Diet Soda / Crystal Light

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TotallyTina
TotallyTina Posts: 6 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I can't cut my diet soda cravings. I have started to drink coffee with stevia in the mornings, and then try to limit myself to one diet MD or diet coke a day ... is Stevia any better for you than the aspartame? I have never ever been a real soda or real sugar eater - i always get diet everything!! do you think if i cut this it would help me lose weight? Thanks - Tina
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  • Tracy_03311981
    Tracy_03311981 Posts: 80
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    I think it's great that you cut down dramatically. In fact, artificial sweetners, besides being awful for you, acutally make you crave more sugar!
    Stevia is much better for you than aspartame! I cut my sugar by more than half and lost 5 lbs in a week!
    Your doing great by making such a big change, keep it up!
  • Musikelektronik
    Musikelektronik Posts: 739 Member
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    Oh boy, here we go again.

    RollingEyesGIF.gif
  • Penfoldsplace
    Penfoldsplace Posts: 159
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    Giving up diet soda will not help you lose weight they are only a few calories a can. Some people give it up if they are concerned about the ingredients or are sensitive to aspartame.

    I have been drinking diet sodas all through my weight loss so far and had no problem.
  • _skittybang
    _skittybang Posts: 970 Member
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    Besides making you incredibly fat...

    Diet soda can kill you, too.


    tumblr_lytyr3nj6o1qkikgro1_250.gif

    Proof is in the pudding, sugar. Sugar is in the pudding, too.
  • mlcastle
    mlcastle Posts: 33
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    have a watch/read - http://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-nutrition/ask-jillian-how-can-i-kick-my-diet-soda-habit-for-good.aspx?xid=nl_LosingItWithJillianMichaels_20120906
  • ShaneOSX
    ShaneOSX Posts: 198
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    Fair warning, this thread will be a battle between organic evangelists and people who actually trust the FDA/Government/Corporations.

    Stevia has no known negatives. It's been consumed since the 13th century. In my opinion, Aspartame is in fact dangerous, and I would take the calories of regular soda over the toxicity of artificial sweeteners.

    One great option is to buy a Sodastream, buy the natural flavors, and make your own soda.

    They also make Stevia sodas, but I personally think they taste terrible. Crystal Light is also pretty bad for you re: toxicity, since you mentioned it in the thread title.
  • Katalyst77
    Katalyst77 Posts: 79
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    Giving up diet soda will not help you lose weight they are only a few calories a can. Some people give it up if they are concerned about the ingredients or are sensitive to aspartame.

    I have been drinking diet sodas all through my weight loss so far and had no problem.

    Its all crap! Give it all up! If you switch to unsweetened iced tea it will definitely help you lose weight! :D I save soda for when I am having pizza... they go together like beer and cigarettes! LOL! When I do indulge I like pepsi throwback. It tastes better, and is made with actual sugar... The regular sodas are all made with that high fructose crap, which is just as bad as artificial sweeteners... I think Stevia is probably somewhat better but it still seems like cheating...and you know what they say...
  • brancamfitness
    brancamfitness Posts: 4 Member
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    Fair warning, this thread will be a battle between organic evangelists and people who actually trust the FDA/Government/Corporations.

    Stevia has no known negatives. It's been consumed since the 13th century. In my opinion, Aspartame is in fact dangerous, and I would take the calories of regular soda over the toxicity of artificial sweeteners.

    Fair point about who to trust. However I will say most studies point to no harm at moderate dosage. The ones showing the worst effects were not only tested on rodents, but also a serving that would be similar to a human drinking 28 cans or so a day (highly doubtful).

