Diet Pops good??? NOT
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Mistyblu08
Posts: 580 Member
. There is absolutely no proof that diet soda helps people lose weight. The calorie-reduction argument is total bunk, and zero studies have shown a positive correlation between drinking diet soda and weight loss. On the contrary, there’s significant evidence that diet sodas and other noncaloric, artificially sweetened drinks actually lead — quite powerfully — to weight gain. (See “6 ‘Healthy’ Food Choices to Rethink” for more on that.
2. Diet sodas are billed as being good for type 2 diabetics and other blood-sugar- challenged types, but they aren’t. Because of something called the “cephalic phase response,” your body tastes the sweetness, and even though there are no calories to shuttle, the brain triggers a release of insulin from the pancreas and also a “Sugar is coming! Stop-burning fat” response from the liver. The result is the usual array of insulin-related problems (increased urge to eat, increased tendency toward fat storage, pro-inflammatory biochemical cascade), plus an arrest of healthy protein-and-starch production, and a confusion of the body’s built-in caloric monitoring systems, all of which compel you to plump up and eat even more unhealthy stuff later. (For more on this dynamic, read the article, “Poor Substitutes.”)
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3. Diet sodas and the chemically derived artificial sweeteners they contain (especially aspartame) may act as neurotoxins and have been linked to headaches, memory problems, anxiety, brain fog, depression, skin irritations, menstrual problems, fibromyalgia, joint pain and more. (You can read up on the scientific debate about this both in the aforementioned “Poor Substitutes” and in our article “Excitotoxins.”)
4. The act of drinking diet soda — and of seeing it in your fridge — sends your psyche a slew of negative, demoralizing, less-than-healthy mental messages (I am afraid of getting fat; I don’t trust my body to crave the right things; I need to be on a diet; I am compelled to drink sweet stuff, even though I know it’s not good for me; I’m being “good” now so I can be “bad” later), all of which tend to drive other unhealthy eating behaviors even as they trigger disempowering feelings of self-denial and self-indulgence. (For more on this dynamic, see my Thoughts From the Editor column, “View to a Fridge.”)
5. Artificial sweeteners and artificial colors tend to drive cravings for more sweet and hyper-flavored foods (more diet soda, please!) and reduce your ability to properly taste more subtle flavors or natural foods, perverting your palate and dissuading you from making other healthy changes to your diet because nothing natural tastes the way it ought to.
6. Diet soda contains all kinds of icky chemicals that add to your body’s toxic burden, lowering your immunity, contributing to inflammation and reducing your body’s ability to deal effectively with other, less easily avoided toxins like those pervasive in our food, water, body-care products and environment
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7. Frequent sipping or gulping of diet soda blunts your thirst, reducing your intake of pure water, which is a much better choice for hydration and helps to clear toxins from your system (vs. further polluting it). Regular imbibing of soda may also interfere with your body’s healthy hunger signals and thus dissuade you from eating healthy snacks that would support good nutrition, metabolism, energy and mental function throughout the day.
8. The acids in diet soda (and regular soda, for that matter) eat away at the enamel on your teeth. They also are acidifying to your entire system, and thus disruptive to your general health, including the good flora in your gut, where about 60 percent of your immune system resides.
9. Diet soda (like regular soda) is generally bottled or canned, and its aficionados tend to drink it by the case, multi-liter twin pack and so on — day in, day out, year after year after year. Habitually imbibing packaged drinks creates all kinds of nonbiodegradeable garbage, and every aspect of soda production (from manufacturing and packaging to transport — and even its recycling) is an unnecessarily wasteful use of fossil fuels. Drinking any soda is also incredibly expensive, an important point for anyone who protests that they can’t afford high-quality food or decent nutritional supplements.
10. Despite all its amalgamated cruddiness, diet sodas somehow get a pass in practically all weight-loss plans, and are actually promoted by many dietitians as “free” foods or “good” treats despite the fact that they are categorically lousy for people. They are aggressively advertised as being “better choices” for health- and weight-conscious people, and as a result, many kids and teenagers make them a habit early in life. Every time I see this pro-diet-soda dynamic in action, it just chaps my hide and makes me dislike the stuff even more.
And to those who find themselves addicted to diet soda, I can only say take heart: Thousands before you have broken the addiction and found themselves astonished by how much better they feel.
My recommendation: For a week, start each day with a big bottle full of pure water with a slice of cucumber or orange or lemon floating in it. Sip away, avoid the soda aisles and vending machines, and just see if you don’t start feeling better yourself.
