diet coke... the enemy???

tmbish82

so i love diet coke and in the past i have had alot of it during any given week... i'm talking like sonic size route 44 almost everyday!!! :embarassed: so now that i am really trying to get healthy and watch what and how i eat i am wondering about the diet coke. for the past two weeks that i have really been focusing on weight loss and using this site i have cut back on the diet coke to maybe two 20oz bottles last week (shared with my fiancee who takes big gulps ) so my question... is having diet coke that big of a deal? i know it doesn't have all of that sugar that regular cokes have (i'm from the south ... for your yankees it would be soda? pop? :ohwell: ) i find that if i sip on one throughout the day it helps to supress my appetite but is it doing more harm than good? :huh:

tmbish82

so i love diet coke and in the past i have had alot of it during any given week... i'm talking like sonic size route 44 almost everyday!!! :embarassed: so now that i am really trying to get healthy and watch what and how i eat i am wondering about the diet coke. for the past two weeks that i have really been focusing on weight loss and using this site i have cut back on the diet coke to maybe two 20oz bottles last week (shared with my fiancee who takes big gulps ) so my question... is having diet coke that big of a deal? i know it doesn't have all of that sugar that regular cokes have (i'm from the south ... for your yankees it would be soda? pop? :ohwell: ) i find that if i sip on one throughout the day it helps to supress my appetite but is it doing more harm than good? :huh:

songbyrdsweet

There are tons of studies about the effects of artificial sweetener possibly increasing caloric intake. My opinion is that, since we aren't lab rats, we're capable of complex thinking, and we can control what and how much we eat.

The thing that people SHOULD be concerned about i.m.o., is the fact that the phosphates in all sodas contribute to bone loss. As a Caucasian female, your chances of osteoporosis are already increased, so you don't need any help breaking down your bone mass.

lisarae

I have at least one a day. I don't drink coffee or do much of anything else that is unhealthy. I eat very clean. If I want a diet soda, I'm having one.

cavanar2

I quit drinking caffeine in October after yrs. of drinking way too much pop. I still have a caffeine free can of pop once in a while. It was definitely easier to lose weight for me after I quit drinking so much pop. I don't really know why exactly---maybe just because my water intake increased drastically. It was not as hard as I thought it was going to be.

dragonfly81

I was the same with Dr Pepper and Diet Dr Pepper. I've cut down to half a diet dr pepper at lunch and half a reg or diet dr pepper with dinner. Eventually I will wean off of soda completely until I feel that I can have it in moderation without hurting myself (i.e. Caffeine withdrawal headaches.)

mommachag

There are tons of studies about the effects of artificial sweetener possibly increasing caloric intake. My opinion is that, since we aren't lab rats, we're capable of complex thinking, and we can control what and how much we eat.

The thing that people SHOULD be concerned about i.m.o., is the fact that the phosphates in all sodas contribute to bone loss. As a Caucasian female, your chances of osteoporosis are already increased, so you don't need any help breaking down your bone mass.

my mother in law says this all the time about bone loss and soda:happy:

Coach2010

From an earlier thread...

Just to add more specificity to the affects on at least one type of bone...Diet Soda or regular soda, both are no good for teeth:

http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/guide/helpful-hints-for-healthy-teeth
http://www1.umn.edu/umnnews/Columns/Health_Talk_and_You/Pop_and_Tooth_Decay.html

My dentist warned me about Diet Sodas a couple years ago, something about acid in the drink can create enamel problems.

Ever since that discussion with my dentist, I steer clear of them as often as possible just for that reason.

robsgal

I have at least one a day. I don't drink coffee or do much of anything else that is unhealthy. I eat very clean. If I want a diet soda, I'm having one.

ME TOO! I've heard all about it not being good for teeth etc...but right now it's my one pleasure of the day since i'm trying to avoid so many other temptations, I don't drink a case a day or anything, but if I want a can of diet coke i'm having one, up til a few years ago I was drinking regular coke so I'm o-kay with this and It it doesn't cause me to want to eat more.

