Diet drinks

There's no hard and fast exact answer, although some studies in the last few years have shown that the artificial sweetener in the diet drinks confuses the body with the sweet taste. Sweets, to the body, usually signal calories. When you dont actually get those calories, you could experience increased hunger, which would make you over-eat, giving you too many calories or poor choices, etc etc. On the other hand, for some people giving up soda cold turkey is too hard, and if it's a case of regular or diet, diet is way better.

There are also some different medical studies that say different things about the varities of artificial sweetener. Most diet sodas use aspartame/Equal, Coke Zero (and I think one of the 'newer' diet Pepsis, cant recall which) uses a sucralose/Spelenda mix, and if you have a Safeway by you, their "Refreshe" house brand uses a mix of real sugar and I *think* splenda, but it could be Stevia. You can find google these and read up on them, but the bottom line is everything is still a potential/study, and the FDA says theyre safe for consumption with no crazy known side effects.

When it comes down to it, water is of course best and healthiest. But it's also the most boring and I dont know about you, but after I drink a glass of water I get absolutely starving (there's also a "study" that hypothesises when the stomach feels the fullness from a big glass of water and then doesnt have any calories/food to burn, it causes the same sort of brain confusion that artificial sweeteners cause - but it's all still a study, lol).

My suggestion is notice how you feel after you drink a soda. Do you start binge eating from overwhelming hunger a short time later? Or does it not effect you at all? Another thing to keep in mind is how much you drink. Diet soda is literally nothing but chemicals, and if youre drinking multiple cans a day, it's time to wean yourself onto a different beverage. Perhaps brewed iced tea? Green tea is especially healthy, and if you sweeten it with a little honey instead of equal or splenda, youre doing great.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/457927-will-diet-coke-raise-blood-sugar-levels-up-in-diabetics/

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/diet-soda/AN01732

it normally stops me from bingeing, if im really hungry but dont 'need' anything to eat il have a diet coke and will feel million times better so i suppose theres no harm! thanku

I agree with the other posters, who knows how it really effects your body. And with that, let's face it, our body would rather have water. I quit a nasty 12 cans a day diet coke habit in 2005 that resulted in an immediate loss of 13 pounds in 3 days. My skin got much clearer - I replaced the diet coke with upping my coffee intake from 1 to4 cups a day and my water from zero to 8. So too many variables to really blame the diet coke on the water retention vs lowering caffeine and replacing it with water. It's like replacing cupcakes with a zero fat vanilla greek yogurt…

Diet drinks are full of so many chemicals it's hard to predict how they'll affect any particular person. And on this site you'll hear people swear both yes and no. Try giving them up for a few weeks and see for yourself. You can replace them with low or no calorie alternatives - unsweetened tea, a glass of water with a little pure unsweetened juice in it, coconut water, a good sparkling mineral water, etc.

it normally stops me from bingeing, if im really hungry but dont 'need' anything to eat il have a diet coke and will feel million times better so i suppose theres no harm! thanku

Me too. Diet drinks have no calories so it in itself has little affect on weight. If its aspertame you're worried about, Sobe has none and is a kick @ss diet drink.

In all seriousness, you'd be better off in the long run if you didn't consume that chemical concoction.

Chicken breast and fruit contain more components of aspertame then one can of diet coke. How you like dem blueberries?

In all seriousness, you'd be better off in the long run if you didn't consume that chemical concoction.

Chicken breast and fruit contain more components of aspertame then one can of diet coke. How you like dem blueberries?

Sure they do, they contain carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen atoms. That hardly makes them aspartame.

:happy: just pointing out that chemicals to a degree are in everything. A can of diet coke included in a balanced diet isn't something to get crazy about.

short story .. when i lost 100lbs last year I cut out diet soda completely, only drinking 0 cal energy drinks like monster zero. When I gained back nearly 50lbs this year I was on the diet sodas. You be the judge everyone is different you have to find what works for YOU.

I occasionally drink a Diet Lipton Green Tea, has zero calories and whatnot. My understanding based on what I've read is that, while it in itself does not cause weight gain, the chemicals and sweeteners in it cause 2 things to happen: 1) Sugary cravings can be more unbarable and remain because of the sweetener and 2) The sweetener does cause your body to increase whatever hormone it is in your body that slows down the metabolism, thus slowing down your fat burning or storing fat (I can't remember which)

Sorry I'm contributing and not 100% sure of what I'm stating but as a general rule, having one every now and again is no big deal. The real detriment is when you drink the diet drinks primarily which causes you to consume less water.

I have been told yes and no...but from my own personal experience, I drink more water when I limit my diet coke intake. Which of course makes me feel better. I try to only get one a day. Sometimes I may have a few more, but not until after I get all my water in. And I know it's bad...the chemicals. Which is another reason I try to limit. But it's a change I'm not yet ready to tackle. I will soon though.