Diet Soda's and Metabolic rate

13

Replies

  • Falcon
    Falcon Posts: 853 Member
    I am a big diet cola fan. I never drink soda, but when I do it's a coke zero. I only recently started getting on this kick of craving it (Because it's free at work). I was wondering if drinking too much diet soda's (well artificial sweeteners in general) will hinder my weight loss? I heard many mixed things about it, and I have well over 5 packets of equal a day for my 2-3 coffee's and 1-2 coke zeros.

    Aspartame should be illegal. Aspartame is turned into a compound that is used to help preserve bodies for the funneral. And when you drink aspartame your body converts aspartame into the compound. You're drinking poison when it comes to aspartame. I stopped getting these awful migraines when I stopped drinking anything with aspartame in it.

    your call but personally for me, I wouldn't be caught dead drinking the stuff
    Keep on trolling
    troll-award_fb_330925.jpg

    It's giving my opinion it's not considered trolling

    I'm allergic to it, it does make me sick and I pass out for fourteen hours. I simply stopped consuming anything with aspatame in it
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,731 Member
    I am a big diet cola fan. I never drink soda, but when I do it's a coke zero. I only recently started getting on this kick of craving it (Because it's free at work). I was wondering if drinking too much diet soda's (well artificial sweeteners in general) will hinder my weight loss? I heard many mixed things about it, and I have well over 5 packets of equal a day for my 2-3 coffee's and 1-2 coke zeros.

    Aspartame should be illegal. Aspartame is turned into a compound that is used to help preserve bodies for the funneral. And when you drink aspartame your body converts aspartame into the compound. You're drinking poison when it comes to aspartame. I stopped getting these awful migraines when I stopped drinking anything with aspartame in it.

    your call but personally for me, I wouldn't be caught dead drinking the stuff
    Keep on trolling
    troll-award_fb_330925.jpg

    It's giving my opinion it's not considered trolling

    I'm allergic to it, it does make me sick and I pass out for fourteen hours. I simply stopped consuming anything with aspatame in it

    So, you're saying that peanuts and shellfish should be illegal? Because some people die from their allergies to those things, which, to me, is far worse than passing out for 14 hours.
  • Ryderod
    Ryderod Posts: 103 Member
    Aspartame is turned into a compound that is used to help preserve bodies for the funneral. And when you drink aspartame your body converts aspartame into the compound.
    your call but personally for me, I wouldn't be caught dead drinking the stuff

    But according to your logic your very last drink will be lots of "the stuff" :wink:
  • lizzynewm
    lizzynewm Posts: 199 Member
    I don't want to make a slippery-slope argument, but I drank diet coke constantly since I was a child and only stopped recently - and I've read that it can cause certain cancers like lymphoma and leukemia. Lo and behold, I was diagnosed with Lymphoma last year. Of course, that doesn't mean much, but I have wondered if that could have been a factor for the cancer - though, a lot of my chemo nurses drank diet coke, so who knows, haha.

    Here's a legitimate page on aspartame and the known bad side effects: http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/othercarcinogens/athome/aspartame
    Essentially, there are a lot of rumors concerning its safety and many people complain about it, but there aren't any real hard conclusive studies that link health problems to aspartame.

    I don't like drinking diet coke much anymore, however, because I feel like my body craves the calories that the soda should have had. Additionally, they're so addicting! And I don't want to end up habitually drinking it when I could be drinking water. But like all processed crap, I say enjoy it in moderation. I absolutely believe a lot of the negative hype around aspartame is just rumors and fear mongering, because all reputable websites agree that there are no known dangers of it.
  • Zangpakto
    Zangpakto Posts: 336 Member
    Doesn't affect me, I say go for it...

    Enjoy!

    Food cravings? Really? A drink that does that...

    Don't believe that hype, I drink coke zero constantly and I can bet in one week I eat far far less than what most of you guys have in 2 days...

