diet soda drinkers?

I have 2 packets of aspartame in my morning coffee and two diet drinks per day. I have actually cut down and am trying to cut down more.

Well I'll just jump in here and say artificial sweeteners ftw.

Be very careful with diet soda. There are MANY stories out there about aspartame and it's health risks, just Google them, it's a toxin that WILL cause harm eventually. I know a lot of people love it and will swear by it (most because they don't want to admit that it COULD be bad for them, don't take away my diet coke!) but the truth is out there.

Oh, and don't forget that aspartame, when exposed to high heats, becomes even more toxic. High heats found in warehouses and the trailers that they are hauled around the country in... well, exposing aspartame to those high heats can make it even worse. My mother in law was an avid diet coke drinker and couldn't lose weight, she was tired all the time, and had frequent headaches. She quit drinking diet coke, cut all other forms of aspartame out of her diet, and she is now seeing weight loss results and her headaches have all but ceased.

If you want to drink soda, and this is my opinion based on the research I have read, then it is far healthier to just buck up and pay for the real deal with actual sugar in it.

Very very well said, i agree totaly.


@maleficent not the kind of chemical like what aspartame is i have done alot of research on it and it affected me greatly.

I know they are not the same. I was pointing out the fallacy that chemical = automatically bad with a silly example. Too many times we see "oh nos this is full of CHEMICALS! SO BAD!" and it is just not always true. FWIW, I have also done the research and I have come to a different conclusion than you. In sensitive populations (which I happen to be a part of), aspartame can cause problems. For the Average Joe with no health issues, aspartame in moderation isn't really an issue. I choose to avoid it because of my own issues, but do not feel that everyone needs to.

I was a huge consumer of Diet Coke in particular (yes, for you grammar nazis; I was huge AND my consumption was ~ 120 oz. per day) for many years. I say was because I also gave it up for lent like others have mentioned. I drink a lot more water now... even if I have to add flavored packets (with aspertame) in some times to mix it up. I also like flavored waters (sweet sweet aspertame!).

I guess all I have really done is just switched the label on my aspertame intake.

Also, I guess diet soda in a small way can affect weight loss. This is just my story, but when I was consuming diet soda, after a while I would get really bad pains in my knees and hands. It was the sort of pain you feel like in carpal tunnel. Obviously, I didn't work out while I had these pains. I stopped drinking diet soda and I've noticed that the pains have stopped coming.. It could of been something else but that was just what I had observed.

I drank diet coke forever. I have never noticed it making me fat or irritable. I stopped about 2 yrs ago and I never felt any better or worse. Now I have it occasionally.

I drink 1-3 cans of it every day, and I have gone long periods of not drinking any. Didn't notice any difference, nor does it seem to have any effects on weight loss

Be very careful with diet soda. There are MANY stories out there about aspartame and it's health risks, just Google them, it's a toxin that WILL cause harm eventually. I know a lot of people love it and will swear by it (most because they don't want to admit that it COULD be bad for them, don't take away my diet coke!) but the truth is out there.

Oh, and don't forget that aspartame, when exposed to high heats, becomes even more toxic. High heats found in warehouses and the trailers that they are hauled around the country in... well, exposing aspartame to those high heats can make it even worse. My mother in law was an avid diet coke drinker and couldn't lose weight, she was tired all the time, and had frequent headaches. She quit drinking diet coke, cut all other forms of aspartame out of her diet, and she is now seeing weight loss results and her headaches have all but ceased.

If you want to drink soda, and this is my opinion based on the research I have read, then it is far healthier to just buck up and pay for the real deal with actual sugar in it.

Very very well said, i agree totaly.


@maleficent not the kind of chemical like what aspartame is i have done alot of research on it and it affected me greatly.

Yes and I can google how protien is as bad as smoking doesn't make it true...jeez.

I love my diet coke and you can pry it from my cold dead hands....just like my protien.

apparently that will be quicker than most if you believe everything you read on google....:sad: :sad: :sad:

ETA: I don't like regular coke it's icky

The trouble with asking for peoples experiences on an internet forum is that a) there is no scientific base to it and b) it doesn't mean you will be effected in the same way. There are so many different factors that can come into play (age, sex, height, weight, diet etc etc), that any one persons opinion on here is purely anecdotal. In the end, you'll have to decide for yourself (hopefully after doing your own research on actual studies etc).

