Diet soda...friend or foe?

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

Try Perrier. A bit expensive but a great calorie free alternative that gives a zip of carbonation and lemon to water!

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

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.

There was a recent study which looked as calorie consumption at meals when drinking diet soda versus drinking water, and those who drank the diet soda, simply ate more than those who didn't. The researchers could only hypothesize about the cause but it was said that the diet soda acted almost like a palate cleanser and made the participants feel like eating more. So based on that diet coke could halt a weight loss but only when the amount of food is not controlled and you are allowed to eat freely. I have a hard time believing that if you drink a can or two that it will stop your weight loss, given that your calorie consumption is kept at a deficit.

Sure, it's not the healthiest drink choice, drink too much and you'll get gassy, and your teeth will suffer from the acid so best to limit your intake.

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.

you do realize crystal light has aspartame in it right. diet coke however does not the switched to splenda almost immediately after its release.

That I didn't thanks for the correction . lol Welps I stick with water any way.

*sips a diet coke*

It's my friend! I usually half a can around 11:00am, and the other half with my lunch around 2:00pm.
You could try carbonated flavored water, its super cheap and yummy. Sometimes I think I crave the carbonation more than anything. See if that helps!!
x

I don't drink it and I won't.
Here's why:

http://steve-edwards.blogspot.com/2006/04/worst-food-on-planet.html

Here are some of the highlights:
We use the term "empty calories" for foods, like soda, that have no place in a nutritious diet. I feel this term is misleading. The calories in soda are far from empty. Most of them come from sugar. In the USA, it's nearly always high-fructose corn syrup, the cheapest, most processed sugar on the market. Other ingredients include caffeine, various phosphates and acids, and artificial colorings.

Beyond the simple sugar rush, these acids and phosphates alter your body's pH levels and inhibit absorption of other nutrients. Then there are the effects of certain artificial coloring agents. For example, yellow #5, commonly used in soft drinks, has been linked to attention deficit disorder, hives, asthma, and other allergic reactions in some children.

Then there is the nutrient trade-off to consider. A person who drinks a Big Gulp per day must go to great lengths to maintain a balanced diet. Otherwise they will almost certainly be deficient in numerous vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, and essential fatty or amino acids—none of which are found in soda. For this reason, soda is often linked to type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, dental erosion, and a higher risk of kidney stones and heart disease. And that's just a start.

Diet sodas and juicesIn an attempt to become thought of as healthier, soda companies have diversified into non-carbonated beverages and diet sodas. While these are an improvement in some ways, they are hardly a solution to the problem. Despite their no-calorie status, diet sodas have been linked to assorted illnesses. There is no good science on this yet but my own anecdotal evidence is, so far, 100% accurate.

I've yet to have a client not lose weight by kicking diet soda. Granted, all of my clients drank an excessive amount, but regardless, there is little doubt that the pH balance of diet sodas hinders the body's ability to absorb nutrients. One client, a female athlete, lost 15 pounds by making no other dietary change but eliminating diet soda. Fifteen pounds and zero calories—more weird science.

The bottom line to all this is that, for best results, your body would be happier if you cut most of the calories out of your liquids and cut out soft drinks—caloric or not—altogether.

here is another option for ya. since it is made from whole cola nuts rather than an artificial substitute it has appetite suppression qualities similar to mint.
http://www.tristanstephenson.com/wordpress/2008/01/19/homemade-cola-recipe/