Confused about diet soda (coke, pepsi etc)

Not sure if aspertane is "good" or "bad" ... either way, Coke Zero trumps all others IMO.

But I mean, Id imagine drinking 2 liters of something with the same pH as hydrochloric acid may not be the best option for your health? It definetly speeds up the degration of tooth enamel, no idea if it does anything to organs... but it sure does a good job on copper pennies!

My feeling is if you are questioning if you are "drinking too much" - you probbaly already feel like you are.... right? Switch to only 1 liter a day, save the $1.50, and by the end of the year you can buy yourself a sweet new toy! And... your insides may thank you!

"Straight" hydrochloric acid has a PH of 0 while soda has an average PH of 2.5. Freaking battery acid (sulphuric acid) has a lower PH than hydrochloric acid and stomach acid generally has a higher PH value than soda.

Almost everyone here is missing the point. That much caffeine is bad for you no matter what you believe about aspartame. You can still do major organ damage even if you're thin.

Caffeine in 16oz of coke zero: 43mg
Safe amount of caffeine for most healthy adults: 400mg (id argue it is even more but can't find the study I read about it)

There are also a wide range of potential benefits from moderate caffeine consumption (including it being potentially beneficial for depression, prostate cancer avoidance, curbing appetite).

Why yes I do! Thanks for asking! I'm a chemist ;-)

So... the pH of HCL depends on the concentration... and stomach acid is mainly hydrochloric acid... soooo there's that.

And when you puke, stomach acid erodes the enamel off your teeth. That was my point, acid errodes teeth, and thats probs the only "rpoven" thing diet sada does thats baaaaad for you.

I sceince, i science a lot... unfortunetly, i can't post funny GIFs here. Wheh.

Hence why I said "straight" (complete with quotations). Technically, you can dilute HCA to the point that it has the same PH balance as an apple. That doesn't mean that apples are dangerous. Your statement was purposefully misleading.

A can of diet coke does not have the same PH balance as what most people think of when they hear hydrochloric acid. That doesn't mean that it isn't acidic or it is good for one's health, but a statement like yours is a scare tactic and irresponsible. I would expect better from a scientist.

If you're serious about your health, you need to stop drinking it. It's not helping you in any way. It, in an of itself, may contain zero calories but you don't know what signals it's telling the rest of your system. For me, I find diet pop leaves me hungry, almost like it's a tease.

You don't know what something does so you better take action on that lack of knowledge. Makes sense to me.

Everyone read this thread http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1308408-why-aspartame-isn-t-scary before spreading anymore FUD

That's why the FDA has the Aspartame toxicity file made public when it appeared on the docket to be heard and listed as a neuro-toxin.

http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dailys/03/jan03/012203/02p-0317_emc-000199.txt

You realize that that is just an email sent to the FDA and not an actual FDA document right? So a guy emails the FDA because he wants an agenda item put into the docket and they put it in a docket report and simply because it is on a .gov site it has instant credibility for you?

I tried to look up the author Mark Gold mgold@shellytown.net but cannot find a thing on him other than this:|

http://americanloons.blogspot.com/2011/02/154-mark-gold.html

Had to respond to this one. My husband drank 2 2L diet soda bottles a day thinking it was low cal and he was a recovering alcoholic, so the sweet was what he was after. To be honest, everything I've researched for over 20 years says that our bodies read DIET products the same as sugar, therefore gaining weight and affecting hormones in negative ways. The chemicals will change your chemistry and you will be permanently affected by that much consumption per day. I figure I will go for the real sugar, then be forced to do not much of that to keep healthy. I get wicked headaches and gut pains from artificial so my body is telling me "not good for you". If you have joint pains, headaches, sore muscles, eye strain and can't lose weight? I would check into iced green tea you make yourself, squeeze a lemon into water or use mint, cucumber or another low cal flavor without the sugar. This is an addition to that chemical, so it won't be easy, but if you do water and a piece of fruit with the skin, you get the boost and less sugar spikes without the damage, just saying .... watch fruit juices as well, which don't have the fiber to flatten out the sugar spikes. Good luck with that and be well.

