Why is diet pop bad for weight loss?

paperpudding

Why would you want to consume something with artificial sweeteners?
AND...Study after study has proven that reg soda vs diet made no difference in regards to weight loss.
A better alternative; mineral water with balsamic fruit vinegar or natural flavored stevia drops added.

Assuming for a moment this is a serious question - the reason I drink diet coke or coke zero (in moderation, I drink about 3 or 4 glasses of it a week) is because when I go out for lunch I like to have a cool drink other than the plain water I drink most of the time at home and work - so diet coke is a no sugar, almost no calorie option.

Also works as a mixer with spirits - which I have a few drinks now and then - perhaps once a week.

I don't think going out to a café for lunch and ordering mineral water with balsamic vinegar or stevia drops added would go down too well - likewise I cant really see those as good spirit mixers.:bigsmile:

MadisanMcKenna

I agree Diet Dew taste just like the real thing

ninerbuff

It's really good for your teeth too.

Sugar is worse. But of course if someone has good dental hygiene, this isn't a problem.

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MadisanMcKenna

I don't think it affects weight loss at all it has zero calories. It's gross thigh and tastes like chemicals. I gave up soda for health reasons not weight loss.

It is NOT gross thigh.

I agree Diet Dew taste the same

cheegerz

Speaking from my own personal experience...

Between 2007-2008 I lost 50lbs. I went from 180lbs down to 130. During that time, the ONLY TWO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES that I made to my daily lifestyle were: cutting out soda (cold turkey) and incorporating a 25 minute pilates DVD into about 4-5 days of my average week. Those are the only two significant changes that I made in that year.

Before completely cutting soda from my diet, I was chugging 4-6 cans (12oz) of diet soda per day. I only drank diet soda, because I preferred the flavor of diet sodas over other sodas, or other beverages in general. I primarily drank Diet Coke.

I replaced every can that I would have drank with the same amount of water. I did a little bit of pilates. I lost 50lbs.

I'm not a nutritionist nor a scientist, but my results pretty much speaks for itself. I can't say that diet soda consumed in moderation hinders any kind of serious weight loss strategy, but it certainly doesn't positively contribute to it. You can do no wrong by consuming no fluid besides water and the occasional green tea. =]

paperpudding

Diet soda has been linked to everything from dehydration to Parkinsons. But if you need 100% proof, I hope you get it soon. At one time, they said cigarettes weren't bad either.

The comparison to cigarettes is just silly - there are many many studies, overwhelming evidence, of the harm cigarettes do.

Nobody is refuting that.

But there are not comparable studies showing the harm of diet drinks - in moderation.

IF there are in the future ,then, sure, recommendations will change - but until then, there is no reason for everyone to stop drinking them.

Individuals who find individual effects like sugar cravings etc - sure - give them up.
But for most people there is absolutely no problem - in moderation, of course, just like everything else.

eeeekie

http://www.holistichelp.net/blog/how-artificial-sweeteners-promote-weight-gain-and-poor-health/

Personally when I have soda I prefer the real thing. Have you seen that study of the ants that went completely around the artifical sugar to the real sugar? If bugs find it gross it's gotta be bad..

http://api.ning.com/files/3jTl2qg9wX1443L98loEcxaGVRl*K--ojBJL8q0piyS73eeUz*DtUppjI9i1CPhkDYxPYez1sR1r3voe*rjb1tYiCAqrFYGT/246539_528447297205469_373657223_n.jpg?width=500&height=500

ninerbuff

Speaking from my own personal experience...

Between 2007-2008 I lost 50lbs. I went from 180lbs down to 130. During that time, the ONLY TWO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES that I made to my daily lifestyle were: cutting out soda (cold turkey) and incorporating a 25 minute pilates DVD into about 4-5 days of my average week. Those are the only two significant changes that I made in that year.

Before completely cutting soda from my diet, I was chugging 4-6 cans (12oz) of diet soda per day. I only drank diet soda, because I preferred the flavor of diet sodas over other sodas, or other beverages in general. I primarily drank Diet Coke.

I replaced every can that I would have drank with the same amount of water. I did a little bit of pilates. I lost 50lbs.

I'm not a nutritionist nor a scientist, but my results pretty much speaks for itself. I can't say that diet soda consumed in moderation hinders any kind of serious weight loss strategy, but it certainly doesn't positively contribute to it. You can do no wrong by consuming no fluid besides water and the occasional green tea. =]

In other words you BURNED more calories which creates a calorie deficit. Calorie deficit leads to weight loss.

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sarafischbach9

I drink Coke Zero probably a little too much! Diet pop has never been bad in weight loss or maintenance for me personally. It has never made me crave more food. I prefer it to regular pop.

Now as for other things.... diet pop, or just pop in general, can be bad. Like tooth decay ( from acid ), possible kidney stones, etc etc. Everything in moderation.

paperpudding

I'm not a nutritionist nor a scientist, but my results pretty much speaks for itself. I can't say that diet soda consumed in moderation hinders any kind of serious weight loss strategy, but it certainly doesn't positively contribute to it. You can do no wrong by consuming no fluid besides water and the occasional green tea. =]

If this worked for you, sure, your result speaks for itself - for you.
(Of course, the adding exercise bit probably helped too )

Many other posters, myself included, have said diet drinks did not hinder their weight loss at all - so I suppose their results speak for themselves too.

Also I don't think anybody s saying diet drinks positively contribute to weight loss - I agree they only do indirectly by drinking them instead of a high sugar alternative (like 'normal' coke, for example).
I agree replacing sugar drinks with water or green tea would have the same effect - but, you know, sometimes people want to drink other things than water or green tea.
They even - shock horror - want a drink to mix with their alcoholic spirits. Sad to say water and green tea don't do this very well, IME.

