Diet Coke = Water

24

Replies

  • heathersmilez
    heathersmilez Posts: 2,579 Member
    Definitely NOT! It is very high in sodium! WATER

    Ummm, NO!! Look at a can of pop, it's 30-50mg of sodium. Municipal water has about 30g and most bottled water is exempt from having to list sodium so it's a random guess (though I believe Nestle posts it) just like how if something is under 5 calories per servings they can print it as 0 as per the FDA.

    Having 1 can of pop is 2% of your daily sodium requirement, 2% is definitely not "a lot".
  • melsinct
    melsinct Posts: 3,512 Member
    For those who count it as water, does that mean you think it is OK to knock back 60 ounces of Diet Coke in a day as your "water" intake? I sure hope not. Put me in the camp of water = water. No water with chemicals, not water with artificial sweeteners...just plain ol' water. Add your own mix-ins if you hate plain water (a few strawberries, lemons, limes, orange slice, etc.).
  • menacingsprite
    menacingsprite Posts: 37 Member
    Nope! Nothing with caffiene, that is. You see, caffiene is a dieuretic, which means it makes you pee. So for every cup of coffee, soda (diet or otherwise), tea, ect, you will probably end up peeing out about 2 cups. So it's actually working against you. If you drink only caffeinated beverages, you will eventually dehydrate yourself. Sorry.

    This isn't true. It was once thought that caffeinated beverages would do that but studies have shown that the diuretic effect is much less than originally thought.

    If it were true people like my father and my boss would constantly be dehydrated because all they drink are diet soda products. I kid you not.

    Carbonated water is the first ingredient in Diet Coke.

    I personally don't count my coffee, tea or energy drinks towards water intake. I only count straight up water. But you do receive water from drinking tea, coffee, soda...etc.

    I disagree with you. Caffeine is most definitely a diuretic. When I was pregnant and retaining water I was told to drink a cup of coffee... yes coffee to release some of the water retention. And boy did it work. I would drink one cup a week to relieve my swollen ankles. It would bring me from elephant legs back to normal.
  • AngelsKisses75
    AngelsKisses75 Posts: 595 Member
    I think everyone has their own way of doing this.

    As for me Water = Water, Unsweetened tea = Unsweetened tea, Coke = Coke
  • The point of water is to flush out the contaminets that we consume. How many do you think are in diet soda to make it taste good ? Add water to your consumables and you will find that you drink less diet soda and save money as well by not buying so much. Besides soda in large amounts only mean your raising your sodium levels. Good luck Chunk.
  • brandiuntz
    brandiuntz Posts: 2,717 Member
    I think everyone has their own way of doing this.

    As for me Water = Water, Unsweetened tea = Unsweetened tea, Coke = Coke

    ^^This. I believe MFP wants you to count ONLY water as water. The 8 cups/daily is a general number just like the general numbers MFP recommends for carbs/fat/protein. It's a general amount that keeps most people hydrated.

    If you drink any liquid that has calories, put it in your food diary with those calories.

    If you drink something no-calorie (diet soda, tea, vitamin water), list it in the diary if you're tracking sodium/vitamins, etc. Otherwise, why even list it?
  • lilRicki
    lilRicki Posts: 4,555 Member
    :( Now I am feeling really guilty about my "one a day Starbuck's Venti Iced Green Tea" habit

    don't, if all you have in it is pure green tea, then you're doing something extremely healthy for yourself. I have 16oz of pure green tea a day and count it as water...
  • MONEYBANKS2011
    MONEYBANKS2011 Posts: 2 Member
    When I was a member of weight watchers they said that diet coke can count as half your water, not all....
  • ghoztt
    ghoztt Posts: 69 Member
    Technically it has water in it but personally I don't count anything towards my water count except water, my green tea diluted with water and the water I use to mix up my protein shake.
  • brittaney10811
    brittaney10811 Posts: 588 Member
    there is no such thing as anything other than water, being the exact same thing as REAL water.

    caffiene in soda actually SUCKS THE CALCIUM out of your bones! did you know? Water won't do that. Water has only one ingredient... "Water."

    I understand that many people do not like water and try their best to get their fluids in daily with healthy alternitives, and i commend the choices to go healthy.

    simply put, Diet Coke is very, Very bad for you. As is any soda. You will never meet a doctor who says "drink either 8 cups of soda, or 8 cups of water a day. either works." because it isn't the same. (( and if you do find such a doctor, never go back. they probably foridged their degree.))
  • thkelly
    thkelly Posts: 466 Member
    Nope! Nothing with caffiene, that is. You see, caffiene is a dieuretic, which means it makes you pee. So for every cup of coffee, soda (diet or otherwise), tea, ect, you will probably end up peeing out about 2 cups. So it's actually working against you. If you drink only caffeinated beverages, you will eventually dehydrate yourself. Sorry.

    sorry....wrong!!!!!!

    don't post something when you don't know anything about it and offer it as advice
  • thkelly
    thkelly Posts: 466 Member
    wow just read the entire thread. the bro science in here is unbelievable

    people please stop posting blanket statements that you don't know the answer to
  • Cristy_AZ
    Cristy_AZ Posts: 986
    I think everyone has their own way of doing this.