    If it increased my appetite, then why am I not hungry? Why am I going to a psychiatric ward for treatment because of the non eating and a few other issues?

    Just drink it, be happy, and enjoy life, it's not worth this... It's not worth the obsessive calorie counts and training etc...

    If it works for you, then do it. Enjoy ^_^


    ----

    Also to note, everyone dies of something, it's the journey that counts.

    What's better? Living happy and doing what you want? Or doing as others tell you and living life miserably and dying miserable because you couldn't have or do what you wanted... Just because of some overreacting idiots...
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,989 Member
    I am a big diet cola fan. I never drink soda, but when I do it's a coke zero. I only recently started getting on this kick of craving it (Because it's free at work). I was wondering if drinking too much diet soda's (well artificial sweeteners in general) will hinder my weight loss? I heard many mixed things about it, and I have well over 5 packets of equal a day for my 2-3 coffee's and 1-2 coke zeros.

    Aspartame should be illegal. Aspartame is turned into a compound that is used to help preserve bodies for the funneral. And when you drink aspartame your body converts aspartame into the compound. You're drinking poison when it comes to aspartame. I stopped getting these awful migraines when I stopped drinking anything with aspartame in it.

    your call but personally for me, I wouldn't be caught dead drinking the stuff
    Hmmm, I seem to remember that consumption of citrus fruits also causes the formation of formaldehyde in the body. But just like diet soda, the amount is SO LOW, it's insignificant.
    What the science says
    While it is true that aspartame does break down into methanol then formaldehyde, it actually happens much more in fruit juices (about 2x in a banana, or 6x in an 8oz glass of tomato juice2). Gold attempts to address this in item 4, but simply waves his hand as an explanation for why it can be ignored. The fact is that it simply is not enough to do anything and your body easily disposes of it.

    http://whatdoesthesciencesay.wordpress.com/2010/06/13/aspartame-and-formaldehyde/
    Drinking diet soda for over 25 years now, I should be a zombie.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • shmerek
    shmerek Posts: 963 Member
    I am a big diet cola fan. I never drink soda, but when I do it's a coke zero. I only recently started getting on this kick of craving it (Because it's free at work). I was wondering if drinking too much diet soda's (well artificial sweeteners in general) will hinder my weight loss? I heard many mixed things about it, and I have well over 5 packets of equal a day for my 2-3 coffee's and 1-2 coke zeros.

    Aspartame should be illegal. Aspartame is turned into a compound that is used to help preserve bodies for the funneral. And when you drink aspartame your body converts aspartame into the compound. You're drinking poison when it comes to aspartame. I stopped getting these awful migraines when I stopped drinking anything with aspartame in it.

    your call but personally for me, I wouldn't be caught dead drinking the stuff
    Keep on trolling
    troll-award_fb_330925.jpg

    It's giving my opinion it's not considered trolling

    I'm allergic to it, it does make me sick and I pass out for fourteen hours. I simply stopped consuming anything with aspatame in it
    You say you are allergic to it therefore it should be illegal and is poison and that isn't trolling? Riiiiight...
  • shmerek
    shmerek Posts: 963 Member
    I don't want to make a slippery-slope argument, but I drank diet coke constantly since I was a child and only stopped recently - and I've read that it can cause certain cancers like lymphoma and leukemia. Lo and behold, I was diagnosed with Lymphoma last year. Of course, that doesn't mean much, but I have wondered if that could have been a factor for the cancer - though, a lot of my chemo nurses drank diet coke, so who knows, haha.

    Here's a legitimate page on aspartame and the known bad side effects: http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/othercarcinogens/athome/aspartame
    Essentially, there are a lot of rumors concerning its safety and many people complain about it, but there aren't any real hard conclusive studies that link health problems to aspartame.

