Diet Soda Opinions?
Replies
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A can of diet soda a day won't kill you or poison you. For many it keeps them sane while trying to lose weight.
Although I'm no expert, and I don't have ANY proof of anything, I do know my body. I was highly addicted to Diet Coke for over 20 years. Meaning I drank NOTHING but DC. No juice, no water, no milk, nada.... and when I finally broke the habit, and suffered through about 3 solid weeks of migraine like symptoms, my body was thanking me. I also know that when I have focused on drinking water, and lots of it, I lose more weight and feel 'cleaner' inside, if there is such a thing. BUTTTT . . . your above statement makes perfect sense to me. If I do have any now, because I went back to drinking DC occasionally, I definitely don't feel like I'm 'punishing' myself at all. It's about moderation, not deprivation. Unless you're under doctor's orders because of Diabetes or something, I don't think a diet soda will kill you. Brush your teeth regularly, drink lots of water and I believe your body will rid itself of this 'poison'. I firmly believe anything 'man-made' can't be good for you anyway. Be smart, and don't make fitness so much about things you CAN'T DO!0 -
I’m not trying to change anyone’s mind; we’re all adults and can research and make our own decisions; however here is some literature I ran across a few days ago when my brother approached me with the same inquiry.
http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/healthy-eating/5-reasons-aspartame-is-bad-for-you.html
Diabetes:Aspartame consumption is extremely harmful to people with diabetes. It makes it more difficult to control sugar levels and aggravate diabetes-related conditions such as retinopathy, cataracts, neuropathy and gastroparesis. The sweetener also has been known to cause convulsions often mistaken for insulin reactions.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/sweeteners/aspartame.html
Try reading from a DIABETES website, an official one in regards to it. Nowhere in there does it state it's UNSAFE for them to in fact consume.Cancer:Studies have found a dangerous connection between aspartame consumption and the development of brain tumors. When aspartame breaks down it produces a substance called DKP. As your stomach digests DKP, it produces a chemical that induces the growth of brain tumors.
Like I said.....the sun causes cancer as well..... so many NATURAL things do..... so perhaps all those ppl who are falling into the scare tactics (most likely started by sugar growers & they companies) should really start thinking about the TRUTH for a bit. There is NO PROOF that it causes ANYTHING. None at all. But there IS proof that sun can cause cancer & that sugar (real sugar) can be somewhat bad for you .... like if you ARE diabetic.0 -
The only weight gain you will get from diet soda is due to the sodium and carbonation. It is all fluid. Unless you have digestive issues or have had weight loss surgery, a diet soda now and again will not hurt you. If you don't believe me, consult a dietitian. I am three semesters away from my RDA. I definitely am an advocate of water, but will never state that diet soda will cause weight gain. That is completely FALSE!!!!!!!!
Wow! I AM a registered dietitian although I do not work in health care. And you need to do a little research before you make such a definitive statement since you are WRONG!
Diet soda contains no calories and it's not high in sodium like some have stated (like the expert above) but it is not without harm. Many studies have shown that it causes sugar cravings and recently it has been shown that artificial sweetners bump up your blood sugar. It seems the body reacts to the sweet taste in your mouth and you body prepares for the onslaught of sugar by releasing insulin.
There is nothing natural in diet soda and we should limit chemicals in foods as much as possible. Make sure that you are not drinking it in place of your 8 cups of water and try to cut down on it as you can. As you give it up you will find the craving to go away and if you increase the amount of water you are drinking you will also find that you are too full to consume too much.
You must not believe it's a good thing to drink or you would not have posed the question. My advice (although I'm not just 3 semesters shy of whatever an RDA is) is that you drink water whenever you feel the urge for a diet drink and then if you still want one have it. Continue to cut back until it's an occasional thing and not a daily thing. And my other best advice is that you not take any advice from these forums.
