What's wrong with diet coke?

lordrahvin

I just started caring about my fitness. I'm not exactly dieting so much as logging my nutrition and trying to make more reasonable nutrition choices. I'm using myfitnesspal to cut down my calories and log my daily excersise.

I drink about 4-6 bottles of water per day, especially with the southern california summer heat, but I'm also used to drinking a liter or more of cola per day. I can't be doing that anymore. Waaaay too many calories.

Are the various diet cola drinks (diet coke, diet pepsi, coke zero, etc. etc.) a reasonable substitute to help wean me off my Coca Cola habit? What about the various 0-calorie green teas and such, like Lipton and Diet Snapple?

I've heard of people who try to give up diet cola and tea drinks and I don't really understand the reasoning there. They're 0 calories... couldn't I drink a liter or more of that per day if I can get used to the taste?

dumb_blondes_rock

there is a documentary called sweet misery.....i would def watch that to see for yourself why people are so worried about artificial sweetners.

smuehlbauer

Blah - I love me some aspertame!
I am a diet Pepsi girl - I don't drink a liter a day - but I'll still have a can or two.
My thinking is - if I am drinking my 64+ ounces of water a day - I'm gonna have a pop if I want one.
Aspertam is gonna kill you. Grilling your food is going to kill you. Drinking out of plastic water bottles it going to kill you.
LOL
Have some diet Coke. You gotta have one vice.
Steph
:flowerforyou:

skinney1357

I think it is better and healthier to just drink water or the green teas. I have tried the Diet Lipton Green Tea before and it wasn't bad. I like to add the Crystal Light to my water if I get sick of plain old water. I think many people aren't into the diet drinks because of all the artificial stuff in it. I used to be a big diet coke fan and after not drinking it for about a month, I never craved it anyway anymore...

cullensbrunette

Blah - I love me some aspertame!
I am a diet Pepsi girl - I don't drink a liter a day - but I'll still have a can or two.
My thinking is - if I am drinking my 64+ ounces of water a day - I'm gonna have a pop if I want one.
Aspertam is gonna kill you. Grilling your food is going to kill you. Drinking out of plastic water bottles it going to kill you.
LOL
Have some diet Coke. You gotta have one vice.
Steph
:flowerforyou:

I agree!!

dragonfarie

I think its more about how many unnatural chemicals you are putting in your body.

I read an article once that said that zero calorie drinks make you eat more calories during the day because your body is expecting a certain amount of calories from the drink. http://www.thestar.com/sciencetech/article/252409

Plus diet sodas (and diet food in general) tend to have more sodium than non diet ones.

Scncartist

I don't care what anyone says. I will never give up my diet coke!

Now, keep in mind I NEVER drank water, opting instead for some DC. Since starting MFP I make sure I drink my 8+ cups a day of water and pretty much only drink one or two cans of soda a week.

For those who say aspartame will kill you: I say breathing air will kill me, so hey I might as well enjoy a little something. :-)

lilmissy2

Usually people will be anti-diet-coke for one of 3 reasons:

a) They are against 'chemicals' in food which is kind of oxymoronic since foods are made up of chemicals
b) They believe sweeteners are harmful - there was a lot of hype back in the day that sweeteners caused brain tumours and some people still believe that even though it has been researched to death and basically dis-proven. There is however some new research that suggests people who drink diet softdrinks have more sugar cravings than those who don't (although to be fair, I don't think most of the studies compared it to people who drink regular softdrinks but rather to people who don't drink softdrinks).
c) They are very acidic and therefore terrible for your teeth

Personally, I'm on the fence. I think it's an ok substitute but I wouldn't really recommend that you have a litre per day as you give as your example. I think coke should be a 'sometimes' food and I also think diet coke should be. For the people that avoid diet coke - I am not saying that is a bad thing at all, unless of course you are using it as an excuse to drink regular coke and therefore not lose weight.

antiadipose

Blah - I love me some aspertame!
I am a diet Pepsi girl - I don't drink a liter a day - but I'll still have a can or two.
My thinking is - if I am drinking my 64+ ounces of water a day - I'm gonna have a pop if I want one.
Aspertam is gonna kill you. Grilling your food is going to kill you. Drinking out of plastic water bottles it going to kill you.
LOL
Have some diet Coke. You gotta have one vice.
Steph
:flowerforyou:

im sipping some right NOW.