    I don't like drinking diet coke much anymore, however, because I feel like my body craves the calories that the soda should have had. Additionally, they're so addicting! And I don't want to end up habitually drinking it when I could be drinking water. But like all processed crap, I say enjoy it in moderation. I absolutely believe a lot of the negative hype around aspartame is just rumors and fear mongering, because all reputable websites agree that there are no known dangers of it.
    Just some text from the link you provided:


    Many studies have looked for health effects in lab animals fed aspartame, often in doses higher than 4,000 mg/kg per day over their lifetimes. These studies have not found any health problems that are consistently linked with aspartame.

    Two studies published by a group of Italian researchers suggested that very high doses of aspartame might increase the risk of some blood-related cancers (leukemias and lymphomas) in rats. However, both the FDA and the EFSA have called these results into question, citing a lack of some important data in the published studies and other concerns.
  • UKTexan
    UKTexan Posts: 10 Member
    There are conflicting studies about the safety of aspartame and other artificial sweeteners. Personally, I found that drinking diet sodas with or without food made my blood sugar drop REALLY low. Caffeine can spike your blood sugar as well, and in this case I think the combination of caffeine and aspartame messed my body up. That said, I would get huge diet soda cravings for days after drinking one, even though I knew I didn't want it. Don't know what that was about.

    Of course, this was before I started eating more consciously and exercising regularly, and I was having some debilitating blood sugar problems. I'd say I'd be interested to see what would happen now, but I know I'm still very sensitive to caffeine. Even a cup of green tea makes me jittery. That said, I don't necessarily trust food studies sponsored by large food corporations. I'll keep my consumption of artificial sweeteners down to a minimum.
  • Falcon
    Falcon Posts: 853 Member
    I am a big diet cola fan. I never drink soda, but when I do it's a coke zero. I only recently started getting on this kick of craving it (Because it's free at work). I was wondering if drinking too much diet soda's (well artificial sweeteners in general) will hinder my weight loss? I heard many mixed things about it, and I have well over 5 packets of equal a day for my 2-3 coffee's and 1-2 coke zeros.

    Aspartame should be illegal. Aspartame is turned into a compound that is used to help preserve bodies for the funneral. And when you drink aspartame your body converts aspartame into the compound. You're drinking poison when it comes to aspartame. I stopped getting these awful migraines when I stopped drinking anything with aspartame in it.

    your call but personally for me, I wouldn't be caught dead drinking the stuff
    Keep on trolling
    troll-award_fb_330925.jpg

    It's giving my opinion it's not considered trolling

    I'm allergic to it, it does make me sick and I pass out for fourteen hours. I simply stopped consuming anything with aspatame in it
    You say you are allergic to it therefore it should be illegal and is poison and that isn't trolling? Riiiiight...

    do you even know the definition of what trolling means?
  • shmerek
    shmerek Posts: 963 Member


    do you even know the definition of trolling means?
    Yup. Posting outlandish bull**** in order elicit a response. Your post hit the mark dead on. Also, if you "opinion" is that aspartame is poison you are wrong, It isn't.
  • Falcon
    Falcon Posts: 853 Member
    I'm entitled to my opinion and beliefs and you're entitled to yours,

    My 2 cents
  • shmerek
    shmerek Posts: 963 Member
    I'm entitled to my opinion and beliefs and you're entitled to yours,

    My 2 cents
    If your opinions that it is poison you are wrong regardless of what you believe and the last thing people need on this site is misinformation.
  • Falcon
    Falcon Posts: 853 Member
    people have a choice to believe it or not.
  • shmerek
    shmerek Posts: 963 Member
    people have a choice to believe it or not.
    Yes and they and you would still be wrong and you would still be spreading disinformation. If you have any evidence to backup your claims by all means present it otherwise offering an uninformed misleading opinion is just bad form. Following your logic believing something = fact. Ummm.... no
  • CandyMouse
    CandyMouse Posts: 22 Member
    Many , way too many times in the past, I drank a 12 pack of canned diet colas in a day. I always thought it helped..but def not good for you otherwise. Diet Rite Cola...:heart: ... has NO sodium..so won't cause water gain. :smile:
  • psych101
    psych101 Posts: 1,842 Member
    Diet Soda will not affect your metabolic rate in any way shape or form. There are PEER-REVIEWED STUDIES in my post history you can go get if you want to see exactly what affects your metabolic rate.
    Hold on brb, checking post history.

