Diet Sodas?

Potassium and sodium benzoate are preservatives that prevent bacteria and mold from growing and contaminating soda. When mixed with vitamin C, they "can react together to form small amounts of benzene, a chemical that causes leukemia and other cancers," according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

What if I eat bananas and oranges?

I don't drink much soda anymore. I switched to Crystal Light Pure (sweetened with stevia).

When I do drink soda, I try to stick to Pepsi Throwback, Mountain Dew Throwback, Sierra Mist Natural, and Imperial Dr. Pepper.

These aren't "diet" sodas per se, but I'd rather drink the ones with pure cane sugar than some sweet crap some guy in a lab came up with.

It makes my stomach hurt thinking about people engineering the food I eat or drink.

You don't need caffeine unless you are an addict

damn straight

Lighten up people. I doubt NEED was meant in the way you're insinuating it was.

If I have to drink a soda, I'd get diet ginger ale or diet root beer. But I don't handle aspartame well, and I'm not a big fan of carbonation unless its in a beer, so soda is not a big thing for me. I prefer unsweetened teas, iced or not. If I "need" something sweet I'll save my calories or work out for for a reeses peanut butter cup, miniature of course!

I get my morning caffeine from coffee, stevia with skim milk. Not a morning person, yes I NEED my caffeine to satisfy the worlds demands that we all have to be morning people. But I can then work 12 - 16 hours without wanting more unless I really didn't get enough sleep. Its all about the 6-8 hours. And water, if I don't drink enough water I get tired.

Caffeine Free Diet Pepsi. 4OZ of Jack Daniels to 1OZ of Caffeine Diet Pepsi. I will be right back

Many diet sodas contain phosphoric acid, which keeps soda from going flat. Unfortunately, it also leaches calcium from your teeth and bones to satisfy the body's delicate balance of phosphorus and calcium. It also neutralizes the hydrochloric acid in your stomach, which we need to digest food and use its nutrients, particularly calcium, causing further mineral loss from your body.

Phosphoric acid does not neutralize hydrochloric acid. For that, you'd need a base, not another acid.

for everyone that is say it is bad for you, how is it bad for you? do you got evidence to support that claim?

There's some rat studies using doses that do not even remotely approximate human consumption in dose or delivery method (injection vs ingestion). There is a recent study showing bad stuff in humans but it was an obsevational study using FFQs to estimate intake.

I'm not on a diet soda promotion board or anything like that, I just think people are going way overboard with claims of toxicity or cancer or "diet soda is horrible because it's a chemical" etc.

ty sidesteal

Ohmigod, this thread could not come soon enough. I need to get this Diet Soda Monkey off my back.

My intake is excessive. (People have commented on it many times before.) I hit the vending machine 3 times a day, and then buy two-liters for home. I did the math and am dismayed to find that it can add up to about $100 per month.

This is EMBARASSING. I could actually pay off my credit card bill quicker if I can cut out this habit.

I think I need to get some of that Mio stuff, one of my friends suggested it.

Seriously, if anyone has advice that doesn't involve quitting cold turkey and crashing at my desk, let me know. I can't afford to not be functional at work for a few days (contract job). Thanks!

Unsweetened tea, brew your own at home, I still use a glass suntea dispenser, put the teabags in, fill with water, sit in sun for a few hours, take out teabags and stick in the fridge. Start off with regular tea since you ARE hooked on caffeine, and wean yourself off it by gradually switching to decaf tea or mixing herbal teas with regular tea.

I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH! Stay away from diet sodas!! They are quick fixes that give your body an immediate chemical reaction that kill brain cells.

Aspartame, sucralose and acesulfame potassium are common calorie-free artificial sweeteners found in diet soda, alone or in combination. They are all FDA-approved, but many holistic practitioners caution against their consumption because of the numerous complaints of side effects, including headaches, dizziness, mood swings, nausea, seizures and abdominal pain.

Many diet sodas contain phosphoric acid, which keeps soda from going flat. Unfortunately, it also leaches calcium from your teeth and bones to satisfy the body's delicate balance of phosphorus and calcium. It also neutralizes the hydrochloric acid in your stomach, which we need to digest food and use its nutrients, particularly calcium, causing further mineral loss from your body.

