Diet Soda

ebaymommy

I love diet soda. I've tried to get off of it and found that I overate when I was off of it. I don't drink at all. I don't smoke. If diet soda is the only "bad" thing I do, then so be it. It helps keep me full and helps me with my sweet tooth as well.

Amen to that! I drink 1 can a day. Love it, have no plans to give it up. I eat really well, drink water by the buckets full, work my *kitten* off in the gym and darn it, I need a piece of dark chocolate and a diet mt. dew for sanity and indulgence reasons.

MaximalLife

Hi There,
I'm sure its been posted a trillion times... I couldn't find it in the forum? And I'm new so not really sure where to look.

Why is Diet Soda so bad? I saw someone posted it can slow your weight loss down, why is this?

I only drink it and water (and the occasional glass of white wine).

Is it really worse then coffee?

I don't drink diet soda or any soda, because though tasting good, I do not trust these companies and all the chemicals and addictive substances they lace these products with. At least I know what's in the coffee I brew but prefer just water with a twist of lemon.

By Summer, I want to be completely free of caffeine.

LadyCABMS

I don't know about the health effects, but it just taste so bad I'd rather have water. I have found that most fruit juices also contain more sugar than most regular sodas...bummer Im an oceanspray addict! I just find my one vise and compensate by reducing portion size or not eating somethin else. I hate diet soda and most diet foods at all. Who can't tell the difference in real cane sugar and arty sweetners? If anyone has any tips let me know...please!

Thanks

bejuled74

I drink Coke Zero and I have cut back a LOT. I have it occaisionally. I have heard a list of reasons why it's bad for you...artificial sweeteners are bad, carbonation is bad, it's sweet so it makes you crave sweet foods, there is no nutritional value....but there is one thing that has really stuck with me and it's why I cut back drastically on my intake. I have a friend that worked for a coke distributer who will not touch the stuff. He said he's seen it eat through stainless steel machinery. Of course not from just a little spill but from a prolonged leak in a box for a fountain drink machine...but it makes me wonder what's going on inside my body after drinking it for years and years if it can eat through metal. I used to drink regular soda for a long time and I was having digestive issues...so I stopped and my problems did get better. Fortunately I haven't had the same issues with Coke Zero.

swiftfox82

i have found that it contains nothing good for you so why drink it? It's more addicting than regular soda and everything in it is fake. Drinking water is much better. In the long run drinking diet soda will not help you lose wieght, it will hinder weight loss according to http://www.naturalnews.com/033110_diet_soda_weight_gain.html do your own research instead of asking for peoples opinions. There is a lot of debate on this subject ...from personal experience I will have to say the soda hinders health and weight loss.

I highly recommend going to that site for all the cons associated with artificial sweeteners in diet soda!

I happen to think it's way gross I haven't had it for years and years and if I take a sip of it now it's repulsive! There are enough bad things put into our food and produce these days that are toxic why would anyone make their body (especially the liver) work harder to remove these toxins?

CheleLynn44

If I could handle the yucky aftertaste I would definitely have one a day. But unfortunately I find the aftertaste yucky!! :sad:

I am a firm believer in anything in moderation. Especially when we are trying to make lifelong lifestyle changes!! Have to be able to do it forever, not just a few months till we lose the weight!!
:flowerforyou:

adkatie

Count me in for the "it's my guilty pleasure" club. It's my one thing I allow myself as much as I want. I could probably have less of it, but I cling to this one "indulgence". I drink lots of water too. I make sure of that.

shariTN

Diet soda is BAD for you. But I still drink it (embarrassed face). I am a pretty healthy eater, but Coke Zero is my weakness and it actually helps me stick to my diet at times. I have gone off of it for a while but then always decide to have that ONE. Which of course turns into more. Anyway, you really shouldn't drink them, but I don't necessarily think they inhibit weight loss in of themselves.

ericabrothers

I tend to agree. If cokes are the only bad thing that I do (I'm from the South US so everything to us is coke) then I'm doing pretty good. I've never smoked, don't drink often enough for it to count, don't do any recreational drugs so I think a coke or 2 a days is fine. You can take everything to the extreme. I work in health care and I don't wash my hands near as much as I prob should. If I go from a sick child to a well child of course I wash my hands but overall I should prob wash them more. On the flip side I almost NEVER get sick. I honestly can't remember the last time I've called out sick and I"ve been a nurse for over 5 years. So everything in moderation is fine as far as I'm concerned.

drmerc

Diet soda is BAD for you. But I still drink it (embarrassed face). I am a pretty healthy eater, but Coke Zero is my weakness and it actually helps me stick to my diet at times. I have gone off of it for a while but then always decide to have that ONE. Which of course turns into more. Anyway, you really shouldn't drink them, but I don't necessarily think they inhibit weight loss in of themselves.

