Diet soda...friend or foe?

Natvee
Natvee Posts: 65
edited September 23 in Food and Nutrition
Ok so here is the deal...
I enjoy drinking diet soda. It curbs my appetite and I don't feel so deprived. I also don't get crazy with it. I can take it or leave it if it really came down to it.

For the past 4 days I've been drinking about 3 cups a day. The scale hasn't moved. Granted it isn't going up, but it isn't going down either. So my question is...does it make you gain weight? Or keep you from losing it as quick as you normally would?

This has me wondering so much that I'm conducting an experiment. Like I said, I've been drinking it for the past 4-5 days, and no scale movement. For the next 4 days (starting today) I'm not going to have any. Let's see what the scale does. I'll be eating and exercising exactly the same.
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Replies

  • TealStar13
    TealStar13 Posts: 165
    Let us know how it goes. I don't really drink diet soda since I prefer regular but if I do drink soda I will drink diet. :( heh...
  • Live_To_Win
    Live_To_Win Posts: 340 Member
    I would really love to see the opinions on this, I drink diet soda as well. It gives me a bit of a substitute and with it I don't miss the regular soda (that I drank all of the time!!!)
  • imbwy420
    imbwy420 Posts: 29
    Well, it's proven that drinking water helps you to lose weight, so if that's your substitute for the diet soda... your experiment will work pretty well. Haha. As for the soda itself, any kind of soda is bad for the body - it just isn't healthy. It also bloats you and doesn't help to flush anything out of the body. I used to be a huge fan myself, trust me! Good luck! :)
  • sne0504
    sne0504 Posts: 1
    My personal experience is that it prohibits weight loss. I'd stick to an occasional diet soda when you have the urge or need to feel full. I also have drank it on occasion to curb a sweet tooth.
  • Mustang_Susie
    Mustang_Susie Posts: 7,045 Member
    I drink about one 12oz. can of diet soda a day. I do not find it affects my weight either way. The one factor you may want to consider is the sodium content which may be causing you to retain some water, thus weight.
  • JulieBoBoo
    JulieBoBoo Posts: 642
    I don't drink it because I prefer to drink other things that are chemical-free instead such as green tea and water. I don't know if it helps or hurts for weight loss but I can't think that some of those things listed on the ingredients label are good for you and I seriously question the safeness of aspartame and splenda.
  • eylbrown
    eylbrown Posts: 21
    I always understood that diet soda dehydrated you and therefore your body holds onto it's food and tries not to shed the weight.. good luck, I look forward to hearing how you do!
  • jasmine1024
    jasmine1024 Posts: 11
    I have the same problem, I drink it so often and I get bloated. I'm trying to stop though because I heard that it causes bloating, brittle bones, prevents losing weight to some degree and just isn't good overall. I'm trying to drink more water instead. Good luck!
  • cclala
    cclala Posts: 190 Member
    It's the devil. Seriously, I used to drink it every day and the second I stopped I didn't get headaches anymore, or feel bloated, I slept better, and I dropped 5 lbs in 2 weeks without going to the gym once.

    Aside from stimulating your appetite for "real" sugar which can lead to overindulging later, it is pumped full of things that can cause us harm. There's a youtube video called 'Sweet Misery". It's a documentary about the arduous time aspartame had passing FDA inspections (bribes were involved.) The day I watched the first 20 minutes was the day I quit. One woman had chronic seizures and her dr could not for the life of him pinpoint why....she cut out the aspartame and bam, seizures gone.

