the great diet soda debate

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veracruz
veracruz Posts: 104 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
After years of drinking diet coke, I decided to stop cold turkey after I read some recent reviews about how drinking diet soda can actually make you heavier. Well, I suffered through 3 days of caffeine-withdrawal headaches but now feel great and have actually lost 4 lbs since last week!! Have others experienced the same thing?

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  • kwardklinck
    kwardklinck Posts: 1,601
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    Good for you! I just can't give up my soda or coffee. I have cut way back on them, but I think it would be traumatic to give them up altogether. I think diet soda has sodium and no nutritional value whatsoever so I can see how giving it up would help you lose.
  • MrsSki
    MrsSki Posts: 196
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    I gave up diet soda about three weeks before my wedding in December, and lost a few pounds too. I switched to tea, so I weaned myself off the caffiene part. Good for you, for giving it up!
  • jnsangel33
    jnsangel33 Posts: 49
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    8 years ago, I went on this "diet" I guess you could say, to win a bet. I quit drinking dark sodas (I loved my pepsi!). I lost a ton of weight it seemed just by cutting out dark soda!! Then 2 years ago, when I had to start watching weight, again....(starting to see a pattern here..lmbo) I quit drinking alcohol and dropped more weight. This time....THE LAST TIME.....I have nothing to cut out like that ..... haha.. so now I actually have to work for the weight loss this time.... Good luck to you!
  • MusicalMe
    MusicalMe Posts: 64 Member
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    The reason they say diet soda can make you gain weight is that it fuels your cravings for something sweet. Also, there is a lot of sodium in diet beverages, which causes you to retain water. There are no calories in (most) diet soda so you are not gaining weight from the soda itself. Water is definitely the smarter, healthier option but diet soda doesn't CAUSE you to gain weight. I would stay away from soda as much as you can because it will definitely help you feel better, if nothing else.
  • tinaj01
    tinaj01 Posts: 5 Member
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    I gave up diet Soda altogether and feel so much better. I drink allot of water and tea with a spash of sugar free lemonade and that is my soda now. Don't feel so bloated anymore.
  • ginacollaud
    ginacollaud Posts: 1
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    Researchers have debated on the use of saccarine (spelling?) and the other artificial sweetners used in diet drinks for years. I became a type 1 diabetic in 1996 and have had to drink diet since them, so I've done some homework on the subject. Some research has suggested that artificial sweetners cause cancer in lab rats, increase your risk of cardivascular disease, and damage your kidneys. That being said, drinking too much regular soda can cause health issues as well, and the thing about health research is, if you wait 5 years, the "proof" will change. =)
    In my research I read that the sweetners can make you more prone to store fat, but in my 14 years as a diet soda drinker, I've never been able to give up diet coke to find out if its true!
  • DeeDeeLHF
    DeeDeeLHF Posts: 2,301 Member
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    I hate how my body feels when I am drinking diet soda. And although you may not feel this way now, if you stick to it, you will reach a day when you go someplace and think..."hey, I am going to treat myself and order a diet coke" and then after the waitress brings it and you take your first sip, you ask for unsweetened iced tea instead because the diet coke tastes disgusting to you!

    I never thought I would see the day but I just cannot even stand it now. I would rather be thirsty than drink it!

    D
  • angelascott919
    angelascott919 Posts: 178
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    I stopped all soda about a month and a half ago. I only drank diet and it was usually diet mountain dew. From what I have heard over the years it is the chemicals it is made of and the caffeine. The caffeine causes you to hold on to fat and will keep you from losing weight. And of course the chemicals are just not natural for the human body. I have also noticed since I went to drinking mostly water and juice that I don't have any headaches. I used to take some kind of pain killers daily for headaches. Since stopping the soda I have only taken pain killers once for a headache.
  • OnionCookie
    OnionCookie Posts: 272 Member
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    I quit all soda's completely when I decided to change my lifestyle. I had really bad zits and I always felt ... yucky? Now my zits are gone and I don't feel yucky. I stand by my statement that all soda is evil because of that and I'll never drink it again. Definitely helped in losing weight as well even though I did only drink diet.
  • anu_6986
    anu_6986 Posts: 702 Member
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    Thats nice! I used to drink it frequently earlier, not everyday though. Now since I have stopped having it mostly, I find it too sweet. Also the other evening, I was feeling a bit weird and wanted to have it, I had 500ml of coke. After that could not sleep in the night! :noway: LOL! That had never happened to me earlier :laugh:

    So I am not even interested in having it now.
  • rose1617
    rose1617 Posts: 469 Member
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    I have stopped drinking sodas and now only drink diet coke/pepsi when we are out at a restaurant.
    That's the only time I drink it.
    I really didn't lose any weight because of it, but I have been able to drink a lot of water and I do feel better overall.

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