Diet Sodas- Is It Affecting My Weight Loss?

LiftAllThePizzas

I particularly don't even want to touch aspartame with a 10 foot pole.

Amount of Phenylalanine (mg), Aspartic Acid (mg), Methanol (mg) contained in various foods.
(USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory, 2007 http://www.ars.usda.gov/nutrientdata)

1059 2377 _0 Chicken breast (3 oz.)
_606 _953 _0 Non-fat milk (12 oz.)
_334 _632 _0 Boiled egg (1 large)
__58 _346 107 Tomato juice (12 oz.)
__90 __72 18 Aspartame sweetened beverage (12 oz.)
__58 _146 21 Banana (1 medium)
__24 _180 23 Orange juice (12 oz.)
___0 ___0 29 Apple juice (12 oz.)

SideSteel

I particularly don't even want to touch aspartame with a 10 foot pole.

Amount of Phenylalanine (mg), Aspartic Acid (mg), Methanol (mg) contained in various foods.
(USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory, 2007 http://www.ars.usda.gov/nutrientdata)

1059 2377 _0 Chicken breast (3 oz.)
_606 _953 _0 Non-fat milk (12 oz.)
_334 _632 _0 Boiled egg (1 large)
__58 _346 107 Tomato juice (12 oz.)
__90 __72 18 Aspartame sweetened beverage (12 oz.)
__58 _146 21 Banana (1 medium)
__24 _180 23 Orange juice (12 oz.)
___0 ___0 29 Apple juice (12 oz.)

^^ better not eat chicken and bananas if you fear aspartame.

EvetteM41

I haven't read the other responses. But I am like yuo. I can drink at least a 2 liter a day. But I have cut down drastically. I have heard diet pop is worse for you than regular pop because of the artifical sweetener. So I have been drinkin vitamin water and juice etc.. I drink bottled water too. Because my tap water is my house is gross. I actually despise water.

jipartusch

Great job on the 31 lbs lost! Motivational!

ToriRu513

I do not have an answer but I do know that I have made water my priority. I sit at a desk for 8 hours a day and litteraly fill by water bottle once an hour. When I do want that taste or "fizz" I have been drinking Sparkling Ice Water. All of the flavors offered taste great. I keep a case of that in my office and another case at home. I too love Diet Coke. After my success with losing 32 lbs. and feeling great the days I am hydrated I find myself not even thinking about the Diet Coke. I honestly probably only have a Diet Coke once every two weeks. Regardless of what you choose to do, I would suggest really cutting back at the very least. Sounds like a whole lot of soda!!

Good luck with your journey!

LizReeb

Directly? No. Indirectly? Big time. But I'm going to guess you're starting to suspect you shouldn't be drinking it like you are.

I'll try to keep this as short as possible, as I myself am a recovering soda addict. For many of us, soda is just like cigarettes, alcohol, or gambling. Can you enjoy it once and awhile? (A can a day? Maybe even just a can a week?) Or do you NEED it? Judging from your post, you're smack on the end of the spectrum of "Need". (That was me!! All of my life, soda soda soda..)

How is it "indirectly" affecting your weight loss? Here's how:

1) It's allowing you to keep something you don't need to moderate. The hardest part, for most of us, is learning moderation. Diet soda lets you hang onto a bad habit by being something you don't feel you have to moderate because it's "Calorie free". When you hit weak days, that diet soda crutch can be the thing that causes you to break.

2) It messes with hunger, big time. The fake sugar message generally makes hunger harder to control, and you feed it with more diet soda or you struggle to manage the cravings. As a person who has given up all soda (and almost all added sugar except fruit), I can tell you that the difference is beyond night and day. It's like daytime on the earth compared to night-time on the moon. When I get hungry, I don't get so ravenous I want to chew my arm off. It's controlled, and even if I can't eat for an hour or two - I'm still ok. No shakies, no headaches, no nothing. Just a stomach that lets me know I should eat when I have a little bit of time.

3) You may not want to believe it. Believe me, I didn't. But it's awful for you, and drinking it in that amount is screwing with your system to the likes of which we don't fully understand. Kidney problems, metabolic problems, teeth enamel, stomach issues - there are lots of things it very well may cause.

4) It's expensive. I don't know what your means are, it may not be an issue for you - but the money spent on that could easily go to much healthier food or treats.

Finally - if you've never given it up, you may not believe how it feels to not be dependent on it. The first few days - to a week will be hard, I won't lie. Hell, the first month is hard convincing your body to not crave something sweet - or crave the bubbly feeling. But when I'm off of soda (and caffeine), I can't even tell you how clear my head is. I sleep better, I wake up feeling better, and I rarely have crashes in the middle of the day. I don't have that "dry mouth ick" feeling that comes from getting most of my fluids from soda. Just that one change alone makes me feel like a brand new person. Best of luck to you. I know firsthand how hard it is to have a vice, an addiction like that. I hope you ultimately decide to try giving it up.