    Try a splash of pomegranate juice with seltzer if you crave bubbles. That's what I did to start. Then I went to tea, and finally straight up water with lemon or lime.
  • ashleynicoleb
    ashleynicoleb Posts: 376 Member
    I used to literally live on Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi. I decided to stop drinking it for multiple reasons and I found that it wasn't that hard at all. I feel better when I refrain from drinking it at all and feel less bloated most of the time. I don't think it hurts to drink a cup of it every once in awhile, though. I just find it easier to not crave it the longer I completely stay away from it.
  • kbryanmc
    kbryanmc Posts: 19 Member
    I was a chronic diet coke drinker and about a year and 2 months ago I absolutely gave it up...cold turkey. I lost 3lbs the first week. I think what happened is the sodium in the drink was keeping me from losing weight. Every now and again I have HUGE cravings for it, but I resist. Another side effect of quiting was that all of a sudden I craved sweets and I've always been a salty snacker. With time the cravings subsided and now I only drink water, milk, juice, coffee and tea (and the occasional glass of wine). I understand why it curbs your appetite (all the fizz), but maybe you could switch to flavored water instead? Good luck! :smile:
  • awesome_orchid
    awesome_orchid Posts: 49
    I will do it also,,,now I weigh 203#
    Feb 1, 2011:smile:
  • bka8
    bka8 Posts: 92
    Soda in general can make you gain wait...its a lot of calories, diet or not. Cutting out soda from your diet can make you lose weight a lot more quickly than most think!
  • mamagooskie
    mamagooskie Posts: 2,964 Member
    I don't drink it often anymore but I like to have some with dinner at a restaurant or at a movie....so for me it's my friend.
  • Cardinal
    Cardinal Posts: 10
    Diet soda is better than regular, in that, you aren't drinking your calories. One cup of Coke is approximately 100 calories, so three cups would be about 300 calories. Three cups of Diet Coke is about 3 calories. So, you aren't going to really see tangible weight lose from just switching to diet over a few days, although it's a step in the right direction. Over the course of a month if you stick with diet, you will consume 3,000 less calories or 36,000 calories in a year. It will eventually make a difference, just over a longer period of time.
  • Liatush
    Liatush Posts: 627 Member
    Def let us know... I use it to curb sweet tooth cravings here and there but it is not a drink (water) substitute...
  • loriefolk
    loriefolk Posts: 352
    No soda is a friend to your body. Even if it doesn't make you gain, it's still not beneficial to your body in any way.
  • monkeydharma
    monkeydharma Posts: 599 Member
    The soda itself is not affecting your weight loss. You have either reached a 'plateau', where the body rests for a few days before it starts losing again, or you are eating more sodium than usual and are retaining water (or it's that time of the month). Either way, watch your sodium intake and it should start moving again soon.
  • aswaite85
    aswaite85 Posts: 3
    . Diet soda in moderation is not bad at all! One stipulation to this is the type of diet soda that you drink. Coke Zero or Sprite Zero are not detrimental to one's weight. There are some that have nutra sweet or sugar contents like aspartame. Diet Mountain Dew is a good example. Water does help burn calories if it is ice cold. This theory is explains that the body must work twice as hard to heat the water inorder to digest it. By doing so, it speeds up your metabolism. Good luck with your experiment.

    Anthony
  • LowCarbAmanda
    LowCarbAmanda Posts: 129
    I was stalled for a few weeks, dropped my two - three cans of Coke Zero, and WHOOSH! I dropped 4 lbs that weekend. I read that some people have a strong insulin response to diet sugars. I'm probably one of them. Good luck! :)
  • hooah_mj
    hooah_mj Posts: 1,004 Member
    I absolutely love this: The Mad Hatter Theory

    "Perhaps, Bonci says, our bodies are smarter than we think.
    People think they can just fool the body. But maybe the body isn't fooled," she says. "If you are not giving your body those calories you promised it, maybe your body will retaliate by wanting more calories. Some soft drink studies do suggest that diet drinks stimulate appetite."

    For diet soft-drink drinkers, the risk of becoming overweight or obese was:

    36.5% for up to 1/2 can each day
    37.5% for 1/2 to one can each day
    54.5% for 1 to 2 cans each day
    57.1% for more than 2 cans each day.
    For each can of diet soft drink consumed each day, a person's risk of obesity went up 41%.

    http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20050613/drink-more-diet-soda-gain-more-weight

    Personally, I allow myself one glass of my favorite (regular) soda...but I have noticed that I will have three times as much soda if it's diet....and that usu leads to 3 x the chips/snacks to go along w/it :(
  • pyro13g
    pyro13g Posts: 1,127 Member
    Sorry, Enemy.
  • Natvee
    Natvee Posts: 65
    You all have some interesting info that has me thinking (especially you Hooah_mj). I do know that ultimately all sodas are bad for us. They are full of chemicals and sugar. But as they say old habits die hard, and I've been drinking soda off and on for nearly my entire life.

