Diet soda... friend or foe?!?

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Replies

  • senyosmom
    senyosmom Posts: 613 Member
    I drink mostly water but sometimes you just gotta have your soda!!! When that happens diet is probably the better choice for calorie counting. If you dont indulge too often I wouldn't worry about it.
  • kjburgess11
    kjburgess11 Posts: 20
    It's okay. (My Opinion) is that as long as you practice moderation with it and other things you are good. I used to eat ice cream with the kids every once in awhile after dinner. Now I fix them ice cream and I eat 1 spoonful. Don't deprive yourself of enjoyment but keep moderation in mind! Enjoy life! :drinker:
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    Sodas = foes. No matter how you look at it, they're chemicals. Drink water or juice.
    Water and juice are also both chemicals.
    media_preview.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwarkitty.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2009%2F03%2Fcat_pushing_watermelon_argument_invalid.jpg
  • mallory3411
    mallory3411 Posts: 839 Member
    I don't think there's anything wrong with it as long as your getting in your water and the other things your body needs.

    I drink it all the time and have never had increased cravings for other things. Everyone is different. A good friend of mine has drank diet coke most of her life and is very thin.

    The various ingredients in diet pops are in a lot of other foods we eat on a daily basis as some of the other posters have pointed out. I have yet to see one study that 100% proves all these claims people make on why it is bad for you. For some people the ingredients may cause headaches or stomach upset but so does a lot of other things on the market for various people.

    Just because you can't pronounce an ingredient doesn't always mean it's a bad thing.

    It's a personally choice.
  • kathyms13
    kathyms13 Posts: 497 Member
    i drink sugar free drinks and im not dead yet.
  • KatieJane83
    KatieJane83 Posts: 2,002 Member
    Sodas = foes. No matter how you look at it, they're chemicals. Drink water or juice.


    www.merriam-webster.com

    1chem·i·cal
    adj \ˈke-mi-kəl\

    Definition of CHEMICAL

    1: of, relating to, used in, or produced by chemistry or the phenomena of chemistry <chemical reactions>


    2 a: acting or operated or produced by chemicals <a chemical fire extinguisher> b: detectable by chemical means



    chem·is·try
    noun \ˈke-mə-strē\
    plural chem·is·tries

    Definition of CHEMISTRY

    1 : a science that deals with the composition, structure, and properties of substances and with the transformations that they undergo


    2 a: the composition and chemical properties of a substance <the chemistry of iron> b: chemical processes and phenomena (as of an organism) <blood chemistry>


    3 a: a strong mutual attraction, attachment, or sympathy <they have a special chemistry> b: interaction between people working together; specifically: such interaction when harmonious or effective <a team lacking chemistry>

    Wait, where's the part where it says it's toxic to all life? :huh:

    Just saying, we tend to throw a lot of words around.
  • KarenJean91
    KarenJean91 Posts: 283 Member
    Try some Propel Zero.. or those zero calorie Life Waters, with no artificial sweeteners in them. They're delicious. :)
  • keepitcroosh
    keepitcroosh Posts: 301 Member
    Im addicted to diet pepsi. But, i would say FOE. Even though it is zero calories, it will make you bloated. Read the ingredients, itll show chemicals etc that are supplements instead of the real thing. Super unhealthy. Buuuuut i love it.
  • kryscallarman
    kryscallarman Posts: 114 Member
    I know Diet soda has ingredients that I can no pronounce and are probably not good for me, but I will have a Diet Pepsi on the weekends if I am craving on. But the healthier I eat the less I crave them.
  • MamaSoph
    MamaSoph Posts: 1
    Avoid diet sodas altogether. You're better off putting lemon or sliced cucumbers in water. If very desperate for something sweet, add a splash of juice in the water.

    What I like to add fruit flavored tea bags (white or green tea) to my ice water. I call it the lazy person's iced tea. Green tea helps boost metabolism. White tea is immune booster. Always a good thing.
  • WhittRak
    WhittRak Posts: 567 Member
    I do not understand why this is so hard to understand. If it has "artificial" sweetner in it, odds are your body won't like it.

    Just drink water??
  • secretlobster
    secretlobster Posts: 3,566 Member
    A lot of this argument has degraded into stupid semantics - "chemicals", "comes from the earth," etc.

