Ok what's the "skinny" on diet soda is it good or bad
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Why some people come on here to just tell others how all artificial sweeteners are "fine", highly processed foods are just the same a non-processed foods (just stay in your calories), nothing in diet soda is harmful, etc. is beyond me. It does seem to me that they have ulterior motives. Why champion such nutrient lacking foods so vehemently?
Because part of good health is being low stress and there is no sense in stressing yourself out unnecessarily for no reason other than illegitimately placed fear or avoidance of certain foods or drinks.
Sure, if people are saying "you'll die from drinking diet coke", I agree with you. But pretending that there are no detriments is just not accurate either. Trading in illegitimately placed fear for willful ignorance doesn't make sense.
Present facts, offer opinions based upon those facts as you see them and let people investigate for themselves whether they agree or not . To me, that's the whole point of these forums -- sharing of information.
If you look at my original post about pros and cons, it was pretty mild, but did list out some of the cons (and I don't think there are any actual health benefits to diet coke, other than it has low/no calories).0 -
Why some people come on here to just tell others how all artificial sweeteners are "fine", highly processed foods are just the same a non-processed foods (just stay in your calories), nothing in diet soda is harmful, etc. is beyond me. It does seem to me that they have ulterior motives. Why champion such nutrient lacking foods so vehemently?
Because part of good health is being low stress and there is no sense in stressing yourself out unnecessarily for no reason other than illegitimately placed fear or avoidance of certain foods or drinks.
Sure, if people are saying "you'll die from drinking diet coke", I agree with you. But pretending that there are no detriments is just not accurate either. Trading in illegitimately placed fear for willful ignorance doesn't make sense.
I don't think there are any detriments to drinking soda, regular or diet, in moderation.
Of course regular contains sugar making it hard to fit into many people's calorie goals - that's why I now drink diet versions.
I accept that sodas, regular and diet, may have links to calcium absorption in large amounts - but not with moderation. In my case, aprox 4 cans per week, I think the calcium issue is negligible with that amount.
I do not have any ulterior motives in stating the above.0 -
Here's at least one article about the potential for artificial sweeteners (sucrulose in this case) to cause an increased insulin spike:
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/early/2013/04/30/dc12-2221.abstract?sid=802a9949-c04c-4304-b31c-b78bc39f73d1
Or one on phosphoric acid and loss of bone density: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17023723, another one showed it wasn't the phosphoric acid in soda but the combination of carbonation and caffeine http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11522558
But, either way, there is quite a bit of literature out there showing a correlation between drinking diet soda with weight gain and increased incidence of metabolic syndrome:
"“for each diet soft drink our participants drank per day, they were 65 percent more likely to become overweight during the next seven to eight years, and 41 percent more likely to become obese.” http://uthscsa.edu/hscnews/singleformat2.asp?newID=1539
Another one showed a 34% increased risk in developing metabolic syndrome. http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/117/6/754.abstract?searchid=1&HITS=10&hits=10&resourcetype=HWCIT&maxtoshow=&RESULTFORMAT=&FIRSTINDEX=0&fulltext=steffen
Some researches speculate it's because the artificial sweeteners prolong sugar cravings, not eliminate them.
Research is far from definitive, but like the correlation on phosphoric acid and bone density and tooth enamel issues, there is some support out there and suspicion that there is some casual connection. Look into the information and decide for yourself. But to pretend that none of this exists and is all "fear mongering" and "hype" is just flat out wrong.
Why some people come on here to just tell others how all artificial sweeteners are "fine", highly processed foods are just the same a non-processed foods (just stay in your calories), nothing in diet soda is harmful, etc. is beyond me. It does seem to me that they have ulterior motives. Why champion such nutrient lacking foods so vehemently?
Oh, wait. Didn't Coke launch a big ad campaign lately taking just this approach? Hmmm....
Were any of those studies done in humans? If so, were they normal weight or already obese? I saw some studies that suggested a preload with sucralose seemed to potentiate the insulin response TO a glucose load in obese human subjects. Totally different than sucralose itself causing an insulin spike. And yes, when I looked at your study, that is the same one I saw. No further studies have shown sucralose by itself causing an insulin spike.
For the diet soda drinkers getting heavier, one of the author's had this to say about the results:
“It may be that normal-weight people in our study whose weight had been increasing had switched to diet soft drinks in an attempt to stop their weight gain,” she said. “That’s a very real possibility. Another is that drinking soft drinks, either regular or diet, is part of a lifelong ‘Obey your thirst’ nutritional pattern that sets a person up for weight gain later in life. Whatever the case, our results definitely raise more questions than they answer.”
As for the metabolic syndrome correlation, it's again a matter of correlation does not equal causation.