2. Diet sodas are billed as being good for type 2 diabetics and other blood-sugar- challenged types, but they aren’t. Because of something called the “cephalic phase response,” your body tastes the sweetness, and even though there are no calories to shuttle, the brain triggers a release of insulin from the pancreas and also a “Sugar is coming! Stop-burning fat” response from the liver. The result is the usual array of insulin-related problems (increased urge to eat, increased tendency toward fat storage, pro-inflammatory biochemical cascade), plus an arrest of healthy protein-and-starch production, and a confusion of the body’s built-in caloric monitoring systems, all of which compel you to plump up and eat even more unhealthy stuff later. (For more on this dynamic, read the article, “Poor Substitutes.”)
.
3. Diet sodas and the chemically derived artificial sweeteners they contain (especially aspartame) may act as neurotoxins and have been linked to headaches, memory problems, anxiety, brain fog, depression, skin irritations, menstrual problems, fibromyalgia, joint pain and more. (You can read up on the scientific debate about this both in the aforementioned “Poor Substitutes” and in our article “Excitotoxins.”)
4. The act of drinking diet soda — and of seeing it in your fridge — sends your psyche a slew of negative, demoralizing, less-than-healthy mental messages (I am afraid of getting fat; I don’t trust my body to crave the right things; I need to be on a diet; I am compelled to drink sweet stuff, even though I know it’s not good for me; I’m being “good” now so I can be “bad” later), all of which tend to drive other unhealthy eating behaviors even as they trigger disempowering feelings of self-denial and self-indulgence. (For more on this dynamic, see my Thoughts From the Editor column, “View to a Fridge.”)
5. Artificial sweeteners and artificial colors tend to drive cravings for more sweet and hyper-flavored foods (more diet soda, please!) and reduce your ability to properly taste more subtle flavors or natural foods, perverting your palate and dissuading you from making other healthy changes to your diet because nothing natural tastes the way it ought to.
6. Diet soda contains all kinds of icky chemicals that add to your body’s toxic burden, lowering your immunity, contributing to inflammation and reducing your body’s ability to deal effectively with other, less easily avoided toxins like those pervasive in our food, water, body-care products and environment
.
7. Frequent sipping or gulping of diet soda blunts your thirst, reducing your intake of pure water, which is a much better choice for hydration and helps to clear toxins from your system (vs. further polluting it). Regular imbibing of soda may also interfere with your body’s healthy hunger signals and thus dissuade you from eating healthy snacks that would support good nutrition, metabolism, energy and mental function throughout the day.
8. The acids in diet soda (and regular soda, for that matter) eat away at the enamel on your teeth. They also are acidifying to your entire system, and thus disruptive to your general health, including the good flora in your gut, where about 60 percent of your immune system resides.
9. Diet soda (like regular soda) is generally bottled or canned, and its aficionados tend to drink it by the case, multi-liter twin pack and so on — day in, day out, year after year after year. Habitually imbibing packaged drinks creates all kinds of nonbiodegradeable garbage, and every aspect of soda production (from manufacturing and packaging to transport — and even its recycling) is an unnecessarily wasteful use of fossil fuels. Drinking any soda is also incredibly expensive, an important point for anyone who protests that they can’t afford high-quality food or decent nutritional supplements.
10. Despite all its amalgamated cruddiness, diet sodas somehow get a pass in practically all weight-loss plans, and are actually promoted by many dietitians as “free” foods or “good” treats despite the fact that they are categorically lousy for people. They are aggressively advertised as being “better choices” for health- and weight-conscious people, and as a result, many kids and teenagers make them a habit early in life. Every time I see this pro-diet-soda dynamic in action, it just chaps my hide and makes me dislike the stuff even more.
And to those who find themselves addicted to diet soda, I can only say take heart: Thousands before you have broken the addiction and found themselves astonished by how much better they feel.
My recommendation: For a week, start each day with a big bottle full of pure water with a slice of cucumber or orange or lemon floating in it. Sip away, avoid the soda aisles and vending machines, and just see if you don’t start feeling better yourself.
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Replies
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Counterpoint: Diet soda is amazing and delicious and I'm not reading that giant wall of text.0
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I have the occasional Coke Zero but I've cut down plenty.
I just know they are founded on evil chemical dross.
I just do.0 -
I don't know about you, but when I want to drink soda, drinking diet soda with my meal saves me 250+ calories. I firmly believe it's contributed to my success.0
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Every other week, it seems as if there’s a new study cautioning people against the health risks of diet soda.
But just how dangerous is soda – especially for a person who drinks it every day? Dr. Manny Alvarez, senior managing health editor of FoxNews.com, answers one viewer’s concern.
Hi Dr. Manny, I drink a few cans of diet soda every day. Could this be bad for my health? Thanks, Beth
According to recent studies, diet soda may be linked with an increased risk of stroke. Prior research has already linked soda with obesity, kidney damage and certain cancers.
“Just because it says ‘diet,’ doesn’t mean it’s healthy or the key to losing weight,” Alvarez warned.
