Diet Soda?

knielsen85

At the top of my icky list is ASPARTAME! a little fact about this product it was put in front of the FDA 8 times before it was approved, and with the approval is accusations of "manipulated" tests and results.


A list of just a few of the recognized symptoms are memory loss, migraines, joint pain, nerve damage, and weight gain. This is a 1 million dollar business and they dont care about your health.

NutraSweet and Equal contain aspartame ! Splenda contains small amount of heavy metals, and arsenic. Dont be fooled by fancy advertising showing happy fit people, happy fit people dont put arsenic in there bodies.

If you need your tea to be sweet, or your making a batch of cookies, my suggestion are to use natural healthy sweeteners. They are; agave nectar, stevia, evaporated cane juice, brown rice syrup, beet sugar, and raw sugar.



remember to always read the ingredients, I went to buy a multi-vitamin the other day and guess what one of the ingredients was, ASPARTAME! they sneak it in everywhere.

armaretta

I know they still aren't good for you and I also know if I had nothing but diet soda all day I wouldn't lose weight.. but why?

If you had NOTHING but diet soda all day, you'd lose plenty of weight, but you'd eventually collapse too. All things in moderation. A diet soda here or there won't kill you, but I'd recommend water first and foremost. There are many many artificial additives in all sodas, not just diet sodas. One diet soda isn't a big deal. 10 diet sodas might be on the wrong side of excessive. All processed food has its downfalls.

LFern

I drank Mt. Dew, then Diet Mt. Dew for 30 years. . . for the past 21 years it was on a daily basis - I ached, had headaches, mood swings. & heart burn. The Dr. told me 1 or 2 cans was not a bad thing for me - I was up to 3 or 4 before noon and before that I would actually drink as much as 8 cans a day....

4 months ago I quit. I just decided that I was sick of being bloated all the time & having so much heart burn. I now drink 2 quarts of water by noon. 1 cup of coffee (with a scoop of slim fast powder in it for sweetener) in the a.m. and I find myself not craving the soda at all.

As a matter of fact my cravings have cut down a LOT in EVERY area! I don't crave salty snacks or the sweet ones. (unless it's that time of the month - but even then, it has really lessened from what it was)

I feel better. No more headaches. No more bloated feeling. I still get the heart burn from the water which I think is weird, but I know it has to be a LOT healthier for me in the long run. I will be hitting the big 5 0 this year and I hope to take better care of myself the second 1/2 of my life on this earth than I have the 1st half.

Well there is my take on the subject - I wish you well on your path to a healthier you

roseemb

I love Diet Coke myself, but I do get nervous about ingesting too much artificial sweetener, whether it be aspartame or whatever. I try to limit myself to one per day, and I don't keep it in my home so that I'm not tempted to over do it. I also find that if its too avaialble, I won't drink as much water as I should. So, in order to keep up with my water intake, I limit the soda.

larsofrock99

I had a crippling diet coke addiction as well which turned into artificial sweeteners. It is the biggest regret i think i have. If you've read Jillian Michael's "Master Your Metabolism" she also kicked the addiction. Any kind of artificial sweetener will slow your metabolism and make weight loss extremely hard -- as well a wreak havoc on your appetite. Your body gets the sweet taste but without any of the nutrients or calories that normally accompany it -- so it craves more food. And when you finally do go back onto sugar it stores it as fat because you've taught your body that sweet doesn't mean anything when it comes to calories.

Terrible. I've completely stopped ALL "non-calorie" sweeteners to shed my regained 10-15 pounds. I hope this time it will stick.

grinch031

Despite the controversy surrounding diet soda, I have never felt any ill effect from drinking it nor met anyone else in person who did. It seems to be a completely irrelevant variable as it pertains to my eating or my overall health (at least in the short term). However I think its possible that some people could have intolerance to it, as I've seen a few negative testimonies on dieting forums about it. I'd say use it at your own discretion and let your body decide until better studies come out.

jennalink807

If you're a soda lover, try making your own. Alton Brown has a recipe for Ginger Ale that has ~85 calories per 8oz glass. Here's the link: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/ginger-ale-recipe/index.html

Still a lot of sugar, but at least theres not a ton of chemicals in there

thepetiterunner

I gave up diet soda totally because it's still bad for you (too much of that fake sugar stuff and it still makes you crave sugar), and I also found I tended to want to eat unhealthy snack foods with it. It's just an association I can't seem to break (blame it on years and years of eating badly and vending machines).

