soft drink?

Yes, in every way that matters for your sugar. Maltina, Amstel Malta and Malta Guinness are non alcoholic, and Alcohol Change UK lists Malta Guinness at 0.0% alcohol. But they are sweet drinks. Nigerian Breweries lists Maltina Classic at 10.5 g of sugar per 100 ml, close to a Coke.

Lots of people treat malt as the healthy one, the drink you give the children. The labels don't back it up. A 33cl Maltina comes to about 35 g of sugar, by my arithmetic, over the NHS adult limit on its own. So malt goes on the same list as Coke and Fanta. The full label comparison is in sugar in malt drinks.

How much sugar is in a 50cl bottle?

About 53 g in a 50cl Coke, by my arithmetic. Coca-Cola Nigeria lists Coke Original at 10.6 g of carbohydrate per 100 ml, and sugar is the only ingredient that adds carbohydrate. The 50cl bottle, 500 ml, is the size most of us actually buy at the kiosk, so it's the one worth knowing.

Drink	Sugar per 100 ml	In a 33cl, my arithmetic	In a 50cl, my arithmetic	Source
Coca-Cola Original, Nigeria	10.6 g carbohydrate	about 35 g	about 53 g	Coca-Cola Nigeria
Maltina Classic	10.5 g	about 35 g	about 53 g	Nigerian Breweries
Amstel Malta Classic	9.4 g	about 31 g	about 47 g	Nigerian Breweries

I didn't check a Fanta label for this post, so read the sugar line per 100 ml on your bottle and multiply by five for a 50cl. Daily limits are in how much sugar is in a can of soda.

Coke also carries caffeine: Coca-Cola puts a 12 oz Coke at 34 mg. On three bottles a day, many people report a headache for a few days when they stop. A 2004 review found caffeine withdrawal usually lasts 2 to 9 days.

How do I stop drinking Fanta every day?

Find the moment you buy it, and put something else in that exact moment. A daily Fanta is usually tied to a time and a place: lunch at the canteen, the walk home, the evening with suya. Cut one bottle a week instead of all of them on Monday, and keep your swap cold before the week starts.

1. Write down when you drink each bottle. Two days of notes shows the pattern.
2. Drop the evening bottle first. Keep the lunch one longest.
3. Buy the swap first. A cold zobo in the fridge beats good intentions at 2 pm.
4. Tell the person who buys for you. The office runner, your spouse, the aunty at the shop.
5. Count what you keep. Multiply what one bottle costs you by the bottles you skip. The yearly sums are in what a soft drink habit costs in Nigeria.

One Fanta at a wedding doesn't undo three good weeks. For a day by day version, try my 14 day plan to quit soda, and what happens when you stop drinking soda covers the first weeks.

What can I drink instead of minerals?

Something cold, local and easy to find. FizzFree's Swap Shelf for Nigeria lists zobo without sugar, kunu with no added sugar, water with lime, tiger nut drink and coconut water. The trick is to keep the cold bottle in your hand and the habit of a drink at that time, while the sugar goes.

Swap	Good for	Watch out for
Zobo without sugar	The Fanta slot: cold, red and tangy	Street zobo is often sweetened, so ask
Kunu with no added sugar	Lunch	Many sellers add sugar
Water with lime	Anywhere, any time	Add ice so it feels like a treat
Tiger nut drink	When you want something creamy	Check if sugar was added
Coconut water	A hot afternoon	It still has natural sugar

My take: zobo without sugar is the strongest swap for a Fanta drinker. Your tongue stops looking for the orange fizz faster than you'd expect. More ideas are in what to drink instead of soda.

Is there an app to stop drinking soft drinks in Nigeria?

Yes. FizzFree is the one I built, and it counts regular soft drinks, diet and zero drinks, malt drinks and energy drinks in one daily check-in. It shows money kept in naira and sugar not drunk, and the Android app runs in 28 languages, including Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo.

• Swap Shelf. Local swaps for Nigeria, plus your own.
• Sugar Jar. Sugar not drunk and money kept, in naira.
• Taper Dial. Lower a weekly allowance step by step, or stop at once.
• Ride the Fizz. A 90 second craving exercise.
• No streak to lose. A fizz day grows the Bubble Monster, and calm days shrink it.
• No account. Your data stays on your phone.

Version 2.0 has been on Google Play since 27 October 2026. On iPhone, 2.0 is in App Store review, so the App Store has version 1.5 with a streak, savings and a craving timer until then. See FizzFree, or get it on Google Play or the App Store.

Which app fits you?

If soft drinks and malt are your only habit, a soda tracker fits. If you're quitting something else at the same time, a general quit app does. NoFizz isn't on Google Play, so on an Android phone the choice is between the first three. These descriptions come from each app's own store listing.

App	Built for	Good fit if	Phones
FizzFree: Quit Soda Tracker	Soft drinks, malt, diet and energy drinks	You drink minerals or malt and want Nigerian swaps and your own currency	iPhone and Android
Quitzilla	Any habit, several at once	You're cutting soft drinks and something else together	iPhone and Android
I Am Sober	Alcohol and other addictions, with a community	You want a daily pledge and other people around you	iPhone and Android
NoFizz: Quit Soda Now	A 100 day guided soda program	You want a lesson a day and use an iPhone	iPhone only

For brand guides, see how to stop drinking Coke, how to quit Fanta and fizzy drinks and which app to stop drinking soda.

Frequently asked questions

How can I stop drinking soft drinks like Coke, Fanta and Maltina? Any app?

Cut one bottle a week and replace it with a local swap like zobo without sugar. Count malt too, because Maltina has about as much sugar as Coke. FizzFree, the app I made, tracks soft drinks and malt together, shows money kept in naira and has a Nigeria Swap Shelf.

How do I stop drinking Fanta every day?

Find the time you usually buy it, and have a cold swap ready for that exact time. Drop one bottle a week, starting with the one that matters least. Track the days and the money you keep, in a notebook or an app like FizzFree.

Is Maltina a soft drink?

Yes. Maltina is non alcoholic, but it is a sweet soft drink. Nigerian Breweries lists Maltina Classic at 10.5 g of sugar per 100 ml, about 35 g in a 33cl bottle by my arithmetic. That's over the NHS adult limit of 30 g of added sugars a day.

Does FizzFree work in Hausa, Yoruba or Igbo?

Yes. The FizzFree Android app runs in 28 languages, and Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo are among them. It also shows money kept in naira and has local swaps for Nigeria, like zobo without sugar.

How I wrote this

The sugar figures come from Nigerian Breweries and Coca-Cola Nigeria pages read on 24 October 2026, plus the NHS sugar page and Juliano and Griffiths' 2004 caffeine review. The 33cl and 50cl figures are my arithmetic. I left out shop amounts in naira, because they change by shop and by week. The swaps come from FizzFree's Nigeria Swap Shelf, which I built. Coca-Cola, Fanta, Maltina, Amstel Malta and Malta Guinness belong to their owners, and I have no link with them.

This is general information, not medical or veterinary advice. If you have diabetes or another condition, ask your doctor about sugary drinks.

By John Osakwe, founder of Etest Tech Hub. I have built apps and websites since 2015, including Etest CBT, FizzFree and Pawlarm.