Diet pop

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  • RaspberryKeytoneBoondoggle
    RaspberryKeytoneBoondoggle Posts: 1,349 Member
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    If I'm having a bad week, I drink one almost every day, but then I might go a few months without one. Diet coke comforts me:)
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
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    I drink about 12 oz a day, sometimes more, sometimes none.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    I'll drink it now and again but not as much as I did before. Way I see it isn't doing you any harm but its not really doing you any good either. Better off substituting water if you can manage it. If you need that bit of pop to keep your sanity during a diet/exercise regimen though I wouldn't sweat it.
    To be fair (from a scientific and biological standpoint) you aren't "better off" substituting water. They are equivalent substitutes.

    Soda contains caffeine which is a diuretic and vasoconstrictor, they also contain sodium which increases your need for hydration. If you are getting sufficient fluids then yeah okay no big deal but if you are not drinking sufficient water substituting in a caffeinated beverage is not equivalent. I disagree.

    Is it a big difference? Probably not, but there is a difference. I do think people go overboard with the "OMG soda/pop is SO unhealthy for you" but I think if you were trying to be your most healthy you are better off with water than soda.
    There's about as much sodium in soda as there is in tap water. Less, usually, because water is treated with sodium to remove impurities (water softening.) As for caffeine, well, water is also a diuretic, so that's a silly argument. You'd need to consume about 1000mg of caffeine (about 24 cans of Coke) without consuming any of the water in those Cokes for caffeine to have any kind of dehydration effect. Plenty of science showing no difference between a soda and regular water for hydration, and people who regularly consume caffeine are actually shown to be completely immune to the diuretic effect of caffeine itself.
  • nursejennyk
    nursejennyk Posts: 9 Member
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    I have terrible migraines with aura/squiggly lines/ and peripheral blindness at times. Hate them. I definitely have hormonal ones but I do get them more often when I dink diet coke, specifically. I know this now because i started making my own soda in a soda stream machine and it uses splenda rather than aspartame . When i bought name brand diet coke again for guests- boom migraine!! More than one time after cold turkey off.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    I'll drink it now and again but not as much as I did before. Way I see it isn't doing you any harm but its not really doing you any good either. Better off substituting water if you can manage it. If you need that bit of pop to keep your sanity during a diet/exercise regimen though I wouldn't sweat it.
    To be fair (from a scientific and biological standpoint) you aren't "better off" substituting water. They are equivalent substitutes.

    Soda contains caffeine which is a diuretic and vasoconstrictor, they also contain sodium which increases your need for hydration. If you are getting sufficient fluids then yeah okay no big deal but if you are not drinking sufficient water substituting in a caffeinated beverage is not equivalent. I disagree.

    Is it a big difference? Probably not, but there is a difference. I do think people go overboard with the "OMG soda/pop is SO unhealthy for you" but I think if you were trying to be your most healthy you are better off with water than soda.
    There's about as much sodium in soda as there is in tap water. Less, usually, because water is treated with sodium to remove impurities (water softening.) As for caffeine, well, water is also a diuretic, so that's a silly argument. You'd need to consume about 1000mg of caffeine (about 24 cans of Coke) without consuming any of the water in those Cokes for caffeine to have any kind of dehydration effect. Plenty of science showing no difference between a soda and regular water for hydration, and people who regularly consume caffeine are actually shown to be completely immune to the diuretic effect of caffeine itself.

    Huh, okay. I guess I made some assumptions there but I'll back off and admit I haven't seen a study that confirms that soda is less hydrating that water I just figured that was a reasonable assumption based on the caffeine. You maybe right I don't know.
  • Rays_Wife
    Rays_Wife Posts: 1,173 Member
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    I_Will_End_You. You know if you do suffer ill effects from aspartame you should probably get checked by your doctor for phenylketonuria (PKU) which is a disorder of metabolism in which the body is unable to process phenylalanine. As a result imbibing foods that have high phenylalanine content can result in ill effects that are noticeable in the body and it specifically effects the brain. One of the breakdown products of aspartame is phenylalanine and people with PKU should avoid it.

    There are a lot of people who suffer from particular genetic metabolic disorders (PKU being one of them) and not know about it. Celiac in which a person cannot properly digest gluten is another common example. If you do get diagnosed with PKU there is probably a whole other host of food items it might be good to avoid that would improve your overall health.

    To date the only scientifically supported evidence for ill effects of aspartame are in people who have PKU.

    If she had PKU she would be severely mentally handicapped by now. PKU is a rare inborn error of metabolism that is checked for at birth by a heel prick. She would have been diagnosed at around 1 week old. Left untreated, babies born with PKU will be mentally handicapped by age 1 due to the build up of phenylalanine in the brain.

    How do I know? My 6 year old daughter has PKU. She was diagnosed at 1 week old :smile:
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,082 Member
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    You beat me to it Rayswife.
    Was just about to post querying whether newborn heel pricks took place in other countries.
    Has been standard practice in Australia for at least 25 years, checking for several genetic diseases, among them PKU and cystic fibrosis.

    Adults with any symptoms which may or may not be due to aspartame do not have PKU.
    PKU is a rare genetic disease which must be treated by a very strict diet from infancy onwards - or major intellectual disability occurs.
    Adults don't have it unknowingly.


    Re OP's question - yes I drink diet sodas, Pepsi max or coke zero/diet coke.
    Average around 4 glasses per week.

