Study: People lost more weight drinking diet soda...

FunkyTobias

This research is questionable at best. You have to ask yourself if the study is truly objective. Did a lobby group for the soft drink industry fund it? Did a soft drink company themselves fund this study? If the answer is "yes" to both, then throw out any validity.

STAHP!

As has been stated several times, funding does NOT invalidate the results of a study.

Don't really care since I don't drink it, but I find it funny when people dismiss studies by the funding source. Dismissing by funding source alone is usually the first sign that someone doesn't really understand the science involved

http://www.nature.com/ijo/journal/v38/n5/full/ijo201432a.html

time4change2k14

I can't drink soda, or diet soda. I was addicted to it, had severe headaches if I went without (debilitating), I had no energy, I was depressed and couldn't stay awake. It caused me to eat worse, because I couldn't have soda without having junk food to go with it, .I also get severe gas when I drink it, now that I have stopped, so I can't begin to imagine what overindulgence of the stuff has done to my stomach. I also wasn't drinking enough water because I was so filled up on soda and junk.

With that said, if I could have it as a treat now and then I probably would, as I don't believe in robbing yourself of the things you enjoy. I would probably go for a regular soda though - because I'm afraid of what I've read about aspartame. However, I understand those that enjoy diet and their view that nothing has been proven.

I just wouldn't chance it myself.

beccag28

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/51/6/963.full.pdf+html

This is an older study with similar findings to the original article.

stephanieluvspb

Oh my lord its ALWAYS something! Something is ALWAYS poison! I have no desire to live in a bubble, a sad little bubble. I will continue to drink my soda, eat some processed food, expose meself to the sun, cut grass without ear plugs and just love life.....geez some of you should try it

dixiewhiskey

People with phenylketonuria should not have aspartame. That's about it.

My SIL is an epileptic and a diet soda addict, and she's never had a reaction in her 41 years. It could be that this person's late wife had PKU or that correlation =/= causation. (Though I am sorry for his loss. No one deserves to go through that either as he sick person or the sick person's loved one.)

I am not diagnosed PKU and yet I have an extremely severe reaction to aspartame. So, it's either not only people with PKU or I've gone 20 years with un-diagnosed PKU, beating all of the odds. Which seems more likely? And if the FDA will claim that noone can have an allergy/sensitivity to aspartame when there are very obviously people who do... it makes me extremely wary to believe any thing that they say about this so-called safe artificial sweetener.

Yup!

Rainboots80

I can't drink it, it hurts my stomach. It causes cancer too.

dixiewhiskey

I can't drink it, it hurts my stomach. It causes cancer too.

How dare you talk so badly about soda?!?!?

:devil:

Aaron_K123

I can't drink it, it hurts my stomach. It causes cancer too.

lol what? Soda causes cancer. News to me.

Aaron_K123

My 2¢ :happy:

- Aspartame, which as of 2011 is the primary sweetener in Diet Pepsi, has been the subject of controversy, most notably in 1996 amid a 60 Minutes report[21] on concerns alleging that aspartame might be linked to the development of brain tumors in humans. Critics of Aspartame have expressed concerns that numerous health risks may be associated with its consumption; however, peer-reviewed comprehensive review articles and independent reviews by governmental regulatory bodies have analyzed the published research on the safety of aspartame and have described it as safe for consumption at current levels.[22][23][24] Aspartame has been deemed safe for human consumption by regulatory agencies in their respective countries,[24] including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.K. Food Standards Agency,[25] the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)[26] and Canada's Health Canada.[27]

See - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diet_Pepsi#Composition

Yup.

"Evidence" saying aspartame is dangerous is basically internet blogs, sensationalistic journalism about what "might" be causing something and "concerns".

Evidence saying aspartame is non-toxic: scientific and clinical studies. Also just plain logic given that it is just a dipeptide of phenylalanine and aspartame, two amino acids found in all naturally occurring proteins. There is a lot more phenylalanine and aspartame in a chicken breast than in a can of soda.

paperpudding

People with phenylketonuria should not have aspartame. That's about it.

My SIL is an epileptic and a diet soda addict, and she's never had a reaction in her 41 years. It could be that this person's late wife had PKU or that correlation =/= causation. (Though I am sorry for his loss. No one deserves to go through that either as he sick person or the sick person's loved one.)

