Diet Soda/Coffee?

In terms of health benefits of soda, eggs are not inherently healthy or unhealthy nor is soda. What matters for health is your diet and exercise routine as a whole and there's absolutely no reason a healthy diet can't include both eggs and soda.

Oh please, there's nothing inherently unhealthy about soda? Really? Maybe you should ask a dentist! And there's nothing inherently healthy about eggs? Now you're talking just as crazy as the people who are afraid of soda.

That's like saying that there is nothing inherently healthy about broccoli and nothing inherently unhealthy about Honey Smacks (HA!). Sure, I guess you could fit both of them into a healthy diet, but it doesn't mean that they're equivalent in terms of health.

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]That trick with the tooth/food being eaten overnight - or over a few nights - by letting it sit in cola, right? Soda's acidic; orange juice will do the same thing. Is it your argument that orange juice is inherently unhealthy?

You must have seen the same episode of "Kitchen Detectives" that I did. Red wine was worse because it stained the teeth as well as started to cause decay. Coffee, red wine, and tea stain teeth worse than cola does.

THAT'S IT!!! Cola is bad for your health because it can cause you to brush your teeth more often and we all know what flouride does to you

*she says with sarcasm level set at med-high*

Black coffee has basically no calories right?

Between 2 - 5 calories per 8oz cup, depending on strength of brew.

Oh bosh. I have an occasional diet ginger ale fora treat...only 35mg of sodium. I drink maybe 4 cups of coffee a day. Black. And. oh yeah....I smoke, too.

Both contain caffeine, which is a diuretic

True of regular coffee and cola and a few other sodas. Not true of most sodas

so it's doing the opposite of hydrating you. It has more potential to dehydrate you, and dehydration can cause water retention.

No it doesn't (not enough to be an issue). Debunked many times.

I drink both coffee and diet soda, and haven't noticed any side effects. There isn't anything in either that would compromise your weight loss, or make you retain water like crazy. Both hydrate you, so drink it if you want to.

Whoa, I can't believe I didn't see anyone else respond to this post yet. Both contain caffeine, which is a diuretic, so it's doing the opposite of hydrating you. It has more potential to dehydrate you, and dehydration can cause water retention.

My personal views are as such. I do have an occasional cup of coffee, which I've considered recently cutting out as well. In the past when I got beyond the addiction, I had much more sustained energy levels because my body is not relying on caffeine for a temporary boost of energy. As far as artificial sweeteners goes, I'm not a fan. When I drink diet drinks, it typically seems to cause water retention and worsens my gynecomastia.

I believe the divide in opinions here lies within the idea that "everyone is different". So, whereas some people have no issues when drinking artificial sweeteners, others may have witnessed lessened results from consuming it.

caffeine is a very mild diuretic, i highly doubt the amount of water in a cup of coffee or diet soda is offset by the effects of caffeine

I drink both coffee and diet soda, and haven't noticed any side effects. There isn't anything in either that would compromise your weight loss, or make you retain water like crazy. Both hydrate you, so drink it if you want to.

Whoa, I can't believe I didn't see anyone else respond to this post yet. Both contain caffeine, which is a diuretic, so it's doing the opposite of hydrating you. It has more potential to dehydrate you, and dehydration can cause water retention.

My personal views are as such. I do have an occasional cup of coffee, which I've considered recently cutting out as well. In the past when I got beyond the addiction, I had much more sustained energy levels because my body is not relying on caffeine for a temporary boost of energy. As far as artificial sweeteners goes, I'm not a fan. When I drink diet drinks, it typically seems to cause water retention and worsens my gynecomastia.

I believe the divide in opinions here lies within the idea that "everyone is different". So, whereas some people have no issues when drinking artificial sweeteners, others may have witnessed lessened results from consuming it.

For anyone who drinks caffeinated beverages with any regularity (and doesn't have another underlying medical issue), the diuretic impact compared to a caffeine-free liquid consumption level is functionally nil.

