Two or more diet sodas a day increase risk of heart attach or stroke

zeejane03

squirley13 wrote: »

The debate is only of denying logic. Most everyone knows and I know from personal experience that strokes and heart attacks are sequential in the outcome of being dehydrated and that is what causes the blood clotting. Yes, there are other factors but anyone who has a bloodclot had days without drinking enough water. The research of diet sodas being dehydrating as it takes more water to flush the chemicals out of the body has been done since the late 1980’s!!! The fact that people ignore logic is why this study had to prove that drinking diet toxic sodas will cause strokes and heart attacks. Now what could also be made public is that diet sodas cause brain damage and seizures. I had a boss that had her first seizure at work and then found out it was from drinking diet pop consistently! It makes perfect since since the brain is mostly water. https://www.thedailymeal.com/healthy-eating/scary-facts-diet-soda-gallery/slide-15

I've had a blood clot. It was before I started using artificial sweeteners or drank diet soda. My doctor believes it was most likely due to the birth control pill I was on, where clots are listed as a potential side effect. Nothing to do with dehydration or diet soda (which again, I wasn't drinking).

Phirrgus

squirley13 wrote: »

The debate is only of denying logic. Most everyone knows and I know from personal experience that strokes and heart attacks are sequential in the outcome of being dehydrated and that is what causes the blood clotting. Yes, there are other factors but anyone who has a bloodclot had days without drinking enough water. The research of diet sodas being dehydrating as it takes more water to flush the chemicals out of the body has been done since the late 1980’s!!! The fact that people ignore logic is why this study had to prove that drinking diet toxic sodas will cause strokes and heart attacks. Now what could also be made public is that diet sodas cause brain damage and seizures. I had a boss that had her first seizure at work and then found out it was from drinking diet pop consistently! It makes perfect since since the brain is mostly water. https://www.thedailymeal.com/healthy-eating/scary-facts-diet-soda-gallery/slide-15

But aren't diet sodas comprised of mostly water? I understand that other ingredients may have a diuretic effect, but that's usually minimal.

estherdragonbat

Yes, they are.

rheddmobile

squirley13 wrote: »

The debate is only of denying logic. Most everyone knows and I know from personal experience that strokes and heart attacks are sequential in the outcome of being dehydrated and that is what causes the blood clotting. Yes, there are other factors but anyone who has a bloodclot had days without drinking enough water. The research of diet sodas being dehydrating as it takes more water to flush the chemicals out of the body has been done since the late 1980’s!!! The fact that people ignore logic is why this study had to prove that drinking diet toxic sodas will cause strokes and heart attacks. Now what could also be made public is that diet sodas cause brain damage and seizures. I had a boss that had her first seizure at work and then found out it was from drinking diet pop consistently! It makes perfect since since the brain is mostly water. https://www.thedailymeal.com/healthy-eating/scary-facts-diet-soda-gallery/slide-15

There are some obvious errors in this post but it does raise a point which I think is worth considering.

Blot clots in particular (not all blood clots, but some) can be associated with being dehydrated - one of several reasons they are so common in people taking long airplane flights, and one of the reasons they advise travelers to stay hydrated to help prevent blot clots.

Remember that the study on diet drinks found a statistical association - it doesn't say that all people who drink diet soft drinks will be unhealthy, just that over a large group of people, slightly more will have certain problems. Most won't. So what could cause the statistical difference between the two groups. One obvious cause which has already been pointed out is that people drinking diet drinks are more likely to need to lose weight. But I wonder if another is that people who drink a lot of diet drinks dislike drinking plain water. I know my mother constantly drinks diet drinks and hates plain water, and so do a lot of women of her generation. Could disliking water lead to both drinking more diet drinks, and also more often being poorly hydrated? Not that diet drinks cause dehydration, but that the same person is independently more likely to be the type of person who does both things, drink diet drinks and not drink enough water.

And please don't come back and say, "But I drink diet drinks and love to guzzle water!" Unless you want to demonstrate that you don't understand how statistics work. One person does not invalidate a trend across a large group of people.

daniwilford

My first reaction to this news report was disbelief. I found the study lacking in the kind of data used. I also paid attention to the article because I am a stroke survivor and I drink on average 2 diet sodas a day. When I had my strokes I was morbidly obese, had a sedentary lifestyle, untreated sleep apnea, and sporadically treated high cholesterol, but I was drinking full sugar soda. Until a more definitive controlled study is completed, I am going to continue drinking my two diet sodas a day, take my cholesterol medication, use my cpap machine and eat at a deficiate until I can maintain at a healthy weight.

cwolfman13

Is this one of those things like the whole processed meat and cancer thing where the %s sound all scary, but when you do the math your risk of cancer goes from 5% to 6%?

fishgutzy

Seems like everything causes something bad.
Chances are there are other behaviors nnot accounted for when they do these studies.