Good luck to you!0 -
Just read everything. It's funny I came across this discussion because I picked up a case of capri sun waters, WATERS, for my daughters lunches and it has aspartame in it. I was so disgusted. So, we ended up with Apple & Eve juice and mini bottles of water. It's disgusting that this country allows it to stay on the market when so many countries have banned it.
it's just nuts how they slip the bad stuff into things that should be good stuff. It's difficult to find a yogurt that isn't full of stuff you do not want to consume like high fructose corn syrup.0 -
Personally I don't like the taste of aspartame or sucralose, but here's what a nutritionist told me about diet soda:
When the liver starts helping with the digestion, it doesn't recognize the aspartame or sucralose because they are chemicals and not natural substances (aspartame is the worse of the two). So, the liver goes to work ridding the body of these toxins. The more of it you drink, the harder the liver works.
Then, because it doesn't know what this stuff is, it tells the body, hey, can I get some real nutrients here, all I'm getting are toxins and I'm working hard, and I need some good stuff to keep me healthy.
The human response to this is to (usually) eat more.
Now, I don't know if this is all true or not. But it sounds pretty good, and I try not to eat/drink an overabundance of chemicals in my food, so I stay away from the diet soda.
Hope that helps!
Good luck with kicking your habit. : )0 -
It has been proven to cause cancer, brain tumors, holes in the brain and all sorts of other diseases.
Show me one real study. Not a blog. Not "Dr" Mercola's website or any other company trying to sell some holistic snake oil. But a real study. And where's the bodies? You'd think the streets would be littered with brain-rotted corpses.
Because it's pretty funny how when there was some contaminated wheat gluten in some dog and cat food a few years ago, and a handful of people's pets had kidney failure and died, ALL pet foods that might POSSIBLY have been exposed to the contaminated ingredients were yanked from the shelves in a massive recall.
I don't for one second believe the government really cares about me, but I'd be willing to bet that they'd care a little more about the health of a voter and taxpayer than they would someone's cat. At very least, the media would want to cover it. I mean... soda eating holes in people's brains is almost as interesting as a naked prince or Snooki giving birth. Almost.
I get concerned by the fact that the delivery people KNOW that if their diet product sits in the sun for more than a certain time they have to return it to the company as it is not safe...I WAS told this by a distributor himself!0 -
I would say get rid of it if you can. It's also bad for your bones.
^^^ Unsubstantiated myth. The closest Doctors can say is that it may be linked to osteoperosis simply because people drink soda instead of milk.
Nope. What are your sources? I worked in bone research for years. The phosphoric acid in colas (not other types of fizzy drink) leaches calcium from your bones. Do a pubmed search, plenty good literature out there to substantiate this.
I am not disputing that especially with teenage females a lot of the cola/bone density problem is due to drinking colas instead of milk, but the phosphoric acid does actually have a negative effect on bone density.
Edited to add the common-sense thing about a bit not doing you any harm, one glass isn't going to dissolve your bones. If all you drink is cola, though, you're going to have a problem.0 -
I drink the occasional diet soda. I had been drinking them quite regularly to deal with hunger and a sweet tooth, but I feel that it'd be best to try and weed them out altogether. I'm not gonna go into details about who's right and who's wrong and which study said what, just that I'm personally trying to cut down on the artificial sweeteners that I'm consuming. As for whether it inhibits weight loss, as far as I know from personal experience, I don't think it does.0
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I rarely drink soda anymore. I stick to water mainly if you need some flavor add a lemon to water.0
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very informative thnxxxxx0
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Personally I don't like the taste of aspartame or sucralose, but here's what a nutritionist told me about diet soda:
When the liver starts helping with the digestion, it doesn't recognize the aspartame or sucralose because they are chemicals and not natural substances (aspartame is the worse of the two). So, the liver goes to work ridding the body of these toxins. The more of it you drink, the harder the liver works.
Then, because it doesn't know what this stuff is, it tells the body, hey, can I get some real nutrients here, all I'm getting are toxins and I'm working hard, and I need some good stuff to keep me healthy.
The human response to this is to (usually) eat more.
Now, I don't know if this is all true or not. But it sounds pretty good, and I try not to eat/drink an overabundance of chemicals in my food, so I stay away from the diet soda.
Hope that helps!
Good luck with kicking your habit. : )
I know someone who has increased liver enzymes due to overconsumption of Diet Coke. He would drink about 2 liters a day and said that it would make him crave carbohydrates and sweets. He could put away an entire large pizza.