    Rest of the time I drink unsweetened coffee, water and the occasional OJ.
  • Rays_Wife
    Rays_Wife Posts: 1,173 Member
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    You beat me to it Rayswife.
    Was just about to post querying whether newborn heel pricks took place in other countries.
    Has been standard practice in Australia for at least 25 years, checking for several genetic diseases, among them PKU and cystic fibrosis.

    Adults with any symptoms which may or may not be due to aspartame do not have PKU.
    PKU is a rare genetic disease which must be treated by a very strict diet from infancy onwards - or major intellectual disability occurs.
    Adults don't have it unknowingly.



    They have been testing for PKU in the USA since 1960 via heel prick at birth. Since it's a rare disease (1 in 10,000 here will be born with it) I realize not many people know the details about it, if they even know about it at all. I just try to educate whenever I can and raise awareness for it. Although I was impressed by what Aaron did know about it! Kudos to him. Most people have never even heard of PKU.
  • shinkalork
    shinkalork Posts: 815 Member
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    well.... i use to take many....

    But I don't anymore.... First, makes you bloated ...That's for sure.

    If you are trying to get a six pack...soda will not help you at all.

    Many famous trainer will tell you.....

    I don't have a gallbladder anymore too so it was giving me a hard time too so..... stopping diet soda helped in a major way.

    No upset stomach,no bloated,flatter belly etc...

    But diet soda for calories...yes, there's none! no problem with that :)
  • Harrisonsauntie2005
    Harrisonsauntie2005 Posts: 215 Member
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    Aspartame = early death.

    Excessive weight = early death
  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
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    I drink 15 litres a day..
  • aplhabetacheesecake
    aplhabetacheesecake Posts: 181 Member
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    I am a type 1 diabetic- diagnosed in the 80's
    I remember coming home from hospital and my parents had filled the house with sugar free EVERYTHING! jam, popsicles, diet pop, no sugar added cookies and oatmeal and bread omg it was a nightmare.

    Somewhere in my teen years the Canadian DIabetes association changed their attitudes on sugar and progressed into a "moderation with everything" stance.
    I used to drink an excessive amount of diet 7 up. Like a 12 can case in a day no problem.
    I have since cut back and drink mostly sugar free koolaid all day, splenda in my coffee and I have 1 diet 7up in the evening and most nights cannot even finish it.

    Artificial sweeteners are part of my life- Ive grown up with them, I enjoy them, and they help me keep my blood sugar and weight down.

    Everyone has their own opinions on this stuff, and im not forcing splenda down anyone elses throat, but it works for me and I enjoy it.
  • tedrickp
    tedrickp Posts: 1,229 Member
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    Luh diet pop.
  • FindingAmy77
    FindingAmy77 Posts: 1,266 Member
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    I love me an occasional diet root beer but I now drink water and if I want some carbonation I drink club soda. it has taken me some time to get used to it.. but its growing on me. I try to not have artificial stuff I can help it. :drinker:
  • 0somuchbetter0
    0somuchbetter0 Posts: 1,335 Member
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    I see so many people struggling to quit drinking soda. I'm thankful I didn't grow up with it. When I was a kid, my mom only gave me soda when I had a stomach bug, so I grew to associate the taste with feeling nauseated. As an adult, the only time I ever drank it was when pregnant (helped with morning sickness) and when hungover. Now that I'm 95% off processed sugar (I think I ate a cookie last week...can't remember), sodas taste way too sweet. I've never gotten used to artificial sweeteners, either. They leave a weird aftertaste that stays with me for hours. So....THANK YOU MOM for not making sodas a routine part of life when I was a kid.

    :smile:
  • GBrady43068
    GBrady43068 Posts: 1,256 Member
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    I drink it occasionally. Say 1 or 2 a week (Coke Zero and Sunkist or A&W 10). Diet soda is not the enemy despite what some may say here.
  • 0somuchbetter0
    0somuchbetter0 Posts: 1,335 Member
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    I drink it occasionally. Say 1 or 2 a week (Coke Zero and Sunkist or A&W 10). Diet soda is not the enemy despite what some may say here.

    It is if you want to quit drinking it and can't.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    I drink it occasionally. Say 1 or 2 a week (Coke Zero and Sunkist or A&W 10). Diet soda is not the enemy despite what some may say here.

    It is if you want to quit drinking it and can't.
    The point is, there's really no reason to quit beyond a personal preference. And "quitting" sodas isn't really that hard. In most cases it's a matter of caffeine, which really has nothing to do with soda at all, as they could switch to coffee or tea.
  • StacyRenee77
    StacyRenee77 Posts: 2,732 Member
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    Lots of water has def helped me cut down a ton. I have not completely stopped, but cut down a lot!!
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
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    I drink it occasionally. Say 1 or 2 a week (Coke Zero and Sunkist or A&W 10). Diet soda is not the enemy despite what some may say here.

    It is if you want to quit drinking it and can't.
    The question is why do you want to quit drinking it? In reality Diet soda has no effect on weightloss or on health. It's like this banner that people can shove at people and show how superior they are. If you want to get healthy and lose weight it makes far more sense to put your energy into things like portion control and exercise rather than making your self miserable and trying to give up something that will have no effect on what you are doing.

    People make there own choices but it doesn't stop some of those choices being silly and rather pointless

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