Coach2010

Hey Robsgal... I hear you. When I'm reaching for a soda, I'm usually on a long road trip, pulling into a 7-11 for caffeine helper to get me through my drive.

To help minimize the enamel impact on your teeth, consider drinking water for clear the acidic nature from the enamel. Cheers!

Nich0le

EVERYTHING IN MODERATION!

I know all of us have heard this and a 44 oz anything is probably going overboard. Just because it says diet doesn't mean it is good for you or even better for you than anything else you might fill a 44 oz guzzler with (except water).

But, if you just have to have a soda everyday you should probably wean yourself to a normal portion of that soda.

And song is right about the bone thing, it goes for pretty much all carbonated and caffienated beverages we consume. :sad:

yellow_pepper

EVERYTHING IN MODERATION!

Amen to that. There's nothing wrong with having a can of diet coke every now and then, or even every day. Just take your calcium and rinse your teeth afterward.

auntkaren

I drink a lot of diet coke everyday, maybe 3 to 4 cans, but I can't stand the taste of water, and have tried going for the green tea, flavored packets to put in bottled water, but can't seem to get away from my soda. I didn't know about the bone loss, which may be why after drinking soda for so many years I have arthritis in nearly every part of my body and calcium build up on hip bones and degenerative disc disease. :frown:

Mangoaddict

diet drinks dont taste right..in my opinion, especially diet coke/pepsi. I drink the real thing but occasional sips every now and then.

yellow_pepper

diet drinks dont taste right..in my opinion, especially diet coke/pepsi. I drink the real thing but occasional sips every now and then.

It's all a matter of what you're used to. To me, drinking regular soda feels like someone poured glue into my mouth. So sticky!

greeneyedgirl

I have never liked pop but randomly had a diet coke last night with tons of ice and half way through I was extremely bloated and felt terrible.

robsgal

I'm great at drinking water so I'm pretty sure all that crud comes off my teeth, my teeth are really pretty white so I figure that's a good sign.

As for as not liking diet soda, well I drank coke everyday a few years ago, then I quit buying them to get off them, but when I was working early I still wanted some caffine and since I wasn't a coffee drinker I started grabbing DH's diet cokes, next thing you know I started accepting them. To be honest I still love Dr. Pepper or Coke floates, but because of the sugar I'm happy with my diet coke. Also I'm not a fan of tea, regular tea, iced tea, green tea so those teas never helped me, but the Crystal light lemonade's are awesome! Dh has been drinking a ton of it instead of reaching for a beer when he gets home at night, woooo hooooo! Whatever works to get rid of the beer belly.

yellow_pepper

The Crystal light lemonade's are awesome! Dh has been drinking a ton of it instead of reaching for a beer when he gets home at night, woooo hooooo! Whatever works to get rid of the beer belly.

If you like Crystal light, I recommend trying Special K2O in pink lemonade flavor. It has 5 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber, and it actually makes you feel full! All that in addition to satisfying the craving for something sweet and tart.

Each packet has 30 calories. The package recommends mixing with 16 oz of water but I mix with 32. Either way, it's not much more than Crystal Light. And like I said, it staves off hunger!

auntkaren

The Crystal light lemonade's are awesome! Dh has been drinking a ton of it instead of reaching for a beer when he gets home at night, woooo hooooo! Whatever works to get rid of the beer belly.

If you like Crystal light, I recommend trying Special K2O in pink lemonade flavor. It has 5 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber, and it actually makes you feel full! All that in addition to satisfying the craving for something sweet and tart.

Each packet has 30 calories. The package recommends mixing with 16 oz of water but I mix with 32. Either way, it's not much more than Crystal Light. And like I said, it staves off hunger!

How much is the sugar in Special K20? It sounds good.

yellow_pepper

How much is the sugar in Special K20? It sounds good.

There's no actual "sugar," but it's 1 net gram of carbs (6 total, but 5 are fiber) per packet. The sweeteners are sucralose and acesulfame potassium.