Diet coke - does it make you put on weight

imtriagain
imtriagain Posts: 104 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Over the past few months I have slowly gotten addicted to diet coke. I am having at least 1 can, but sometimes up to 3 a day. Initially it helped to fill that space in the late afternoon when I wanted to eat and eat. I've googled and there are so many reports saying that it actually ends up making you put on weight in the long term.

Initially I pffft'd that, but I'm beginning to think that is true. I am starting to struggle with controlling my cravings (and then over eating) and I'm actually now thinking that it might be the diet coke. I didn't seem to have any problems with this for the year that I lost weight. It's only once I got close to maintenance that I started with the diet coke thing, and every so slowly my weight has crept up (which is not surprising - I'm logging, but I always seem to go over my cals).

Thoughts? Experiences?
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Replies

  • Erikhulse
    Erikhulse Posts: 51 Member
    Stop drinking it! Giving up sodas was this best thing I did a couple years ago. The artificial sweeteners in diet drinks make you hungry so you tend to eat more if you consume a lot of diet sodas.
  • gramcmahon
    gramcmahon Posts: 1 Member
    Stop drinking it! Giving up sodas was this best thing I did a couple years ago. The artificial sweeteners in diet drinks make you hungry so you tend to eat more if you consume a lot of diet sodas.

    THIS^^^^
    I believe this guy if he has lost 47lbs! Good on ya!! I also agree , I go through phases of diet coke addiction, if anything , I don't sleep as well which makes me tired , and I don't want to exercise!!
  • JessLLoser
    JessLLoser Posts: 235 Member
    What if you don`t drink it so often, more like twice a week or something?

    Or how about the artificial sweeteners in Crystal Light?

    Same thing?
  • piratesaregrand
    piratesaregrand Posts: 356 Member
    I drink over a litre a day of the stuff, at my worst I was drinking 3 litres a day.

    I'm still losing weight even though I'm drinking it
  • eyouse
    eyouse Posts: 26 Member
    I agree with this... I am a total caffeine addict but I've had to wean myself down from coffee and diet coke just to get back to a regular sleep schedule.... I was having problems falling to sleep when I was finally able to.
  • hippietofugirl
    hippietofugirl Posts: 430
    oh god, if artificial sweetners make you gain weight, I'm going to be a cow. I consume far too many packets of splenda and truvia on a daily basis, and so far my weight hasn't increased, BUT I do feel hungry all the time even when I shouldn't..... hmmmmm
  • catti41
    catti41 Posts: 24 Member
    so much information really hard to tell what is true or not.... mine goes both ways, sometimes it makes me put on weight but then others it makes no difference. it definetly makes me bloat though!
  • ElizaRoche
    ElizaRoche Posts: 2,005 Member
    moderation.. I drink a 600ml diet coke bottle a week, and nope.. im not gaining any weight!
  • spozzybear
    spozzybear Posts: 216 Member
    I know it won't help with the artificial sweetener issue, but I now drink diet lemonade instead of diet coke, so at least I get the sweet fizzy hit, but without the caffeine.
  • moonlightturk
    moonlightturk Posts: 398
    Stop drinking it! Giving up sodas was this best thing I did a couple years ago. The artificial sweeteners in diet drinks make you hungry so you tend to eat more if you consume a lot of diet sodas.

    SO TRUE!
  • queenhiphop
    queenhiphop Posts: 286 Member
    I don't believe it makes you put on weight.

    YOU make you put on weight. If you find yourself getting hungry straight after you have a diet coke, prepare for it and simply don't eat. It's just fake hunger (unless you truly have got an empty stomach) owing to the chemicals.

    It's not very good for ya but it won't 'make' you put on weight.. it has no calories..
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
    Nutritionist recommend limiting your soda intake, diet or not. The artificial sugar and caffeine and carbonation lend themselves to holding water.
  • snowbike
    snowbike Posts: 153 Member
    There seems to be alot of scaremongering about aspartame. It is myth and general bad science.
    Real studies show no link between increased appetite and aspartame. In fact many studies show a DECREASED appetite with aspartame.

    For the geeky types who read this stuff; citation.... http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7938234

    Heres another and snip ... http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1881987

    " Consumption of two soft drinks (560 ml, 320 mg aspartame) significantly reduced subjective hunger from 11:05 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. compared to one soft drink (280 ml, 160 mg aspartame) or 280 ml of mineral water. Thus ingestion of soft drinks containing aspartame did not increase short-term subjective hunger or food intake."

    Also no studies show aspartame causes water retention. Anyway, Water retention caused by diet (glycygen in muscles etc) is not in itself a health issue. You need water for your muscles to function and repair themselves. Most people spend their life so dehydrated.

    To All those conspiracy sites saying aspartame is poison and killing everyone I say where are all the dead people?

    If you do a little research you find the source of the aspertame myth started in 1998 with an email scarelore...

    http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blasp.htm

    and here

    http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blasp2.htm


    Bottom line is diet drinks do not make you fat or hungry or ill and can be a good way to help keep calories down.
    Ive lost over 75lbs over the last year drinking monster blues (no-cal) (infrequently) , diet coke (everyday), and using splendor as an occasional sugar replacement.

