Am I the one who gets hungrier after diet coke?

2

Replies

  • TeresaJTuck
    TeresaJTuck Posts: 64 Member
    Diet Sodas aren't good for you at all. I gave them up TOTALLY, because the Sweetener they put in Diet Soto das aren't good for people at all.
    About 10 months ago I had a Stomach Problem. I really didn't know what it was, but something was making my Stomach hurt really bad. At first I thought maybe I had a Gluten Problem, so I went Gluten-Free for a while. I stopped putting Splenda in my Coffee, Tea, etc.
    I went to my Doctor to get my Physical and told her my Problem and that I wanted a Celiac Disease Test. It was a no-go so I had to go back on Gluten(which, knock on wood) hasn't hurt me since. I haven't had any Problems since.
    my Problem was probably the Sweetner in Diet Sodas and Splenda.
    I have also been losing Weight since I stopped that "Fake" Sweetener Stuff.
    The reason why you get Hungry is because it has something in the Diet Soda that makes you Hungry and yes, it will make you want to eat.
    You should start limiting yourself to a "Regular" Soda once in a while, maybe 2 a week and if you can 1 time a week. Try it and see how that helps. And also "Limit" your Regular Sugar.
    I hope this helps you out.
    Teresa Tuck
  • Marilyn2303
    Marilyn2303 Posts: 91 Member
    I drank a lot of diet cola and have recently cut down. I didn't find it made me hungry, just not as thirst quenching as water. The key though is to wean yourself off gradually if you want to give it up.
  • Cr01502
    Cr01502 Posts: 3,614 Member
    If you do some research on diet sodas (Google is your friend), you will find that there are plenty of studies out there linking diet soda with obesity. The science is showing that when you drink artificial sweeteners, it actually makes your body crave sweet foods more. Thus, you will eat more.

    Hmmm . . . thanks for the very convincing argument there bro.

    Especially the part about Google.

    I'll stick to the independent peer reviewed studies why you let Google ( a search engine supported by advertisers) determine what is and isn't accurate information.

    Edit to say: By the way I just did google diet soda and obesity and this is the first article I came up with.

    http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/diet-sodas-and-weight-gain-not-so-fast

    Which begs the question . . . . Did you even bother to use google or do ANY research before responding?
  • planetshark
    planetshark Posts: 37 Member
    Of course you do! Your body (plus your taste buds) can't physically differentiate real sugar from simple carbs and diet coke. All you get from it is an insulin spike, an even bigger sugar/carb tooth, and mad cravings. Do yourself a favor and wean yourself from this habit. Go to www.sweetpoison.com for further enlightenment on this topic ...
  • michelletyler38
    michelletyler38 Posts: 469 Member
    I've never experienced that. If anything, diet sodas tend to make me feel full more quickly and for a longer time period.

    me too.
  • IWantToo
    IWantToo Posts: 162
    I rarely drink regular soda or juice. I cant even tell the difference half the time, its been so long since I've had regular soda..everyone laughs at me when i say this is regular and its digusting and clearly diet to them lol.. anyhow... my only suggestion is unsweetened tea... anything you drink that is diet, 0 cals etc is going to have some kind of faux sweetener...which might be your issue but i doubt it. To answer the question, No. Soda of any kind doesn't make me hungry.. its probably that you actually are hungry and trying to drink something instead of eating..hopefully not the case but probably.
  • Cr01502
    Cr01502 Posts: 3,614 Member
    Of course you do! Your body (plus your taste buds) can't physically differentiate real sugar from simple carbs and diet coke. All you get from it is an insulin spike, an even bigger sugar/carb tooth, and mad cravings. Do yourself a favor and wean yourself from this habit. Go to www.sweetpoison.com for further enlightenment on this topic ...

    I'm literally tying a noose around my ceiling fan right now.
  • _SABOTEUR_
    _SABOTEUR_ Posts: 6,833 Member
    It's psychosomatic (in your head)

    You think when you have diet coke it is a treat and therefore associate it with other 'treat' foods. So now you are thinking of 'treat' foods you don't normally eat and get cravings.

    It is psychology not biology that is the key here.