" CONCLUSIONS:
Although these observational data cannot establish causality, consumption of diet soda at least daily was associated with significantly greater risks of select incident metabolic syndrome components and type 2 diabetes."
And your Diet Coke ad snark shows your bias anyway. So for you to call B.S. to my saying diet sodas are safe to consume as "B.S." and simply shows your bias.
Study after study has shown these sweeteners to be safe to consume. I go with the scientific evidence rather than any personal bias that I have. I drink whatever I feel like drinking, and use sugar or some other substitute as I wish and think others should be able to do the same without unfounded alarmism.0 -
If you don't have any sensitivities to the ingredients then you'll be fine if you find one that you like to drink.0
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Here's at least one article about the potential for artificial sweeteners (sucrulose in this case) to cause an increased insulin spike:
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/early/2013/04/30/dc12-2221.abstract?sid=802a9949-c04c-4304-b31c-b78bc39f73d1
Or one on phosphoric acid and loss of bone density: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17023723, another one showed it wasn't the phosphoric acid in soda but the combination of carbonation and caffeine http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11522558
But, either way, there is quite a bit of literature out there showing a correlation between drinking diet soda with weight gain and increased incidence of metabolic syndrome:
"“for each diet soft drink our participants drank per day, they were 65 percent more likely to become overweight during the next seven to eight years, and 41 percent more likely to become obese.” http://uthscsa.edu/hscnews/singleformat2.asp?newID=1539
Another one showed a 34% increased risk in developing metabolic syndrome. http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/117/6/754.abstract?searchid=1&HITS=10&hits=10&resourcetype=HWCIT&maxtoshow=&RESULTFORMAT=&FIRSTINDEX=0&fulltext=steffen
Some researches speculate it's because the artificial sweeteners prolong sugar cravings, not eliminate them.
Research is far from definitive, but like the correlation on phosphoric acid and bone density and tooth enamel issues, there is some support out there and suspicion that there is some casual connection. Look into the information and decide for yourself. But to pretend that none of this exists and is all "fear mongering" and "hype" is just flat out wrong.
Why some people come on here to just tell others how all artificial sweeteners are "fine", highly processed foods are just the same a non-processed foods (just stay in your calories), nothing in diet soda is harmful, etc. is beyond me. It does seem to me that they have ulterior motives. Why champion such nutrient lacking foods so vehemently?
Oh, wait. Didn't Coke launch a big ad campaign lately taking just this approach? Hmmm....
Were any of those studies done in humans? If so, were they normal weight or already obese? I saw some studies that suggested a preload with sucralose seemed to potentiate the insulin response TO a glucose load in obese human subjects. Totally different than sucralose itself causing an insulin spike. And yes, when I looked at your study, that is the same one I saw. No further studies have shown sucralose by itself causing an insulin spike.
For the diet soda drinkers getting heavier, one of the author's had this to say about the results:
“It may be that normal-weight people in our study whose weight had been increasing had switched to diet soft drinks in an attempt to stop their weight gain,” she said. “That’s a very real possibility. Another is that drinking soft drinks, either regular or diet, is part of a lifelong ‘Obey your thirst’ nutritional pattern that sets a person up for weight gain later in life. Whatever the case, our results definitely raise more questions than they answer.”
As for the metabolic syndrome correlation, it's again a matter of correlation does not equal causation.
" CONCLUSIONS:
Although these observational data cannot establish causality, consumption of diet soda at least daily was associated with significantly greater risks of select incident metabolic syndrome components and type 2 diabetes."
And your Diet Coke ad snark shows your bias anyway. So for you to call B.S. to my saying diet sodas are safe to consume as "B.S." and simply shows your bias.
Study after study has shown these sweeteners to be safe to consume. I go with the scientific evidence rather than any personal bias that I have. I drink whatever I feel like drinking, and use sugar or some other substitute as I wish and think others should be able to do the same without unfounded alarmism.
Unfounded alarmism? Where was there ANY alarmism (unfounded or otherwise)?
I pointed out some potential drawbacks to diet sodas -- that was all. There was absolutely no alarmism, unfounded or otherwise. For you to characterize any of my posts as such is simply intellectually dishonest and outright misrepresentation.
I even stated that it's far from definitive, as 99% of things in science are. I gave pieces of SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE -- various studies. Like so much in nutrition, medicine and human biology, there is still a TON that is unknown to us. So, we do studies, investigate things and learn new pieces of the puzzle. But to be dismissive of the actual SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE that we've uncovered because you disagree with the conclusions or find them unpersuasive is just poor form. The conclusions may not all ultimately be right, and some surely won't be, but it's what we know now or suspect now based upon the limited amount of information we currently have. Share the information and let people decide for themselves.