    Oh wait........no one can check your post history if your page is set to private.

    "PEER REVIEWED STUDIES"



    Your memory serves you well MrM :drinker:
  • scubasuenc
    scubasuenc Posts: 626 Member
    I've been drinking Diet Coke throughout my weight loss, and it hasn't hindered anything. I drink the equivalent of about 3 cans per day most days. Generally I stop around noon and switch to water mixed with some crystal light. I just don't like plain water.

    I am definitely addicted to the caffeine and get withdrawal headaches if I go without. I am also prone to migraines and when I feel one coming on I actually drink a Diet Coke to help. The aspartame is not a migraine trigger for me.

    I am also a type 2 diabetic and I do not find it affects my blood sugar.

    Just remember everyone's body is a little different. What works for one person might not work the same for someone else. If you are really concerned, try removing it from your diet for a month without changing anything else about your diet/exercise. Then see how you feel and if you lose more or less.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,282 Member
    Many , way too many times in the past, I drank a 12 pack of canned diet colas in a day. I always thought it helped..but def not good for you otherwise. Diet Rite Cola...:heart: ... has NO sodium..so won't cause water gain. :smile:

    but all sodas, diet or regular, don't contain more sodium than most foods.

    Examples
    Pepsi max - 14 mg per 100ml
    Unsweetened blackcurrant juice - 10 mg per 100 ml
    Low fat milk - 47 mg per 100 ml
    Thousand island dressing - 950 mg per 100 ml
    Honey - 15 mg per 100 ml

    Now I realize these amounts will differ between brands but that is just random selection - the brands that happened to be in my house tonight.
    But you can see sodium in diet soda is not huge, compared to other common liquids - for ease of comparison I used all liquids as all are per 100 ml.

    If you don't want to drink soda - don't. But the sodium content is really not an issue.
  • SingRunTing
    SingRunTing Posts: 2,604 Member
    I'm sure this thread is already past this (sorry, didn't read), but there's nothing wrong with drinking diet soda.

    That being said, I love Diet Coke, but try to limit myself to one a day. Sometimes not even that. I limit it due to it staining my teeth and I don't handle too much caffeine well. One is about my limit for caffeine before I start shaking.

    ETA: It does help me if I have an upset stomach or have a migraine coming on. So I drink it for medicinal purposes too. ;)
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  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    I am a big diet cola fan. I never drink soda, but when I do it's a coke zero. I only recently started getting on this kick of craving it (Because it's free at work). I was wondering if drinking too much diet soda's (well artificial sweeteners in general) will hinder my weight loss? I heard many mixed things about it, and I have well over 5 packets of equal a day for my 2-3 coffee's and 1-2 coke zeros.

    Aspartame should be illegal. Aspartame is turned into a compound that is used to help preserve bodies for the funneral. And when you drink aspartame your body converts aspartame into the compound. You're drinking poison when it comes to aspartame. I stopped getting these awful migraines when I stopped drinking anything with aspartame in it.

    your call but personally for me, I wouldn't be caught dead drinking the stuff
    But....but....I feel too alive for this to be event remotely true.

    In fact, it's bull.

    However, I'm glad that you found the cause of your migraines.
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,731 Member
    I am a big diet cola fan. I never drink soda, but when I do it's a coke zero. I only recently started getting on this kick of craving it (Because it's free at work). I was wondering if drinking too much diet soda's (well artificial sweeteners in general) will hinder my weight loss? I heard many mixed things about it, and I have well over 5 packets of equal a day for my 2-3 coffee's and 1-2 coke zeros.
    I'm going to tell you the truth.