    If you are actually arguing "water is chemiculz!!" then do you honestly believe that you can similarly equate water with (say) sulfuric acid just because they fall under that one umbrella term? That is so obtuse. You are really grasping at straws if you attack someone's semantics when you know exactly what they mean.

    Just wait, this is going to turn into a spelling/grammar argument.
  • MrsLVF
    MrsLVF Posts: 787 Member
    Friend, if your not having adverse side effects.

    Foe, if you have reactions to artificial sweeteners, or the carbonation gets you all bloated.
  • WaxMama
    WaxMama Posts: 369 Member
    Come on people! We're not here to poke fun or to be rude, we're here to support each other! There is obviously a lot of controversy over this topic and ultimately the decision is our own... the least we can do is offer our opinions and advice without sounding condescending!!!!

    We're not here to support each other. We're here discussing the merits of diet soda. Advice and opinions are meaningless without any facts.

    You said diet coke does not come from the earth or space. You said it in a very condescending way. Now before you backtrack and start with the "we're all in this together" talk I would like to know where you thing diet soda comes from.

    No backtracking here! :smile: Someone else said it was not of this earth and another commented that it doesn't come from space... I mearly tried to clarify that it comes from neither, but from a laboratory. Last I checked, they don't pull aspartame out of the ground (earth) or from the sky... Not that everything I eat comes from the ground... I will admit there's a ton of artificial colors/flavors etc out there that no one can say is healthy... However, if we can all agree that artificial colors and flavors (and I'm making an assumption here that we can all agree on that, my apologies if you disagree) than how can we think artificial sweeteners would be any different?
    Aspartame is phenylalanine and aspartic acid, a protein chain. That exact same protein chain can be found in chicken, beef, pork, soy, nuts, etc. The only reason it's called "artificial" is because they recreate the compounds in a lab setting, it doesn't mean that it's a compound that doesn't exist in nature, or that we don't eat it in normal food.

    Wow, I'll admit, I did not know that! Could it be that because they are found combined, the body treats them in a different manner? For example, I've read (and please do not quote me on this, I am not an expert, just got on a kick about learning about sugars...) that fructose in nature is combined with fruit pectin and remains intact through the digestion process... fructose on it's own is a "poison" and the pectin is the antedote, if you will... So when they say say HFCS is no different from sugar, that's not necessarily true... because it's not combined with pectin. From what I read, the body treats it the same way it treats ethyl alcohol in that it *can* destroy the liver (it just doesn't go to the brain hence no drunk effect). PLEASE do not poke fun, I do not know if this is a fact and I still enjoy foods with HFCS... :smile: Could that be the same with aspartame??
  • lglg11
    lglg11 Posts: 344 Member
    I read , on the internet , that diet soda makes your head explode

    Maybe, maybe not. But THREADS about it tend to have that effect on me. That's why I wear one of those helmets like the aliens do on "Mars Attacks", because containing my exploding cranium is just the polite thing to do for those around me.

    Cleaning the mess up from mine now . note to self : get a helmet
  • Try something like Diet Snapple-- I especially love the Diet Snapple Half & Half! It's only 10 calories for a bottle and tastes delicious. When I have a cocktail, I mix it with low-calorie vodka! Awesome summer drink :)

    I personally feel a large part of my weight loss is because of cutting out all soda from my diet.
  • Julzanne72
    Julzanne72 Posts: 468 Member
    I drink it, but only 1 can a day, which is alot less than the 4-5 I used to suck down.
  • lglg11
    lglg11 Posts: 344 Member
    I read , on the internet , that diet soda makes your head explode

    And I proved that a page back.

    I knew I read it somewhere :)
  • Gilbrod
    Gilbrod Posts: 1,216 Member
    The ways they make it 0 calorie is disgusting...If it's not from the earth you shouldn't be putting it into your body. Why not try some Green Tea or flavored Green Tea. No Calories, and has properties that help boost Metabolism and weight loss.

    + it tastes good.
    Lol, so the ingredients are from outer space and alien in origin?:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:


    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    This. This right here is halarious!!!!!:laugh: :sad: :laugh:
  • sedosher
    sedosher Posts: 142 Member
    You can't escape ALL that's unhealthy. Just eat/drink the "bad" things in moderation and you'll be fine.

