What is so bad about diet soda?

toshie333

I keep
Reading threads about how awful it is.... I'm yet to understand why...
I get it can't be good for you as it's full
Of additives but am I missing something?

I drink diet coke etc to fill me up, instead of something higher in calories.
I still drink water. I don't find it makes me crave sweet things in particular...
I just think I've missed something.

Interested to hear your responses.
Thanks

jwdieter

Leaves a bad aftertaste.

Greenrun99

Nothing is bad with diet soda.. Just drink your recommended amount of water a day. Its people that drink a 12 pack of soda a day and no water that need to think about switching their habits.

55in13

Like so many things, it affects some people in negative ways but not everyone. IMO, many people drink it because they are sidestepping their problem with sweets instead of fixing it. I drink diet sodas, but not every day. Statistics say that people who drink diet sodas are not as likely to lose weight and keep it off as those who don't. But which is the cause and which is the effect?

cwolfman13

It's horrible...it tastes like cat piss...or what I would assume cat piss tastes like.

rabblerabble

Some sodas have a lot of sodium. I for one haven't have any soda at all in about 7 months.

ladynocturne

There have been a few studies that show that consuming a lot of artificial sweeteners, especially aspartame can cause a lot of health issues. Some people are very sensitive to these chemicals. You can do a web search yourself and I'm sure find all sorts of articles published as well as symptoms that can occur. I think in moderation, it's probably fine, worrying and stressing over these things probably causes more cancer than the product itself.

dirty_dirty_eater

Aspartame is the devil's work! GMOs! Monsanto! Cow's Milk!




Ahem...sorry, got carried away.

GormanGhaste

I only drink diet soda occasionally, rather than every day. I prefer to not be addicted to caffeine. But as long as it doesn't affect your sleep, it's a fairly harmless addiction.

Aviendha_RJ

Because Aspartame can lead to cancer.

BlueBombers

It's the Aspartame. Horrible for you.

tomg33

Diet sodas are completely harmless, except for people with legitimate medical disorders like phenylketonurics whom are a very small minority and you'd already know if you were one of these people.

dirty_dirty_eater

Because Aspartame can lead to cancer.

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/artificial-sweeteners

Is there an association between artificial sweeteners and cancer?


Questions about artificial sweeteners and cancer arose when early studies showed that cyclamate in combination with saccharin caused bladder cancer in laboratory animals. However, results from subsequent carcinogenicity studies (studies that examine whether a substance can cause cancer) of these sweeteners have not provided clear evidence of an association with cancer in humans. Similarly, studies of other FDA-approved sweeteners have not demonstrated clear evidence of an association with cancer in humans.

nomeejerome

Nothing.
I personally do not drink soda very often, but I think when people start labeling things as "good" or "bad" is when the problem starts. Sure, if somebody is downing a crap ton of soda everyday, there could be healthier choices to replace that behavior. However, I do not believe the claims of all of these "bad" foods with all those added ingredients and such are the cause of major diseases, such as cancer.

Edited to clarify

shanniepk

It's really unnatural and has a lot of chemicals, but I love me some Diet Dr. Pepper!

rassha01

I don't think anyone is comparing it to tobacco as far as negative effects and there are no clear cut studies that explain the detrimental effects they may have. The studies show a correlation of people that drink diet soda have a tendency to be overweight. It could be they are making up for their bad diet by drinking diet soda or it could be the diet soda actually triggers hunger and therefore people will eat more.

The point is if you want to drink it go ahead, I have 1-2 a week and have no problems losing weight but that is a far cry to the 1-2/day that I was consuming. Moderation can be the key to anything!

FYI- 100% of people that eat broccoli die!!!

Losingthedamnweight

Nothing is bad about diet soda. Really. People come up with all sorts of excuses because on this "journey" (hate that term) they like to classify things as good and bad and they need that feeling of being pure from all badness to feel like they're living their lives right. That self righteousness of "nsv i haven't drink diet soda for a whole week! Gold star for meeeee!" Its...getting to the point of ridiculousness.

In comparison to daily goals and actual percentages of sodium that would do you harm, diet pop has very little. Really. You'd have to drink cases of diet pop a day for your sodium to be so out of wack you'd code or something. The "diet soda will kill you!" mantra is the same fear mongering anti-carb people have done for years. As if you have carbs you'll blow up like a blowfish over night.

There has been study after study done on this and after all these years, no clear consensus among the scientific community. They are looking extremely hard for that new thing to scare people and for whatever reason, can't find it. You might find something hear or there online that'll say "grrr diet coke is bad here's proof!" but it really needs to be a peer reviewed study with more of a scientific backing than these small little testing quiries. You don't think the news would be all over this "diet coke is going to kill you" crap if it was true?! If this had any credence to it at all, there would be massive recalls and diet coke taken from store shelves pending further investigation with wall to wall coverage of this new national crisis.

