Diet drinks - what's your take?

Jester522

I use Truvia/Stevia in certain recipes I have and even then I'm conservative. Diet sodas/drinks may give you the benefit of zero sugars and low carb but the other lurking evils are super high sodium content and aspartame. So you may sneak your way out from an uncalled for insulin spike in an insulin resistant state but hold a little extra water and, if your frequent with it, face high BP. Also, to clear things up, aspartame and sucralose are different. I (try to) avoid aspartame and opt for sucralose when faced with a decision, so Splenda over Equal. Aspartame breaks down in the system leaving a by product of formaldehyde - yeah, no thanks.

After a while I cut ALL sweeteners and sugars when in competition prep as they will ruin the definitive look of abs. To some degree, the body still treats these compounds like sugar and tries to metabolize them as so.

Water, tea, black coffee, red wine, and occasionally vodka or scotch whisky

LeggyAmericanGirl

Cant give them up, drinking my morning coffee (which is diet cherry coke) LOL

LeggyAmericanGirl

I use Truvia/Stevia in certain recipes I have and even then I'm conservative. Diet sodas/drinks may give you the benefit of zero sugars and low carb but the other lurking evils are super high sodium content and aspartame. So you may sneak your way out from an uncalled for insulin spike in an insulin resistant state but hold a little extra water and, if your frequent with it, face high BP. Also, to clear things up, aspartame and sucralose are different. I (try to) avoid aspartame and opt for sucralose when faced with a decision, so Splenda over Equal. Aspartame breaks down in the system leaving a by product of formaldehyde - yeah, no thanks.

After a while I cut ALL sweeteners and sugars when in competition prep as they will ruin the definitive look of abs. To some degree, the body still treats these compounds like sugar and tries to metabolize them as so.

Water, tea, black coffee, red wine, and occasionally vodka or scotch whisky

Diet drinks are not high sodium. For example, one can of diet coke is like 40mg sodium and slice of luncheon meat is 280mg. Most processed foods are higher in sodium than sodas.

Georgeous74

Personally, Water is what your body needs and will become VERY dehydrated easily without it. All I ever drink 98% of the time is water. I like the fact that my organs are getting the water needed to function properly.
I heard about a lady who donated her body to science, she NEVER had water, only softdrinks, tea and coffee and her organs were all shrivelled up....well so i read. It's scary to think, and certainly makes sence.
I have been on water by the litres daily ever since.

You only have one life to live... so be as healthy as you can!!
I would NOT suggest any fizzy drinks, unless a few are needed to mix in that Gin!
The calories are not needed, and the artificial colours, flavours, and sugars are just BAD for your body.
And ......do we really know what the artificial sweetners do to an aging body ?? ( no as we have not been consuming them long enough)

If you can't do with out...minimise where you can!
Hope that helps you convert!

cbevan1229

I like diet soda, particularly Coke Zero and Crystal Light. I try not to drink too much of the stuff though, because I know it's made from chemicals. With or without research, my common sense tells me that food should come from a garden, not a lab, and my body is probably better off without it.

ebony__

Personally, Water is what your body needs and will become VERY dehydrated easily without it. All I ever drink 98% of the time is water. I like the fact that my organs are getting the water needed to function properly.
I heard about a lady who donated her body to science, she NEVER had water, only softdrinks, tea and coffee and her organs were all shrivelled up....well so i read. It's scary to think, and certainly makes sence.
I have been on water by the litres daily ever since.

You only have one life to live... so be as healthy as you can!!
I would NOT suggest any fizzy drinks, unless a few are needed to mix in that Gin!
The calories are not needed, and the artificial colours, flavours, and sugars are just BAD for your body.
And ......do we really know what the artificial sweetners do to an aging body ?? ( no as we have not been consuming them long enough)

If you can't do with out...minimise where you can!
Hope that helps you convert!

Not disagreeing I just like to know the 'WHY' not just the what,
Why is it so "BAD"

I track my water intake.
Would never replace my water intake with other drinks, just have them as well as.

Anamdalta

I can't stand the taste of aspartame and I consider it poison. I drink water, and if I really want a soda, which is a few times a year, I go for the sugary ones. I'm not a soda addict.

Diet soda doesn't sound much better than the sugary version. A little quote (slide 2) out of this link http://www.everydayhealth.com/photogallery/reasons-to-kick-your-soda-habit.aspx#/slide-1

"Diet Soda and Weight Gain
We know that drinking sugar- and calorie-filled soda leads to weight gain, but it may surprise you to learn that even diet soda can contribute to unwanted pounds. In the San Antonio Heart Study, which tracked 3,682 adults over a seven- to eight-year period, those who drank artificially sweetened beverages had body mass indexes up to 47 percent greater than people who did not imbibe. It’s not completely clear why zero-calorie drinks lead to weight gain, but researchers believe that diet soda drinkers have unhealthier diets overall than those who skip soda completely."

I don't know about all the research that's out there, but I do know, as others have already discussed, that the acidity in soda (diet or regular) eats away tooth enamel. It is also linked with osteoperosis. Is it cause and effect though or that soda is being consumed instead of something healthier? I don't know.

This.

Artificial sweeteners give me a migraine, so I avoid them anyhow, but there is a growing body of research that suggests that daily consumption of "diet" soda leads to weight gain. One theory is that regular intake of artificial sweeteners teaches your brain that sweet = no calories, instead of sweet=carbohydrates, and so you lose your "stop eating" signals from your brain when you eat (or, over eat) carbs... there are others.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-20075358-10391704/new-study-is-wake-up-call-for-diet-soda-drinkers/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2161715/Could-diet-soda-make-fat-How-zero-calorie-sweeteners-trick-brain-thinking-youre-hungry-youre-not.html

I found it really difficult to kick the soda habit, but, if I occasionaly have one, it's full-sugar, and I log the calories (and, I mix it with gin, as georgeous74 suggests - lol). Diet soda falls into my (personal) "frankenfood" category, which I avoid.