    In the end it's one of those things people like to point the finger at for blame for their weight gain (or the culprit for not seeing the weight loss they want). However true accountability needs to be had here in regards to overall nutrition.
  • jeditemple
    jeditemple Posts: 7 Member
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    Hey Tina, I don't know much about Stevia, but I do know that diet drinks (with aspartame) have been studied quite a bit regarding weight control. The studies have shown that diet drinks have a tendency to increase your appetite, boost stroke risk and deplete calcium. And the average soft drink throws in around 50mg of sodium too. While I personally don't think 1 drink (per day) will affect you either way, consuming several a day might lead to a problem. But since sodas don't have add any positive benefits to your health, you should cut it at your own discretion. For me, I treat myself to one diet soft drink per day. The rest of the time I drink plenty of water. I haven't noticed any weight gain with that plan. And honestly, you've gotta treat yourself sometimes.
  • Jester522
    Jester522 Posts: 392
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    My own copy-pasta from a similar threads:

    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 - BUT the amount is so insignificant it's not even worth mentioning. Health safety concerns surrounding aspartame are hype:
    http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/aspartame.asp

    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 whiskey. But there's a lot bigger health concerns with being overweight then drinking diet soda.
  • daisiemae123
    daisiemae123 Posts: 277 Member
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    Anything is bad for you in excess, and a study can be found somewhere to tell you that just about everything is bad for you. When I was pregnant I had a nutritionist in practically the same breath tell me that I shouldn't drink bottled water because of bpa in the plastic but I shouldn't drink tap water because of minerals and toxins. Ummm, so what am I supposed to drink? Good for you for cutting down on your soda and artificial sweeteners. I have never noticed a difference in weight loss or hunger whether I drink them or not. I gave up soda and switched to seltzer and water because I wanted to, not for any other reason. I don't think one a day or even two is going to hurt.
  • DMW914
    DMW914 Posts: 368 Member
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    Have you heard of or tried Zevia? It is a natual soda made with Stevia and they have a Cola & Caffrine free Cola flavor. I just recently added them to my diet because I'm trying to watch my sugar & sodium intake and this brand has ZERO of anything & they taste pretty good. If you can stand the aftertaste of Suclarose (Splenda) or Aspertame (Equal) then you should be fine Zevia as it does have a lil' bit of an aftertaste depending on which flavor you buy. I like Grape, Cream & Orange cause they have the least aftertaste to me so far... I haven't tried the other flavors yet as they're always out of stock by the time I get to the store. I will admit they may be a lil' pricey too but better than the rest of the junk soda's out there. You can find them at Whole Foods or a natural food grocer or check out http://www.zevia.com/stores/locator/
  • TotallyTina
    TotallyTina Posts: 6 Member
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    THANK YOU!! I need some motivation. Haven't had one yet today - only Coffee with Truvia :)
  • lenniebus
    lenniebus Posts: 321 Member
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    I
  • lenniebus
    lenniebus Posts: 321 Member
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    I am a big one for moderation--and making the most sensible choice. i do think Stevia is a little better, so opt for that when I can, but do drink diet sodas (in moderation). I am trying to limit...but, to be honest...it's probably not the most unhealthy thing a put in my body.
  • philOHIO
    philOHIO Posts: 520 Member
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    There is NOTHING wrong with Crystal Light. Not any different than Kool Aid, and people have been drinking that for almost 100 yrs.
  • dodihere
    dodihere Posts: 490
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    I will have a diet soda as a treat. Otherwise I drink water. I once hated water.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    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.

    And this right here is where the "diet soda is evil" people lose me. They're just regurgitating things they've heard, without doing any research for themselves.

    Diet sodas typically contain 25 -35mg of sodium per serving. That's about the same as the sodium content in three raw baby carrots.

    SOME people do have negative reactions to aspartame and those people should avoid it. I have a negative reaction to Ivory soap, so I don't use that particular brand. I'm not out trying to tell the rest of the world to avoid Ivory because it's 99.44% pure and the other .56% is the blood of unicorns.
  • lsapphire
    lsapphire Posts: 297 Member
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    I can't tolerate much aspartame. I drink one can of pepsi one a day and flavored water ( I use to drink at least a 6pk of soda a day)
  • Crochetluvr
    Crochetluvr Posts: 3,143 Member
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    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.

    And this right here is where the "diet soda is evil" people lose me. They're just regurgitating things they've heard, without doing any research for themselves.

    Diet sodas typically contain 25 -35mg of sodium per serving. That's about the same as the sodium content in three raw baby carrots.

    SOME people do have negative reactions to aspartame and those people should avoid it. I have a negative reaction to Ivory soap, so I don't use that particular brand. I'm not out trying to tell the rest of the world to avoid Ivory because it's 99.44% pure and the other .56% is the blood of unicorns.

    LOVE IT!!:laugh:

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