Diet drinks

kjones137

How do you feel about diet soft drinks? Do you think they drive hunger or are ok? I have been wondering this because I do drink alot of diet pop. I know water is better its just hard to get rid of the caffeine.

wittlemunchkinx

It has no nutritional benefits what so ever and dehydrates you :S!
BUT if it's so you don't add extra calories by drinking, and you hate the taste of water I guess it's fine.

I find that it fills me up because of the bubbles. i get quite bloated actually

Rowann

Personally, I don't have a problem with diet drinks, but I know a lot of people don't like the idea of the chemicals involved. As a compromise (to myself) I try to go for ones that don't have caffeine in, and just enjoy them.

Even if they're not as good as water (and little is going to be), they're better than a lot of the alternatives. If you can keep within your calorie limits, and don't feel they make you hungrier (they can have the opposite effect for me), then don't worry about them (in my opinion).

I don't naturally drink a lot. Indeed I can go three or four days not drinking anything, but getting moisture from what I eat, so for me the fact that I do, can and will drink diet soft drinks means that at least my body is getting some fluids.

blueelephant1212

diet drinks are actually worse for you than regular sodas because of the chemically produced sugar substitutes. the sucralose (splenda) chemical turns to formaldehyde in your body and btw... NOT GOOD lol.... if you want a soda, just go for the real stuff and go take a walk to get rid of the extra calories.

Sweet13_Princess

I know that diet drinks really aren't recommended if you're trying to lose weight. Because:

1) The carbonation causes your belly to bloat up, which masks any ab results you're getting from workouts.
2) They have no nutritional value whatsoever, so they really don't do anything to help you out.
3) Some of them have a boatload of sodium, which causes water retention and the scale doesn't budge as a result.
4) Recent studies in my fitness magazines discussed how sugar substitute messes with your hunger hormones. So, even though you feel like you stopped a soda craving, you've really only messed up your hormones for a craving of something else later.

Since I'm started MFP, I've tried to cut out soda as much as I can. Once in a while I'll have one as a treat when we go out to eat (diet), but I never keep it at home anymore.

Shannon

Bluediesel

I hear Diet Coke is horrible for you. I still love it! LOL! But try drinking Diet Rite. They have less sodium and 0 everything in them I think.

Egger29

diet drinks are actually worse for you than regular sodas because of the chemically produced sugar substitutes. the sucralose (splenda) chemical turns to formaldehyde in your body and btw... NOT GOOD lol.... if you want a soda, just go for the real stuff and go take a walk to get rid of the extra calories.

You'll see this reference in alot of forums that Diet Coke and such (Aspartame and Phenalanaline) break down into carcinogenic compounds such as Formaldehyde and Ethanol.

While this is true, it's also take out of context as the scare tactic marketing that is often found on the internet.

The main piece of info that's left out of this is that the formation of Formaldehyde and Ethanol is a natural byproduct of ALL digestion in the human body. In fact, one study has shown that a glass of Fresh Orange juice will produce 10 times the amount of these products than a can of Diet Coke. (I'll see if I can find the study reference). The quantities of these chemicals in the disgestive process are so miniscule however, they're not a factor in our everyday health.

I think you'd have to have something like 10,000 litres of diet soda per day for the digestive levels to reach any kind of danger zone...but this detail tends to be omitted from the scare tactic messages.

I love my diet coke, but I've made a personal choice to try and avoid any soft drinks as I'm attempting as much as possible to eat "all natural" and soft drinks don't fit into that category. But for those you have their cravings, anything in moderation is fine and the choice comes down to if you would rather take an artificial sweetener over the High Fructose Corn Syrup used in the non-diet options.

NoAdditives

Your brain interprets artificial sweeteners the same way it does regular sugars. The body releases insulin which causes the liver and kidneys to absorb sugar from your blood to burn as energy. This does two things: 1. It prevents the liver and kidneys from metabolizing body fat for energy, and 2. Because it pulls sugar from your blood without excess sugar being in the blood, it causes hypoglycemia which makes you eat or drink more to get your blood sugar back to normal levels. So artificial sweeteners, even the natural ones like Stevia, are counterproductive for weight loss. Plus, I did recently hear that aspartame tuns into cyanide once your body metabolizes it, which is not good for your body.

LilynEdensmom

I;m less bloated now that I stopped drinking them, and all sodas all together...For the caffeine fix I do drink coffee and take energy mints breath savers make them and 3 mints = 1 cup of coffee plus they taste good..and my weight started coming off much easier even though diet drinks don't contain calories.

chacaruso

As a nutritionist, I am strongly against drinking or eating anything with artificial sweeteners. NutraSweet, Splenda, Equal, etc....all the excitotoxins are some of the worst things you can put in your body. Watch the documentary "Sweet Misery" and you'll never drink an diet soda again.

Caperfae

Diet pop (soda / soft drinks) make me bloated so I avoid them. I'm not against them completely but I just prefer to be comfortable in my body and being boated is NOT comfortable, lol
I will on occasion have a diet orange crush, it's sweetened with Splenda, not Aspartame.
For me, personally, water and herbal teas are my beverages of choice (and the odd black coffee).

mymelody_78

Your brain interprets artificial sweeteners the same way it does regular sugars. The body releases insulin which causes the liver and kidneys to absorb sugar from your blood to burn as energy. This does two things: 1. It prevents the liver and kidneys from metabolizing body fat for energy, and 2. Because it pulls sugar from your blood without excess sugar being in the blood, it causes hypoglycemia which makes you eat or drink more to get your blood sugar back to normal levels. So artificial sweeteners, even the natural ones like Stevia, are counterproductive for weight loss. Plus, I did recently hear that aspartame tuns into cyanide once your body metabolizes it, which is not good for your body.

Good to know! Thanks

Delicate

I dont mind them with alchohol spirits, but other than that, i dont really like them, they make you burp, so unlady like! lol

TateFTW

How do you feel about diet soft drinks? Do you think they drive hunger or are ok? I have been wondering this because I do drink alot of diet pop. I know water is better its just hard to get rid of the caffeine.

Actually, caffiene is an appetite supressant.

karinschoultz

They are full of sodium( which we are reading more and more about how bad that is for you). I love drinking the cans of sparkling water called LaCroix. Comes in lemon, lime, berry or regular. No calories or sodium!

hpsnickers1

Earlier this year I came across an article about a recent study done on women. The women that drank 3 diet sodas a day had a 30% decline in kidney function. I don't like to go by one single study though.

Heard another story about a man who drove a tractor trailer. He kept 2-liter bottles of diet soda with him and would go through about a bottle a day. He suffered from convulsions and it was due to the amount of diet soda.

I don't condone the use but I don't condemn them either. I have aspartame in my Fiber One Original cereal - I eat that every other day to get the fiber benefits. I have packets on Splenda in my work drawer and at home. I use them on occasion. But I do my best to refrain from every day use.