    If you are still concerned about your diet coke, just water it down a bit with some good scotch :D
  • bubsyh
    bubsyh Posts: 57 Member
    I have found the same problem. My dentist told me to stop drinking so much diet coke as it was not helping my teeth as well.

    I would say ween yourself off diet coke and drink water instead if you think it is making you hungry. If you think something is making you hungry or gain weight, it is usually best to avoid it. Except for chocolate. Chocolate is an exception to everything :)
  • muirspud
    muirspud Posts: 27 Member
    Did no one from the uk watch the secret eaters program?

    1 guy used to drink alot of diet coke a day, probably about 2ltr as he was trying to lose weight, and what it does is, you think it supresses the urge for fizzy drink, but without the sugar intake. But it will make you want to eat more sugary foods as your taste buds are not getting that sweet taste and kick, so you will actually eat more! There is still alot of hidden sugars in diet coke as well.
  • queenhiphop
    queenhiphop Posts: 286 Member
    Did no one from the uk watch the secret eaters program?

    1 guy used to drink alot of diet coke a day, probably about 2ltr as he was trying to lose weight, and what it does is, you think it supresses the urge for fizzy drink, but without the sugar intake. But it will make you want to eat more sugary foods as your taste buds are not getting that sweet taste and kick, so you will actually eat more! There is still alot of hidden sugars in diet coke as well.

    i ****in love secret eaters :D

    but like i said.. it's all in the mind. i love diet drinks. always have and i'm still losing weight.
  • beachlover317
    beachlover317 Posts: 2,848 Member
    I have found the same problem. My dentist told me to stop drinking so much diet coke as it was not helping my teeth as well.

    I would say ween yourself off diet coke and drink water instead if you think it is making you hungry. If you think something is making you hungry or gain weight, it is usually best to avoid it. Except for chocolate. Chocolate is an exception to everything :)

    I quit cold turkey because of my teeth (didn't want to start having problems as I got older per dentist) and then soon realized that I didn't crave sweets anymore. I have always had Diet Pepsi every day - lots of it- and always craved cookies, candies, anything sweet. There is no concrete evidence on whether it causes cravings or not. I don't care. FOR ME, I just drink water now and I have lost 43 pounds in the process. You could always try it and see if it worked for you. :smile:
  • secretcylon
    secretcylon Posts: 5
    For some people the sweetness results in more food cravings, but I don't really experience that and have about a can a day with no problems. If it's giving you cravings maybe cut down. As for the aspartame being bad for you, there is nothing scientific that convinces me that this is true, unless you drink an insane amount.
    I think as with everything, moderation is the key!
  • RhonndaJ
    RhonndaJ Posts: 1,615 Member
    Diet soda won't make you gain weight. However, it could be a trigger food for you.

    I suggest that you simply stop drinking the stuff and see what happens.
  • wgn4166
    wgn4166 Posts: 771 Member
    I am addicted to Diet Mt Dew. SO much so, that if its not in the house, I panic. :sad:
    When I joined MFP, I saw lots of things I needed to change.
    I have gone from drinking 2 pots of coffee, to 2 cups. I have gone from drinking a 12 pk of Diet Dew, to 1 or 2 a day.
    Do I feel better? Not really. I can't tell any difference. Drinking diet pop does not make me hungry or anything else.
    The only reason I cut back was so I would drink more water. Did it work? yes.
  • Kara_xxx
    Kara_xxx Posts: 635 Member
    Stop drinking it! Giving up sodas was this best thing I did a couple years ago. The artificial sweeteners in diet drinks make you hungry so you tend to eat more if you consume a lot of diet sodas.

    SO TRUE!

    Yup!
  • natpalit
    natpalit Posts: 113 Member
    Diet sodas really have no positive nutritional value, and even though they may or not be "bad," I have certainly never seen any evidence saying they are "good." I used to drink lots of diet coke, up to a litre a day. And the main reason for me giving it up was because I felt like it had desensitised me to sweetness. This meant when I had sweet desserts etc, I was more likely to go for the sweetest option, with the most sugar. I switched to water with artificially sweetened fruit cordials, and now I just sip chilled water throughout the day. It has definitely had an effect on how much sweetness I can taste. And my teeth are also less sensitive.

    If you have a craving for something sweet, why don't you try having a piece of fruit, or some fruit juice. If you're worried about the calories, you could try diluting them with water. Plus fruits have vitamins in them which are good for you, and might even make your skin, hair and nails better!
  • Matt_Wild
    Matt_Wild Posts: 2,673 Member
    Stop drinking it! Giving up sodas was this best thing I did a couple years ago. The artificial sweeteners in diet drinks make you hungry so you tend to eat more if you consume a lot of diet sodas.