    I think of diet coke as flavoured water so when I have it I don't get food cravings.
  • AllAboutThatTreble
    AllAboutThatTreble Posts: 156 Member
    Snowflake -- what happens is, when your body senses a great rush of something sweet being input, it releases a load of insulin to deal with it. Your body cannot tell the difference between sugar and artificial sweeteners in this respect. So the insulin comes gushing out and drives your blood glucose levels down REALLY FAST. That is why you crave bad foods - you body is desperate for a really quick HIT of something sugary to drive your levels back up.

    You can look up insulin in Wiki or Youtube.

    My advice is STOP DRINKING THAT CRAP!

    No, just... no. That is definitely NOT the physiology of the release insulin. Please don't spread completely wrong information. Your body DOES know the difference between glucose and artificial sugars. If it didn't, a lot of diabetics would be in trouble.

    A quick overview:

    Glucose is the major regulator of insulin release. When glucose is metabolized, it generates ATP. That ATP closes the K+ (potassium) channels which depolarizes the cell membrane of beta cells (which are the insulin producing cells of the pancreas). This then opens up calcium channels, and the influx of calcium stimulates insulin secretion.


    It's not even the "something sweet". It's glucose, period. Some foods will has more glucose than others (in the forms of disaccharides and polysaccharides), diet soda is not one of them. What is sweet in diet soda is aspartame. Aspartame is broken down into aspartic acid and phenylalanine, which are natural amino acids. Basically, stuff you'll find in other foods. In fact, phenylalanine is an essential amino acid, meaning that your body does not produce it and unless you have a genetic disorder (phenylketonuria, PKU), you have to take it in through diet. Are there people who may be sensitive to it, yeah totally. But it does not even come close to releasing insulin.



    To answer the OP's question. There was a period of time when I got really bad cravings after drinking diet soda. So I stopped drinking it for a couple of months. Then I started drinking it again and haven't had a craving since. I think the reason why I had cravings was because I actually read an article about diet sodas causing cravings around the time it started.

    But now that I think about it,I drank diet soda in high school and never had that problem, and once I did my own research, I realized that it just wasn't true. Because I expected the craving (from reading the article), it happened. It was just another excuse for gorging myself with junk. "But it's not my fault, I just had diet soda!"

    I'm actually drinking my diet coke right now and no cravings for me.
  • Crochetluvr
    Crochetluvr Posts: 3,265 Member
    Heck, I don't need anything to make me want crap food.....that's just me being human. I just don't give into the cravings. :)
  • CynthiasChoice
    CynthiasChoice Posts: 1,047 Member
    I noticed that you conflated hunger with wanting to eat junk food. I would encourage you to take the time to differentiate those 2 in the moment you feel them. A lot of time, there's no hunger accompanied with the craving to eat junk.

    I think most people who ever drank sodas regularly and continue to drink them or diet sodas have trained their brains to expect junk WITH this fizzy sweet drink. I think it triggers the craving, not actual hunger.

    I definitely LOVE carbonated beverages, but I choose carbonated water now instead. Unsweetened, so I don't experience the craving for junk with it. LaCroix coconut or grapefruit flavor is really tasty.

    This sounds like the best advise!
  • Crochetluvr
    Crochetluvr Posts: 3,265 Member
    Of course you do! Your body (plus your taste buds) can't physically differentiate real sugar from simple carbs and diet coke. All you get from it is an insulin spike, an even bigger sugar/carb tooth, and mad cravings. Do yourself a favor and wean yourself from this habit. Go to www.sweetpoison.com for further enlightenment on this topic ...

    I'm literally tying a noose around my ceiling fan right now.

    :laugh:
  • Cr01502
    Cr01502 Posts: 3,614 Member
    Snowflake -- what happens is, when your body senses a great rush of something sweet being input, it releases a load of insulin to deal with it. Your body cannot tell the difference between sugar and artificial sweeteners in this respect. So the insulin comes gushing out and drives your blood glucose levels down REALLY FAST. That is why you crave bad foods - you body is desperate for a really quick HIT of something sugary to drive your levels back up.

    You can look up insulin in Wiki or Youtube.

    My advice is STOP DRINKING THAT CRAP!

    No, just... no. That is definitely NOT the physiology of the release insulin. Please don't spread completely wrong information. Your body DOES know the difference between glucose and artificial sugars. If it didn't, a lot of diabetics would be in trouble.

