Is it worth it to quit diet soda? Have you?
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I used to drink it all the time too! 6 cans a day?? That is A LOT and what the artificial sweeteners do to your blood sugar is awful. They've done studies with mice on artificial sweeteners and cocaine and the areas of the brain that are affected by each is the same. Only the artificial sweeteners were shown to be more addictive!! The mice went into major withdrawals from not having the artificial sweeteners. There are a lot of recent articles about how bad diet soda is and what it does to your body. Going cold turkey is very hard, but at least try and cut it back to 1 a day and then to a few times a week. You'll be amazed at how much better you'll feel and sleep after a few weeks.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/artificial-sweeteners-may-change-our-gut-bacteria-in-dangerous-ways/-1 -
When I first started eating better, I switched to the diet versions of everything that I drank. Now I've pretty much dropped them completely aside from the occasional one when I go out to eat or when I'm staying with family. I don't buy into a lot of the scaremongering DIET SODA DOES ALL THE BAD THINGS crap - any studies showing any negative effects specific to diet soda seem to be few and far between - so I don't try and pretend I did it for my health.
I stopped drinking them purely because I am too cheap to pay for them. I have tap water and I have diluting juice that I can put into water if I'm getting bored of plain water and so I now spend no more than £2 (if that) on drinks of any kind. So if you're happy with the expense and you enjoy it, I don't see a problem with it.0 -
stevencloser wrote: »
If you count your calories and don't succumb to every craving that study doesn't apply to you though.ImitatetheSun wrote: »I thought about it exactly the way you did, OP. I loved the stuff and rationally, I couldn't think of a reason to stop, except that I thought it might be such an ingrained habit that maybe I'm not in control anymore. So In January I gave up My two 20-ounce bottles of Diet Coke, plus Splenda out of the same fear that I was dependent on it. I substituted them for Hi Caff teas from Republic of Tea and Starbucks Iced Coffee, which I drank straight or with milk. Here was the surprise: my food cravings went away. I've lost 20 pounds since giving them up - not because they alone created a calorie deficit, obviously, but because my appetite is small enough that i can actually successfully be on a diet. So now I'm on the biggest weight loss effort of my life, and that was the first step for me. Annoyingly, because the studies sounded so stupid and condescending to me when they came out, this corresponds to a September study that got in the news finding a correlation between diet soda and obesity. Here's another study that's been cited 102 times, suggesting it's a well-studied phenomenon at this point: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2892765/
I think the point is that it just makes it harder to stick to your calorie goals by increasing the level of cravings you have to fight off. I find it's easier to stick to my calorie goals when I'm not regularly drinking diet soda, even though I was a huge skeptic of the studies that showed weight gain from diet soda because I thought it made me feel more full (turned out I was wrong!). Now, I still occasionally drink a diet soda or two, but I drink more water (including unsweetened, flavored bubbly waters that fulfill the same cravings as diet soda).
At any rate, there is enough reputable research (like the literature review ImitatetheSun posted here) that indicates that there might be something going on with diet soda and weight gain. I suspect that there is also a fair amount of individual differences, so I would recommend the OP try easing all the way off and seeing how he feels (how it affects him personally), since he's considering it.0 -
there have been so many studies on the adverse effects of diet soda.
i have found that mineral water with lime or lemon or even the la croix gives me a 'soda fix' and is much better for me. My kids even love it. Weird I know but they do.0 -
I used to drink a lot of Coke Zero, until one day I just found it disgusting and could not have another sip of it. I stick to water now. It wasn't because I decided it was evil or anything. I am certainly more hydrated. When I needed a soda I had to find one, now that I drink (tap) water, it is everywhere and I drink more through the day. I have less headaches too - related to the hydration probably.0
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I used to get terrible headaches frequently. I finally realized it was when I drank more diet soda than usual. This was caffeine free diet soda so it wasn't the caffeine. For some reason diet pepsi bothered me much more than diet coke. I stopped drinking them about 5 years ago and those headaches are gone. Of course I don't think many people have that issue, I'm guessing I am overly sensitive to artificial sweeteners or something.0
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there have been so many studies on the adverse effects of diet soda.
i have found that mineral water with lime or lemon or even the la croix gives me a 'soda fix' and is much better for me. My kids even love it. Weird I know but they do.
Have there now?
I used to hate it, but after years of not having any I tried some and it tasted good. What do you say to that?powerplaymsu wrote: »Best thing I ever did was quit drinking pop/soda. Diet Coke was the culprit. Ever notice how disgusting it tastes after a month or two off? You can taste the chemicals. It should signal an issue when your head hurts because you quit! Withdrawal from caffeine. I have had one time I had some black coffee(not a thing in it) just to move my morning along, once. Getting up at 5 at the gym usually wakes me up. Lifting, then cardio and then a shower. Usually that is all the lift I need!
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I drink more diet Coke now that it's free at work, but I'm trying to cut back to 1-2 cans a day. I make up the difference in plain seltzer water (also free!).
I also brush my teeth during the day at work. I don't like the film from coffee or soda to sit on my teeth. But I'm pretty obsessive about my teeth, lol.