I gave it up and now I can't really stand how sugary diet or regular sodas are. There are plenty of better options if you're inclined

xsmilexforxmex

Thanks for the imput everyone I think I may try to cut back as before I was only having 1-2 regular sodas a week and now I have 1-2 diet a day bc the lack of calories.. I would love to cut out soda completely but truth is I end up filling the void with juices or something, which while most are healthier, many are high calorie..

tigersword

At the top of my icky list is ASPARTAME! a little fact about this product it was put in front of the FDA 8 times before it was approved, and with the approval is accusations of "manipulated" tests and results.


A list of just a few of the recognized symptoms are memory loss, migraines, joint pain, nerve damage, and weight gain. This is a 1 million dollar business and they dont care about your health.

NutraSweet and Equal contain aspartame ! Splenda contains small amount of heavy metals, and arsenic. Dont be fooled by fancy advertising showing happy fit people, happy fit people dont put arsenic in there bodies.

If you need your tea to be sweet, or your making a batch of cookies, my suggestion are to use natural healthy sweeteners. They are; agave nectar, stevia, evaporated cane juice, brown rice syrup, beet sugar, and raw sugar.



remember to always read the ingredients, I went to buy a multi-vitamin the other day and guess what one of the ingredients was, ASPARTAME! they sneak it in everywhere.

Do you eat fruit? Because if you do, you're putting arsenic in your body. It's a naturally occurring compound in fruits. Also, your body essentially makes aspartame, aspartate is an amino acid that the body makes every day. And phenylalanine is the other half of aspartame, and happens to be an essential amino acid that your body needs.

carrie1013

I could probably drink diet pepsi all day long, but I limit myself to 1 a day. That is huge progress for me

mmsexybetty

I'm a Diet Pepsi addict. If you feel that you need it, I would suggest limiting yourself to one a day. Nothing about soda is good for you, but some of us need a little taste to get rid of the cravings.

jennalink807

At the top of my icky list is ASPARTAME! a little fact about this product it was put in front of the FDA 8 times before it was approved, and with the approval is accusations of "manipulated" tests and results.


A list of just a few of the recognized symptoms are memory loss, migraines, joint pain, nerve damage, and weight gain. This is a 1 million dollar business and they dont care about your health.

NutraSweet and Equal contain aspartame ! Splenda contains small amount of heavy metals, and arsenic. Dont be fooled by fancy advertising showing happy fit people, happy fit people dont put arsenic in there bodies.

If you need your tea to be sweet, or your making a batch of cookies, my suggestion are to use natural healthy sweeteners. They are; agave nectar, stevia, evaporated cane juice, brown rice syrup, beet sugar, and raw sugar.



remember to always read the ingredients, I went to buy a multi-vitamin the other day and guess what one of the ingredients was, ASPARTAME! they sneak it in everywhere.

Do you eat fruit? Because if you do, you're putting arsenic in your body. It's a naturally occurring compound in fruits. Also, your body essentially makes aspartame, aspartate is an amino acid that the body makes every day. And phenylalanine is the other half of aspartame, and happens to be an essential amino acid that your body needs.

That is true, but overdosing on Aspartame can have a bad effect on your health if you are genetically predisposed to certain things- like Thyroid conditions. My mother has graves disease, and her trigger was aspartame, so I avoid it like the plague! You just have to make sure you know what it has the potential to do to you personally. Just like some people can't handle gluten... doesn't mean no one should ever eat it, you just have to be self-aware. Basically... if thyroid issues run in your family, I would avoid diet sodas

littlelily613

I VERY rarely drink any pop at all because I can see that when I was addicted last year really badly to it, It actually thinned out my teeth from the acid. When I do have the occasional pop, if I have the calories for it, I MUCH prefer the sugar pop and only rarely take the diet version. This is because my doctor said if you are going to indulge in a pop on the RARE occasion, it is much healthier to have the regular kind than the one with artificial sweetners which are really bad for you (moreso than sugar).