Why is it bad?

silvercat64

I guess I'd have to side with the "bad for you" crowd. Drinks that contain aspartame don't sit well in my stomach; it's not quite nausea, but it just feels wrong. The only thing that relieves it is EATING something... so why not just have a small cup of full-calorie soda, enjoy it more, and skip the discomfort? :laugh:

To each their own, of course.

ShrinkyDinkie

I used to hate diet soda. But once I stopped drinking regular soda I find that Diet Soda (especially diet cherry dr pepper) is the greatest thing on earth. LOL. I hardly have it still maybe once or twice a week. But it is such a treat when I do have it.

nys2

I love diet soda. I've tried to get off of it and found that I overate when I was off of it. I don't drink at all. I don't smoke. If diet soda is the only "bad" thing I do, then so be it. It helps keep me full and helps me with my sweet tooth as well.

Ditto.

jazzalea

chemo therapy on it's own is BAD for you ........ but if it helps cure the cancer then it's a necessary evil.......

diet coke keeps me drinking fluids, satisfies my cravings and like everything else I put in my mouth I've learned to drink it in moderation.... how can something that has been a core part of my weight loss be a bad thing?

Jogging can be bad for your knees.... no one complains about me losing weight by suffering and being miserable and hurting myself every day in a way that beats me down and defeats me....yet let me try to use and enjoy a weight loss tool that has shown little or no real actual proof of being any more dangerous than dozens of others despite having been on the market and consumed by millions daily for over 30 years and they are all over me about how dangerous it is!.... I think they just want us all to have to pay for our sins and drinking diet coke is somehow cheating.... pbbbbbbttttttttttt to all of them

p.s. I love it when My husband calls it diet cancer while he's sitting there with a cigarette in his hand

Carolyn_79

I used to drink 3 can of regular pop a day. Then I switched to diet pop. Now I drink water all day at work and have 1 can of diet pop at night to satisfy my sweet tooth. This helps me because if I didn't have the can of diet pop I would be fantasizing about candy and would probably go get some. Maybe someday I'll give up my 1 can of diet pop but it won't be anytime soon. Instead I focus on the positive changes I have made. 1 can of diet pop and way better than 3 cans of regular.

Kelly50054

Drinking diet soda does cause diabetes, a long with many other health problems. Please research it. You will be amazed.
I drink nothing but purified water and I used to be very addicted to Pepsi. I have not had any in the house since last June.

HendersonDavid

I enjoy diet cranberry soda when I make late night protein shakes. Calorie free, sugar free, just has sodium.

feb06momma

I can survive without a lot of things but not my diet Crack, er, Coke! I am trying to get better about drinking more water and less of the diet Coke, but like many have already said...its my one bad habit, I don't smoke, drink, etc. Plus, I have tried to give it up and I am a crabby mean lady without the diet Coke in my veins!! :laugh:

drmerc

Drinking diet soda does cause diabetes, a long with many other health problems. Please research it. You will be amazed.
I drink nothing but purified water and I used to be very addicted to Pepsi. I have not had any in the house since last June.

lol how can diet soda cause diabetes? Please provide me with a source

Captain_Tightpants

Diet Soda is actually part of my weight loss strategy. I find it fills me up for a while because of the carbonation and stops me from reaching for much higher calorie treats.

I'm drinking a can of Roundy's Diet Lemon and Lime right now and here's what's in it:

Carbonated Water
Sodium 5mg
Citric Acid
"Natural Flavors"
Potassium Benzoate (preservative)
Potassium citrate
Sucralose (splenda brand sweetener)
Acesulfame potassium (sunett brand sweetener)

Obviously not as good for you as a glass of water... but hey, that tiny amount of sodium isn't going to do jack (especially when compared with, say, the 800+mg of sodium you'll find in popular "healthy" soups). Citric Acid is natural, carbonated water has been shown to be virtually identical to still water in terms of nutrient content. I haven't heard much bad about Potassium citrate either.

