Diet Sodas- Is It Affecting My Weight Loss?

pink_girl7

Since giving up diet soda, my weight loss in a week has doubled. Now instead I drink those flavored ICE waters. If I need caffeine I make an iced coffee. I'm not a big coffee person but I use a little bit of the sugar free french vanilla syrup or the sugar free creamers. Not a lot though. If I want it a little sweeter sometimes I put a packet of the monk fruit sweetener. This has been working for me for a few weeks now.

violasmith85

I cut back, but i didn't stop. No issue with weight loss.

Val8less

Good question...I know it's hard to quit with the soda...I stopped with the Diet soda also, but mainly because of the HIGH SODIUM content...Try mixing the soda with WATER....a little at a time...this will help wean yourself off???

drazani

Op, a zero calorie drink is not going to effect your weightloss as long as you are eating at a defecit, i drink a coffee every day too with semi skimmed milk and with a sweetener (aspartame based, oh noez iz gonna die coz chemicalz) comes to 16 calories, with 2 sugars it comes to 40 calories. It is personal choice whether you give up drinking the diet sodas, although stopping them altogether may cause headaches from caffeine withdrawl. The current recomendation for fluid consumption is just that 8-10 glasses of fluid a day, it doesnt have to be water.

I have done my research on aspartame and have come to the conclusion that it is perfectly safe to consume, as anyadverse effects were on lab rats/mice and that was in doses the equivelent of 600-700 cans of diet soda a DAY......

Im confused regarding all the posters that say about the sodium in diet sodas though, as i am now looking at a 2ltr bottle of pepsi max that states on the nutrition label sodium/salt per 250ml NIL.........

willodawisp85

I think diet sodas has helped my weight loss. If I'm really hungry but I am low on calories left for the day or want to eat a bit later then a cherry pepsi max seems to satisfy me more than water. I have cut back on sodas recently, the only reason being I was drinking way too much caffeine. I drink fizzy water and 1-2 cans of diet soda a day with no problems.

willodawisp85

Op, a zero calorie drink is not going to effect your weightloss as long as you are eating at a defecit, i drink a coffee every day too with semi skimmed milk and with a sweetener (aspartame based, oh noez iz gonna die coz chemicalz) comes to 16 calories, with 2 sugars it comes to 40 calories. It is personal choice whether you give up drinking the diet sodas, although stopping them altogether may cause headaches from caffeine withdrawl. The current recomendation for fluid consumption is just that 8-10 glasses of fluid a day, it doesnt have to be water.

I have done my research on aspartame and have come to the conclusion that it is perfectly safe to consume, as anyadverse effects were on lab rats/mice and that was in doses the equivelent of 600-700 cans of diet soda a DAY......

Im confused regarding all the posters that say about the sodium in diet sodas though, as i am now looking at a 2ltr bottle of pepsi max that states on the nutrition label sodium/salt per 250ml NIL.........

I've never had a soda with high sodium in, in fact pepsi max = 0 sodium and coke zero =trace and diet coke =trace. Maybe it's different formulations in different countries or something? Otherwise it seems weird that's a reason not to drink them.

eraser51

regarding weight loss:

been down 4kg in just 4 days.... just because of diet coke... that is really odd.. maybe the coffein raises the cortisol? or aspartame is really bad... or water retention?? no idea...

will monitor further..

really funny cause when i started atkins i had no problems with diet coke and was deep in ketosis


guess i need to start looking for alternatives to drink...

someone know stevia sweetened beverages?

troutrouter

Many diet sodas contain a substantial amount of sodium which in turn causes the body to retain water.

eraser51

but can that be the only solution? i thought sodium is around 30mg only which equals 1% RDI

like i said I hardly can believe that its the coke but what else could it be? didnt change much on my meal plan

Aine8046

There was an interesting story on NPR last night about how diet soda affects weight loss. Apparently it changes bacteria "distribution" (not sure about the right word) living in the guts and the scientists were claiming that it might cause type 2 diabetes and might make weight loss harder.

WhoWasGivenToFly

Everyone's body is different, I used to drink a lot of it and cut back, but I do notice that when I do drink a diet soda I will feel "puffy" the next day. Not sure if it is the artificial sweetener or some of the other preservatives.

paperpudding

I have been on Atkins for 14 days as of today and only lost 2 or 3 pounds. I drink about 3 diet sodas a day. I also drink 1 splenda in the mornings with my decaf coffee. I have not cheated and think that the slow weight loss is due to diet soda Diet coke and diet dr. pepper. Any thoughts anyone?

No I do not think the diet soda is the problem.

Actually I am not sure what the problem is - you have lost 2 or 3 lb in 2 weeks - that is a good weight loss rate
Perhaps the problem is you were expecting a quick fix.

paperpudding

Many diet sodas contain a substantial amount of sodium which in turn causes the body to retain water.

..