Potassium and sodium benzoate are preservatives that prevent bacteria and mold from growing and contaminating soda. When mixed with vitamin C, they "can react together to form small amounts of benzene, a chemical that causes leukemia and other cancers," according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Here is the article I pulled the info from:
Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/210926-ingredients-in-diet-sodas/#ixzz2HJDBmzWa

First, Livestrong is a pretty terrible source for information, they don't actually source their information, and spread a lot of myths, rumors and heresy, usually by "citing" a random website that makes the claim, but shares no evidence, like a personal opinion blog.

Now, for the information, phosphoric acid does NOT leach calcium from bones. Tests have shown that it's actually the caffeine that does that (meaning coffee and tea will leach calcium from bones, as well.) Those same studies have also shown that the human body adjusts to this by slowing the rate of calcium loss during the rest of the day. This leads to the same amount of calcium loss per day as someone who consumes no soda at all (yes, you lose calcium from your bones EVERY DAY, no matter what, that's why calcium is an essential nutrient that needs to be consumed.)

As for the benzene scare tactic, benzene is also found, in higher amounts than you would find in soda, in regular drinking water. You also inhale more benzene filling your car's gas tank than you get from consuming sodium benzoate in soda. Just breathing modern day air has benzene in it, the equivalent of drinking 5 GALLONS of soda a day. To think someone consuming a can or two of soda per day is poisoning themselves with benzene is laughable, and quite honestly, ludicrous.

Many diet sodas contain phosphoric acid, which keeps soda from going flat. Unfortunately, it also leaches calcium from your teeth and bones to satisfy the body's delicate balance of phosphorus and calcium. It also neutralizes the hydrochloric acid in your stomach, which we need to digest food and use its nutrients, particularly calcium, causing further mineral loss from your body.

Phosphoric acid does not neutralize hydrochloric acid. For that, you'd need a base, not another acid.

Oh yeah the acid, gives me heartburn. Anything that can take the crust off a car battery should not go in your stomach, in my opinion.

....Ok. The acid in your stomach is much stronger than the acid in a soda. Oh, and for the record, the acid in your stomach can take the crust off a car battery, also. So, maybe you should find a way to get it out of there, since it obviously shouldn't be in your stomach... :huh:

I like Diet Dr Pepper too. But are there any CONS to Diet Soda?

I just did a quick google search:
Caffeinated sodas -- diet or not -- pose the biggest threat to your bones. Recent research shows that it may be the caffeine in some sodas, rather than the acids in all of them, that coax excess calcium out of your skeleton.
Diet soda increases your risk for type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Three big studies have found that people who drink even one diet soda a day have a greater chance of developing metabolic syndrome, which is a precursor to diabetes and heart disease. Why? Maybe because diet soda drinkers also tend to order the burger and fries (instead of the salad and fruit). Maybe because diet colas contain caramel flavoring, which reduces your body's ability to process blood sugar at a molecular level. Or maybe because people whose extra weight already puts them at risk for diabetes and heart trouble drink diet soda in an attempt to consume fewer calories.
Next, the pros
Despite the cons, as yet, there's no definitive evidence that the ingredients in diet sodas are harmful, provided you don't drink more than 80 cans (yes, 80) a day. We assume you don't, so, generally speaking, do this:
If you currently drink regular soda, diet is still a better choice. Every 12-ounce can of the real thing floods your body with 136 calories -- most of it courtesy of 33 grams of high-fructose corn syrup, which you totally don't need.
Clean up the rest of your diet first. Don't sweat one or maybe two diet bubblies a day. It's way more important to get the rest of your food and drink up to good-for-you standards.
Get extra calcium. For every 12 ounces of soda you sip, bump up your calcium intake by 20 milligrams. All that takes is a few extra swallows of skim milk or a few extra stalks of broccoli. Just add that to the calcium supplement you should be taking anyway (1,000 mg before age 60, 1,200 from then on; half in the morning, half at night; we like ours in the form or calcium citrate).
Steer clear of diet-soda "fantasy math." A zero-calorie soda doesn't cancel out the calories and fat in that Philly cheesesteak or the four frosted rosettes on the office birthday cake or that third slice of stuffed-crust pizza. Really.
Love bubbles? Pour yourself a no-cal sparkler. Your bones and your metabolism have nothing to fear from the carbonation in club soda or seltzer. So if it's the fizzy, tickly tingle on your tongue that you really love, make sparkling water your calorie-free refresher.
Want more taste? Choose a flavored type and/or add a spritz of lemon or lime or fistful of berries or frozen grapes, or an ounce or two of your favorite real fruit juice -- orange and grapefruit taste great.