Personally, I used to be addicted to the stuff. Terribly. Not just diet soda, but any soda. Approximately 2 years ago, after doing my own research, I quit it. Completely. It was really hard to do. I liken it to quitting smoking, because I relied on it just as much and in a very similar way (would have one to celebrate, one to cheer me up and also just in normal course of the day) and, I found just as hard to quit. After approximately 6 weeks, it got much easier and now I don't miss it at all. On the odd occasion where a soda is the only option (which is very, very rare), I now actually dislike drinking it as I no longer like the taste. It doesn't taste how I remember it. Which is a good thing, I think!

Do I feel better for quitting? Absolutely. Less bloated, less foggy, no more headaches, less spotty and so on.

That's a choice I made for myself. Not because of weight loss, but for health. I don't do diet versions of anything. There really is no need. And one of the scarier side effects of aspartame is that it caused holes to develop in the brains of mice that were given it during laboratory testing when it was first introduced. Quickly covered up, of course, and then re-presented to the FDA for approval all those years ago.

Be very careful with diet soda. There are MANY stories out there about aspartame and it's health risks, just Google them, it's a toxin that WILL cause harm eventually. I know a lot of people love it and will swear by it (most because they don't want to admit that it COULD be bad for them, don't take away my diet coke!) but the truth is out there.

Oh, and don't forget that aspartame, when exposed to high heats, becomes even more toxic. High heats found in warehouses and the trailers that they are hauled around the country in... well, exposing aspartame to those high heats can make it even worse. My mother in law was an avid diet coke drinker and couldn't lose weight, she was tired all the time, and had frequent headaches. She quit drinking diet coke, cut all other forms of aspartame out of her diet, and she is now seeing weight loss results and her headaches have all but ceased.

If you want to drink soda, and this is my opinion based on the research I have read, then it is far healthier to just buck up and pay for the real deal with actual sugar in it.

Very very well said, i agree totaly.


@maleficent not the kind of chemical like what aspartame is i have done alot of research on it and it affected me greatly.

Yes and I can google how protien is as bad as smoking doesn't make it true...jeez.

I love my diet coke and you can pry it from my cold dead hands....just like my protien.

apparently that will be quicker than most if you believe everything you read on google....:sad: :sad: :sad:

ETA: I don't like regular coke it's icky

Lmao, you're usage of my "cold dead hands" quote got a good laugh out of me, and the part about everything going to kill us if you believe the internet is the god honest truth.

OP, it's up to you to decide whats best for you. If diet soda with aspartame helps satisfy your sweet tooth and you eat fewer sugar-loaded snacks because of it, then by all means, go for it. Moderation is your friend. If you want to eat clean, like many on here, then I would lump aspartame in with a lot of the processed and chemically altered foods and steer clear from it. Good Luck!

I am a confessed diet soda junkie. I've been drinking it for many, many years. And over those years, my consumption of it has only increased. I could easily drink 2 liters a day (maybe more!) However, any time I have needed to lose weight, it has never hindered me. I also have never had any negative side effects using aspartame or splenda.

That said, it got tiresome lugging cans or liter sized bottles (I have a Sodastream) to work, so I decided it was time to re-evaluate my beverages. I have never been a huge fan of plain water, but for the last month or two I have been challenging (forcing) myself to drink at least 8 cups per day, and usually I drink more than that. I find I am tolerating the taste (or lack thereof) much better. I still drink soda, just more like 1 or 2 glasses a day, now. I'm better hydrated, my stomach feels much less bloated and my lunch bag is much lighter. Other than that, cutting soda hasn't boosted weight loss and I don't feel any different, nor did I expect either to occur. Oh, and I have saved about $30/month.

I have diet coke when I feel like having it, I also have red wine when I feel like having it.

For the aspartame to even start harming you, you'd have to drink 20+ sodas A DAY for like a year before it started severely affecting you. Like my friend said, the only thing diet soda hurts is your wallet.