    Everyone is different. Everyone responds differently to different chemicals. There may be absolutely no impact on you drinking a dozen cans of Coke Zero while for someone else there may be a big impact. The important thing to do is test it out and determine for yourself whether or not Coke Zero is having an impact on you. Not necessarily your metabolic rate, but the whole you.

    I, personally, cannot have aspartame or sucralose or AceK as there is a chemical reaction in my body that gives me headaches. The severity of the headache is an indication of how much of the artificial sweetener I have consumed. Other people can drink it with no side effects. For every (what did that one commenter call it?) "peer reviewed" article saying that there is no impact I can find a corresponding article that says artificial sweeteners do have an impact. It depends on what you are trying to measure and the people in the experiment.

    If you have a concern do a controlled experiment, try it yourself and make the right decision for you.

    Basic biochemistry is the same for all humans within a narrow range unless they have a medical issue which causes a different biochemical reaction. Our bodies do not work differently except for outliers with abnormalities.

    Marry me.

    I already have the most amazing and awesome boyfriend in the world, and plan to marry the everliving f*** out of him when the time is right.We'll be serving diet soda at our wedding reception. But I'm sure you're nice too!
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    Who knows.

    I'd also ask: is it good for me? Will it contribute to my long term health? Obviously not. Perhaps it's slightly better than regular sodas, but obviously water is better than soda.

    And, of course, many folks have a hard time with it. You're probably not one of those folks if you're still drinking it. But yes, it does cause migraines, joint pain etc. in some folks.

    If you're only worried about the number on the scale at this point, then it's probably not going to negatively impact that. As with all things: it's a choice, and a decision we make as adults. You decide where it fits in your overall goals.
  • maidentl
    maidentl Posts: 3,203 Member
    I'm entitled to my opinion and beliefs and you're entitled to yours,

    My 2 cents

    You're entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts.
  • stevencloser
    stevencloser Posts: 8,911 Member
    Many , way too many times in the past, I drank a 12 pack of canned diet colas in a day. I always thought it helped..but def not good for you otherwise. Diet Rite Cola...:heart: ... has NO sodium..so won't cause water gain. :smile:

    but all sodas, diet or regular, don't contain more sodium than most foods.

    Examples
    Pepsi max - 14 mg per 100ml
    Unsweetened blackcurrant juice - 10 mg per 100 ml
    Low fat milk - 47 mg per 100 ml
    Thousand island dressing - 950 mg per 100 ml
    Honey - 15 mg per 100 ml

    Now I realize these amounts will differ between brands but that is just random selection - the brands that happened to be in my house tonight.
    But you can see sodium in diet soda is not huge, compared to other common liquids - for ease of comparison I used all liquids as all are per 100 ml.

    If you don't want to drink soda - don't. But the sodium content is really not an issue.
    Don't forget the best:
    plain bottled water: 10 mg per 100 ml.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    Many , way too many times in the past, I drank a 12 pack of canned diet colas in a day. I always thought it helped..but def not good for you otherwise. Diet Rite Cola...:heart: ... has NO sodium..so won't cause water gain. :smile:

    but all sodas, diet or regular, don't contain more sodium than most foods.

    Examples
    Pepsi max - 14 mg per 100ml
    Unsweetened blackcurrant juice - 10 mg per 100 ml
    Low fat milk - 47 mg per 100 ml
    Thousand island dressing - 950 mg per 100 ml
    Honey - 15 mg per 100 ml

    Now I realize these amounts will differ between brands but that is just random selection - the brands that happened to be in my house tonight.
    But you can see sodium in diet soda is not huge, compared to other common liquids - for ease of comparison I used all liquids as all are per 100 ml.

    If you don't want to drink soda - don't. But the sodium content is really not an issue.

    I will add one more to your list.

