Diet soft drinks / soda

There was scary news report the other day stating that we run a higher chance of stroke if we have even one diet soda daily!!! They suggested that we have soda as a treat 1-2 times a week. Oh well, I love my water, I love my water, I love.....

So I keep reading they are bad for weight loss. Why?

Something to do with the fake sugars and carbonation being bad for you. I honestly believe that EVERYTHING is bad for you if you have too much.I have a diet soda about once a week as a "sweet treat". It hasn't hurt my weight loss at all.

However, caffeine can and will dehydrate you. It also has a lot of salt. Both of these can cause you to retain water. Don't use soda as your only means of hydration. Make sure you drink lots of water.

I have had two coke zeros today.......the air we breathe has chemicals in it, and I can't hold my breath for that long....so not giving up the diet soda either!

I drink the heck out of them. Be sure to get enough calcium. To many diet mountain dews will aggravate your bladder because of the acidity. My HEB store brand at $1.99 for 12 are better than Coke Zero. I'm rarely without one nearby.

Here's my two cents. I drank only diet sodas from age....12 to about 22, and occasionally drank regular sodas as a treat. I started having bladder problems, I always said I had a pregnant bladder, when I had to go, I had to GO, no if ands or buts about it. And I had to pee, A LOT. Constantly almost. I went and talked to a doctor about it, and he said that the sugar subsitute freaks out bladders because they don't know how to process or something (my heart stopped when he told me to stop drinking sodas, so I sorta stopped listening). I stopped drinking sodas 6 months ago, and my bladder issues are getting better (and I lost 4 pounds right away!) Also, I get migraines, instense, blinding, vomit inducing migraines, so bad I've been hospitalized before. So, I drank diet sodas to get rid of them. Since i've stopped drinking diet sodas, and sodas in general, except for the rare night out, I have gotten fewer migraines!

It takes awhile, because your body gets addicted to the caffeine like it gets addicted to any drug, and you have to wean your body off of it. But if you're living a healthier lifestyle, I think the best bet is to cut out the diet sodas altogether! (Please keep in mmind, I am just a college student, and NOT a doctor!) Hope this helps!

As others have pointed out, lots of things are bad for us. Diet sodas/artificial sweeteners are in that category. On the other hand, being overweight is bad for us too.

Each of us needs to ask ourselves "What would I be eating/drinking if I wasn't drinking this diet soda?" If the answer is a chocolate milk shake and french fries, then the diet soda could be considered a good choice. If the answer is water, then the diet soda might not be as good a choice. (OK, OK, so this comparison is a little extreme, but you get the idea.)

Life isn't black and white. If you are comfortable consuming diet sodas, and continuing to make progress towards your health goals, then carry on. If you are up for a change, try cutting them out for a week or two and see if you feel any different. Some people feel better without them, some people don't notice a difference.