Opinion on diet sodas and weight loss

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  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
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    Heather4448 wrote: »
    I drink gallons of the stuff and I've lost over a hundred pounds :)

    80 here!
  • Carlos_421
    Carlos_421 Posts: 5,132 Member
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    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Carlos_421 wrote: »
    OP, only an excess of calories can cause weight gain. Since diet soda has no calories, it has no impact on your weight.

    Diet soda could indirectly impact the OP's weight if she is one of the people that has been shown in studies to have increased hunger due to drinking soda and therefore has difficulty maintaining a calorie deficit.

    Even increased hunger alone doesn't negatively impact weight so long as one controls their intake of calories.
    My point is, in a calorie deficit, a zero calorie drink does not hold the power to thwart the laws of thermodynamics. The weight will be lost either way.
  • GlassAngyl
    GlassAngyl Posts: 478 Member
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    Diet soda doesn't cause weight gain, but for some it causes sugar cravings and causes over indulging in junk type foods. If you don't have that problem then it won't hinder your weight loss. The only reason to give up diet soda is purely for other health benefits.. water is better for you. I drink a lot of water, but sometimes I just want flavor, so I'll indulge in a Diet Coke. I have noticed with myself that if I drink it, I want other sweets as well. So for me, I have to be careful and only indulge right before bed. I am lucky enough to be one of those who CANT eat past a certain time. It'll make me sick.
  • Carlos_421
    Carlos_421 Posts: 5,132 Member
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    GlassAngyl wrote: »
    Diet soda doesn't cause weight gain, but for some it causes sugar cravings and causes over indulging in junk type foods. If you don't have that problem then it won't hinder your weight loss. The only reason to give up diet soda is purely for other health benefits.. water is better for you. I drink a lot of water, but sometimes I just want flavor, so I'll indulge in a Diet Coke. I have noticed with myself that if I drink it, I want other sweets as well. So for me, I have to be careful and only indulge right before bed. I am lucky enough to be one of those who CANT eat past a certain time. It'll make me sick.

    Whether or not something causes cravings for other foods is totally individual (for me, a Coke Zero actually satisfies cravings for sweets) but aside from that, I would take issue with the bold.
    Diet soda is 99% water and contain no harmful ingredients. Unless you have phenylketonuria (PKU, a disease you don't have (or you would know for sure) where you can't metabolize the amino acid phenylalanine), there's nothing in diet soda that makes it less beneficial than straight water.
  • vingogly
    vingogly Posts: 1,785 Member
    edited September 2017
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    I have maybe 2-3 diet sodas a week. As I've gotten older, I've lost my taste for carbonated beverages except as an occasional thing (I do like a San Pellegrino once in a while). I like flavored waters these days. Regarding health effects, I'm more concerned about the acids in sodas eroding my tooth enamel than the effect of the non-sugar sweeteners on my weight. Like GlassAngyl says, if you notice drinking it has effects on your cravings, don't do it. But I suspect that's related more to one's association of the soda with eating or time of day or whatever than with any "magical" properties of the sweeteners -- like the difficulty smokers can have when they've built up an association between finishing a meal and having a cigarette. See also earlnabby's post above.
  • JustRobby1
    JustRobby1 Posts: 674 Member
    edited September 2017
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    Since they contain no calories, I drink as many of them as I feel like, and I am almost 90 pounds down and dangerously close to goal. Since I don't drink coffee, I drink lots of soda in the AM before work. Diet Mt. Dew is my drug of choice, though I like zero calorie Monster energy drinks also. I have a rule that I do not like to drink my calories. The caffeine also has the added benefit of making me less hungry.
  • JustRobby1
    JustRobby1 Posts: 674 Member
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    TimothyFish wrote: »
    stevencloser wrote: »
    TimothyFish wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    TimothyFish wrote: »
    I doubt that much sodium is good for you, but they won't hurt your weight loss.

    If OP is drinking 3 diet sodas per day that's 120 mg of sodium. Why would that be a concern?

    The concern is that most people already consume more sodium than is recommended. Why add 120mg in the form of something that serves no purpose?

    IF YOU DRANK WATER INSTEAD IT WOULD BE THE SAME AMOUNT.

    Goddammit.

    Cursing won't change the facts. Most drinking water has less than 20mg of sodium per liter. Diet Coke has 120mg of sodium per liter.

    Assuming you care about sodium.
  • Trendline15
    Trendline15 Posts: 48 Member
    edited September 2017
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    My wife, among others, has been trying to get me to quit drinking diet soda for years. About a month ago, I tried to wean myself off of the beast. I bought some Polar seltzer water, and tried drinking that instead. Sometimes, I mix it half & half with apple or cranberry juice.

    I don't think that it is a good thing to be accustomed to the constant "sweetness" taste when drinking a lot of diet soda. This may set up cravings for sweets, and may have an effect on other parts of my diet when I am trying to lose weight.

    That said, I recently reverted back to drinking more diet soda. I alternate between Diet Pepsi and root beer. Barq's is my favorite. I still have some seltzer and apple juice in the house for a healthier change of pace.

    Strawberries are a low calorie healthy choice to satisfy sweet cravings.
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
    edited September 2017
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    This bod achieved while consuming copious amounts of diet soda (1-3 a day).
    <--

    It does not hinder weight loss in the slightest.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,238 Member
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    BrianAWeber wrote: »
    I gave up all soda's altogether. Instead I drink either water or flavored carbonated water. I can't stand the taste of artificial sweeteners or how it tends to coat my mouth and teeth.

    I feel the same way about sugared soda. It coats my mouth and has a taste I don't like.
  • vivelajackie
    vivelajackie Posts: 321 Member
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    I mean, my wallet and tooth enamel thank me for drastically cutting back on diet pop, but as for interference with weight loss? Nah. I can drink pop and still lose weight just fine. Same with the zero cal sweeteners I put in my coffee in the morning.

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