Thoughts on diet sodas whilst dieting?

I am definitely a Diet Pepsi addict. I've given it up before (not fun!), but have decided that it's something I enjoy and I am not willing to give it up. However, I have cut back from 2 or more liters a day to 2-3 cans. I don't really feel any negative effects from drinking it (though I also drink a gallon+ of water per day).

I personally don't do aspartame- I took a food allergy test and it came up that I have a sensitivity to aspartame. I drink pepsi 1 or diet coke with Splenda - both are sweetened with sucralose instead and still have zero calories. In coffee or tea I use Stevia. The plus side-- notable less cravings for sweets, less head aches, clearer skin in my case since quitting the stuff last July. Not sure if it's related or not, but also maintaining my weight loss for almost 8 months. Plus, I really believe there is something to the rumor that aspartame fuels cravings for more (like sugar) I used to drink 6 coke zeroes a day-- where the sucralose sweetened soda I am fine with one or two a day-- so saving $

I know it's not the healthiest thing ever, but it's no calories and tends to be around a lot more than seltzer is, and I can only drink so much water. I have probably 8 a week. I'm definitely in camp "drink it if you like it."

Drink if you like it? I rarely drink soda (or juice, lemonade, energy drinks etc. for that matter) but when I do, I prefer diet ones since I have no problem with artificial sweeteners in an artificial drink.

Nonetheless, this thread will attract many aspartame haters.

Yeah, we'll, I'm just curious. Some people say to stop drinking them, some people do. I still do.

Just curious, but the people that say to stop drinking them, did they give a reason on WHY to stop drinking them? If so, what's the reason?

I don't drink as much diet sodas as I have, because I drink more water or Crystal Light now, but still do treat myself to it. Like a few others have said, it is a lifestyle change, not a diet.

Should they be completely cut out or allowed because they have 0 calories? What are your thoughts?

I drink like 50 gallons of it a week. Its making me totally fat.

I first up have to say I still drink diet coke on occasion, was very addicted, until my partner a conspiracy theorist suggested I cut it out. Just recently I was looking up additives by number in a low fat rice crisp substitute that I bought to snack on at work (wanted the whole salt and vinegar taste) and I started reading peer reviewed articles on the topic of MSG, but also veered off onto Artificial sweetener

Firstly - you need to check the diet drink by country for what sweeteners it contains the same brands and names are totally different depending on where you live (including Diet Coke from Coca Cola and the ever increasing versions of Low Cal Pepsi).

In Australia Diet Coke uses Aspartame, Coke Zero uses acesulfame potassium

This is what I found:

Research published in June 2013 -
Prediabetic changes in gene expression induced by aspartame and monosodium glutamate in Trans fat-fed C57Bl/6 J mice.
Collison KS, Makhoul NJ, Zaidi MZ, Inglis A, Andres BL, Ubungen R, Saleh S, Al-Mohanna FA.
CONCLUSION: The combination of ASP and MSG may significantly alter adiposity, glucose homeostasis, hepatic and adipose tissue gene expression in TFA-fed C57Bl/6 J mice.

TL/DR no1 -- Pretty much says that MSG in combination with Aspartame increases blood sugar ;central fat (around your organs and heart); serum free fatty acids is linked to insulin resistance (pre diabetes) and Fatty liver.

My mum is diabetic and drinks a large amount of diet softdrink, so this was a major concern to me.

This is one of those papers that talks about information in other papers (I personally don't think people should get academic credit or Kudos for doing a paper that reviews others' work on a particular topic - but it's useful for me)
Yale Journal of Biological Medicine. 2010 June; 83(2): 101–108.
Published online 2010 June.
PMCID: PMC2892765Gain weight by “going diet?” Artificial sweeteners and the neurobiology of sugar cravings
Neuroscience 2010

Some bits that are pretty interesting to me:

Quote from paper re: Aspartame

---

In a crossover design by Ralph et al., they concluded that individuals with mood disorders are particularly sensitive to this artificial sweetener and its use in this population should be discouraged.[34]

---

The reference at 34 was done in 1993 already - I suffer from a mood disorder, so this is quite significant to me and disappointing at the same time since I had never heard about it.

Quote from paper about whether or not using Artificial Sweetened Softdrink helps with weight loss

---

Several large scale prospective cohort studies found positive correlation between artificial sweetener use and weight gain. The San Antonio Heart Study examined 3,682 adults over a seven- to eight-year period in the 80s.
In addition, consensus from interventional studies suggests that artificial sweeteners do not help reduce weight when used alone [2,25]. BMI did not decrease after 25 weeks of substituting diet beverages for sugar-sweetened beverages in 103 adolescents in a randomized controlled trial, except among the heaviest participants [26].