Almost nothing in this life is 100% safe. It's almost always an individual choice as to risk assessment. But for you to pretend that there is no risk at all or to tell people that their difference of opinion based on known facts is unfounded alarmism, I'm sorry, but that's just foolish and intellectually dishonest. And, yet, I'm the one with tunnel vision. Yeah...0 -
Sigh, is it time for this question again? Better get my popcorn.0
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Here's at least one article about the potential for artificial sweeteners (sucrulose in this case) to cause an increased insulin spike:
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/early/2013/04/30/dc12-2221.abstract?sid=802a9949-c04c-4304-b31c-b78bc39f73d1
Or one on phosphoric acid and loss of bone density: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17023723, another one showed it wasn't the phosphoric acid in soda but the combination of carbonation and caffeine http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11522558
But, either way, there is quite a bit of literature out there showing a correlation between drinking diet soda with weight gain and increased incidence of metabolic syndrome:
"“for each diet soft drink our participants drank per day, they were 65 percent more likely to become overweight during the next seven to eight years, and 41 percent more likely to become obese.” http://uthscsa.edu/hscnews/singleformat2.asp?newID=1539
Another one showed a 34% increased risk in developing metabolic syndrome. http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/117/6/754.abstract?searchid=1&HITS=10&hits=10&resourcetype=HWCIT&maxtoshow=&RESULTFORMAT=&FIRSTINDEX=0&fulltext=steffen
Some researches speculate it's because the artificial sweeteners prolong sugar cravings, not eliminate them.
Research is far from definitive, but like the correlation on phosphoric acid and bone density and tooth enamel issues, there is some support out there and suspicion that there is some casual connection. Look into the information and decide for yourself. But to pretend that none of this exists and is all "fear mongering" and "hype" is just flat out wrong.
Why some people come on here to just tell others how all artificial sweeteners are "fine", highly processed foods are just the same a non-processed foods (just stay in your calories), nothing in diet soda is harmful, etc. is beyond me. It does seem to me that they have ulterior motives. Why champion such nutrient lacking foods so vehemently?
Oh, wait. Didn't Coke launch a big ad campaign lately taking just this approach? Hmmm....
Were any of those studies done in humans? If so, were they normal weight or already obese? I saw some studies that suggested a preload with sucralose seemed to potentiate the insulin response TO a glucose load in obese human subjects. Totally different than sucralose itself causing an insulin spike. And yes, when I looked at your study, that is the same one I saw. No further studies have shown sucralose by itself causing an insulin spike.
For the diet soda drinkers getting heavier, one of the author's had this to say about the results:
“It may be that normal-weight people in our study whose weight had been increasing had switched to diet soft drinks in an attempt to stop their weight gain,” she said. “That’s a very real possibility. Another is that drinking soft drinks, either regular or diet, is part of a lifelong ‘Obey your thirst’ nutritional pattern that sets a person up for weight gain later in life. Whatever the case, our results definitely raise more questions than they answer.”
As for the metabolic syndrome correlation, it's again a matter of correlation does not equal causation.
" CONCLUSIONS:
Although these observational data cannot establish causality, consumption of diet soda at least daily was associated with significantly greater risks of select incident metabolic syndrome components and type 2 diabetes."
And your Diet Coke ad snark shows your bias anyway. So for you to call B.S. to my saying diet sodas are safe to consume as "B.S." and simply shows your bias.
Study after study has shown these sweeteners to be safe to consume. I go with the scientific evidence rather than any personal bias that I have. I drink whatever I feel like drinking, and use sugar or some other substitute as I wish and think others should be able to do the same without unfounded alarmism.
Unfounded alarmism? Where was there ANY alarmism (unfounded or otherwise)?
I pointed out some potential drawbacks to diet sodas -- that was all. There was absolutely no alarmism, unfounded or otherwise. For you to characterize any of my posts as such is simply intellectually dishonest and outright misrepresentation.
I even stated that it's far from definitive, as 99% of things in science are. I gave pieces of SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE -- various studies. Like so much in nutrition, medicine and human biology, there is still a TON that is unknown to us. So, we do studies, investigate things and learn new pieces of the puzzle. But to be dismissive of the actual SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE that we've uncovered because you disagree with the conclusions or find them unpersuasive is just poor form. The conclusions may not all ultimately be right, and some surely won't be, but it's what we know now or suspect now based upon the limited amount of information we currently have. Share the information and let people decide for themselves.
Almost nothing in this life is 100% safe. It's almost always an individual choice as to risk assessment. But for you to pretend that there is no risk at all or to tell people that their difference of opinion based on known facts is unfounded alarmism, I'm sorry, but that's just foolish and intellectually dishonest. And, yet, I'm the one with tunnel vision. Yeah...