    A quick overview:

    Glucose is the major regulator of insulin release. When glucose is metabolized, it generates ATP. That ATP closes the K+ (potassium) channels which depolarizes the cell membrane of beta cells (which are the insulin producing cells of the pancreas). This then opens up calcium channels, and the influx of calcium stimulates insulin secretion.


    It's not even the "something sweet". It's glucose, period. Some foods will has more glucose than others (in the forms of disaccharides and polysaccharides), diet soda is not one of them. What is sweet in diet soda is aspartame. Aspartame is broken down into aspartic acid and phenylalanine, which are natural amino acids. Basically, stuff you'll find in other foods. In fact, phenylalanine is an essential amino acid, meaning that your body does not produce it and unless you have a genetic disorder (phenylketonuria, PKU), you have to take it in through diet. Are there people who may be sensitive to it, yeah totally. But it does not even come close to releasing insulin.



    To answer the OP's question. There was a period of time when I got really bad cravings after drinking diet soda. So I stopped drinking it for a couple of months. Then I started drinking it again and haven't had a craving since. I think the reason why I had cravings was because I actually read an article about diet sodas causing cravings around the time it started.

    But now that I think about it,I drank diet soda in high school and never had that problem, and once I did my own research, I realized that it just wasn't true. Because I expected the craving (from reading the article), it happened. It was just another excuse for gorging myself with junk. "But it's not my fault, I just had diet soda!"

    I'm actually drinking my diet coke right now and no cravings for me.

    :flowerforyou:

    Thank you for actually taking the time to write this out.
  • now_or_never13
    now_or_never13 Posts: 1,575 Member
    Go google it. It is the stuff they put in it.. it DOES increase cravings.. I am very anti-diet soda.. that stuff is horrible.

    NOt everything on Google is correct.

    And it increases cravings for some people.. not for everyone. Be anti-diet soda all you want ... the stuff is not "horrible" and nothing has actually been proven.
  • AllAboutThatTreble
    AllAboutThatTreble Posts: 156 Member
    If you do some research on diet sodas (Google is your friend), you will find that there are plenty of studies out there linking diet soda with obesity. The science is showing that when you drink artificial sweeteners, it actually makes your body crave sweet foods more. Thus, you will eat more.

    It's easy to link a lot of things with obesity. But correlation does not equal causation.

    I think the thing with diet soda and obesity is psychological: A person may think that they're doing themselves a favor by swapping out regular soda with diet soda. Which in truth they are. But it's easy to think: oh I just had a diet soda instead of regular soda so I can eat 2 bags of Cheetos now.

    Heck, I'll admit to doing that when I eat something low calorie. In the end though, it's the excess calories that cause obesity.
  • KenosFeoh
    KenosFeoh Posts: 1,837 Member
    I've never noticed getting hungrier. I do get headaches from diet pop if I have more than one or two in a week, pounding, OMG-cut-my-head-off headaches.

    I will get a diet Coke sometimes when I'm driving around doing errands and feeling hungry. It satisfies me for awhile.
  • kathleennf
    kathleennf Posts: 606 Member

    Also...while there are valid reasons to avoid soda (dental health, better alternatives, personal preference, etc) watch out for the anti-aspartame gang. They'll have you believing that a sip of the stuff will kill your whole family ancestors and all.

    EXACTLY!!
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Of course you do! Your body (plus your taste buds) can't physically differentiate real sugar from simple carbs and diet coke. All you get from it is an insulin spike, an even bigger sugar/carb tooth, and mad cravings. Do yourself a favor and wean yourself from this habit. Go to www.sweetpoison.com for further enlightenment on this topic ...

    I'm literally tying a noose around my ceiling fan right now.

    lBklvSF.gif
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    If you do some research on diet sodas (Google is your friend), you will find that there are plenty of studies out there linking diet soda with obesity. The science is showing that when you drink artificial sweeteners, it actually makes your body crave sweet foods more. Thus, you will eat more.
    Correlation does not equal causation. Epidemiological studies often confuse the two. How about the possibility that more fat people drink diet soda because they're fat and are trying to cut calories/lose weight?