Sarauk2sf

Directly? No. Indirectly? Big time. But I'm going to guess you're starting to suspect you shouldn't be drinking it like you are.

I'll try to keep this as short as possible, as I myself am a recovering soda addict. For many of us, soda is just like cigarettes, alcohol, or gambling. Can you enjoy it once and awhile? (A can a day? Maybe even just a can a week?) Or do you NEED it? Judging from your post, you're smack on the end of the spectrum of "Need". (That was me!! All of my life, soda soda soda..)

How is it "indirectly" affecting your weight loss? Here's how:

1) It's allowing you to keep something you don't need to moderate. The hardest part, for most of us, is learning moderation. Diet soda lets you hang onto a bad habit by being something you don't feel you have to moderate because it's "Calorie free". When you hit weak days, that diet soda crutch can be the thing that causes you to break.

2) It messes with hunger, big time. The fake sugar message generally makes hunger harder to control, and you feed it with more diet soda or you struggle to manage the cravings. As a person who has given up all soda (and almost all added sugar except fruit), I can tell you that the difference is beyond night and day. It's like daytime on the earth compared to night-time on the moon. When I get hungry, I don't get so ravenous I want to chew my arm off. It's controlled, and even if I can't eat for an hour or two - I'm still ok. No shakies, no headaches, no nothing. Just a stomach that lets me know I should eat when I have a little bit of time.

3) You may not want to believe it. Believe me, I didn't. But it's awful for you, and drinking it in that amount is screwing with your system to the likes of which we don't fully understand. Kidney problems, metabolic problems, teeth enamel, stomach issues - there are lots of things it very well may cause.

4) It's expensive. I don't know what your means are, it may not be an issue for you - but the money spent on that could easily go to much healthier food or treats.

Finally - if you've never given it up, you may not believe how it feels to not be dependent on it. The first few days - to a week will be hard, I won't lie. Hell, the first month is hard convincing your body to not crave something sweet - or crave the bubbly feeling. But when I'm off of soda (and caffeine), I can't even tell you how clear my head is. I sleep better, I wake up feeling better, and I rarely have crashes in the middle of the day. I don't have that "dry mouth ick" feeling that comes from getting most of my fluids from soda. Just that one change alone makes me feel like a brand new person. Best of luck to you. I know firsthand how hard it is to have a vice, an addiction like that. I hope you ultimately decide to try giving it up.

Could you cite some studies that show it causes kidney and metabolic problems. Also, it messes with hunger for some people - for others, it satisfies a craving with no calories.

bailuna

I used to drink 2-3 cans of Diet Coke a day. I absolutely love it. But I quit, and only have ONE once a week (on my cheat meal day) ... and I've definitely noticed a difference. It might be purely psychological, but I feel better when I'm not drinking it and I find I lose weight a bit easier without it.

That being said, I love water, so while it was hard to give up, I at least have something I enjoy. Not sure what I'd do if I didn't.

MumOfADuo

Well I stopped cold turkey with drinking diet or non-diet and felt the weight fall off. Went back to drinking it and now I'm at a stand still. Tomorrow we start a biggest loser challenge at work so attempting to stop the diets for the 6 weeks. So we'll see.

I stopped my once a day diet coke for 7 months and noticed NO difference, no weight change or anything...went back to drinking them. Losing weight now....BUT I will say that the artifical crap in them is HORRIBLE for me and I know this.....

gpizzy

I didn't read all of the posts so this might already be in there - there was recently a study that I read about how the aspartame in diet sodas can cause all sorts of problems that are similar to those of MS. Definitely something to keep in mind.

There are lots of studies out there to the effect of diet soda being terrible for you.

geebusuk

Remember; diet soda is probably 99% water.
There's no difference to eating a teeny little cube of flavouring and some sparkling water to drinking the same flavouring mixed in.

1) It's allowing you to keep something you don't need to moderate.

2) It messes with hunger, big time.

3) You may not want to believe it.

4) It's expensive.

Finally - if you've never given it up, you may not believe how it feels to not be dependent on it.

1) I am a caffeine addict as with a lot of the world. I don't 'need' to have any specific food I like, but it's nice, ya'know!

2) Not for me. For me it slightly decreases my hunger.

3) I also don't want to believe in Allah, or the baby snugglepuff as my prophet. There's a lot of things that I don't believe in - generally because there's no evidence that they are real.

4) I bought a load of short-dated coke zero that came out at 14p each (maybe 20c?). Current price is around 23p a can. Could get it cheaper in bottles, but I like cans.

Last bit - I did. The only 'issue' was getting over the caffeine addiction. I've done it before. Apart from that, no other issues.

There are lots of studies out there to the effect of diet soda being terrible for you.

Care to present some decent ones?
Genuinely interested because I HAVE looked.
I've found ones saying that people who are fat/may even getting fatter drink diet soda; for instance. But they haven't addressed the possibility that maybe said fat people don't want to get EVEN fatter, so are making some small effort.

flanary888

I feel like it helps me! I use it as my go to when I need something sweet but don't want to indulge in sugary foods. The sweetness and carbonation seem to hit my craving and fill me up, and for 0 calories. I do drink lots of flavored water and Crystal Light during the day, so it is my nighttime treat, but I won't be giving it up.