    I LOVE this answer!

    I stopped drinking diet soda for over 3 months and was expecting to feel better...I felt nothing but the overwhelming sense to have a huge Diet Dr Pepper. So I drink one a day now...some days I might have two...but then some days I have none. I believe it is all about balance, I can't completely stop all the unhealthy things I love or I might give up all together. Averaging one per day is better then the 5 or 6/day I use to drink!!! Progress is progress in my opinion.
  • melb2003
    melb2003 Posts: 198
    you honestly should be fine with the one. Do a little research though. It's been recently proven that diet soda increases a persons chance for health problems. Anything with artificial sugar in it, the brain and body can't process the artificial sugar as efficiently as the real sugar because the brain/body can't identify what it needs to process. I was drinking a 2 liter of diet Pepsi a day, and on December 28, 2011, I quit cold turkey. Now, all I drink is water with the Mio. I like Mio because unlike other mixes for water, it has no additives what so ever, not even artificial sugar, and it gives water the little bit of taste that I need.

    Look into though. I use to swear by diet sodas, but after recent studies that were released, I just don't think it's worth it. Don't get me wrong, I'll still indulge on a can of diet pop maybe 1 time a month, but even then I'll have regular sometimes in stead of diet, because even though regular has more calories, in moderation, regular is better than the artificial sweetener in the diets.
  • _LilPowerHouse
    _LilPowerHouse Posts: 365 Member
    Diet soda is my FOE.. really anything that has Aspartame in it is my enemy, it gives my migraine headaches.. :grumble:
  • carrietehbear
    carrietehbear Posts: 384 Member
    Personally- It's my mortal enemy. My stomach has never liked artificial sweeteners. I also have never liked the taste of it. I like regular pop but can't seem to justify spending calories on it.
  • plhv19
    plhv19 Posts: 46 Member
    "It's fine to poison yourself ... as long as you do it in moderation."
  • JPod279
    JPod279 Posts: 722 Member
    It has zero calories, but the artificial sweeteners block growth hormones. Stasticicly your chances of becoming or staying obese jump up 50% when drinking diet soda.
    Please post a peer reviewed clinical study backing this claim. Not a blog, article or opinion, but an actual study that verifies it. I for one would love to read it.
    Statistics show that if you drive, your chances of getting into a driving accident are 100% compared to someone that doesn't drive at all. So since statistics don't lie, to avoid all driving accidents, people should stop driving. See how that works?


    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    40% of people know that 70% of all statistics are made up.
  • Tybear73
    Tybear73 Posts: 20 Member
    I don't mean to offend anybody who is in the "process of becoming" like I am, but I noticed that the majority of people on this thread who said "FOE" are in killer shape. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and perhaps that translates to fitness too!

    Best of health,

    Tyler
  • aallison85
    aallison85 Posts: 97 Member
    Foe!
  • Jellyphant
    Jellyphant Posts: 1,400 Member
    Foe. the cons just.. outweigh any pros [if soda has any pros..] and ..it just tastes bad imo. Hate if you want, but you can't deny the facts, peeps.
  • WaxMama
    WaxMama Posts: 369 Member
    I don't mean to offend anybody who is in the "process of becoming" like I am, but I noticed that the majority of people on this thread who said "FOE" are in killer shape. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and perhaps that translates to fitness too!

    Best of health,

    Tyler

    Great observation! :wink:
  • JPod279
    JPod279 Posts: 722 Member
    I don't mean to offend anybody who is in the "process of becoming" like I am, but I noticed that the majority of people on this thread who said "FOE" are in killer shape. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and perhaps that translates to fitness too!

    Best of health,

    Tyler

    I doubt it is because they do not drink diet soda. It is probably more so because of EVERYTHING they do from eating to working out to what they do/do not drink. I don't want to look like I play professional sports. I want to be healthy and just not be fat! So, I will drink some coke zero even though I know it would be 'best" if I did not. I will eat pizza every now and then even though I know it would be "best" if I did not. There is only one thing for certain, and that is that we will all die some day.