http://www.oregonlive.com/health/index.ssf/2010/07/you_docs_the_pros_and_cons_of.html

So like I said before, water. If youre trying to substitute one for another why dont you just go straight to drinking water? Might be easier said than done, I hate pop, always have, it makes me feel dehydrated and more thirsty than before. If anything diet pop should be a stepping stone towards no pop at all!

sorry, but diet sodas are NOT healthy for you.

This!!! If you are trying to be healthier diet soda is not the way to do it. The artificial sweetners in them are absolutely horrible for the body. Yes, yes I know people all the time around me say well everything is bad for us, but this is one thing that we can control being put into our bodies. Why pile on more cancer causing agents when you have the choice?

Diet Sunkist is really good... it doesn't have that "diet twang" to it. Recently, though, I have found the Sobe Strawberry Dragonfruit to be quite tasty and relatively healthy. It's sweetened with Stevia and satisfies my sweet tooth. I'm trying to cut back on the soda myself (I'm a pretty major Dr. Pepper addict), and the Sobe is helping. Good luck!

There are so many studies on diet sodas it’s not even funny, with the ones touting negative benefits vs. positive being split nearly down the middle. What "I" know is that when my wife completely dropped fully sugared soda for diet? Her weight gain increased which could substantiate (IMHO) some claims that it actually stimulates hunger in some people.

I have never been a big soda drinker, ever, but on the rare occasion I do crave one? I’ll have a Coke Zero or Diet Dew, all things in moderation!

It may stimulate hunger to quit drinking pop, but that doesn't mean you have to go eat so many more calories that you gain weight. That sounds like a pretty poor excuse.

I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH! Stay away from diet sodas!! They are quick fixes that give your body an immediate chemical reaction that kill brain cells.

Aspartame, sucralose and acesulfame potassium are common calorie-free artificial sweeteners found in diet soda, alone or in combination. They are all FDA-approved, but many holistic practitioners caution against their consumption because of the numerous complaints of side effects, including headaches, dizziness, mood swings, nausea, seizures and abdominal pain.


Here is the article I pulled the info from:
Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/210926-ingredients-in-diet-sodas/#ixzz2HJDBmzWa

I usually stay away from the more heated topics but I wanted to add my experience to this. I have nothing against diet soda and I used to drink 1 can of diet gingerale every day for a couple years. About six months ago I started feeling really sick with dizziness, nausea and headaches. At first I though it was a virus but when it didn't go away I started looking at my diet. I eliminated all "diet" drinks for a two weeks and I felt much better. Last week my husband bought some diet gingerale and I decided to try one again. Sure enough, before I even finished the can, I was nauseous and had cold sweats. I suffered from a migraine that night too. Trust me, these weren't imagined symptoms! I can no longer drink diet soda or Crystal light. The powered drink additives, including liquid Mio, give me horrible stomach cramps. I was even tested for gallbladder issues before it was determined that the drinks were to blame.

I still use a small amount of Splenda in my tea and I chew sugar free gum but I have to avoid any diet drinks and large amounts of sweetener now. I think I was addicted to the fizz but I can't stand club soda or carbonated water without sweetener so I just drink plain water. Interestingly enough, I can't use stevia either. I become very dizzy and off balance when I use it. Google it if you are interested, it is a known side effect for some people. Anyway, if diet soda doesn't bother you than more power to you but if you develop symptoms that are mentioned in the article above, then take a look at what you are drinking because these symptoms are real for some people. They can come out of the blue after years of drinking diet sods with no issues, so it is something to keep in mind.

I found that I seriously love the fizzies. My aunt got us a home soda maker for Christmas. I just carbonate some water and add some fresh lemon juice to it. So good!