Honestly what did you read that gave you that impression because none of that sounds remotely correct. How exactly does something non-caloric make you gain weight just because it tastes sweet? What evidence is there that aspartame affects your hormones in "negative ways". Chemicals change your chemistry? Well yeah, but what isn't "chemical" in terms of biochemistry?

You get "wicked headaches" from "artificial"?

Almost everyone here is missing the point. That much caffeine is bad for you no matter what you believe about aspartame. You can still do major organ damage even if you're thin.

not much chance you are ingesting dangerous levels of caffeine with diet soda. Lethal dose of caffeine calculator tells me that as someone who weighs 187 pound i would need 187 shots of espresso (I love it not that much) or 185 cans of Pepsi Max, or 283.62 of Coke Zero or Diet Coke (100.652 Liters that is a lot of pop in a short period since your body also eliminates it, it's not a cumulative thing over days or half the world would be dead already)

http://www.caffeineinformer.com/death-by-caffeine

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1308408-why-aspartame-isn-t-scary

I have yet to see a science-based argument against diet sodas.

This ^^^^^

I don't drink a lot of Diet Soda but I drink them when I like (same with Tea and coffee)
The only caution i'd give is Soda because of it's sodium content won't have the same effect on water retention as water will (in other words it won't help rid you of water weight) The acid issue for your teeth is true whether it's sparkling water or Jolt Cola. It's blown way out of proportion though.
Personally i'd cut back the soda and substitute some water (or milk even - it counts as water but of course has some caloric content - along with nutritional content)

Although you are correct that the sodium content will make it less hydrating than water we should give a little context to how much sodium we are talking about.

Soda has about 19mg of sodium in 8oz
Tap water has about 9mg of sodium in 8oz.

Your daily intake of sodium is likely somewhere around 2500-4000mg per day. So we are talking a 10 mg difference between water and soda here, it really isn't going to make a big difference.

Diet Pepsi is much better than Diet Coke

How so?

OP, I don't think diet soda's are harmful at all - that said, 2 litres does seem a lot of it to drink every day - I would maybe cut back to 1/4 of that and try to drink more water instead.
No need to cut it out entirely - just perhaps cut back to a more moderate level.

Take the Pepsi challenge. You will see.

You are sadly mistaken...... Coke is the only way to go but I only drink Diet Coke on occasion now. Pepsi and Diet Pepsi taste terrible!

I think all diet sodas except Fresca taste terrible. I think the citrus in the grapefruit juice kills the aspertame flavor. Fresca is rarely available in fountains at restaurants here, so I'm always excited when I see it.

Overall though, I'd rather have one or two sugar filled sodas a month than drink diet sodas daily. That aftertaste... bleargh.. When I DO drink sugar sodas, I pick a fancy hand tooled expensive snooty one and treat it like a dessert.

Your basically drinking chemicals, that aint good for you.

You should probably stay away from dihydrogen monoxide then.

http://www.dhmo.org/facts.html

Not sure if aspertane is "good" or "bad" ... either way, Coke Zero trumps all others IMO.

But I mean, Id imagine drinking 2 liters of something with the same pH as hydrochloric acid may not be the best option for your health? It definetly speeds up the degration of tooth enamel, no idea if it does anything to organs... but it sure does a good job on copper pennies!

My feeling is if you are questioning if you are "drinking too much" - you probbaly already feel like you are.... right? Switch to only 1 liter a day, save the $1.50, and by the end of the year you can buy yourself a sweet new toy! And... your insides may thank you!

"Straight" hydrochloric acid has a PH of 0 while soda has an average PH of 2.5. Freaking battery acid (sulphuric acid) has a lower PH than hydrochloric acid and stomach acid generally has a higher PH value than soda.

Why yes I do! Thanks for asking! I'm a chemist ;-)

So... the pH of HCL depends on the concentration... and stomach acid is mainly hydrochloric acid... soooo there's that.