mack1238

I was a 12 pack/day diet coke drinker up until 2 months ago. I went cold turkey and now drink about a gallon and a half of water every day and have never felt better. I used to get extremely tired mid afternoon and now I have twice the energy. On top of that, my sleep patterns have improved greatly. My case is pretty extreme but just shows that if you want to cut it out, you can definitely do it. On a side note, I used to drink 2 or 3 beers before bed to help me sleep better (cut that out too)

rainbowbow

I was hooked on Coke Zero, I seriously think it is addicting, because I still crave it. Six months ago I got unexplained shortness of breath, and all heart/lung tests were negative. Then I learned that aspartame can cause exactly that. I cut out all artificial sweeteners that day -- except for a dash of no-sugar syrup in my one cup of coffee Google "Aspartame Sickness" -- it certainly put me off drinking any diet soda ever again. Not that it made a difference in my weight -- although I've read some people immediately drop pounds when they quit. But I FEEL so much better!

Can I just point out coke zero doesn't use aspartame so your argument is invalid. It is sweetened with sucralose... I have absolutely no problem drinking it in moderation. At all. It will not hinder your weight loss.

HMonsterX

I had a crippling diet coke addiction as well which turned into artificial sweeteners. It is the biggest regret i think i have. If you've read Jillian Michael's "Master Your Metabolism" she also kicked the addiction. Any kind of artificial sweetener will slow your metabolism and make weight loss extremely hard -- as well a wreak havoc on your appetite. Your body gets the sweet taste but without any of the nutrients or calories that normally accompany it -- so it craves more food. And when you finally do go back onto sugar it stores it as fat because you've taught your body that sweet doesn't mean anything when it comes to calories.

Terrible. I've completely stopped ALL "non-calorie" sweeteners to shed my regained 10-15 pounds. I hope this time it will stick.

Funny that, how when i switched to sweeteners it made the weight lose very easy. How about you actually do some proper research and not quote Jillian, who is as big a sell out as it gets.

So much scaremongering around Diet Coke, its laughable.

In 1984, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reviewed 517 of these anecdotal reports and stated, "the majority of frequently reported symptoms were mild and are symptoms that are common in the general populace" and that “focused” clinical studies would be the best way to evaluate these complaints.

As a result, numerous scientific studies “focused” on the allegations were conducted by expert researchers at major academic institutions. The results of these studies overwhelmingly demonstrated that aspartame is not associated with adverse health effects, including headaches, seizures, changes in mood, cognition, or behavior, or allergic reactions.

Despite the overwhelming documentation of aspartame’s safety, unfounded allegations that aspartame is associated with a myriad of ailments, including multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and lupus, have continued to be spread via the Internet and the media by a few individuals who have no documented scientific or medical expertise. Recently, several governments and expert scientific committees (including the Scientific Committee on Food of the European Commission, the United Kingdom’s Food Standards Agency, the French Food Safety Agency and Health Canada) carefully evaluated the Internet allegations and found them to be false, reconfirming the safety of aspartame. In addition, leading health authorities, such as the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, The National Multiple Sclerosis Society, The National Parkinson Foundation, Inc., the Alzheimer’s Association, and the Lupus Foundation of America, have reviewed the claims on the Internet and also concluded that they are false.

RonSwanson66

If you've read Jillian Michael's "Master Your Metabolism", you've succeeded in filling your mind with useless nonsense she made up -- with no basis in science

FYP

jennalink807

I was hooked on Coke Zero, I seriously think it is addicting, because I still crave it. Six months ago I got unexplained shortness of breath, and all heart/lung tests were negative. Then I learned that aspartame can cause exactly that. I cut out all artificial sweeteners that day -- except for a dash of no-sugar syrup in my one cup of coffee Google "Aspartame Sickness" -- it certainly put me off drinking any diet soda ever again. Not that it made a difference in my weight -- although I've read some people immediately drop pounds when they quit. But I FEEL so much better!

Can I just point out coke zero doesn't use aspartame so your argument is invalid. It is sweetened with sucralose... I have absolutely no problem drinking it in moderation. At all. It will not hinder your weight loss.