While making the switch from regular soda to diet may save on calories, drinking more than one per day may actually increase a person’s risk of type 2 diabetes.
Patricia Bannan, a registered dietician, offered a second opinion:
“While I think having a regular diet soda once in a while is OK, I recommend people limit them as much as possible,” she said. “The reason for that is twofold – number one, both regular and diet soda is very sweet and it can trigger your sweet tooth and get you accustomed to eating very sweet foods and craving more sugary foods. The second reason is that both regular and diet soda have undesirable ingredients. Regular soda is packed with sugar, packed with empty calories, and diet soda has a lot of artificial ingredients.”
Bannan recommended drinking flat or sparkling water with a splash of fruit juice, or making ‘infused’ water using cucumbers, berries, limes or mint.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/03/30/diet-soda-too-dangerous-to-drink-every-day/#ixzz214pRdy570 -
lol ok its your health -just putting it there for those that are interested lolCounterpoint: Diet soda is amazing and delicious and I'm not reading that giant wall of text.0 -
I had 17 cups of water yesterday. I then drank a Dt Mt Dew. I have gone from a 12 pack to 1 or 2 a day. I call that progress!!0
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You were wrong in the second sentence. so I stopped reading.
but feel free to push your opinionated agenda on everyone else.0 -
Counterpoint: Diet soda is amazing and delicious and I'm not reading that giant wall of text.
this...0 -
I don't know about you, but when I want to drink soda, drinking diet soda with my meal saves me 250+ calories. I firmly believe it's contributed to my success.
It only saves you 250+ calories if you're actually going to drink normal soda in it's place. For those of us who have gotten used to drinking water, coffee, and tea, it doesn't save us any calories.0 -
I started to notice every time I drank diet drinks my feet would bother me. Once I stopped drinking them and stuck with unsweet tea and plain water - my feet feel fine. Turns out I was allergic to the sugar substitutes. So.... when I REALLY want a sugary drink, I have ONE. Or I get a sip or 2 of my husband's drink. My cousin had a similar reaction - she would get hives every time she drank a diet drink. She is no longer drinking them either and her hives went away. Scary stuff - IMO.0
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I would say 80% of my liquids was either diet fizzy drinks or sugar free squash.
I now drink like water like 98% of the time. If I fancy something fizzy, I will get a diet pepsi, dandelion & burdock or something else. You only live once and having something like a diet pepsi every once in a while isn't going to kill you. I would rather have the occasional diet pepsi than have a cigarette lol.
Firstly, I don't fancy filling my lungs with tar and having discolored fingers and teeth. Secondly, I don't like the smell of it lol.0 -
I don't know about you, but when I want to drink soda, drinking diet soda with my meal saves me 250+ calories. I firmly believe it's contributed to my success.
It only saves you 250+ calories if you're actually going to drink normal soda in it's place. For those of us who have gotten used to drinking water, coffee, and tea, it doesn't save us any calories.
I said "when I want soda". I didn't say it's saving people who don't want soda calories. Using diet soda as a substitute for regular has been quite beneficial for me.0 -
To anyone that hasn't seen it then the 'Sweet Misery' documentary is one worth seeing ... Watch that and honestly tell me there isn't cause for concern about Aspartame.
I used to let my daughter have a sip and I hate myself for doing it now.
Nasty stuff.0 -
I drink diet soda so I can eat regular cake!0
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Full-on soda: Sugar, calories.
Water: Lacks sweet taste, no health risks.
Diet soda: Unknown health risks.
Most of the sweeteners out there are too new to have any sort of long-term data on their safety. If you absolutely must have a sweet taste to your beverage and cannot fit the calories of full-on soda into your diet (or if you are diabetic and drinking a full-on soda would be a Bad Idea), then it's your health.
As a member of the "control group" (avoiding lo-cal sweeteners whenever possible), I'd like to give a shout out to my "experimental group" friends. If you guinea pigs don't start dropping like flies in another decade or so, maybe I'll try out what all the fuss is about.
Until then, I don't mind the taste of water.
Good luck with your experiment.0 -
On the flip side, there's nothing to suggest that diet soda is bad for me, apart from shoddy analysis of data taken out of context. Plus I like diet soda, but if being paranoid gets you through the day, more power to you.0
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I wish I understood the soda thing. I haven't had it in many years. When I drink it, it tastes gross. i used to love it. But, after you don't drink it for a while, and then go back to it, it tastes disgusting. I think you're all fooled. But, that's just me. Enjoy your analysis. I say, just stop drinking it. Anything unnatural made in a lab is probably not good for you.0
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Diet soda tastes awesome and I love it. As I'm a type 1 diabetic, I don't have to worry about whether or not my pancreas is going to release insulin because it won't!
