What are the true SCIENTIFIC facts that diet soda is bad for

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puggleperson
puggleperson Posts: 740 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Does anyone have any good hard SCIENTIFIC proven facts regarding this topic.. Please share if you do... I hear a lot of hear say but I have never heard from a Doctor or scientist... I drink a lot of diet coke and I will quit if there is a need to but if not, why quit when I enjoy it?? Thanks yall!

Really pissed that James Durbin got kicked off of Idol tonight BTW! Pissed! :)
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  • qued3point14
    qued3point14 Posts: 16 Member
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    My doc TOLD me to drink diet soda because I drink so much fluid I need the extra sodium. IDK, i think it's BS.
  • qued3point14
    qued3point14 Posts: 16 Member
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    The only thing I DID hear that sounded reasonable, was that it CAN make you hungrier and eat more and some people when removing regular soda from their diet and replacing with diet will overcompensate with food calories. I can see this happening.
  • absolament
    absolament Posts: 278 Member
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    It's not naturally occurring. That should be reason enough that the body doesn't need it.
  • Elzecat
    Elzecat Posts: 2,916 Member
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    I decided to stop drinking it because it's all chemicals...I also stopped eating a lot of processed foods for the same reason.

    A really good friend of mine told me her dentist recommended she quit because the diet soda she was consuming was eating away at the enamel on her teeth. That was enough for her to quit cold turkey.

    I've read a few things that say it stimulates the appetite (certainly something we don't need when we're trying to curb the calories!) but I haven't read any actual scientific studies. I'm sure there are some out there.
  • nikki_zav
    nikki_zav Posts: 320 Member
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    This is a pretty good article.
    http://www.womentowomen.com/healthyweight/dietsoda.aspx

    Obviously, you aren't going to keel over and die from a few Diet Cokes...everything in moderation, right?? The overall health benefits of not drinking an excessive amount of diet sodas is growing tremendously, especially for long term. If you google "Diet Coke is good for you" most of the articles that come back are the negative side effects of diet sodas. Search some of the threads in MFP too and see how many people rave about their weight loss when quitting soda....diet or regular.
  • oxavecamourxo
    oxavecamourxo Posts: 270 Member
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    Look up the affects of aspartame and the BPA that lines soda cans.
  • SoFLYFireman
    SoFLYFireman Posts: 170 Member
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    Diet sodas and sodas themselves are not natural, as the person above stated. its also packed with this....


    http://aspartame.mercola.com/

    that itself is enough of a reason to stay away
  • chevy88grl
    chevy88grl Posts: 3,937 Member
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    There have been a lot of studies that had to do with artificial sweeteners - such as aspartame. The result, from what I've read, of those studies is they aren't sure how our bodies react to these sweeteners long term. Some studies have shown they can cause cancer and such in lab rats.

    For me personally, I know sugar isn't good for me -- but, I'd much rather put natural sugar into my body than put any kind of artificial sweetener in. However, it is hard to get away from them - so, I try and limit how much of it I have. Here's the thing you'll quickly learn - you can find a study, experiment or "expert" for anything you want to know about -- the internet is FULL of articles about EVERYTHING.
  • LauraLLee
    LauraLLee Posts: 210
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    diet coke appears to have links to loss of memory and possibly dementia over long term use. My mother has been drinking diet coke and before that tab for 40 years and it has affected her. No doubt about it. Be keep in mind that is all she was drinking. No water, milk or anything healthy.
  • Noctuary
    Noctuary Posts: 255
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    I drink Diet Dr Pepper every day.
  • Luthorcrow
    Luthorcrow Posts: 193
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    Diet soda has been found to be linked to weight gain in several scientific studies. Here is the full text of one conducted by the University of Texas.

    LINK: http://www.nature.com/oby/journal/v16/n8/full/oby2008284a.html

    It makes sense considering a lot of factory farms use the same sweeteners to fatten cows.

    It is not conclusive but my general rule is water should be 90% of what you drink. Besides clearly, it is easier on your kidneys.
  • jrp31
    jrp31 Posts: 47 Member
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    Here's a link to why soda and cola in general is probably bad for your bones: http://www.eatingwell.com/nutrition_health/bone_health/can_drinking_seltzers_sodas_or_other_carbonated_drinks_harm_bones
  • KnightOwl
    KnightOwl Posts: 38
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    One word. Formaldehyde. Yeah...the stuff they used to use to EMBALM people with... that's why drinking diet soda everyday is bad for you. When aspartame is ingested it produces metabolites. One of these metabolites is methanol (an alcohol that is the main ingredient in antifreeze, windshield was, gasoline). Methanol can then be further metabolized by some body tissues into formaldehyde. Yup, that's right, your body converts aspartame into formaldehyde. Formaldehyde binds to tissue protein and, in the first study below and several others, has been linked to increased radioactivity in those proteins. Formaldehyde was also shown to bind to thymocytes (cells of the thymus-an organ that produces T-cells for your immune system) and can actually cause cell death at high doses (second study). You want more studies? Google Scholar aspartame... see what you find... you'd be amazed. Check out the third one I put on here about how it affects appetite stimulation. Oh yeah, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified formaldehyde as a class 1 carcinogen...along with arsenic, asbestos, cadmium, gamma rays... yeah. bad stuff.