Jester522

Diet drinks are not high sodium. For example, one can of diet coke is like 40mg sodium and slice of luncheon meat is 280mg. Most processed foods are higher in sodium than sodas.

Thats 40mg I dont need. And some are upwards of 200. You shouldnt be eating deli meats anyway.

Jester522

But don't think that it's some secret government poison because it's not.


.....and if you're the 300lb guy trying to get his *kitten* together and get in shape, you're going to want to get as much enjoyment out of this as possible for adherence reasons. If diet soda is part of that, so be it.

There are studies showing that it's harmful effects are BS or at least far exaggerated. If youre 300lbs you've got a lot other health issues to worry about. So drink up and get slim! I know I mentioned before about formaldehyde - I'm not going back on what I said but he makes the point that then amount of methanol derived from aspartame is so minimal its clinically insignificant

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/aspartame.asp

senglishrose

i have a soda stream and love it. my diet coke has no aspertame and I limit my soda to two in the morning and the rest of the day water.

Kelly_Runs_NC

Try Zevia. It's all natural and pretty good. A little pricey though. A six pack is $6.49

MdmAcolyte

Aspartame and I are not friends ~ it does HORRIBLE things to me... so I stick to Regular Coke rather than unleaded. And I cannot stand Pepsi. I have cut back on my sodas, and drink a lot more unsweet tea, so its not like its the worst thing I let myself have. There's the beer factor... And I don't go Light there either.

SideSteel

But don't think that it's some secret government poison because it's not.


.....and if you're the 300lb guy trying to get his *kitten* together and get in shape, you're going to want to get as much enjoyment out of this as possible for adherence reasons. If diet soda is part of that, so be it.

There are studies showing that it's harmful effects are BS or at least far exaggerated. If youre 300lbs you've got a lot other health issues to worry about. So drink up and get slim! I know I mentioned before about formaldehyde - I'm not going back on what I said but he makes the point that then amount of methanol derived from aspartame is so minimal its clinically insignificant

^ Agreed.

belgerian

I love Vanilla Coke zero but I cannot limit myself so I dont buy it. Every now and then I will have diet pop just recently seriously cut back was drinking wayyyyy tooo much. Now its mainly coffee in the morning H2O throughout the day and in the evenings or later afternoons I might (usually do) have a Lo Carb Monster sometimes two. Thats my next vice to get rid of Lucky me. Also for the amout to drink to kill you from the digestation and it turns poisoness you would have to drink like 500 or 1000 cans of pop in a day For all that if you drink that much water I would think you would get water intoxication and die too.

magerum

Aspartame is broken down into phenylalanine, aspartic acid, and methanol. Phenylalanine and Aspartic Acid are amino acids and there's a much higher concentration of these aminos in a measly 4oz chicken breast than there is in diet soda. 1 Banana will yield more methanol than a 12oz can of soda. The dosage limits that can cause any issues are VERY HIGH, and you'd have to consume massive amounts to even detect any increased levels in a blood test. Cliffs: Diet soda is fine if you don't get headaches from it, and a very small % of people do. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17828671

blackcoffeeandcherrypie

I never drink fizzy drinks as the carbonated water softens tooth enamel. I do sometimes crave a can of coke for the sheer sweetness and coldness, but it's nothing that a coffee or a glass of milk won't fix.

chicadejmu

As a former diet coke/diet dr pepper addict - they only thing I miss this time around is the caffeine. I quite 3 different times for various reasons but went back because of caffeine. The caffeine in tea just doesn't seem to have much effect on me like the caffeine in soft drinks. Will occasionally have one for an energy boost, but it just doesn't taste good anymore.

Did a bunch of research on the affects of aspartame and holy cow - that stuff is awful. I was having bad pain in my ankles and feet. Quit diet drinks and it improved. Joint pain is actually one of the side effects. And yet I went back for more because I wanted caffeine.. The last and final time - I drank it non-stop at Disney World and wound up with horrible ulcers on my throat that took a couple of weeks to heal and were pretty painful. No thanks!!

chicadejmu

i have a soda stream and love it. my diet coke has no aspertame and I limit my soda to two in the morning and the rest of the day water.

Yeah, but it has Splenda which is actually worse for you than Aspertame. That stuff makes my stomach hurt. There were pretty much no studies on how safe Splenda is but I do remember reading something about how it kills the good bacteria in the digestive system. That can't be good...

silver_arrow3

I can't STAND the taste of Aspartame. If I want a soda, I usually go for the full calorie stuff (which just tastes better and will actually satisfy that craving), but only a sip or two that I steal from my sister. I love Yoplait yogurt, but they put that nasty stuff in the light version of their products and I will throw it away after a bite when I realize I grabbed the wrong kind. *shudders*

slkehl

I vaguely remember when I was a kid that there was an ingredient banned in Australia that wasn't banned in US
And it was whatever was in diet coke but being such a huge company they couldn't stop it being sold here? I was only about 8 so it's pretty vague but remember hearing about it

They used to have warnings here in the US on artificial sweeteners because saccharin is related to cancer in rats. However with more research they found it was causing the cancer through a biological pathway in rats that doesn't exist in humans, so they took off the warning.