Water - How essential? Diet soda bad?

dg09

Diet soda is extremely high in sodium. High salt intake = water retention. Water retention = added weight.

Extremely?

Most cans of diet soda have 40mg per can, that's absolutely nothing.

lizzzylou

as a used to be 200 lb girl I lost 50 pounds cutting out soda entirely from my life... I am now a50lbs and maintaining and have been soda free for 6 years... VERY important!!!!

So you cut out soda and kept your lifestyle exactly the same....except for soda?

Correlation doesn't imply causation...

Reinventing_Me

I once read that if you drink cold water, your body has to heat it up to use it, thus using calories to heat it up. Also drinking water helps your body to shed any water it is retaining from water retention due to salt intake. Personally for me, too much diet cola causes my hands to swell. I have to assume it probably causes the rest of my body to swell as well.

I concur!

tsh0ck

water=life. your body is made up of a lot of it, you lose it when you sweat among other things and it helps keep your organs functionally properly

coffee (black) is good

diet soda is not good for health but won't impede your weight loss progress.

well, yeah, you got water right. otherwise? coffee is good. lots of antioxidants. and it tastes good. but sugar and creamer are ok, if you are someone that likes that. and diet soda has no impact on health one way or the other for the vast majority of the population.

tsh0ck

Diet soda is extremely high in sodium. High salt intake = water retention. Water retention = added weight.

um ... no. it's not. don't just repeat wrong things just because you heard someone else say a wrong thing.

Reinventing_Me

Diet soda is extremely high in sodium. High salt intake = water retention. Water retention = added weight.

Extremely?

Most cans of diet soda have 40mg per can, that's absolutely nothing.

It's enough, though...especially for a drink. That on top of whatever other sodium one eats during the day can make a difference.

myfitnessnmhoy

:smokin: How important do you think water is for weight loss?
And do you think diet sodas or coffee slow weight loss?

Water is hugely important. It allows your body to metabolize food better, helps clear out toxins, and higher water intake leads to lower water retention in most people, meaning you'll get a quick bonus weight loss. Drinking a lot of water also leaves less room for other less healthy drinks.

And as to the diet soda issue, there's a lot of debate on the issue. Here's what I found was true for ME, your mileage may vary.

When I was a soda drinker, I had this expectation that everything I drank had to have a flavor, and the only acceptable flavor was "sweet". So I'd sweeten my coffee, drink water with sugary "flavor packs", etc. I'd also find that I constantly craved sweet foods.

Once I went through the painful process of giving up the "sweetness in all things", I found I was craving empty sugars a lot less. I started enjoying the actual flavor of black coffee rather than covering it up with sweet, and I started finding that plain water was satisfying in and of itself. This took a while, but helped me get my sugar intake under control, which in turn allowed me to eat more sustaining foods (fats and proteins), which led to less constant hunger, which led to better food decisions.

So, whatever you choose to believe about the possibly-scary, possibly-bunk claims of the dangers of artificial or engineered sweeteners, there is a psychological component for some people (myself included) that you may want to consider.

Coffee? Depends on how you drink it. Black coffee is basically calorie-free, and the caffeine is a stimulant so you get a little metabolism boost and a drop in appetite. It's also one of the safest stimulants out there because you tend to dose yourself with it very slowly. But if you start adding sugar to it, it can rapidly become an empty calorie delivery system.

tsh0ck

Diet soda is extremely high in sodium. High salt intake = water retention. Water retention = added weight.

Extremely?

Most cans of diet soda have 40mg per can, that's absolutely nothing.

It's enough, though...especially for a drink. That on top of whatever other sodium one eats during the day can make a difference.

you know that the 35mg of sodium (per 8 oz.) in a can of pepsi or coke -- yeah, even the regular version -- is a miniscule amount of what you are officially 'allowed' a day, right? actually, it's right about 1.5 percent of your 2,300. I think there's enough room left for the rest of the day there.

dg09

Diet soda is extremely high in sodium. High salt intake = water retention. Water retention = added weight.

Extremely?

Most cans of diet soda have 40mg per can, that's absolutely nothing.

It's enough, though...especially for a drink. That on top of whatever other sodium one eats during the day can make a difference.

It's 1-2 DV%, really... it's nothing.

antoniosmooth

Water is the best drink on earth and is vital for your weight loss. Coffee isn't bad however coffee is heavily dependent on what you put in it. There are quite a few research articles which solidify drinking BLACK coffee for muscle development and energy. The amount of table sugar and your choice of creamer can negate the positive effects of plain ole black coffee. Diet sodas are a different story alltogether. Obviously there is near to 0 impact of your daily calories, the issue is the chemicals, preservatives, and other "man made" ingredients your body doesn't need.

For Fitness continue to drink water, diet soda, and coffee with a small amount of sugar and a low fat creamer

For Fitness & Health drink water, NO DIET SODA, and coffee either black or at the very least sugar in the raw or other natural alternative and a low fat creamer if you desire.

samra2012

I drink about 2000 ml of water per day... how many glasses of water is that?? is too much water??:drinker:

madamepsychosis

A cup of water as it's put on here is 8oz. 2000ml = 70 ounces, which is about 8-9 cups. 8 cups of water is what is generally recommended, so no, you're just right I drink 2000ml of water a day too. A bit more if I'm exercising.

tsh0ck

Diet soda is extremely high in sodium. High salt intake = water retention. Water retention = added weight.

Extremely?

Most cans of diet soda have 40mg per can, that's absolutely nothing.

It's enough, though...especially for a drink. That on top of whatever other sodium one eats during the day can make a difference.

It's 1-2 DV%, really... it's nothing.

exactly. there is more sodium in a cup of carrots or spinach or even a half cup of celery.

samra2012

I drink about 2000 ml of water per day... how many glasses of water is that?? is too much water??:drinker:

Ok! thanks!!

Nerdy_Rose

The only time I drink diet soda is when there's liquor in it.

o_delaisse

I believe the whole thing is about hydration. People say you need x amount of fluid a day, and you can get that fluid from food, coffee, soda, etc. The point is you're hydrating yourself.

However, it's all about quality. Just as I can meet my hydration needs with diet soda and coffee, I can stay within my calorie goals by eating, say, 5 cookies. So I've met my goals, but the quality is dubious.

So really, I think it depends on how high you want the *quality* of your hydration

And I ain't lecturing you - I drink diet energy drinks and coffee, so don't think I'm being all holy! Just saying

waffleflavoredtea

I read somewhere that the artificial sweetner in Diet Soda actually makes you hungry. I haven't really drank soda since I was 11 years old so I can't say I know that to be true or false based on experience, but I have heard things about it contributing to weight gain.

I believe this theory fully. I don't think diet soda contributes to weight gain directly, but I believe that it messes with the chemical balance in your brain, as well as making you crave unhealthy things, and make you hungrier in general. I honestly love diet pop as a treat but since cutting out to basically only having it in social situations, I feel much better. I have been less bloated and am retaining less water as a result of not having the high levels of sodium in diet pop.

RLeighP

I see nothing wrong with the occasional diet soda, but I drink mainly water and unsweetened green tea. And I only count half of the green tea towards my water intake.

And I average about 3-4 liters a day. My body needs that, if I drink less I can definitely tell a difference.

Steve_Runs

Water: we can't live without it! Diet sodas: contain aspartame, thus, very bad!

microMXL

The issue with the diet soda is about the aspartame right?
I get like 3 cans on the week, I like that diet pepsi