It's never had any impact on the amount of water I drink, because I measure my water intake.
I've given it up for months because someone told me it would be better for my health and weight loss. Going without had no effect on either my health (based upon blood work) or weight loss.
I'll keep drinking it. But, to each their own.0 -
Hilarious! Have we all been reading the website of that sleazebag, Mercola?
Point 4 is rubbish. If you let a simple can of diet soft drink dominate your life then you should be after professional help. It's a soft drink that has no calories. Hurrah! Personally I think all the drama queening about the evils of aspartame and other delicious sugar substitutes is at fault here. If people didn't get all hung up on the bladder cancer they'll surely develop after a sip of diet soft drink, they wouldn't need to focus on whether it was good, bad or otherwise.
Point 6... oh my goodness. Toxic burden, inflammation? What does this mean? You endure more of a toxic burden walking through a large enclosed carpark than you'll ever experience from a can of diet soft drink. Heck, flying exposes you to radiation. Fly like I used to and you'll no doubt become cancer ridden and die next month.
Point 7 is irrelevant. Drink some freaking water. If you can't make yourself drink at least a few glasses of water a day then you're simple and deserve to lose your teeth.
Point 8 is partially true. Soft drinks (possibly diet, I don't drink any soft drink, diet or otherwise, without a straw and haven't thought to ask my dentist about sugar substitutes) can wreck your tooth enamel. Partly because of the sugar, partly because people drink them in lieu of water. But that can also be said of green smoothies chock full of 'healthy' protein powder and fruit. As for acidifying your system... wtf? I thought the alkaline food fad had been chucked aside in favour of OHMIGOD FRUCTOSE MOFOS.
Point 10 is pretty much just bad parenting. No qualified dietician (I'm sorry but a degree from some wacky natural health institute means jack; see an educated and registered dietician, not a ladidah let me detoxify you and declare you allergic to ten million things nutritionist) will recommend that children or teens drink diet soft drinks. No paediatrician will tell you to let your growing teen chug Diet Coke like it'll bring about the second coming. Do you know why? Less room for calcium containing milk.
This is all bull, and only serves to confuse dieters. What's the point of telling someone who's eating their five a day, exercising several times a week and otherwise being awesome generally that the glass of Diet Coke they have with dinner negates all efforts to leave their previous unhealthy lifestyle behind? To discourage them? To make them feel like a small indulgence is reason to worry themselves to death? Or do you just want to boost your own ego by copying and pasting some rubbish and crowing about your clean eating and salad flavoured water?0 -
Hilarious! Have we all been reading the website of that sleazebag, Mercola?
Point 4 is rubbish. If you let a simple can of diet soft drink dominate your life then you should be after professional help. It's a soft drink that has no calories. Hurrah! Personally I think all the drama queening about the evils of aspartame and other delicious sugar substitutes is at fault here. If people didn't get all hung up on the bladder cancer they'll surely develop after a sip of diet soft drink, they wouldn't need to focus on whether it was good, bad or otherwise.
Point 6... oh my goodness. Toxic burden, inflammation? What does this mean? You endure more of a toxic burden walking through a large enclosed carpark than you'll ever experience from a can of diet soft drink. Heck, flying exposes you to radiation. Fly like I used to and you'll no doubt become cancer ridden and die next month.
Point 7 is irrelevant. Drink some freaking water. If you can't make yourself drink at least a few glasses of water a day then you're simple and deserve to lose your teeth.
Point 8 is partially true. Soft drinks (possibly diet, I don't drink any soft drink, diet or otherwise, without a straw and haven't thought to ask my dentist about sugar substitutes) can wreck your tooth enamel. Partly because of the sugar, partly because people drink them in lieu of water. But that can also be said of green smoothies chock full of 'healthy' protein powder and fruit. As for acidifying your system... wtf? I thought the alkaline food fad had been chucked aside in favour of OHMIGOD FRUCTOSE MOFOS.
Point 10 is pretty much just bad parenting. No qualified dietician (I'm sorry but a degree from some wacky natural health institute means jack; see an educated and registered dietician, not a ladidah let me detoxify you and declare you allergic to ten million things nutritionist) will recommend that children or teens drink diet soft drinks. No paediatrician will tell you to let your growing teen chug Diet Coke like it'll bring about the second coming. Do you know why? Less room for calcium containing milk.
This is all bull, and only serves to confuse dieters. What's the point of telling someone who's eating their five a day, exercising several times a week and otherwise being awesome generally that the glass of Diet Coke they have with dinner negates all efforts to leave their previous unhealthy lifestyle behind? To discourage them? To make them feel like a small indulgence is reason to worry themselves to death? Or do you just want to boost your own ego by copying and pasting some rubbish and crowing about your clean eating and salad flavoured water?
lol @ salad flavored water!0
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