When he quit drinking it, his health was better and appetite returned to an average rate.0 -
Not only does phosphoric acid do damage to the bones, it causes kidney problems and the only reason they put it in regular and diet soda is to keep us from vomiting when drinking it. Phosphoric acid lines the stomach and keeps us from vomiting the overly sugary or artificially sweetened carbonated drink.0
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I drink mostly water, but when I eat things like pizza or popcorn I need a little diet coke.0
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I use to drink soda nonstop! Now that i have cut down to once a week i feel so much better, the only difference i can tell so far is that my legs and stomach use to swell sooooo bad, now they don't.0
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I get concerned by the fact that the delivery people KNOW that if their diet product sits in the sun for more than a certain time they have to return it to the company as it is not safe...I WAS told this by a distributor himself!
Wouldn't that apply to MOST food products?
And I'd think the biggest issue with it sitting in the sun for too long is the cans/bottles exploding.0 -
What I have gauged from this thread is that any ill health effects from drinking diet sodas (or fizzy drinks as we call them in the uk!) are generally found in people drinking vast amounts of these drinks or nothing else. For people who only drink them once in a while or have a little each day amongst plenty if water and a healthy diet, there is unlikely to be any problems.
Conclusion - it's ok to drink diet soda, just not all day everyday. Oh and don't believe everything you read on the Internet!0 -
What I have gauged from this thread is that any ill health effects from drinking diet sodas (or fizzy drinks as we call them in the uk!) are generally found in people drinking vast amounts of these drinks or nothing else. For people who only drink them once in a while or have a little each day amongst plenty if water and a healthy diet, there is unlikely to be any problems.
Conclusion - it's ok to drink diet soda, just not all day everyday. Oh and don't believe everything you read on the Internet!
Exactly
This is what I edited my post above to try and say. I can't drink much in the way of fizzy drinks, whether diet/'full-fat', because they make me bloat so badly, it's so painful and just not worth it for me. I'm not averse to a cointreau and lemonade once in a while though! 
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I get concerned by the fact that the delivery people KNOW that if their diet product sits in the sun for more than a certain time they have to return it to the company as it is not safe...I WAS told this by a distributor himself!
Wouldn't that apply to MOST food products?
And I'd think the biggest issue with it sitting in the sun for too long is the cans/bottles exploding.
Then I guess we shouldn't have any dairy, eggs or meat, either. And most fruits and veggies wouldn't fair well, either, under those circumstances one they were no longer attached to the plant.
(I want to clear up that I'm not arguing in favor of artificial sweeteners because I personally ingest them. I don't. I have not yet found, aside from honey, a sugar sub that I can stand the taste of. But if people enjoy their diet sodas and it helps them with the rest of their diet, then so what? And the question was specifically about the sweeteners causing weight gain, which they don't unless you overeat because of them.)0 -
There is "losing weight" and there is getting healthy...If you simply want to lose weight...drink it. On the other hand if you are striving to get healthy, dont. The artificial sweeteners are not healthy for you. All you have to do is google them.0
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Lol, it MAY lead to lower bone density if drank daily and no supplementation of calcium. That's not the same as doing damage to the bones.Not only does phosphoric acid do damage to the bones, it causes kidney problems and the only reason they put it in regular and diet soda is to keep us from vomiting when drinking it. Phosphoric acid lines the stomach and keeps us from vomiting the overly sugary or artificially sweetened carbonated drink.
And please, phosphoric acid stands no chance in the stomach once hydrochloric acid hits it. Quit making stuff up.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition0 -
Just read everything. It's funny I came across this discussion because I picked up a case of capri sun waters, WATERS, for my daughters lunches and it has aspartame in it. I was so disgusted. So, we ended up with Apple & Eve juice and mini bottles of water. It's disgusting that this country allows it to stay on the market when so many countries have banned it.
I went to buy seltzer this weekend and had TROUBLE finding a brand that was all natural! My husband was like "You disappeared for 10 minutes I thought you were running to the next aisle for seltzer" I took so long because every bottle had a list of other chemicals in it. I just wanted all natural carbonated water and had to dig to find it.0 -
Sooo, I have started this kick on Diet Pepsi, that i really need to knock.
However, So many people keep telling me that the diet soda can actually make me gain weight...
any advice???