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stevencloser wrote: »lacusfitness wrote: »My opinion. Ditch the soda. I used to drink pepsi a lot but eventually I cut down & now I don't touch it. Saved me a lot of calories & sugar. Also diet drinks aren't the best thing to drink. In some ways they can be worse than the non diet soda plus it doesn't really do anything for you. Soda just gets you hyper & makes you crave more of it. It can also help with weight loss to get rid of it as well as it will save you lots of money.
Care to elaborate?
Just putting out my opinion based on what it has done for me. Cutting pop out of my life made it better and it made my doctor happy too. Also for the health wise I was basing it on the artificial sweeteners like aspartame, saccharin, and sucralose that are in diet soda that are bad for you.0 -
lacusfitness wrote: »stevencloser wrote: »lacusfitness wrote: »My opinion. Ditch the soda. I used to drink pepsi a lot but eventually I cut down & now I don't touch it. Saved me a lot of calories & sugar. Also diet drinks aren't the best thing to drink. In some ways they can be worse than the non diet soda plus it doesn't really do anything for you. Soda just gets you hyper & makes you crave more of it. It can also help with weight loss to get rid of it as well as it will save you lots of money.
Care to elaborate?
Just putting out my opinion based on what it has done for me. Cutting pop out of my life made it better and it made my doctor happy too. Also for the health wise I was basing it on the artificial sweeteners like aspartame, saccharin, and sucralose that are in diet soda that are bad for you.
Anecdotal "it went like this for me" stories are not evidence. The way you presented your original statement implied you were stating it as a fact, not as an anecdote. Stating anecdotes as fact is how a lot of dumb myths get started.
Back in the world of actual evidence, those sweeteners are generally regarded as safe (that is why they're in your food to begin with), but of course if you consume a whole load of them, you're gonna have problems. Just like how if I go and eat 45 bananas in one sitting every day for all three meals I'll probably end up with some problems. Most things are bad for you if you consume too much of them, even the things that are objectively good for you.
In the case of things like sweeteners, it is more productive for people to gauge how they feel about it and how it affects them personally rather than take other people's anecdotes as fact. Soda causes cravings for some people, it lessens cravings for others, causes bloating in some, no bloating for others, etc. etc. we could babble on all day about how people's mileage varies with certain types of foods (and medicines and exercises and working patterns and blah blah blah).0 -
Diet pop has a bunch of stuff in it that's not good for you. That's not to say it's the worst thing you can put into your body, but it's also not the best, if you're looking to get healthy. It's clearly a habit for you, so I wouldn't recommend going cold turkey. In fact, I don't think you really need to quit at all. But I would try to gradually cut down. Maybe allow yourself no more than 5 cans. Then after a few weeks, decrease it to 4. Then 3. Until you're down to one can or bottle per day. Again, I don't think you need to cut it out completely. My personal philosophy is never to cut anything completely out of your diet. Just reduce it to a reasonable amount. Maybe one 20-oz bottle or 12-oz can with dinner would be fine.
As for drinking other things, there are a lot of alternatives. Adding natural, fruit flavorings to your water, adding flavor shots to water, drinking tea, these are all changes you can implement to cut down the amount of diet pop you drink.0 -
lacusfitness wrote: »My opinion. Ditch the soda. I used to drink pepsi a lot but eventually I cut down & now I don't touch it. Saved me a lot of calories & sugar. Also diet drinks aren't the best thing to drink. In some ways they can be worse than the non diet soda plus it doesn't really do anything for you. Soda just gets you hyper & makes you crave more of it. It can also help with weight loss to get rid of it as well as it will save you lots of money.
The only thing you're correct on is the saving money part. Otherwise, No.0 -
MinatoandClover wrote: »Diet pop has a bunch of stuff in it that's not good for you.
Such as...?0 -
After giving up all artificial sweeteners (Diet Soda / Crystal Light etc.) two years ago, my body cannot tolerate any of those anymore. They make me very ill. I drink herbal tea in the AM, water & Kombucha.0
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I stopped drinking diet pop for 3 months and didn't notice a difference. I don't have any at home though, I only have it at family functions and sometimes when I get fast food.0
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I would think if you are not dealing with depression, diabetes, headaches or worried about your teeth I don't think you have to give it up completely. If its something you enjoy or look forward to then continue. If the quantity is bothering you then cut back a little bit. There have been no scientific studies that have linked the artificial sweeteners in Coke Zero to cancer or anything like that.0
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I have quit - just to prove to my kid I could. It has had no affect on my weight loss or health and I have no other good reason for doing it except to say I did. Its been over a year and a half now since I quit.0
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lacusfitness wrote: »stevencloser wrote: »lacusfitness wrote: »My opinion. Ditch the soda. I used to drink pepsi a lot but eventually I cut down & now I don't touch it. Saved me a lot of calories & sugar. Also diet drinks aren't the best thing to drink. In some ways they can be worse than the non diet soda plus it doesn't really do anything for you. Soda just gets you hyper & makes you crave more of it. It can also help with weight loss to get rid of it as well as it will save you lots of money.
Care to elaborate?
Just putting out my opinion based on what it has done for me. Cutting pop out of my life made it better and it made my doctor happy too. Also for the health wise I was basing it on the artificial sweeteners like aspartame, saccharin, and sucralose that are in diet soda that are bad for you.
How do you think they are bad for you?0
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