Is soda really "evil"?

If you are serious about controlling your calorie intake then why would you waste nutrient calories on sugar water when there are plenty of diet sodas that taste fine? From a weight control and tooth decay perspective--regular soda is evil incarnate.

I cannot live a life without carbonation. Everyone is always talking about how horrible soda is, my mom won't even buy it. But do you really have to stop drinking soda to be healthy? Is it really that bad? One can a day might be bad, how about once a week at most? Also have any of you ever mixed sprite with fruit juice? It creates the most amazing drink.

I guess I'm asking is if you can have a healthy diet while enjoying soda. I would never drink it every day, like I said once a week at the very very most which happens pretty much never. I recently got some cans of soda and I feel horrible drinking them... can soda stay in a healthy diet when it's used as an occasional treat? As you can see in my picture I am thin, but it's what people call "skinny fat", do I have no hope to become "skinny healthy" if I drink soda?

Either tell me it's ok or try to convince me to stop drinking it with facts about how horrible it is. (please tell me it's ok I love soda)

Soda is not evil. Just know what you are getting into when you consume a soft drink. The regular kind can have more sugar per serving than many desserts and has no nutritional value. At least ice cream has nutrients that are healthful, even if it is high in calories.

Diet soda has been shown to slow metabolism and increase appetite, so even the calorie free soda can undo your weight loss efforts.

Then there is the bloat factor. All soda is high in sodium, which will cause you to retain water.

Some sodas are high in caffeine. This can cause problems for some people who are sensitive. It could disrupt sleep, and sleep is important when losing weight. People who are sleep deprived experience increased appetite.

Personally, I love the carbonation. I buy unflavored carbonated water (zero calories) and add a squeeze of lemon or lime for some extra zing. (it's also good with a shot of whiskey :devil: )

I have never seen a study that shows diet soda slowing metabolism. Soda is also ridiculously low in sodium, not high. It has roughly the same level of sodium as regular drinking water. I'm looking at a can of soda right now, 40mg of soda for the entire can, which is roughly 0.02 teaspoons of salt. Not exactly my definition of "high," especially when it's diluted in 12 oz of water.

Look diet soda sales are down , the tide is going out on them
nbc news this Aug/2013

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/amid-falling-sales-coke-launches-campaign-defend-sweetener-6C10920355

to countert the falling sales Coke is launching a ad campaign. to defend its artificial sweetner.

Personally I don't think it will do much good , In my opinion I believe the tide has turned against diet sodas.

In the Meanwhile if I was looking to drink Vitamin Water the Center for Science in the Public Interest is challenging the wording of the health benefits of the product.
http://www.cspinet.org/new/201307182.html

The V water by the way has lots of sugar.

Well, soda is, nutritionally speaking, useless. It's not good for you, but having it in moderation isn't going to kill you or make you unhealthy-- especially not if you are only planning on having it once a week and have a good overall diet. If you want to cut on calories, drink the diet version instead. Sprite Zero tastes exactly like regular Sprite.

Soda is 99% water. So according to you, that makes water, nutritionally speaking, useless. Which technically, it is. Yes it hydrates, but soda hydrates equally well, as well as food, making water functionally unnecessary.