People have lost just as much weight while drinking diet soda everyday than those who haven't. That includes me. Losing weight itself is calories in calories out. Health wise, diet soda has no discernible effect. Juice is just as bad for you as regular pop. Are you gonna drink water and unsweetened tea for the rest of your life?

The only clear way diet pop is bad for some people is if it's a trigger to binge. Otherwise, go crazy

flitabout

Where shall I start... it can make your bladder over active making you feel like you have to pee like 20 times a day. The phoshoric acid eats up the lining of your stomach and I have heard that it stop you from absorbing calcium. It can cause cancer but you would have to drink stupid amounts of it every day for years like a whole case every single day. I doubt that is going to happen. It also changes the way that your taste buds perseve the sweet taste of all things. It is so super sweet that you end up losing the ability to really taste the sweet in foods.
The did a study a few years back where they took 100 people half of which drank and ate artificial sweeteners and gave them all cake. The people that use the sweeteners ate more of the cake than the control group. It's not that it makes you crave more sweets but that you have to eat more of the real stuff to get to that point of satiaty.
That said I will now go and drink my diet coke that is sitting in front of me that I love so much!

yaseyuku

The taste.

thisismeraw

Some sodas have a lot of sodium. I for one haven't have any soda at all in about 7 months.

Pop does not have a lot of sodium. A can has maybe 40mg if that. Chicken has more sodium than a can of pop.

OP, nothing wrong with pop, diet or not. If you don't have issues with sweeteners (some people get migraines) than you're fine. I don't find diet pop causes me to eat more, there has been no real proof that sweeteners cause health issues (unless you're a rat consuming insanely large amounts of sweeteners a day)... if you like it, drink it.

lyndausvi

The taste.

This^

lucystacy71

I may be odd, but I've never been able to drink diet soda. I've tried it a few times and each the time the first drop hits my stomach it burns and cramps. I don't know why, so I just don't drink it. Does anyone else have that problem?

ken_hogan

Some sodas have a lot of sodium. I for one haven't have any soda at all in about 7 months.

Compare the sodium level of diet soft drinks to milk. The comparison may surprise you...

Cp731

if you drink enough of it, the carbonation will eventually give you super powers

ksuh999

http://examine.com/faq/is-diet-soda-bad-for-you.html

Vorenus85

Some sodas have a lot of sodium. I for one haven't have any soda at all in about 7 months.

You consider >100mg of sodium a lot? I'd love to see what foods you consume.

Losingthedamnweight

http://examine.com/faq/is-diet-soda-bad-for-you.html

This put everything out there so clearly, i think it should be a go-to for people that have this question.

Here's a little from it:

"Simply put...
There are no studies that indicate any long-term health risks from drinking diet soda. Diet Soda (defined as calorie free carbonated beverages sweetened with aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame-potassium, or other non-caloric or minimally caloric sweeteners) is not harmful to health, well-being, or body composition.[1]

There is no evidence that diet soda inhibits fat loss, or that it even spikes insulin levels to levels that would be detrimental to health."

And it goes on talking about how the studies that try to directly link diet soda to cancer and such are flawed in their approaches.

dirty_dirty_eater

http://examine.com/faq/is-diet-soda-bad-for-you.html

This put everything out there so clearly, i think it should be a go-to for people that have this question.

Here's a little from it:

"Simply put...
There are no studies that indicate any long-term health risks from drinking diet soda. Diet Soda (defined as calorie free carbonated beverages sweetened with aspartame, sucralose, acesulfame-potassium, or other non-caloric or minimally caloric sweeteners) is not harmful to health, well-being, or body composition.[1]

There is no evidence that diet soda inhibits fat loss, or that it even spikes insulin levels to levels that would be detrimental to health."

And it goes on talking about how the studies that try to directly link diet soda to cancer and such are flawed in their approaches.

Too much reason and logic.

Reported

aliceclutz90

Yeah it's the sweeteners (aspartame etc) that some people have a problem with. Apparently they've been linked to developing cancer, MS and other things. But hasn't everything? I'm sure if you just have a can of it occasionally it won't harm you.

herblackwings39

Some people react badly to the artificial sweeteners or the caffeine. Some people have tried to "clean" up their diet so they don't eat or drink things that aren't found naturally. I love diet drinks and have no issues with caffeine or artificial sweeteners. It's a personal choice.

neanderthin

No sugar in it.