Alderaic

artificial sweetener (and stevia as well) are making your blood sugar spike,
so even though your body is not ingesting it, it still makes your body move the food you ingest with it to the fat rather than muscles and that's why it's bad.

If you read tim ferriss he has a lot of info in his 4 hour body book about this, but more generally look at diabetes related websites they have a ton of information on this.

so to resume
regular soda = spike bloog sugar + carbs in the drink
diet soda = spike blood sugar.

on an empty stomach you can get away with it, but one hour before eating to two hours after, your increasing the chances to feed your fat cells rather than your muscle cells.

What do you mean 'feed your muscle cells'?

well your food goes to feed your body right.
when you workout and eat proteins, it's gonna go to your muscles to repair etc...
blood sugar (and other factors) determine which type of cells get to eat, if your blood sugar is high, it's a signal to feed the fat cells, if it is low it feeds the muscles in priority.

I'm making it way simpler than it really is and probably not using the right words but you get the picture

Alderaic

sorry just correcting what I said, in does not increase your blood sugar, but your receptivity to insulin (sorry for the mistake)

Anyway it's been proven many times that drinking water is the best way to lose wait, and diet sodas are slowing down weight loss.

here is some info on the subjet:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/08/09/artificial-sweeteners-worse-than-sugar.aspx

of course other articles will likely say otherwise.
Sucralose has also been found guilty of affecting your insulin. I remember reading something on mark's daily apple but cannot find it.

Alderaic

and fresh from today:
http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/diet-soda-drinkers-greater-risk-diabetes-study-article-1.1257846

Sarauk2sf

artificial sweetener (and stevia as well) are making your blood sugar spike,
so even though your body is not ingesting it, it still makes your body move the food you ingest with it to the fat rather than muscles and that's why it's bad.

If you read tim ferriss he has a lot of info in his 4 hour body book about this, but more generally look at diabetes related websites they have a ton of information on this.

so to resume
regular soda = spike bloog sugar + carbs in the drink
diet soda = spike blood sugar.

on an empty stomach you can get away with it, but one hour before eating to two hours after, your increasing the chances to feed your fat cells rather than your muscle cells.

What do you mean 'feed your muscle cells'?

well your food goes to feed your body right.
when you workout and eat proteins, it's gonna go to your muscles to repair etc...
blood sugar (and other factors) determine which type of cells get to eat, if your blood sugar is high, it's a signal to feed the fat cells, if it is low it feeds the muscles in priority.

I'm making it way simpler than it really is and probably not using the right words but you get the picture

You are talking about nutrient partitioning? Are you saying that diet soda will cause protein to be stored as fat in a caloric deficit?

Sarauk2sf

sorry just correcting what I said, in does not increase your blood sugar, but your receptivity to insulin (sorry for the mistake)

Anyway it's been proven many times that drinking water is the best way to lose wait, and diet sodas are slowing down weight loss.

here is some info on the subjet:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/08/09/artificial-sweeteners-worse-than-sugar.aspx

of course other articles will likely say otherwise.
Sucralose has also been found guilty of affecting your insulin. I remember reading something on mark's daily apple but cannot find it.

Pro tip: do not use Mercola as a source.

kms1320

"The Situation" only drinks water. His abs made him famous. So I only drink water.

Kadesha72

"The Situation" only drinks water. His abs made him famous. So I only drink water.

hahahaaa...

Personally, for ME, (and as a recovering Dr. Pepper addict), I limit myself to 2 a day MAX (diet ones)... only "full power" ONE on the weekend... why?
1. I don't like adding that sodium to my day, I struggle with that anyway.
2. I remember an experiment we did in 4th grade that involved a nail in a jar of Pepsi and the speed at which that reaction happened freaks me out, so I use it as a visual deterant (also... Coke eats battery acid off your car battery cables, do I really want that IN me???)
3. Once I got accustomed to drinking water, I find I feel 100% better, my skin is rockin awesome, my pee is clear and I don't ever really even CRAVE that soda.... I only say I "get" the ones I do so I don't psych myself out to crave it because I can't have it... sometimes I do not drink them at all....

Also, unfounded or not, there's just so many different things out there bad about aspertame and carbonation.... I'd just rather stick with something I know is ok....

akern1987

I'm no expert, but I'm looking at a can of diet soda right now, and it doesnt have much of anything in it besides sodium. 35mg in 1 can, and from the sound of it, you drink much more than 1 can.
We all know that sodium means salt and salt equals water retention, so that is very possibly true.

I love soda too...it's kind of my weakness, and I do drink it, but I always drink at least two cups of water for every cup of soda I have.
I know it sucks, but you really get used to it, and I've found, that even though I still crave soda, nothing quenches my thirst quite like water!

(I dont know about the tea, sorry).

Hope this helps,
good luck!