I am not diagnosed PKU and yet I have an extremely severe reaction to aspartame. So, it's either not only people with PKU or I've gone 20 years with un-diagnosed PKU, beating all of the odds. Which seems more likely? And if the FDA will claim that noone can have an allergy/sensitivity to aspartame when there are very obviously people who do... it makes me extremely wary to believe any thing that they say about this so-called safe artificial sweetener.

You do not have un diagnosed PKU, that is for sure.
PKU is a very specific genetic disorder and people with it have to follow a very strict diet from infancy or they become mentally handicapped.

People can have allergies/ sensitivities. To just about anything but that doesn't mean that thing is not safe for everyone else - eg there are people with anaphylactic reactions to nuts, eggs, seafood.
Does that mean these things are unsafe for general population?
Of course not.

Trinehar13

I'll stick with plentiful H2O, thanks.

Left4Good

Well i will never like nor trust the FDA because they also allow Arsenic, Potassium bromate, Synthetic hormones, DPA, BHA and other ingredients in foods and drinks here in the US that is banned in other countries, because these are posions. The FDA only cares about their money and will lie about anything saying "on well this won't kill you" it might not kill us but it will make us sick. Diet soda is fine ocassionaly but it will be dangerous if that is all you drink or you drink it alot. I would still be careful. Plus diet soda makes you crave less, pretty sure that is why they lost weight.

SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish

I'll stick with plentiful H2O, thanks.

That's great, diet soda couldn't/wouldn't help you anyways, even if it did or didn't "poison you". Both "sides" here still don't seem to have gotten the idea yet: study shows only that if you take soda drinkers that can eat anything they want trying to lose weight and not tracking calories, restrict one group to no soda only water (still eating anything other than sodas), and let the other group drink diet, the group that can drink diet soda tend to eat less calories than the ones who can only have water. Kind of a giant DURRRRRR study really when you think about it, and most probably the people designing the study weren't stupid, wouldn't you say? So of course its meant to have people come to this topic's wrong conclusion....public's been played yet again...

tedrickp

To the above poster - don't confuse the media with science. I actually agree people are jumping to conclusions about the study, but that is totally because of how the media has spun it - not the study itself.

lemurcat12

I'll stick with plentiful H2O, thanks.

That's great, diet soda couldn't/wouldn't help you anyways, even if it did or didn't "poison you". Both "sides" here still don't seem to have gotten the idea yet: study shows only that if you take soda drinkers that can eat anything they want trying to lose weight and not tracking calories, restrict one group to no soda only water (still eating anything other than sodas), and let the other group drink diet, the group that can drink diet soda tend to eat less calories than the ones who can only have water. Kind of a giant DURRRRRR study really when you think about it, and most probably the people designing the study weren't stupid, wouldn't you say? So of course its meant to have people come to this topic's wrong conclusion....public's been played yet again...

I agreed above that was what the study said, as did others. The argument over whether soda will still KILL you or whether it's always superior to drink only water vs. any other water containing beverage, like homemade iced tea (insert eye roll) has distracted from that fact. If anyone is claiming the study means it's helpful for people who don't drink soda to start, I missed it.

The results that you dismiss in fact go against the theory oft asserted as truth that people should give up diet soda because it causes them to eat more sweet stuff or just eat more in general. That's never been my experience and this study seems to agree, Of course no one study is all that.

Also, why the heck is this discussion causing me to call it soda?

jbing07

Well said! Everyone is always going to have separate opinions. Never going to make everyone happy.

krubio58

The diet soda industry funded it. :P

tedrickp

Repost form earlier:

http://www.nature.com/ijo/journal/v38/n5/full/ijo201432a.html

"In summary, what are the best practices for ensuring a strong, unbiased body of obesity research? Certainly not refusing funding from those who wish to collaborate with scientists in becoming part of the solution; absolutely not by launching unsubstantiated attacks on reputable scientists with longstanding records of ethical conduct and meaningful scientific contribution; rather, it is first by giving funding source its proper position among many possible and equally important threats to objectivity and implementing safeguards to protect against such bias (and worse yet malfeasance). Second, we need to redouble our efforts to adhere to the basic principles of good science like reproducibility, replicability and other core evaluative procedures that ensure objective and reliable scientific reporting. Finally, we need to work toward open access to data regardless of its source. This will require the cooperation of those in the scientific community and among potential sources of funding. Ultimately, this type of transparency regardless of funding source will deliver a more robust and complete body of evidence. In short, scientists need to practice good science, sponsors must commit to transparency and noninfluence, media needs to practice responsible scientific journalism, and we all need to base our evaluations on scientific data and not on predetermined opinions rooted in our own emotion-laden bias for or against specific funding sources."