I'm in this headspace lately where I feel like I can't drink anything except water. I miss my caffeine! Does anyone else incorporate coffee or diet soda into their daily plan with no adverse results? I've just read quite a bit of contradictory research over the years and would love some personal opinions. I would just stick to tea but I worked at Teavana and I'm frankly just burnt out on the stuff. :drinker:

You'll never get a definitive answer whether yay or nay. Here's my approach. I use moderation 1 or 2 cups of coffee a day with hell yes cream and sugar!!! One diet or regular soda a day. Then I call a day and don't worry about the millions of internet debates on the topic. Moderation.

I've recently given up diet soda after having been a steady Diet Coke drinker for years. I don't miss it much.

I enjoy coffee but I don't drink a ton of it, maybe a cup every other day or so in the form of an espresso-based drink, usually a cappuccino or latte.

I drink coffee every morning, with just a little bit of sugar and some no calorie flavor syrup in it. I used to drink soda every morning but the coffee's got way fewer calories. It's been good for me.

I have coffee daily, 1-2 cups. I've trained myself to stop using sugar in it, so it's only 20 calories a cup with my soy creamer. It took some getting used to, but I'd rather eat food than waste my calories on tons of creamer and sugar.

Eventually I'd like to start drinking black coffee, but I'm barely used to just creamer.

That trick with the tooth/food being eaten overnight - or over a few nights - by letting it sit in cola, right? Soda's acidic; orange juice will do the same thing. Is it your argument that orange juice is inherently unhealthy?

It's not a trick, it's what any acid does to your teeth. Soda happens to be a strong acid.

In regard to orange juice, I would argue that almost all sugary drinks are unhealthy.

Just b/c a balanced diet is important does not mean that junk food isn't junk food. It's important for your long term health to have adequate protein, lots of fruits and veggies, adequate fiber, adequate healthy fats, adequate potassium, antioxidants, etc, etc. Some foods help meet these nutritional goals, while others are just completely devoid of nutrition.

Chicken does "contribute" to a healthy diet. Honeysmacks do not contribute to a healthy diet. If you eat plenty of "healthy" foods then you can afford to have some Honeysmacks without doing any damage . But it is important to realize some foods are just empty calories, while others are actually nutritious.

Why do Honey Smacks not contribute to a healthy diet? You simply conclusive state they do not, but in what way do they lack the ability to contribute in any way, shape or form to a healthy diet? Must every food contain ample micronutrients? Is your need for micronutrients on a daily basis infinite? At a minimum, what if you need some carbs - are you seriously suggesting the only "healthy" way to get those carbs is from fruit and veggies and that eating a bowl of cereal is necessarily bad for your health?

Honestly your view on this subject is both overly complicated and yet is overly simplistic in some ways. There are situations where fruit is fine but there are situations where other types of sugars are fine as well. For example, there are situations where you may want dextrose instead of fructose because of how your body processes these sugars differently, and in those situations fruit is a poor choice because of its fructose content. In that example, a candy made of pure dextrose may well one of the best foods to fit your goals, even though you would call that candy "unhealthy." In that scenario, an overly simplistic choice of a "healthy" apple is the wrong choice because of its higher fructose content. On the other hand, you're making dietary decisions needlessly complicated by trying to balance healthy and unhealthy foods (i.e., meaningless labels) with consuming everything in moderation, hitting your macros, hitting your micros, hitting your nutrient goals and so on.

If you're talking to someone who does not track their calories or their macros, I can see a potential use in labeling foods "healthy" and "unhealthy." But to someone tracking everything they eat and their nutritional goals, those terms are simply meaningless labels.

A diet soda is completely void of any nutrition, causes you to crave more foods because it tricks your body into thinking that nutrients are coming but they never do and puts stress on the kidneys from having to deal with all the aspartame and everything else.

LOL. Please cite sources for these ridiculous claims.

Wow...you don't read about nutrition much I guess. I could cite dozens of sources but why bother when you have blinders on.

Lemme guess, rat studies using supraphysiological doses, amirite?

Talk to the hand...

haha, nice middle school comeback. Really supports your claims.