---

TL/DR No 2 people stayed the same weight (mostly) when replacing full sugar for aspartame even though there is a huge difference in calories.

Quote from paper about Artificial Sweeteners in General (Not just Aspartame)

---

Preload experiments generally have found that sweet taste, whether delivered by sugar or artificial sweeteners, enhanced human appetite. Aspartame-sweetened water, but not aspartame capsule, increased subjective appetite rating in normal weight adult males [33]. Aspartame also increased subjective hunger ratings compared to glucose or water [34]. Glucose preload reduced the perceived pleasantness of sucrose, but aspartame did not [34]. In another study, aspartame, acesulfame potassium, and saccharin were all associated with heightened motivation to eat and more items selected on a food preference list [35]. Aspartame had the most pronounced effect, possibly because it does not have a bitter aftertaste. Unlike glucose or sucrose, which decreased the energy intake at the test meal, artificial sweetener preloads either had no effect [33,35] or increased subsequent energy intake [36,37]. Those findings suggest that the calorie contained in natural sweeteners may trigger a response to keep the overall energy consumption constant.

---

TL/DR No 3 - You eat more or are more hungry when you have artificial sweeteners than when you have real sugar, because the artificial sweetener doesn't tell your brain that you have had sugar.

Quote from paper about desiring sweet things

---

Lastly, artificial sweeteners, precisely because they are sweet, encourage sugar craving and sugar dependence. Repeated exposure trains flavor preference [54]. A strong correlation exists between a person’s customary intake of a flavor and his preferred intensity for that flavor. Systematic reduction of dietary salt [55] or fat [56] without any flavorful substitution over the course of several weeks led to a preference for lower levels of those nutrients in the research subjects. In light of these findings, a similar approach might be used to reduce sugar intake. Unsweetening the world’s diet [15] may be the key to reversing the obesity epidemic.

---

TL/DR No 4 Regardless of whether it is real sugar or articial sweetener the more you have it the more you want it.

For me personally this means Diet Coke makes you fat.
Edited -- Some Typos and Grammar Gremlins

My thoughts are that it is saving me for caffiene while I am too lazy to go the store to buy coffee.

One reason to avoid: Caramel Coloring. I drink flavored water (and yeah, it still has aspartame)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/03/pepsi-caramel-coloring-carcinogen-4-mel_n_3540683.html

(Dated in July, it says Coke is okay but Pepsi still needed to change.)

Please please please never take scientific or health advice from bad journalism sites.
Please.

for the rest of the thread,
There are seriously hundreds of peer reviewed studies on diet sodas, aspartame, etc. If you want to prove them wrong, I'd suggest making some of your own peer reviewed studies.
The idea that these studies are "paid off" by food companies is ridiculous if you understand what "peer reviewed" means and look at the number of studies that have been done.


I'd be way more leary of drinking high fructose corn syrup any day of the week personally(something the CDC openly tells people to not consume!)

I think this is a personal choice. I drink diet soda and flavored zero calorie carbonated and non-carbonated drinks. I usually just have them with lunch or dinner. They work great for me, because I can take a little sip and it can calm my hunger while I am preparing a meal or to conquer a craving. I try to drink water the rest of the time. Sometimes water can help with calming hunger, but it does nothing for me when I am craving a high calorie food.

I drink coke zero or pepsi max.... have done the entire time. Guess it has not stopped anything. I'm actually half way through a 2ltr bottle right now

If your focus of loosing weight is your health, what does diet pop add to your health?

I love a diet root beer every month or two, but as a regular part of my diet, no thanks. It brings no nutritional benefit to my diet so why drink it.

Drink if you like it? I rarely drink soda (or juice, lemonade, energy drinks etc. for that matter) but when I do, I prefer diet ones since I have no problem with artificial sweeteners in an artificial drink.

Nonetheless, this thread will attract many aspartame haters.

Yeah, we'll, I'm just curious. Some people say to stop drinking them, some people do. I still do.

try drink in moderation?

I drink diet sodas all the time, but the brand I get is called Zevia. It has 15 different flavors and no added artificial sweeteners, and other bad ingredients. forgot to mention that there is no aspartame in it if your worried about that.

What flavors are good?

I love pepsi max and have drunk alot during all my weightloss....

From my point of view... It tastes nice, has zero-3 calories per serving, and makes you feel full! (Bloated, but full none the less!)

Each to their own!