i dont have it everyday.... and i DEF will not have the regular one with 40gms of sugar. im not where as much of an addict as i used to be.. i used to use like 20 splendas a day! now im down to ZERO splenda and maybe a diet pepsi glass?!?!? i think ill be ok!

schnarfo

i am another diet pepsi/coke fan and i dont drink it everyday but on occasions I will for example if I go to the pub or if I buy a drink in a shop. I dont see anything wrong with it Bit of everything in moderation

Rebecca__Lynn

There's tons of reasons Diet Sodas and artificial sweetners are not good for you and inhibit weight loss.... Take a look at people that exercise and exercise and exercise ....that you "always" see in the gym!! Your diet is SO critical in weight loss, should I say "more than exercise"....there's alot to this statement, but that's the short. Also, diet sodas....I'm pretty sure leach the calcium out of your bones....big cause of osteoperosis...but so does smoking and I'm sure other factors. There's plenty of research and medical facts out there --- about LOTS of products we eat and drink out there that cause health problems. Basically you want a healthy strong body, healthy cells etc....best chance of fighting off illnesses, cancers etc...... Keep what goes into your body clean and pure.

4myheartnsoul

I alternate- first drink of the day is 40oz of water, then a can of diet dr pepper (with lunch) then 40 oz of water, then a can of diet dr pepper (with afternoon snack) then my last 20 oz of water.

If we stopped to worry about everything in our food...yes we should go organic. Then the fumes from the car we follow to the farmers market to buy the organic food and the smoker in line behind you while you shop will kill you...in my opinion...something is going to get you no matter how "good" you try to be.

dumb_blondes_rock

There's tons of reasons Diet Sodas and artificial sweetners are not good for you and inhibit weight loss.... Take a look at people that exercise and exercise and exercise ....that you "always" see in the gym!! Your diet is SO critical in weight loss, should I say "more than exercise"....there's alot to this statement, but that's the short. Also, diet sodas....I'm pretty sure leach the calcium out of your bones....big cause of osteoperosis...but so does smoking and I'm sure other factors. There's plenty of research and medical facts out there --- about LOTS of products we eat and drink out there that cause health problems. Basically you want a healthy strong body, healthy cells etc....best chance of fighting off illnesses, cancers etc...... Keep what goes into your body clean and pure.

exactly....I'm almost positive that everyone in here that is saying "whatever" to the sweetners would think twice if they ended up with cancer, knowing they could have prevented it from happening just by cutting off that vice. And i do agree, there are a lot fo things that can cause badness to come health wise, but it's everyones decision as to what they want to put in there body. Personally, i'm trying to live a healthy life, and i have a lot of hangups, but eventually i want to be the healthiest i can, because i can't afford if i ever got cancer or something serious because i don't have insurance haha. But also some downfalls form the soda is it makes you BLOATED...i stopped drinking diet soda(i was a 1 liter a day girl) and i can def feel a difference in the way my stomach feels. And at the rate i was drinking it, it was a major water retainer. But, no matter what decision you make, just be sure to drinks LOTS of water

dumb_blondes_rock

I alternate- first drink of the day is 40oz of water, then a can of diet dr pepper (with lunch) then 40 oz of water, then a can of diet dr pepper (with afternoon snack) then my last 20 oz of water.

If we stopped to worry about everything in our food...yes we should go organic. Then the fumes from the car we follow to the farmers market to buy the organic food and the smoker in line behind you while you shop will kill you...in my opinion...something is going to get you no matter how "good" you try to be.