InsertFunnyUsernameHere

ultra_violets

I'm still going to drink diet soda. It's my one bad habit. I don't drink alcohol or even coffee, and I don't smoke cigarettes, but I've got to have my Diet Mountain Dew. I'd like to cut way down or eventually even stop, but one battle at a time.

MalkinMagic71

ultra_violets wrote: »

I'm still going to drink diet soda. It's my one bad habit. I don't drink alcohol or even coffee, and I don't smoke cigarettes, but I've got to have my Diet Mountain Dew. I'd like to cut way down or eventually even stop, but one battle at a time.

It's not a bad habit.

zeejane03

ultra_violets wrote: »

I'm still going to drink diet soda. It's my one bad habit. I don't drink alcohol or even coffee, and I don't smoke cigarettes, but I've got to have my Diet Mountain Dew. I'd like to cut way down or eventually even stop, but one battle at a time.

I use artificial sweeteners and don't consider it a bad habit at all. It's one of the tools that I use as part of my weight management plan and it plays a role in the continued success that I have with my health and weight goals.

Ed_Zilla

OP - I read that study and the one thing that they did NOT reveal was what the fitness level, weight, BP, etc. of the participants that developed the heart attacks or strokes. If most of their participants were obese already, that may have been the major contributor.

You may recall a study once upon a time that said saccharine caused cancer in lab rats...then they revealed it was equivalent to like 2000 diet soda's per day.

There was another study that said diet soda caused weight gain...Then it was revealed the participants thought they could have another doughnut or bagel since they drank a diet soda. The diet soda did not cause weight gain CI>CO did.

Bottom line is the studies seem to be pushing an agenda. I read all of them skeptically.

I also think if the study you mentioned was true, there would be warning labels on everything already.

33gail33

My husband mentioned this study to me on the weekend (because I have switched to diet coke) and my first thought was that most people who drink diet soda are probably overweight to begin with. So of course they would have more heart attacks and strokes. Now that I am fat I have switched to diet from regular soda - if I have a heart attack I doubt that will be the cause.

NorthCascades

ultra_violets wrote: »

I'm still going to drink diet soda. It's my one bad habit. I don't drink alcohol or even coffee, and I don't smoke cigarettes, but I've got to have my Diet Mountain Dew. I'd like to cut way down or eventually even stop, but one battle at a time.

If I had to choose one, it would be coffee. I don't even have to think twice.

lleeann2001

whatalazyidiot wrote: »

I think anything consumed in excess could lead to negative health consequences, but I'm not a doctor or a scientist. I'm still going to drink Diet Soda because it keeps me from eating my weight in donuts and fries.

lol...DITTO

lemurcat2

NorthCascades wrote: »

ultra_violets wrote: »

I'm still going to drink diet soda. It's my one bad habit. I don't drink alcohol or even coffee, and I don't smoke cigarettes, but I've got to have my Diet Mountain Dew. I'd like to cut way down or eventually even stop, but one battle at a time.

If I had to choose one, it would be coffee. I don't even have to think twice.

Agreed, coffee is the best.

CSARdiver

Reminds me of a study I submitted showing that screening for cancer dramatically increases detection of cancer.

Invoking Mark Twain (via Benjamin Disraeli) I would say the falls under the "statistics" category.

Theoldguy1

33gail33 wrote: »

My husband mentioned this study to me on the weekend (because I have switched to diet coke) and my first thought was that most people who drink diet soda are probably overweight to begin with. So of course they would have more heart attacks and strokes. Now that I am fat I have switched to diet from regular soda - if I have a heart attack I doubt that will be the cause.

I've been normal weigh my whole life and have drank diet soda almost exclusively for the last 40 years (have cut back on it quite a bit in the last 10 years or so). Easy way to avoid empty calories.

I have found, based on my experience being around friends, co-workers, etc the ones that are normal weight and drink soda on a regular basis are diet soda drinkers.