    I don't know about you, but the thought of putting something that turns into formaldehyde in my mouth grosses me out. For all of you biologists or scientists out there who have ever dissected various things and smelt the lovely aroma of formalin (formaldehyde in water)... think about that every time you put a diet soda to your lips. BLECK.

    Sorry... I know this is long and overly detailed.... that's what happens when a science nerd is bored at work at four in the morning >.<

    1. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&amp;_udi=B6T99-3THHCW2-3&amp;_user=1935081&amp;_coverDate=06/26/1998&amp;_rdoc=1&amp;_fmt=high&amp;_orig=gateway&amp;_origin=gateway&amp;_sort=d&amp;_docanchor=&amp;view=c&amp;_searchStrId=1751581202&amp;_rerunOrigin=scholar.google&amp;_acct=C000055451&amp;_version=1&amp;_urlVersion=0&amp;_userid=1935081&amp;md5=7e6b99a59d9b498fe4a1a43152b06ea4&amp;searchtype=a

    2. http://www.springerlink.com/content/42jf0utmw8xp4m31/

    3. http://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search/display.do?f=1987/US/US87248.xml;US8731275
  • carolynmittens
    carolynmittens Posts: 344
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    I strongly, STRONGLY recommend anyone here who finds the labels "diet" or "low fat" or "sugar-free" enticing to read the book "Skinny B-tich" by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. Here's what they say on diet soda:

    "Now don't go patting yourself on the back if you drink diet soda. That stuff is even worse. Aspartame (an ingredient commonly found in diet sodas and other sugar-free foods) has been blamed for a slew of scary maladies, like arthritis, birth defects, fibromyalgia, Alzheimer's, lupus, multiple sclerosis, and diabetes. When methyl alcohol, a component of aspartame, enters your body, it turns into formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is toxic and carcinogenic (cancer-causing). Laboratory scientists use formaldehyde as a disinfectant or preservative. They don't f--king DRINK it. The FDA has received more complaints about aspartame than any other ingredient to date. "
  • carolynmittens
    carolynmittens Posts: 344
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    oh by the way, the authors cite all their sources, which i was too lazy to include :flowerforyou:
  • carolynmittens
    carolynmittens Posts: 344
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    My doc TOLD me to drink diet soda because I drink so much fluid I need the extra sodium. IDK, i think it's BS.
    this is a terrifying statement, but it's not really surprising since the amount of training an MD has in nutrition is.................

    2 credit hours.

    2 hours!!!! people, please do not ask your doctor nutrition advice. go to a doctor if you have a broken arm, see a nutritionist if you need advice on nutrition.
  • Valtishia
    Valtishia Posts: 811 Member
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    A co-worker sent me a video after seeing me drink a diet pepsi... and after giving me crap for drinking said diet pepsi lol

    The video didn't especially attack diet soda, so much as just soda (regardless of type)

    From what I understood, it messes with your PH balance. Acidic food vs Alkaline foods in your system. Soda is considered highly acidic.

    I have also heard of different things with aspartame, but haven't read much into it.
  • Valtishia
    Valtishia Posts: 811 Member
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    My doc TOLD me to drink diet soda because I drink so much fluid I need the extra sodium. IDK, i think it's BS.
    this is a terrifying statement, but it's not really surprising since the amount of training an MD has in nutrition is.................

    2 credit hours.

    2 hours!!!! people, please do not ask your doctor nutrition advice. go to a doctor if you have a broken arm, see a nutritionist if you need advice on nutrition.

    I totally agree with this!!! My old doctor kept telling me over and over, that I was eating too much and needed to cut all these things out of my diet. However, not once did he ask me what or how much I ate. After each visit being told these things, I eventually ended at 1 meal a day and gaining. I didn't worry about the foods cause I didn't eat them anyways. I had to fight for a nutritionist referal. The nutritionist had me do a food diary for a bit and when she looked at it, told me that my choices were good but i wasn't eating nearly enough. I told my doctor that, he said he didn't believe that for one second that the nutritionist would tell me something so silly. Needless to say, I stopped going to that doctor....
  • sweet_lotus
    sweet_lotus Posts: 194 Member
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    The EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) recently did a scientific review on aspartame, the sweetener used in diet sodas, here: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/supporting/doc/1641.pdf

    They go through the current scientific literature in detail. They didn't find enough data to suggest that aspartame, at an acceptable daily intake, causes cancer or neurotoxicity in humans.

    But, read it and decide for yourself.

    The only thing that I saw of concern was that there is some evidence that artificial sweeteners might have "modulating affects on satiety and appetite" but notes that actual effect on food intake has not been studied.
  • ashleigh2311
    ashleigh2311 Posts: 105 Member
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    IDK what articles say, i love pepsi max, artificial or not.

    Maybe one day i will give it up but its not doing me any harm now and if it fills me up and stops me unhealthy snacking then i am going to continue drinking it :)

    plus i need the caffeine.

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