Fullsterkur_woman

In a nutshell:

The TASTE of sugar sends a message to your brain saying it has received glucose, so you secrete insulin to sequester the sugar from your blood.

But there isn't any sugar, so it sequesters the baseline sugar that should be there, giving you low blood sugar.

That explains all the hordes of diabetics who drink diet soda dropping like flies in the streets. You know, from the overdose of insulin.

Any detriment confined to fat loss is due to people overeating because they think the diet soda entitles them to eat more. If you measure and track your intake and restrict it to the same level with and without diet soda, your fat loss will be unaffected.

paperpudding

. Have you seen that study of the ants that went completely around the artifical sugar to the real sugar? If bugs find it gross it's gotta be bad..

I imagine bugs are attracted to sugar.

Probably they would walk around a broccoli stick to get to sugar too - does this mean broccoli is bad??

nxd10

In a nutshell:

The TASTE of sugar sends a message to your brain saying it has received glucose, so you secrete insulin to sequester the sugar from your blood.

But there isn't any sugar, so it sequesters the baseline sugar that should be there, giving you low blood sugar.

That explains all the hordes of diabetics who drink diet soda dropping like flies in the streets. You know, from the overdose of insulin.

Any detriment confined to fat loss is due to people overeating because they think the diet soda entitles them to eat more. If you measure and track your intake and restrict it to the same level with and without diet soda, your fat loss will be unaffected.

Look, I'm not making this up, although it's after midnight and I'm not going to track down the original scientific article. This first one is a review, the second one by the science editor the NYTimes.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2892765/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/diet-soda-health_b_2698494.html

The original - big headline - study WAS done by the American Diabetes Association (because lots of diabetics do drink a lot of diet soda). And they did find people gained more weight using diet soda than regular soda. Counter-intuitive right? One reason is - just as you say - people pig out more after drinking a 'diet' drink. The other reason is insulin.

Insulin is what keeps blood sugar balanced all the time and for everyone. It's what makes you hungry at lunch time - even when you just ate. It's very responsive to learned stimuli. Including the taste of sugar.

fast_eddie_72

I did some research on diet soda a few weeks ago. There's a lot of stuff that says it makes you gain weight. But the sources that seemed most credible to me kind of said more that the evidence is inconclusive. I still drink it, but I don't drink as much. I don't really think it has any impact on weight loss. But I think all that junk is just bad for you.

ninerbuff

Look, I'm not making this up, although it's after midnight and I'm not going to track down the original scientific article. This first one is a review, the second one by the science editor the NYTimes.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2892765/

Didn't see anywhere in the study that insulin was raised.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/diet-soda-health_b_2698494.html

The original - big headline - study WAS done by the American Diabetes Association (because lots of diabetics do drink a lot of diet soda). And they did find people gained more weight using diet soda than regular soda. Counter-intuitive right? One reason is - just as you say - people pig out more after drinking a 'diet' drink. The other reason is insulin.

Insulin is what keeps blood sugar balanced all the time and for everyone. It's what makes you hungry at lunch time - even when you just ate. It's very responsive to learned stimuli. Including the taste of sugar.

Hyman's own "quote" on raised insulin was his own summation. The studies he referenced didn't state insulin was raised. This is the same Dr. Hyman who believes in "detoxing". Not strong evidence here.

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bigboyhealth

I think the main issue some people see with all diet sodas is the use of sweeteners 950 and 951 - one of which is aspertame and has been linked (incorrectly) to cancer and whole host of other health issues. You can read more about the controversy here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspartame_controversy

The take away is summed up here:
"Potential health risks have been examined and dismissed by numerous scientific research projects. With the exception of the risk to those with phenylketonuria, aspartame is considered to be a safe food additive by governments, worldwide, and major health and food safety organizations.[2][10][11][12][13][14] FDA officials describe aspartame as "one of the most thoroughly tested and studied food additives the agency has ever approved" and its safety as "clear cut".[4] The weight of existing scientific evidence indicates that aspartame is safe as a non-nutritive sweetener.[10]"

I also used to drink a lot of fizzy drinks before going on my health journey and so Coke Zero (with the same amount of caffeine per ml as Coke) is helping me ease the transition out of sugar-laced soft drinks. It is still bad for your teeth though, so ideally I can slowly start to move away from it.

neanderthin

Look, I'm not making this up, although it's after midnight and I'm not going to track down the original scientific article. This first one is a review, the second one by the science editor the NYTimes.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2892765/

Didn't see anywhere in the study that insulin was raised.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/diet-soda-health_b_2698494.html

The original - big headline - study WAS done by the American Diabetes Association (because lots of diabetics do drink a lot of diet soda). And they did find people gained more weight using diet soda than regular soda. Counter-intuitive right? One reason is - just as you say - people pig out more after drinking a 'diet' drink. The other reason is insulin.

Insulin is what keeps blood sugar balanced all the time and for everyone. It's what makes you hungry at lunch time - even when you just ate. It's very responsive to learned stimuli. Including the taste of sugar.

Hyman's own "quote" on raised insulin was his own summation. The studies he referenced didn't state insulin was raised. This is the same Dr. Hyman who believes in "detoxing". Not strong evidence here.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Cherry picking is a science.:happy: Anyway, from most of my research, which over the years is quite a bit on this subject I've found that in order to increase insulin there "must" be calories involved.

clover5

Everyone has to make their own decision about drinking diet pop. I used to drink gallons of it. I don't know that diet drinks are "bad" for me, but they aren't beneficial either. That's why I have greatly reduced the amount I drink.

KimiSteinbach

I don't drink coffee so I drink one Coke Zero once a day...It gets me through my job...