    No they don't, they don't increase insulin nor blood glucose. Indeed studies show this:

    Overall - http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=7921865

    Aspartame - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1946186

    Saccharin - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7652029

    Sucralose - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21245879


    Don't let facts get in the way of your interesting story tho :tongue:
  • Kara_xxx
    Kara_xxx Posts: 635 Member
    Aspartame... no thank you.

    http://www.livestrong.com/article/268655-what-makes-diet-pop-bad-for-consumption/
  • ChelleFeegan
    ChelleFeegan Posts: 80 Member
    I live for Diet Coke. At work I drink at least 3 x 500ml bottles and at home, a few glasses a night.

    I am trying to cut out a couple and replace with water, purely because it's costing me a fortune, but I can't cut it out all in one hit - I am making a lot of changes at the moment with one thing and another and adding this to the mix might disrupt everything.

    Thanks
  • Flixie00
    Flixie00 Posts: 1,195 Member
    I drink 1-2 cans per day and have had no problems losing weight.
  • beachlover317
    beachlover317 Posts: 2,848 Member
    Stop drinking it! Giving up sodas was this best thing I did a couple years ago. The artificial sweeteners in diet drinks make you hungry so you tend to eat more if you consume a lot of diet sodas.

    No they don't, they don't increase insulin nor blood glucose. Indeed studies show this:

    Overall - http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=7921865

    Aspartame - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1946186

    Saccharin - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7652029

    Sucralose - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21245879


    Don't let facts get in the way of your interesting story tho :tongue:

    Haven't seen any HARD FACTS in this thread. If it works for you, great. If it doesn't, keep drinking. For ME, it cured years of craving sweets all the time. It was the only thing I did differently during that time. Just woke up one day and realized I hadn't been munching out on sweets during every day. This was the month before I found MFP and started tracking calories. We all know that there is not scientific links to some of our "observations", but that doesn't mean there won't be one in the future, now does it???
  • Spokez70
    Spokez70 Posts: 548 Member
    I use to drink a ton of diet coke- like a 2 liter bottle a day- but quit back in March and now just drink water with only the occasional coffee, tea, or energy drink. I don't really think it makes you gain weight though- as for cravings it probably makes you just want more diet coke. I did have a couple glasses while on vacation last week and I was kind of expecting a big wow moment and it was more like kind of as let down and I just drank some water after because I was still thirsty.
  • Kara_xxx
    Kara_xxx Posts: 635 Member
    Stop drinking it! Giving up sodas was this best thing I did a couple years ago. The artificial sweeteners in diet drinks make you hungry so you tend to eat more if you consume a lot of diet sodas.

    No they don't, they don't increase insulin nor blood glucose. Indeed studies show this:

    Overall - http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=7921865

    Aspartame - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1946186

    Saccharin - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7652029

    Sucralose - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21245879


    Don't let facts get in the way of your interesting story tho :tongue:

    or don't let personal bias get in the way of good research?

    "In the constant battle to lose inches or at least stay the same, we reach for the diet soda. Two studies presented June 25 at the American Diabetes Association’s Scientific Sessions suggest this might be self-defeating behavior.

    Epidemiologists from the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio reported data showing that diet soft drink consumption is associated with increased waist circumference in humans. They also discussed a second study that found aspartame raised fasting glucose (blood sugar) in diabetes-prone mice."

    “Data from this and other prospective studies suggest that the promotion of diet sodas and artificial sweeteners as healthy alternatives may be ill-advised,” said Helen P. Hazuda, Ph.D., professor and chief of the Division of Clinical Epidemiology in the School of Medicine. “They may be free of calories but not of consequences.”

    http://www.uthscsa.edu/hscnews/singleformat.asp?newID=3872

    AND

    "We have recently investigated the effect of different macronutrient compositions on plasma glucose and insulin levels during an acute bout of exercise in 14 men with type 2 diabetes. We compared the same subjects in random order in five different conditions: 1) high–glycemic index sucrose meal, 2) low–glycemic index fructose meal (both of which are matched for total calories [455 kcal], macronutrient composition, and taste), 3) aspartame meal (358 kcal), 4) high-fat/low-carbohydrate meal (also containing 455 kcal), and 5) fasting. We hypothesized that using fructose or aspartame instead of sucrose would have a lower impact on insulin release and glucose response than a sucrose-sweetened meal.

    Contrary to all expectation, the aspartame breakfast induced a similar rise in glucose and insulin levels at baseline than the sucrose meal, even if the aspartame meal had the same taste, and was 22% lower in calories and 10% lower in carbohydrates, with an inferior glycemic index."

    http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/30/7/e59.full
  • mandimuscles
    mandimuscles Posts: 107 Member
    Fake sugar was meant for diabetics and those who can't process regular sugar. Unfortunately it's turned into a popular beverage for people without those health issues as it contains no calories, everyone thinks they'll lose weight and can still have their sodas. I don't know about all the technical aspects of it, however I know many people that have some major issues from drinking said items. I am a super crazy firm believer in that if you want sugar, have SUGAR. Not some chemical substitute that you don't know what it's doing to your body. Some people seemingly have no problems with it, but I've seen many more that do after time. I don't take that chance myself. I'd recommend running away from it!

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