I hear you girl....I live in the 2nd worst air pollution city in the u.s....I went to Iowa for a week and my skinb never looked so beautiful, then came back here and it was all nasty again

Dreaj79

What's wrong with diet coke? Absolutely nothing. If you used to drink a liter of regular coke a day and have switched to diet, I applaud you for taking a step in the right direction. I think the most important thing to remember is that we are on a journey. I can't just get off my couch tomorrow and run a marathon. It takes preparation and training and time. I feel the same way about my diet. When I first started, I couldn't stomach drinking plain water, so I used crystal light. Then as time went on I weaned off the crystal light and started drinking plain water. I eventually did it, but it took time. So if diet coke is making you feel better since kicking the regular coke habit, drink up! And if as you go on you get the notion to stop then cheers to that to! :drinker:

July24Lioness

Blah - I love me some aspertame!
I am a diet Pepsi girl - I don't drink a liter a day - but I'll still have a can or two.
My thinking is - if I am drinking my 64+ ounces of water a day - I'm gonna have a pop if I want one.
Aspertam is gonna kill you. Grilling your food is going to kill you. Drinking out of plastic water bottles it going to kill you.
LOL
Have some diet Coke. You gotta have one vice.
Steph
:flowerforyou:

Wow, I can not believe this mentality. Wow, that is all I am going to say. Just Wow.

AshleyMaire

diet green tea and crystal light would be just as bad as having a diet soda...if you're against artificial sweeteners at all you really have to read labels....sobe 0 is sweetened with stevia - which is all natural - if you're looking for a better option.

antiadipose

Blah - I love me some aspertame!
I am a diet Pepsi girl - I don't drink a liter a day - but I'll still have a can or two.
My thinking is - if I am drinking my 64+ ounces of water a day - I'm gonna have a pop if I want one.
Aspertam is gonna kill you. Grilling your food is going to kill you. Drinking out of plastic water bottles it going to kill you.
LOL
Have some diet Coke. You gotta have one vice.
Steph
:flowerforyou:

Wow, I can not believe this mentality. Wow, that is all I am going to say. Just Wow.

thats a bit dramatic............:huh:

anotheryearolder

I used to drink diet coke all day long; now I don't. I kept hearing bad stuff about it. Bad for your teeth, bad for your bones, chemicals etc etc. It just wasn't worth it anymore to me. I say pick your battles. If the diet coke helps you right now, go for it. Maybe later you'll address the soda habit, or not.

It truly didn't take me long to get over the craving and I really don't like the taste anymore. I did have a headache for several days when I first quit.

I still want the soda pick-me-up so I now drink a couple cups of coffee most days. Funny thing is I don't get the headache when I miss my daily coffee, so it wasn't just caffeine deprivation that gave me the headaches when I stopped the diet coke. Some say coffee is bad, some say coffee is moderation is actually good for you. We can go nuts if we listen to everyone. Just my 2 cents worth.

glfprncs2

I was a HUGE Diet Coke drinker up until 18 months ago. When I decided to start this fitness journey, I went in full steam ahead, and gave up the soda. I will admit, however, that I do drink one cup of coffee every morning (plain and black), and water the remainder of the day.

However, I recently ran across this very informative video, and it's making me rethink my morning coffee as well. Your body works very hard to stay in a neutral ph balance. Sodas (and coffee) are very acidic, and from what I understand, your body has to utilize many nutrients in order to get your body back to a neutral Ph. Many of those same nutrients are the ones that also help us maintain bone health. As a woman who is only growing older every year, I don't want brittle bones.

If you're interested in watching the video, it's only about 8 minutes long, is very easy to understand, and can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpoAtwVyzZI

July24Lioness

Blah - I love me some aspertame!
I am a diet Pepsi girl - I don't drink a liter a day - but I'll still have a can or two.
My thinking is - if I am drinking my 64+ ounces of water a day - I'm gonna have a pop if I want one.
Aspertam is gonna kill you. Grilling your food is going to kill you. Drinking out of plastic water bottles it going to kill you.
LOL
Have some diet Coke. You gotta have one vice.
Steph
:flowerforyou:

Wow, I can not believe this mentality. Wow, that is all I am going to say. Just Wow.

thats a bit dramatic............:huh:

No its not. The mentality that artificial sweeteners are OK for you is just enabling each other to continue bad habits, not break them.

That is not the definition of a lifestyle change. It is trading one bad habit for another.

I don't even buy cleaning supplies any longer, I make them. I am getting as far away from harmful chemicals as I can.