    Here's my own epidemiological study, which is equally valid: I see a lot of fat people on cardio machines; therefore, my hypothesis is that cardio machines make you fat. For the purposes of making the results of my study confirm my hypothesis, I'll completely disregard the fact that those overweight people are on those cardio machines because they're trying to lose weight. No, they got fat because they use cardio machines.
  • CynthiasChoice
    CynthiasChoice Posts: 1,047 Member
    When we talk about the human body and it's functions as if we know something to be absolutely true, or absolutely false, we are not being very wise. What we "know for sure" is always being disproved when another unforeseen discovery is made. We can point to studies and say, "this proves blah blah blah," but if you tweak one seemingly insignificant variable in the study you may get an unexpected result, leading to a completely new understanding. Our bodies are wonderfully complex, so we should keep a healthy respect for what we don't yet know.

    Let's keep the studies coming, stay open minded and curious. The truth can hide from us, especially when we are proud of what we "know."

    Until then, I for one try to eat whole, minimally processed foods, stay aware of labeling practices, and drink water.
  • rose944
    rose944 Posts: 13 Member
    Just don't drink it. Diet coke is not actually "diet" coke. I read in a women's top health magazine that it actually prevents faster weight loss. Just drink lots of water and eat orange slices. Best snack ever. So refreshing! Especially after a run.
  • i feel you, i come from a family of diet soda drinkers:bigsmile: , its a habit, diet drinks go with everything.
  • mmddwechanged
    mmddwechanged Posts: 1,687 Member
    When I was in my twenties I gained about twenty five pounds in a year snacking Inbetween meals on a diet coke, family sized bag of thunder crunch potato chips and a big bean and cheese burrito. ( I lived near a convenience store). When I felt kinda disgusted in myself I dropped my bad habits... Except for the diet coke one:). It does kinda give me a feeling of empty or hungry, but I don't pay attention. I love diet coke.
  • NavyKnightAh13
    NavyKnightAh13 Posts: 1,394 Member
    Diet pepsi suppresses my appetite for some reason (I have no idea why)....diet coke though makes me hungry for sugar.
  • Markguns
    Markguns Posts: 554 Member
    Hi! I would love to hear some opinions about it,because I don't know if I am paranoid or this happens to other people.After drinking diet drinks,I feel like stuffing my face with crap food.Of course I don't but I have to use all my willpower not to.Any opinions? An I usually don't drink anything that is not water,but if its an special occasion I have ONE glass of diet coke.

    Try a different diet drink and see if it triggers the same response... Do you like root beer? Diet A&W was good when I drank diet sodas. I just drink various teas and coffee these days. Use Splenda as a sweetener but only 1/2 packs working to eliminate it.
  • angelcurry130
    angelcurry130 Posts: 265 Member
    I never noticed cravings when I drank diet soda. I still ate the same healthy things that I currently eat now. I'm just not too keen on all the random chemicals swirling around in them, so I limit myself a lot these days. Really, the only thing I've noticed is that I feel less bloaty and that my skin has cleared up. So, other than some pimples, the "evil aspartame" has never done anything to me. :)
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,279 Member
    I drink a few glasses of diet coke a couple of times per week - have not noticed any increased cravings or appetite at all myself.
  • aminer31
    aminer31 Posts: 54 Member
    I've actually never had this problem, and as someone else pointed out, I've had quite the opposite effect. Sometimes if I drink too much (though this rarely happens anymore) the caffeine will make me feel jittery which I have mistaken for hunger before, but in moderation diet drinks make me feel full.

    Also...while there are valid reasons to avoid soda (dental health, better alternatives, personal preference, etc) watch out for the anti-aspartame gang. They'll have you believing that a sip of the stuff will kill your whole family ancestors and all.

    LOL
  • krissy_krossy
    krissy_krossy Posts: 307 Member
    They say it makes people crave sugar (whoever "they" are.) I don't know if that's true or not, but I don't feel that at all. In fact, I feel full after diet pop and I can go the whole day without feeling hungry if I have more than 2 or 3.
  • krissy_krossy
    krissy_krossy Posts: 307 Member
    If you do some research on diet sodas (Google is your friend), you will find that there are plenty of studies out there linking diet soda with obesity. The science is showing that when you drink artificial sweeteners, it actually makes your body crave sweet foods more. Thus, you will eat more.

    Not to be snarky, but do those studies take into account how overweight people are more likely to drink a diet beverage in the first place?