Diet Soda & Vitamin Water Zero

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Sheila_Ann
Sheila_Ann Posts: 365 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So I've given up my one a day diet pepsi. It's been a week and so far so good. I've started to drink more water and Vitamin Water Zero XXX. My question is, is the vitamin water zero xxx bad like soda? I do drink a lot of water. Should I give up Vitamin Water? It says naturally sweetened but you just never know...

Thanks for your input!

Sheila
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Replies

  • jealous_loser
    jealous_loser Posts: 395
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    I am not sure. I drink water with either a tea bag (herbal/uncaffenated) or lemon in it. I have given up all the other stuff because they are gateway drinks, ahahah.

    I hope someone else has a better answer for you!
  • wgn4166
    wgn4166 Posts: 771 Member
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    I am addicted to Dt Mt Dew. Everyone says I should ditch it.
    Before joining MFP I was drinking a 12 pack at day. I now have 2 or 3 a day, and about 10 glasses of water.
    I love the vitamin water. Its very good. I am not sure if its bad for you or not.
  • Sheila_Ann
    Sheila_Ann Posts: 365 Member
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    bumping hoping that someone can answer my question....
  • sunshine_gem
    sunshine_gem Posts: 390 Member
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    I am addicted to Dt Mt Dew. Everyone says I should ditch it.
    Before joining MFP I was drinking a 12 pack at day. I now have 2 or 3 a day, and about 10 glasses of water.
    I love the vitamin water. Its very good. I am not sure if its bad for you or not.

    It's really hard to go cold turkey on something especially if you've been drinking that much. Forget what everyone says. You're weaning yourself off it gradually and considering all the caffeine that it has, it's probably the best way to go. As for the vitamin water. It's water with vitamins in. I see no problem.
  • ashleykovacs
    ashleykovacs Posts: 9 Member
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    Nothing is as healthy as water! If you want flavour, try adding fresh fruit like lemons or cucumber slices to your water. I have a water infuser at home that I bought from homesense and you can put slices of fruit in it to add flavor to your water. I would skip the additives of vitamin water and let your body adjust to just water.



    Replacing one 355 mL sugared beverage per day with water can trim more than 50,000 calories and up to 38 pounds of sugar per year from your diet!**

    * 2004 Canadian Community Health Survey – Nutrition
    ** Based on a typical, 140-Calorie 355 mL sugared beverage
  • tidmutt
    tidmutt Posts: 317
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    Well, you could argue I suppose that vitamin water had well vitamins... Not sure how much of those vitamins is actually absorbed and how much is excreted. Vitamin water zero also uses stevia which some will say is better for you than artificial sweetener. I think you should drink plenty of water and enjoy the vitamin water when you feel like it. Personally I don't drink it for the vitamins, I like the taste and it helps me avoid a chronic diet soda habit I've had for a longtime.
  • jmullican6
    jmullican6 Posts: 3 Member
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    I've done some research on this very drink wondering the same thing. No where did I find that this drink is necessarily bad for you. The vitamins are all good for your body. The only hit this drink took was in the preservatives used to give this drink any kind of shelf life. So - in general - it appears to be a safe drink........unless you're a purist who wants to avoid any and all preservatives. Hope that helps!
  • sgarrard01
    sgarrard01 Posts: 213 Member
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    Be warned of products that say they have 'natural sweetners'... natural just means it hasent been made from products in a lab.... take for instance the 'natural sweetner' Saccharin..... whats it made from... Coal Tar!

    On a side note i still drink the odd pint of pepsi max... and i dont believe for a second it's a sugar gateway, seeing as I have probably the lowest sweet tooth ever (not a fan of 99% of chocolate, and will only ever eat about 5 dessert items a year).... But everyone is different, and i do believe some people do have the infamous 'sweet tooth'
  • hummus40
    hummus40 Posts: 72
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    I DRINK THE GATORADE ZERO WHEN I AM FINISHED WITH A LONG RUN...OTHER THAN THAT ALL I DRINK IS WATER (I FLAVOR IT WITH ZERO CALORIE ADDITIVES WHICH PROBABLY ISNT GREAT EITHER) ANYWAY...I STILL HAVENT LET GO OVER THE MORNING JAVA..

    THAT HAVING BEEN SAID, I THINK (AS PREVIOUS PPL HAVE REPLIED) THAT U SHOULDNT GO "COLD TURKEY"...ALLOWING YOUR BODY TO "WEAN" OFF OF THE SODA IS PROBABLY THE BEST AS WITH ANY THING WE DO ALOT...GRADUAL CHANGES ARE BEST :flowerforyou:
  • bcampbell54
    bcampbell54 Posts: 932 Member
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    What is the "bad" thing you are avoiding in diet soda?
    Because sweetened water is still water. One can of diet soda a day isn't going to kill you, and if it makes you happy and keep on track, have at it.
  • aquillen
    aquillen Posts: 5 Member
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    On a hot day sometimes I put a cardamom seed or cinnamon stick in a water bottle. Sometimes it's really hard to drink plain warmish water without some kind of flavor.
  • capriciousmoon
    capriciousmoon Posts: 1,263 Member
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    Diet drinks aren't really "bad" unless you're overdoing it or if they make you crave sweets, causing you to eat more. If you have one or two a day, and are still drinking water, you should be fine.