    As for me Water = Water, Unsweetened tea = Unsweetened tea, Coke = Coke

    I'm the same way, I pretty much drink coffee or water and I count and log them each as that. When I drink a vitamin water I enter it as what it is (so my diary shows the potasium/vitamins, even though it has no calories) and I don't add it to my regular water #. Again... that's just how *I* do it. Not saying it's how everyone should do it!!
  • Cristy_AZ
    Cristy_AZ Posts: 986
    wow just read the entire thread. the bro science in here is unbelievable

    people please stop posting blanket statements that you don't know the answer to

    Wondering if you had the correct science / info to provide?
  • Mindful_Trent
    Mindful_Trent Posts: 3,954 Member
    Nope! Nothing with caffiene, that is. You see, caffiene is a dieuretic, which means it makes you pee. So for every cup of coffee, soda (diet or otherwise), tea, ect, you will probably end up peeing out about 2 cups. So it's actually working against you. If you drink only caffeinated beverages, you will eventually dehydrate yourself. Sorry.

    Well, been to the nutritionist and was told that
    Caffeinated drinks DO NOT DEHYRDRATE YOU... they just hydrate you LESS effectively... you won't pee more than you take in, but you will pee more than you do with other drink except for ALCOHOL which WILL DEHYDRATE YOU.

    (She didn't give me an exact ratio, but I usually count tea or coffee at half the amount I consume and that's been working fine for me you may be different.)

    ^^ THIS. People totally blow the "caffeine dehydrates you" thing out of proportion. In reality, drinking a cup of soda or a cup of coffee a few times a day is not going to dehydrate you. Per this post from the mayo clinic (which is a reputable source), caffeine is really only dehydrating if you drink more than a reasonable amount a day. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/caffeinated-drinks/AN01661

    I love drinking plain water and drink lots of it, but I also think that a cup of coffee or soda certainly counts. You should count the calories, if it has any, but your body can still use some of the water from that drink.
  • thkelly
    thkelly Posts: 466 Member
    wow just read the entire thread. the bro science in here is unbelievable

    people please stop posting blanket statements that you don't know the answer to

    Wondering if you had the correct science / info to provide?

    see accountant_boi's post

    thx boi
  • funkyspunky871
    funkyspunky871 Posts: 1,675 Member
    Sure, why not? Especially for me it's counts as water, considering I drink about half a can of diet coke a day and nothing else. I don't get thirsty a lot and I'm really dehydrated. So, my doctor could care less if I'm drinking diet coke or camel poo juice http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOvF4n7-5F4 . Hahaha, okay... Maybe not. Just as long as I'm drinking something...

    But still. 8 glasses of water per day actually includes the water you get from foods and sodas as well.
  • angelicdisgrace
    angelicdisgrace Posts: 2,071 Member
    Well I did notice once I stopped drinking 8 diet cokes a day and substituted it with water that I was not as bloated. Weird I know, not to mention that was part of what my trainer told me not to drink. I was restricted to one diet coke a day. I usually reward myself during dinner time.
  • robin52077
    robin52077 Posts: 4,383 Member
    I agree with accountant_boi and thkelly.

    No, it's not "perfect" like water, but it certainly does not dehydrate you MORE. It's still mostly water!
    I count every ounce of my flavored carbonated waters, and my teas, and at least half of my caffeinated coffees, sodas, and energy drinks.
    If I drink a 14 oz coffee, I call it 1 water serving, a 20 oz diet pepsi bottle? 2 waters in my tracker...

    it certainly does NOT dehydrate you "more" than if you had not drank it. You may not get the 100% full benefit of every ounce like pure water, but it most certainly definitely does add water into your system.

    And to the one who said you would eventually dehydrate completely if all you drank was caffeinated beverages...that's just laughable and totally not physically and scientifically possible...sorry...
  • kklindsey
    kklindsey Posts: 382 Member
    it is your journal, you decide. Peronally I don't like to drink water and am a diet pepsi fiend. sorry. i have already altered my lifestyle, given up donuts, candybars, cookies, cake. i only eat fast food occasionally and then I only order a kids meal. I have made many, many changes, diet pepsi will not be one of them.