Lindsey, your scientific evidence didn't support your assertions that artificial sweeteners cause an insulin spike or that drinking diet sodas causes weight gain.
Your alarmism is calling my well supported claim that diet sodas are safe to be "BS".
Duh.0 -
Lindsey, your scientific evidence didn't support your assertions that artificial sweeteners cause an insulin spike or that drinking diet sodas causes weight gain.
Your alarmism is calling my well supported claim that diet sodas are safe to be "BS".
Duh.
Yes, they did.
The sucralose study showed an increased insulin spike after ingesting glucose -- you stated so yourself. So when you have sucralose and then glucose (as many people do as they drink soda with eating other food), you have an increased response in insulin. It just didn't show an insulin spike on its own -- which I never claimed it did. I made no assertion one way or the other whether it was on its own or in combination with glucose or any other substance. You simply invented the faux argument on your own. I only said that it may raise insulin levels -- and that is EXACTLY what it did. Then, I showed several studies that showed a correlation between diet soda consumption and weight gain. Once again, I said it was a correlation and it may lead indirectly to weight gain. Both of those claims were supported by the evidence I provided, and I admitted more than once that of course, the evidence isn't definitive.
And you didn't say diet sodas were safe, but that there was "nothing in diet sodas that is harmful". I find the evidence for (1) the correlations between weight gain, obesity, and increased risk for metabolic syndrome, (2) increased insulin response and (3) possible erosion and/or decalcification of bones and tooth enamel to be far from "nothing in them is harmful". That's why I said your statement was BS. There is potential for harm there in my opinion and provides a reasonable basis for people to want to minimize and/or avoid them and choose something healthier.
Making up arguments I didn't make to just argue against them is intellectually dishonest. Either that, or you misunderstood. And then personally attacking me for having circular arguments and tunnel vision is laughable after such faulty assertions yourself. Perhaps you should go back to avoiding my posts "like the plague". You appear to have difficulty following them in a reasonable, logical fashion.0 -
Lindsey, your scientific evidence didn't support your assertions that artificial sweeteners cause an insulin spike or that drinking diet sodas causes weight gain.
Your alarmism is calling my well supported claim that diet sodas are safe to be "BS".
Duh.
Also, you didn't support any claim. You just made a conclusory statement and then debated my assertions and evidence. You provided no such support yourself for your own claim. But perhaps you meant that literature exists that would support your claim and you could provide it if you choose to do so -- but you didn't actually do so.0 -
I think, like others have said, if you want soda and drink it anyway, replace it with diet soda.
Diet soda > regular soda. But of course water is better than diet soda, that's not really a question.
I'm assuming people ask because they are addicted to soda or want something sweet, but would like a better option.
My personal experience is that I want sugary things when I drink diet soda and part of a healthier lifestyle is to get rid of sugar cravings. But I drink it sometimes, once a week maybe.
I've read reports from doctors stating that diet soda/artificial sweeteners still contribute to weight gain and put people at risk for diabetes 2, but those are in Norwegian, so they won't pass the bar here
Anyway, the point is that every time you drink diet soda, as with regular soda, your taste buds alert your pancreas which produces insulin. Insulin as a hormone stores fat and people are still at risk for diabetes 2. The taste of sweetness is what your body responds to.
These are sources I trust myself but as I said I don't have anything for you to read so if you don't want to believe it, that's fine. I think it makes perfect sense and that there are no real shortcuts when it comes to unhealthy food, whether it is an artificial variant or what.
In moderation it's fine anyway. Everything is.0 -
I like it alot because it makes me feel full with 0 calories! Whats not to love ? ! ?0
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http://www.anschutzwellness.com/news/clinical-trial-affirms-diet-beverages-play-positive-role-in-weight-loss-dieters
The above study proved that diet soda had a role in weight loss, and that diet soda drinkers reported feeling less hungry, showed greater improvements in serum levels of total cholesterol and LDL and had better reduction in triglycerides than those who just drank water.
I'm not going to tell anyone what to drink (I haven't had soda of any type in 2 months because it gives me terrible reflux,) but if you enjoy diet soda, then there's evidence that it does help with weight loss.0 -
I drink diet and regular soda. I leave the regular soda for when I have excess calories. I've heard that for some people the artificial sweetener in diet soda can actually cause them to crave sugar (which would result in weight gain if people gave in to such cravings). There are also people who are sensitive to certain sweeteners and as such can't drink sodas with that particular sweetener in it (my mom is one such person, gets horrible headaches from a sweetener...I don't remember which one though).
If you don't have either of those issues, then I don't see any reason for you not to drink the diet version of your favorite soda.0
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