    Personally, I find them helpful since they fill my cravings for sweets without blowing my calories.

    Edit: Vitamin Water may be slightly better if you're trying to cut back on caffeine, but neither drink is really bad for you.
  • Berto0391
    Berto0391 Posts: 273 Member
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    Like anything else moderation is key.
  • knk1553
    knk1553 Posts: 438 Member
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    Be warned of products that say they have 'natural sweetners'... natural just means it hasent been made from products in a lab.... take for instance the 'natural sweetner' Saccharin..... whats it made from... Coal Tar!

    On a side note i still drink the odd pint of pepsi max... and i dont believe for a second it's a sugar gateway, seeing as I have probably the lowest sweet tooth ever (not a fan of 99% of chocolate, and will only ever eat about 5 dessert items a year).... But everyone is different, and i do believe some people do have the infamous 'sweet tooth'

    I agree with this, I still drink diet soda, I try to limit myself to one a day, not because of the artificial sweeteners but just because of the caffiene and such, but anyways I don't havea sweet tooth, at all. My mom freaks out on the like 4x a year that I say I want ice cream or something. My dad asks me if I'm pregnant because thats how little I eat sweets. So I agree that I don't think its a sugar gateway. However, if its going to tempt you and open up the flood gates, avoid it. I avoid certain foods for this reason
  • Sheila_Ann
    Sheila_Ann Posts: 365 Member
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    thanks everyone for your input! greatly appreciate it! Have a wonderful day!
  • geezfools
    geezfools Posts: 2
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    check out dry soda, four ingredients, low calories, but good stuff :)
  • tidmutt
    tidmutt Posts: 317
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    So I've given up my one a day diet pepsi. It's been a week and so far so good. I've started to drink more water and Vitamin Water Zero XXX. My question is, is the vitamin water zero xxx bad like soda? I do drink a lot of water. Should I give up Vitamin Water? It says naturally sweetened but you just never know...

    Thanks for your input!

    Sheila

    In the flavor industry, natural flavorings mean that they are extracted whole. You could get strawberry flavor out of tar, and that is "natural". In this case, "naturally sweetened" means that the sugar substitute in your drink is extracted whole. It's probably from the stevia plant, but there are natural sweeteners from other plants that are currently in development, and I don't know the status of currently FDA approved sweeteners. (Not to brag or anything, but one of my degrees is in chemistry, so a lot of this stuff is recalled from classes, lectures, and friends who work at flavoring labs.)

    As far as weighing how good one thing vs. another, there simply isn't the kind of data for vitamin water there is for diet soda. Stevia extract has not been approved as a food additive for very long. Vitamin water hasn't been around nearly as long, either.

    If anyone has any corrections to offer me, I'd welcome them. It's been a couple of years since I've had to learn about this stuff.

    Although I somewhat agree with your response and a few others, just a couple of things...

    1) Vitamin Water definitely uses stevia
    2) Stevia has been in use in Japan since 1970s and has been consumed on a regular basis by millions of Japanese for decades. There's quite a few papers on stevia, although since it's not in as wide spread use as other sweeteners in the west it hasn't been as intensely studied, that's true. Many other countries have regularly consumed stevia, including some for over 1500 years! I would like to see more studies including some on the long term side effects so far the consensus seems to be that it's safe.

    Personally I enjoy a few bottle of vitamin water zero a week and a few cans of diet soda a week. This is down from 8-12 cans of diet soda a day.
  • cgrout78
    cgrout78 Posts: 1,679 Member
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    I drink a vitamin water a day...it gives me a change from regular water and I like the flavor. I don't plan to give it up anytime soon.
  • JBHawaii
    JBHawaii Posts: 94
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    I have to disagree with a lot of the naysayers here... I LOVE my diet coke and now that I found cherry coke zero, I'm in heaven!

    If you are really concerned about the health benefits then check the label... Are the ingredients the same? Do they use the same sweetener? If the answer is yes then I'm assuming the health 'risk' is the same. In fact, as a dentist, I would argue that the only real difference is the acidity in the soda which really isn't good for your teeth as it dodemineralize them. BUT, if these drinks are helping you lose weight by tricking you into thinking that yr eating sugar then what's the harm? In fact, 2 diet sodas a day is far healthier than a sugar deprived bingeathon!

    Look, a 12 pack a day probably isn't good but 1-2 a day... Go for it and keep stripping that weight!

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