RBXChas

People with phenylketonuria should not have aspartame. That's about it.

My SIL is an epileptic and a diet soda addict, and she's never had a reaction in her 41 years. It could be that this person's late wife had PKU or that correlation =/= causation. (Though I am sorry for his loss. No one deserves to go through that either as he sick person or the sick person's loved one.)

I am not diagnosed PKU and yet I have an extremely severe reaction to aspartame. So, it's either not only people with PKU or I've gone 20 years with un-diagnosed PKU, beating all of the odds. Which seems more likely? And if the FDA will claim that noone can have an allergy/sensitivity to aspartame when there are very obviously people who do... it makes me extremely wary to believe any thing that they say about this so-called safe artificial sweetener.

Yup!

I had no idea this thread was still going on...

To the people who claim to be allergic or sensitive to aspartame, have you narrowed it down to that specific ingredient? For example, for a long time I thought I was lactose intolerant, but by elimination of items from my diet, it turns out I get the same symptoms from large amounts of soy protein.

I'm not asking to be inflammatory; I'm genuinely curious because this it appears to be anecdotal, and I'm wondering if there's any legitimate scientific literature on this.

fit_war

I NEED DIET SODA FOR MY VODKA

WINNER!!!!!!!!!!!

cheesevixen_staci

I NEED DIET SODA FOR MY VODKA

WINNER!!!!!!!!!!!

I second !

TonyS89

Yeah, interesting to see who funded it.

BinaryPulsar

Diet soda does not cause weight gain and it is also not a weight loss supplement (it doesn't make you lose weight). I'm sure that for some people having a diet soda will fulfill their craving for a sweet treat and so in that case it could help that person lose weight. But, no one needs to cut it out or add it. Plenty of people lose weight and are fit and drink water or whatever and don't drink diet soda regularly. Not everyone likes the flavor. I will have certain types occasionally when I can find them. Other types I feel sick from (probably because of the flavor), but I don't like regular soda either. And as for bloating, I don't really know much about artificial sweeteners, but from what I understand bloating is caused by sugar alcohols because you don't digest them normally and too many can act like a laxative. Bloating does not mean gaining weight, it just means not having a perfectly flat tummy at a time when you may want to and having some uncomfortable sensations (if you are performing or something). Don't worry about what others think or say, If diet soda is helpful to you, then go ahead and drink it.

Aaron_K123

I don't think there is anything harmful in drinking flavored water. I also don't think there is anything magical about drinking flavored water.

sushisuzi2

Bless all of you. I drink Diet Coke, and water with MIO.

ScottH_200

I stopped drinking diet Pepsi last week and had no measurable weight loss for the week. Therefore, this study that I linked to in the original post MUST be scientific!

I'm back to drinking diet Pepsi (occasionally) this week and am back on the weight loss wagon.

Veil5577

All I know is, I feel better and have more energy drinking water than ANY kind of soda. So water it is

BigVeggieDream

This research is questionable at best. You have to ask yourself if the study is truly objective. Did a lobby group for the soft drink industry fund it? Did a soft drink company themselves fund this study? If the answer is "yes" to both, then throw out any validity.

STAHP!

As has been stated several times, funding does NOT invalidate the results of a study.

Don't really care since I don't drink it, but I find it funny when people dismiss studies by the funding source. Dismissing by funding source alone is usually the first sign that someone doesn't really understand the science involved

http://www.nature.com/ijo/journal/v38/n5/full/ijo201432a.html

You're correct. Funding does not invalidate scientific results, but one should at the very least be aware of the fact that a study was funded by a group that has a financial stake in it. This should be enough reason to scrutinize it more. Besides, this is one study. It needs to be replicated and reviewed by the scientific community and debated. This study only brings up the possibility that diet pop may be okay and possibly be part of the solution to the larger problem of obesity.