I decided to kick my diet soda addiction because I wanted to really reduce the amount of unnatural products that I put in my body. After I stopped I had a headache every day for a week, so I figured something in there is giving me a withdrawal headache, so it's good that i'm getting it out of my system! I say if you are thinking of kicking it - do it now. I've only been off it for a little more than a week (today was my first no-headache morning) and I don't miss it. I do drink all-natural seltzer (no sodium, no aspertame. Ingredients should be "Carbonated water, natural flavors" nothing more) that's been getting me by just fine. I dont think diet soda makes you gain weight, I just think it's better to fuel our body with natural products.0 -
Sorry I haven't read the thread so sorry if it's already been said!
Apparently it's the artificial sugar aspartame that can give you the munches. It's still a relatively new sugar substitute and there hasn't been a lot of research into it, now they are looking at the side effects of it. Apparently one is the hunger thing but they are also looking at a link to cancer :-/
Also the caffeine in that stuff is crazy, not good at all.
I used to live off diet coke, now I have got rid unless I really fancy one. I don't keep them in the house, I drink water or milk now. Don't get me wrong I will have one when I have a subway or something, but that's not very often and its a bit of a treat.
:-)0 -
Its Crap ...........
Drink Water...
I am sure you could get away with one a week .. but other than that cya0 -
For me the easiest way to kick the soda...is to add lemon juice from a lemon to my water. Or cut lemon wedges and put in a glass of water.0
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Feeling a bit lazy and I haven't read all the replies, so mine may be a repeat of another.
Imagine your stomach as a balloon. When soda is agitated what happens? It expands. Imagine now, what soda will do inside your stomach. Try it out by stretching a balloon over the mouth of a half empty bottle of soda. Give it a shake and watch the balloon fill up.
Now what happens when you have all that space in your now gas filled stomach? Your brain thinks you need to eat more to fill it up. So you eat until the food displaces the gases from the soda and blammo, you feel over-full. Now imagine that with diet soda. You have a non-nutritive substance in your stomach taking up space. Your body thinks you need to add more "real" foods to make up for the fake stuff you just put in.
Sodas also contain citric acid. How does your body fight excess acids in the stomach? By leeching calcium from your blood stream. Now you are de-calcifying your body. You'll have to drink 2-3 8oz. glasses of milk to make up for the damage done by one 12 oz. can of soda.
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I would say get rid of it if you can. It's also bad for your bones.
^^^ Unsubstantiated myth. The closest Doctors can say is that it may be linked to osteoperosis simply because people drink soda instead of milk.
True dat.
The only bad effect I have from diet soda is that it perpetuates my caffeine addiction.0 -
Feeling a bit lazy and I haven't read all the replies, so mine may be a repeat of another.
Imagine your stomach as a balloon. When soda is agitated what happens? It expands. Imagine now, what soda will do inside your stomach. Try it out by stretching a balloon over the mouth of a half empty bottle of soda. Give it a shake and watch the balloon fill up.
Now what happens when you have all that space in your now gas filled stomach? Your brain thinks you need to eat more to fill it up. So you eat until the food displaces the gases from the soda and blammo, you feel over-full. Now imagine that with diet soda. You have a non-nutritive substance in your stomach taking up space. Your body thinks you need to add more "real" foods to make up for the fake stuff you just put in.
Sodas also contain citric acid. How does your body fight excess acids in the stomach? By leeching calcium from your blood stream. Now you are de-calcifying your body. You'll have to drink 2-3 8oz. glasses of milk to make up for the damage done by one 12 oz. can of soda.
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Interesting theories, without any basis in fact.0 -
The only bad effect I have from diet soda is the neighborhood weirdos who fish my cans out of the recycling bin. :grumble:0
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Feeling a bit lazy and I haven't read all the replies, so mine may be a repeat of another.
Imagine your stomach as a balloon. When soda is agitated what happens? It expands. Imagine now, what soda will do inside your stomach. Try it out by stretching a balloon over the mouth of a half empty bottle of soda. Give it a shake and watch the balloon fill up.
Now what happens when you have all that space in your now gas filled stomach? Your brain thinks you need to eat more to fill it up. So you eat until the food displaces the gases from the soda and blammo, you feel over-full. Now imagine that with diet soda.
That does sound like one of the dumber things I've heard. I actually find soda filling. Who needs a meal if you have a pop?0
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