Actually it does.

http://productnutrition.thecoca-colacompany.com/products/coca-cola-zero#ingredients

Copy/pasted below. Not saying you should stop drinking it- not everyone is adversely affected by aspartame, but some people are. This is from the coca-cola company.

Diet Coke with Splenda is sweetened with sucaralose (Splenda) though



COKE ZERO

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 8 fl oz (240 mL)
Servings Per Container 5

Amount Per Serving
Calories 0

% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g 0%
Sodium 30mg 1%
Total Carbohydrate 0g 0%
Protein 0g


Not a significant source of calories from fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, dietary fiber, sugars, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium and iron.


*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Carbonated Water,
Caramel Color,
Phosphoric Acid,
Aspartame,
Potassium Benzoate (to protect taste),
Natural Flavors,
Potassium Citrate,
Acesulfame Potassium,
Caffeine

PHENYLKETONURICS: CONTAINS PHENYLALANINE Caffeine Content: 23 mg/8 fl oz

ambut

I take the middle road when it comes to diet soda. I used to drink at least 2 full-calorie sodas a day, if not more. At my worst, I was drinking about 2 liters a day, which was hundreds of calories. I also found that I craved sugary things basically all the time, regardless of my hunger level or sugar intake.

I have been drinking Pepsi One almost exclusively for about 5 months now. It's sweetened with Splenda (sucralose) rather than aspartame, so I find the taste to be far more acceptable than regular diet sodas. I crave sugar less and I find that sweet things now taste even sweeter to me...I think I had dulled my senses with all the HFCS in soda, but now I eat something like pineapple and I think "holy crap that's sweet!" I still eat sugary things sometimes and have the occasional full-cal soda when I can "afford" it, but that stuff doesn't make up a big portion of my diet. In general, my health and wellbeing with Splenda has been leaps and bounds better than my life with full-calorie soda. Not that it's the only reason, but I've also lost 30 lbs, so that's something.

On the other side of the fence, there are issues to consider. Anything with caffeine should be used with caution. I am definitely caffeine-addicted, but I'm trying to take my health one step at a time, and it's not my most pressing issue right now. People who drink a 2-liter of Diet Coke before lunch may not be taking in calories but that's a helluva lot of caffeine. Also, some people are very sensitive to aspartame, which is used to sweeten almost all diet sodas as well as "sugar-free" things. As you've read here, it can cause headaches and other problems in some people. I haven't really had this problem but I also don't ingest it regularly. I have a friend who cannot have any aspartame or her body freaks out, but she is also prone to migraines and other issues. Basically, it's like any food or drug - be sure you know how your body reacts to it before you put a lot of it in your stomach.

I can't stand hearing people, over and over again, say that they don't know what's in diet soda...IT COULD BE ANYTHING!1!!1!1!! FFS people, read the label and Google the ingredients. Ignorance is not a reason to be afraid and then start fearmongering on message boards. Yes, there are "chemicals" in diet soda. There are chemicals in everything. The word chemical refers to matter that has a constant chemical composition and characteristics. Which means that water is a chemical. Sugar (even pure sugar) is a chemical. Your blood is a chemical. That word is meaningless. I think that people say "chemical" to mean something not natural, something made in a lab. At this point in Western society, that's almost as meaningless as saying "chemical". Most of our food has preservatives to keep it fresh longer, artificial hormones from animal products, and even genetically-engineered ingredients like corn and wheat. All of those things are made in a lab, but we eat them every day. Just like with aspartame, some people are sensitive to them. It doesn't mean they are poisonous.

That being said, you should know what's in anything that you're putting in your body, whether it's a salad or a burger or that can of Diet Coke from the corner store. If diet soda makes you feel crappy, stop drinking it. If you think you might be addicted (whether to the beverage or the caffeine or the habit itself), then deal with that addiction. It's an individual thing; do a cost/benefit analysis. For me, diet soda has been absolutely indispensable for my weight loss and sanity. I have had no ill effects so far, other than the perpetuation of my caffeine addiction, but it's no worse than when I was on full calorie soda. I'm happy I found one that tasted good to me, and I will continue drinking it until I have a reason not to. For now, I'm doing what works for me, which I would suggest is good advice in general ;-)