Actually, most diet sodas contain very small amount of sodium - no more than most other drinks.

Check out the label on the bottle and compare with other liquids to see for yourself.

SteveJWatson

That's 40 miligrams per 8 ounces, not per bottle. So in a 20 oz bottle, that's actually 100 miligrams. The MAXIMUM recommended sodium for an adult is only 2,300 miligrams. Almost everything we eat naturally has sodium in it - let's not even get into processed food! - so, personally, I tend to avoid getting it through foods or beverages that have zero nutritional value. Who want's to retain water, lol?

Water retention is needed for muscle repair. I want to retain water.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Well giddy up - if I "want" to retain water, I'll drink water, not a chemical concoction with no nutritional value. And yes, I know chemicals are unavoidable in water too, but I can use a Brita filter to cut back on it.

I'm certainly not saying no on should EVER have a soda - diet or other wise - but, PERSONALLY, I think that if I'm making a real effort to live healthier, taking soda out of the equation is the logical place to start.

Lots of people pay good money from elevated chemical (including sodium) levels in water.

Its called mineral water....

SteveJWatson

I stopped drinking diet anything after I worked fast food. The diet soda syrup corroded the lines that ran it to the fountain machine years faster than the regular soda does. You can't pay me to put that poison in my body now.

Coke and diet coke around ph3 - ph3.5 apparently - however when in your mouth that changes to around ph5 - 5.5 it seems.
Your gut, comparatively is around ph2 when you start eating I think - so if you don't want something that rots pipes inside your body, I'm afraid you'll have to remove your digestive system!

The regular coke was fine though- and that's my point. It's the artificial junk in the diet that is corrosive. And yes, I'm well aware that my own stomach acids are corrosive. But it's not artificial.

I have no issue with the occasional soda- maybe once a month or so- but I refuse to drink diet anything.

What is corrosive about the *artificial junk* in diet soda? This is assuming that there is no * artificial junk* in non-diet soda of course.

I don't know. I just know that it made the lines corrode. I'm not forcing you to not drink it- just stating why I won't.

I never said there isn't any artificial junk in non-diet soda. If given the choice, I'll take my soda made with sugar and not HFCS too.

I wonder what would happen if you ran hydrochloric acid (the acid found in your stomach for those unsure) through the same pipes?......

mlh37214

Wow, that is a ton of soda!! My rule of thumb is 2:1 water to soda, when I'm drinking sodas. Water is something that I've found grows on you, the more you drink it. I saw comments about the caffeine and the sodium content of soda. Both can cause fluid retention. I've also read that artificial sweeteners can cause you to crave sweets more. I don't know if it's true or not, but I know when I eat/drink sweets, I want more and tend to have no self-control. I used to drink a lot of diet sodas, until I first experienced withdrawal. The other issue that I had is that the acidity is rough on teeth and causes me to have reflux.

I would definitely try to find an alternative to so much soda. I'm not saying to cut it out completely. I probably drink about 24 oz a day, on work days, but always make sure to get my water in too! I saw a suggestion of seltzer water with some juice, or perhaps putting fruit into water. There are bottles that have a center made for fruit and make some pretty tasty water. I also like the flavored waters that most grocery stores have as an alternative to soda. They're fizzy; although, they still have the artificial sweetener and sodium. A Soda Stream might be a good alternative (and ultimately cheaper) to drinking all that soda!

Good luck to you! I hope you find your reason for plateau and continue success.

jessilee119

Diet sodas have no calories.

I'm inclined to think that this is one of those scenarios where legally they're allowed to say it has zero calories because it's under a certain amount of calories per serving, but it actually has some calories to it. Not enough to notice if you have one or two servings a day, but if you're consuming large quantities of it (like the OP who [if I remember the original post correctly] drinks liters of it PER day) then it can add up over the day pushing someone over their calorie allotment if they're not aware of it.

Just a thought...

eraser51

quick fix not really but i dont know how to change macros anymore than right now or go even further down with the calories

maybe the coffeine?!

did someone try the coke zero coffeinfree? did that something to you?

also someone know if more than 1 person (diet doctor) did that BLOOD ketone test experiment with pepsi maxx?

pezmel

Hasn't impacted my weight loss. I've tried going cold turkey in the past to see if it helped and it didn't. I'm certain I'm better off without it but I'm keeping a couple of diet sodas a day as part of my diet.

njmark72

Calories, calories, calories. If you burn more calories than you take in you will lose weight. I drink 4 x 20oz. Diet sodas a day AT LEAST. I have lost around 80lbs in 5 months and have maintained that for the last month.

If you are looking to be as healthy as possible then the chemicals in diet coda and a bunch of other foods/drinks are probably not the best thing for you. IF you are trying to lose weight Diet Soda is by far a better alternative than any other drink that contains calories.

If you maintain a strict caloric based diet where you continuously burn more calories than you put in your body you WILL lose weight.

Good Luck!
Mark