    Thank you for your imput everyone! In just as eager to see what the scale does like some of you. I'll definitely keep you posted.
  • shannonshock13
    shannonshock13 Posts: 355 Member
    It's the devil. Seriously, I used to drink it every day and the second I stopped I didn't get headaches anymore, or feel bloated, I slept better, and I dropped 5 lbs in 2 weeks without going to the gym once.

    Aside from stimulating your appetite for "real" sugar which can lead to overindulging later, it is pumped full of things that can cause us harm. There's a youtube video called 'Sweet Misery". It's a documentary about the arduous time aspartame had passing FDA inspections (bribes were involved.) The day I watched the first 20 minutes was the day I quit. One woman had chronic seizures and her dr could not for the life of him pinpoint why....she cut out the aspartame and bam, seizures gone.

    Try a splash of pomegranate juice with seltzer if you crave bubbles. That's what I did to start. Then I went to tea, and finally straight up water with lemon or lime.

    I couldn't agree more! Aspertame is one of the worst things you could put in your body! A relative of mine was drinking large amounts of diet soda and ended up getting Leukemia. Aspertame has been linked to Leukemia :(
  • myonepack
    myonepack Posts: 7
    Try Perrier. A bit expensive but a great calorie free alternative that gives a zip of carbonation and lemon to water!
  • myonepack
    myonepack Posts: 7
    Dont expect the FDA to protect the consumers...I guess thats someone elses job!
  • kimwig
    kimwig Posts: 164
    Ok so here is the deal...
    I enjoy drinking diet soda. It curbs my appetite and I don't feel so deprived. I also don't get crazy with it. I can take it or leave it if it really came down to it.

    For the past 4 days I've been drinking about 3 cups a day. The scale hasn't moved. Granted it isn't going up, but it isn't going down either. So my question is...does it make you gain weight? Or keep you from losing it as quick as you normally would?

    This has me wondering so much that I'm conducting an experiment. Like I said, I've been drinking it for the past 4-5 days, and no scale movement. For the next 4 days (starting today) I'm not going to have any. Let's see what the scale does. I'll be eating and exercising exactly the same.
    Research was done regarding the artificial sweeteners in diet sodas. In layman's terms.....

    When you have the diet soda your tongue recognizes that it has had something sweet and sends a message to the brain saying "sugars on the way, tell the stomach to get ready for it" (well not those words but you get what I mean).

    Your stomach does not get the sugars it was expecting, and goes "where is it", which messages the brain to say "you promised me sugar / calories, can I have some", and this encourages the seeking out / eating of calories to make up for the previous trickery.

    There is a strong link to what what a tongue tastes and what your digestive system expects, and it is hard to fool it. It has a tendancy to make you crave other sugars / calories, and confuse the bodies digestive system.

    Personally I do not "drink my calories", and avoid all sodas (diet or otherwise), because I figure I do not need the chemicals
  • anubis609
    anubis609 Posts: 3,966 Member
    The soda itself is not affecting your weight loss. You have either reached a 'plateau', where the body rests for a few days before it starts losing again, or you are eating more sodium than usual and are retaining water (or it's that time of the month). Either way, watch your sodium intake and it should start moving again soon.

    I agree with this more than the diet soda theories. I've had a few weeks of not having the scale move, and I hardly drink diet soda. The weight-loss plateau seems more plausible. If you've been doing the same thing with eating and exercise, your body naturally adjusts to that routine as its normal set of activities, and will therefore no longer burn the calories like it used to because it's expecting the food and exercise to come normally. Switch up your routine, and if your experiment of staving off diet soda is part of it, then that would be an example of change.

    For optimal metabolic performance, you should change your diet and exercise routine periodically when you recognize a fluctuation increase or plateau coming.
  • soysos
    soysos Posts: 187 Member
    honestly your far better off having the occasional non-diet coke then regularly drinking the diet. either way 4 days is not nearly a long enough time for an experiment of this nature.

    on another note almost all manufactured products switched to sucralose (splenda) aspartame is pretty much dead.
  • PoAer
    PoAer Posts: 17
    Ok so you probably heard this already but deit soda is a definite FOE, It's not only carbonated which make the body retain water , which would prevent you from losing weight. Also it contains aspartame, which is not easily digested by the body and stores itself in the fatty layers of the skin. Start by drinking crystal light with water making the easy transition to water, which gives you engery and makes your skin look great.
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