    Tap water - 9mg per 100ml

    Yeah, soda has about as much sodium in it as tap water. This is probably because they use tap water.
  • Lizabelle1212
    Lizabelle1212 Posts: 252 Member
    Everything in moderation. :flowerforyou:
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    I am a big diet cola fan. I never drink soda, but when I do it's a coke zero. I only recently started getting on this kick of craving it (Because it's free at work). I was wondering if drinking too much diet soda's (well artificial sweeteners in general) will hinder my weight loss? I heard many mixed things about it, and I have well over 5 packets of equal a day for my 2-3 coffee's and 1-2 coke zeros.

    Aspartame should be illegal. Aspartame is turned into a compound that is used to help preserve bodies for the funneral. And when you drink aspartame your body converts aspartame into the compound. You're drinking poison when it comes to aspartame. I stopped getting these awful migraines when I stopped drinking anything with aspartame in it.

    your call but personally for me, I wouldn't be caught dead drinking the stuff

    Hi Falcon.

    To address your concerns related to "the compound that is used to help preserve bodies for the funeral" you are refering to formaldyhyde.

    Aspartame is a methylated dipeptide and its structure is as follows:

    aspartame.gif

    Metabolic breakdown forms two amino acids (same as you would get from any protein source) and methanol. Methanol is further metabolized within the body by catalytic oxidation to form formaldyhyde (alternative name is methanal) which is the compound to which you refer.

    At this point this is further converted into internet-angst and furor about the presense of formaldyhyde which is scary sounding and present in bad stuff. This reaction however is unwarranted and lacks two critical questions which need to be answered, ie "how much formaldyhyde" and "is that amount found in any other foods".

    So the answer is as follows. The metabolic breakdown of methanol is 10% by weight methanol and given a can of soda has 180mg of aspartame that means a can has 18mg of methanol. This is far far FAR below the LD50 of methanol (meaning its non-toxic). In addition any fermentable food (which included fruit) has methanol in it and actually considerably more methanol. That means an apple or an orange has more methanol than a can of soda (and therefore more formadyhyde) and if you do something like drink orange juice then you get far FAR more than a can of soda. In addition any fruit in the process of fermenting (like raisins) has even more and if you go as far as to eat an actual fermented product (like cheese or yogurt or alcohol) the dose is huge relative to a can of soda. Now that comes with the caveat that all of these doses are tiny and insignificant and not harmful by any measure. If, however, you claim that the reason diet soda is "poison" is because of formaldyhyde then you are also saying that fruit is poison. If the presence of formaldhyde concerns you what do you think about the presence of arsenic in apples and the presence of cyanide in almonds? Would that make you immediately refer to apples and almonds as poison or would you take the next logical step and ask "how much arsenic?" and "how much cyanide?"

    In terms of your allergic reaction for the sake of discussion I will just accept your anecdote that aspartame makes you pass out. This doesn't make it a poison. This doesn't mean it should be illegal. As has been pointed out many many people have an allergic reaction to peanuts so severe that it results in death unless immediately treated. Yet we don't consider peanuts a poison and they are not illegal. Why is that? That would be your answer there.

    Your statement is logically flawed, hyperbolic and completely ignores what the OP was actually asking. The OP is a young woman who "enjoys" diet soda. If she enjoys it chances are she doesn't have a negative reaction to it so we can ignore that. The formaldyhyde thing is irrelevant as you get much more of that from many other foods including fruits which I assume you would not be passionately telling her to avoid. You rather irresponsibly put out misinformation and fear mongering in order to try to persuade the OP that it was vital for her to avoid something. If you want to avoid it fine, if it makes you sick then yeah don't drink it. That doesn't excuse this reaction or this behavior. When someone asks if something is safe and you say that it is poison when it isn't then yeah that is wrong and you should probably either apologize or substantiate your claim that it is poison.
  • ElliottTN
    ElliottTN Posts: 1,614 Member
    My jaw has hit the ground and stayed there as I read more and more post about people drinking a 12 pack a day. Even more than two or three a day?

    How do you people still have teeth or make it through a day without passing a kidney stone? Just ....whatthehell? That's like over 500 mg of caffeine a day. Mind blown.