And when you puke, stomach acid erodes the enamel off your teeth. That was my point, acid errodes teeth, and thats probs the only "rpoven" thing diet sada does thats baaaaad for you.

I sceince, i science a lot... unfortunetly, i can't post funny GIFs here. Wheh.

So if you can dilute hydrochloric acid as much as you like and still call it hydrochloric acid then couldn't you also say that water has the same pH as hydrochloric acid?

The statement you made was reactionary and untrue, trying to justify it by saying if you dilute hydrochloric acid you can get it to a higher pH is just a cop out. Soda is not hydrochloric acid and to claim it as such is hyperbole and not helpful.

I mean seriously you may not like soda but if you were offered 20 bucks to drink a can I'm pretty sure you wouldn't hesitate. How much water should I use to dilute concentrated hydrochloric acid with before you would agree to drink it for 20 dollars?

Nothing about my original statement was untrue.... and I never claimed soda was HCL - so, I hope you are referencing someone else, otherwise, i suggest re-reading the original post! Thanks! I also said I like Coke Zero...so, obvioulsy i wouldnt need money to drink it - though I'd take money if it was offered! I never said i didn't like soda.... again.... I think you are talking to someone else here, not me, soooo Im probs gonna get attacked for responsing :-(

And no, no matter how much you dilute HCL with water, it will never have the same pH as plain H2O, because it's HCL, not H2O, so you could obtain a VERY very close pH, it could never be the same.

Coke, in this case, has phosphoric acid in it. The phosphoric acid, itself, isn't "diluted" with water - its a set percentage (I have no idea what) added to other ingredients. All these ingredients combined result in a mixture that yeilds a pH roughly about 2.5. You put a penny, metal, tooth enamel, anything really, in a solution of something that has a pH of 2.5, it will corrode. Depending on the item, this could take seconds, or years. An Acid is an Acid. They all do the same crap.... corrode steel. Thats how we determine pH...

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1308408-why-aspartame-isn-t-scary

I have yet to see a science-based argument against diet sodas.

This

Diet soda makes you hungrier. There has been many studies done with kindergardeners the idea being they are less conditioned than adults. They give half diet pop and half regular pop and then are left alone for X amount of time in a room with readily available food. In study after study the half given regular soda consumed less food than the half that was given diet soda. This has been repeated separating the groups completly, co-mingling w/e. The science is simple, diet pop makes you eat more and that isn't good for weight loss. I don't personally like all the processed sugar and chemicals either, but if nothing else science shows it makes you hungry.

I kind of hate water, so what I do it juice cherries and lemon to add to my water all day. I just put it in a litle jar and bring it with me. 1/2 tablespoon per 32 oz makes it taste like koolaid, but way less calories and natural sugar vs processed/bleached. Lemon juice is very low calorie, you have to watch your cherries.

If it doesn't affect me in any way, so I will keep drinking it.

F.I.F.Y ..... other folks may have different 'mileage'

You just made 100% absolutely no sense with what you just changed.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1308408-why-aspartame-isn-t-scary

I have yet to see a science-based argument against diet sodas.

This

Diet soda makes you hungrier. There has been many studies done with kindergardeners the idea being they are less conditioned than adults. They give half diet pop and half regular pop and then are left alone for X amount of time in a room with readily available food. In study after study the half given regular soda consumed less food than the half that was given diet soda. This has been repeated separating the groups completly, co-mingling w/e. The science is simple, diet pop makes you eat more and that isn't good for weight loss. I don't personally like all the processed sugar and chemicals either, but if nothing else science shows it makes you hungry.

I kind of hate water, so what I do it juice cherries and lemon to add to my water all day. I just put it in a litle jar and bring it with me. 1/2 tablespoon per 32 oz makes it taste like koolaid, but way less calories and natural sugar vs processed/bleached. Lemon juice is very low calorie, you have to watch your cherries.

Please cite any study you reference so other people can evaluate it and come to their own conclusions based on their methods, data and results.

When you read this study what did you think of it?