So it's those last wildcards you'd need to worry about: Potassium Benzoate is a potential carcinogen but only in quantities vastly higher than you'd find in a can of pop. Splenda and Sunett sweeteners - again there's debate as to the safety but no reason to suspect they do great harm in small quantities.

"Natural flavors" - who the heck knows what that is... probably some mix of cyanide, arsenic and dog poop...

The thing to take away is that there's a million "scare" afficiandos for just about every foodstuff out there. But as long as you're drinking diet soda in moderation and not chugging back ree-donculous amounts, chances are something else is gonna get you long before the ill effects of that do.

Niki130

I stopped drinking all carbonated beverages because I feel like they make me bloat. There is a lot of research done on if diet pop is bad for you. To me things that seem too good to be true...really are too good to be true. I think if you are going to drink a pop... drink a real one! Fake sugar in my opinion is bad, due to the research I have read. They are coming out with so many different studies it is hard to know who to believe. The fake sugar in diet pop apparently makes you feel MORE hungry. Read this one I really like....

http://www.everydayhealth.com/weight/is-diet-soda-making-you-gain-weight.aspx

KareninCanada

The reason diet soda is bad... besides it being a mess of man-made chemicals and artificial sweeteners... is that it is sweet, but has no calories. The sweetness primes your body for calories, then it doesn't get them, so it makes you more prone to overeat.

lol are you trolling?

No... are you?

http://news.menshealth.com/the-truth-about-diet-soda/2011/07/07/
“Some studies suggest that when our taste buds sense sweetness, the body expects a calorie load to accompany it. When that doesn’t happen, it may cause us to overeat because we crave the energy rush our body was expecting,” - Cheryl Forberg R.D. (She's the original nutritionist for The Biggest Loser, a professional chef and a Registere Dietitian)

If you want to know where the study is... Sharon Fowler, Purdue University, co-authored a study on the subject that found (a) people tend to eat more calories because the diet drink made them feel they could justify it, and also found a possibility of a physiological connection... "In rodent studies, researchers have observed artificial sweeteners stimulating cells in the pancreas to change insulin secretion, altering the pH in the gut, and affecting hunger-regulating cells in the brain. "

It's certainly not an iron-clad guarantee that drinking a diet Coke will make you fat - it's just some cautionary information that people might want to be aware of. Because after all, "Knowing is half the battle!"

I have lost 293 lbs. drinking 2-3 24 oz. bottles of Diet Pepsi a day... I still get my water intake in too but I am not stopping anytime soon.... It is the one thing from the beginning I said I would not give up......

Anyone who's lost 293 pounds deserves to keep whatever makes them happy. Incredible - great job!!!

drmerc

No where does it say the body gets primed for calories, its said RATS ate more who had artificial sweeteners
A) I'm not a rat
I think we all here watch our food intake

rjmwx81

If you want to know where the study is... Sharon Fowler, Purdue University, co-authored a study on the subject that found (a) people tend to eat more calories because the diet drink made them feel they could justify it

I've seen plenty of people who pig out on fast food after a workout because they think they can justify it. So by this logic, exercise = fat gain.

Mama2HnC

Diet foods aren't that great for you regardless... BUT, when you're loosing weight and want a guilty pleasure, it's low in calories and a lot better than drinking a can of regular pop, or grabbing a cheeseburger.
I rarely ever drink it..but if I'm REALLY craving something carbonated, I'll grab a diet pepsi.

For the past month I've just been steering clear of anything diet related, and just eating clean... I find it's so much healthier. people weren't meant to eat diet foods, packed with chemicals, they were meant to eat whole grains, eggs, lean meats, fruits, veggies, etc!

Oh, and I HAVE to have a daily coffee.. I've two kids under two that get up all night long... so, I guess that's my guilty pleasure.. but there are a ton of studies that show that 1-2 cups of coffee a day is actually good for brain growth and organs.

All in moderation!