Diet Soda / Crystal Light

Oh boy, here we go again.

Besides making you incredibly fat...

Diet soda can kill you, too.




Proof is in the pudding, sugar. Sugar is in the pudding, too.

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.

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.

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.

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/

I

There is NOTHING wrong with Crystal Light. Not any different than Kool Aid, and people have been drinking that for almost 100 yrs.

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.

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:

LorinaLynn, I love your repy. Well done!

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! 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...

Do you even know what you're talking about? First off there is zero scientific evidence showing artificial sweeteners do any harm to the human body in the doses we consume. The only study where it showed an increase in cancer was when they gave rats the equivalent of 100 diet cokes a day for their entire lives. The reason high fructose corn syrup is bad for you is because its insanely cheap. Companies now have a very cheap way to add sweetness to their products. So now sugar is in more foods, and in higher amounts. Once again, no peer reviewed scientific study has shown HFCS is any more harmful than normal sugar.

I don't have much knowledge on Stevia but it seems to fall under the neutral phase where there hasn't been enough research to form a conclusion. Now this is all for the average person. If you are sensitive to any of these sweetners then they are not for you. I have issues with Stevia so I can't drink/eat it or my stomach hates me for a day or two. Also about artificial sugars causing you to crave more sweets is somewhat true. The human body is hard wired to crave high calorie foods. That's why sugar and fat taste so good. So that one comes down to will power. For me, a coke zero or some zero sugar jello is a nice healthy way to calm my sugar cravings without eating actual sugar.

Conclusion, if you do not have an allergy or sensitivity to artificial sugar, then they are going to be much better than real sugar.

Everything that I could have said has already been said; it's a decision you'll have to make on your own.

I will say that I notice I eat more overall and I get mild headaches when I drink diet soda, but that's just a personal reaction and I couldn't use that information to tell somebody else whether it's good or bad.

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.

.56% blood of unicorns...hmmm

Note to self: Hey, Voldemort, immediately have one of the Death Eater minions go to the store and buy tons of Ivory Soap. It will keep you alive even though you are an inch from death.