    As for artificial sweeteners making you fat, not true. If you read all the articles and news stories what you will find is that researchers have found that some people have the faulty reasoning that they can eat the calories they save by having diet soda instead of regular soda. I have hear lately some researchers saying that possibly your body reacts to artificial sweetners like it would real sugar and you can still have insulin issues but I only read one article and havent researched it any further so I won't say it isn't true. I know that I never eat back the calories I save by going with diet soda and it doesn't make me hungrier. Is it healthy? nope. but i like it. so there.
  • KelliH729
    KelliH729 Posts: 208 Member
    I would say no...I count unsweet tea as water sometimes but that is because I do not add anything to it. I can make a case about adding the "drop-ins" as water but not Diet Coke.
  • I'm not sure there's a right or wrong here...Forget the (somewhat faulty, from these posts) science. How do you feel after drinking soda; that's the big question.

    If you can drink 64 oz of diet soda a day (not that you said you did, but bear with me for propriety's sake) and still feel great and meet your goals, then I say knock yourself out. If you're stalling, the soda would be the first thing I'd cut. It's all about learning what works for YOU!

    Think of it this way: the more plain water you drink (if you're willing to drink it out of the tap), the more money you'll save. That's incentive enough for me right there.
  • kamoira23
    kamoira23 Posts: 193
    Wow, poor Diet Coke! I don't think of water as just water, I think of it as liquids. It's my understanding that you want to drink 8 servings of water a day so you do not get dehydrated, not necessarily for the water. So, I personally do count diet drinks, juices, and regular coffees as part of my daily "water" intake.

    That being said: water is obviously better for you than any other liquids. There are no chemicals, sweeteners, colors, etc. in water as there are in the others. I think that your "water" intake should be mostly water. I don't think that it would be as healthy to drink 8 cups of Diet Coke as it would be to drink 8 cups of water, but I also don't think that counting a cup or two of Diet Coke is going to hurt anything in the long run.

    Also, I used to drink NOTHING but Diet Coke for my liquids before I started eating healthier. I was never dehydrated and it wasn't a diuretic for me, considering the amount I pee has not changed... ever (TMI, I know!). Most of the responses that you're going to get are opinions, just like mine is. Good luck (and viva Diet Coke!). :]
  • lilRicki
    lilRicki Posts: 4,555 Member
    I just prefer not to drink my calories, that way I can eat my face off...so if you can handle drinking your calories than go nuts...if not, drink water and eat your calories
  • oddyogi
    oddyogi Posts: 1,816 Member
    ONLY water is water. Diet coke is not water. Tea is not water.

    Your body doesn't care if it has zero calories, it will not be able to utilize diet drinks, tea, sodas, or even sparkling waters to do what water is used to do.
  • Mindful_Trent
    Mindful_Trent Posts: 3,954 Member
    ONLY water is water. Diet coke is not water. Tea is not water.

    Your body doesn't care if it has zero calories, it will not be able to utilize diet drinks, tea, sodas, or even sparkling waters to do what water is used to do.

    This isn't really scientifically accurate. Your body CAN utilize the water it gets from various sources. In fact, people who eat lots of food with high water content (fresh fruits/veggies) can get by with drinking less water because they're getting some of their water from the food.
  • doughnutwretch
    doughnutwretch Posts: 498 Member
    Diet soda is no better for you than regular soda, and since most sodas contain caffeine, it is actually a diuretic which will dehydrate you. Water should be the only thing counted towards your water consumption.
  • lilRicki
    lilRicki Posts: 4,555 Member
    lets worry more about diabetes when you drink a ton of high sugar beverages...or weight gain maybe? That should stop you right there...
  • thkelly
    thkelly Posts: 466 Member
    Diet soda is no better for you than regular soda, and since most sodas contain caffeine, it is actually a diuretic which will dehydrate you. Water should be the only thing counted towards your water consumption.

    read the thread and check your facts and quit posting nonsense
  • Hodar
    Hodar Posts: 338 Member
    If caffeine was a diuretic, and messed you up as much as they say it does - I would have dried up and died decades ago.

    I start my day with a 54 ounce Dt. Mountain Dew. At night, I drink a 24 ounce Crystal Light.

    I rarely drink a glass of water - I hate the taste of milk.

    Yet, surprisingly I am not diabetic, I'm losing weight, my blood work is well within norms, and I'm far more healthy than I deserve to be. The actual studies out on the topic do not say anything close to what the posters are indicating.

    Water is water. And, most of what is in your can of Diet Coke is water. The rest has zero calories - so your body treats it
    ... just
    ... like
    ... water....
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