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Diet soda and weight loss?

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Replies

  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited April 2016
    This comes up A LOT on MFP. You put your post under Health and Fitness Debate and I am unclear if you want a debate or if you just want a comment from us if we think or know if it could be hindering weight loss?

    The answer is NO it will not. 0 calorie is 0 calorie -- absolutely NO (nada) nutritinal value in the food or drink that is labeled 0 calorie...[.edited to add, except sodium, potassium, or other - minerals or vitamin, etc.. when added]

    Here are some random posts in MFP and even one in this debate forum...

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10361754/artificial-sweeteners#latest

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10365267/diet-soda

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10349375/diet-soda


  • rwhyte12
    rwhyte12 Posts: 203 Member
    You're better to buy sugar free beverages with no replacement of the sucralose or aspartame in them. I was told by a Dietician to stop with the Diet Pepsi and after almost a year, I agree that drinking the occasional Diet Pepsi made me more likely to seek food with sugar in it. I sometimes buy beverages with Stevia in it and that is considered by many as the best sweetner. Good luck. It's worth a try for a number of months to see if it helps.
  • eyeshinebright
    eyeshinebright Posts: 51 Member
    I avoid artificial sweeteners such as aspartame which is the star of diet soda and chewing gums. But nope, no weight gain to be found there.
  • klmcneil1
    klmcneil1 Posts: 26 Member

    To your first point in particular, which may also hold true for the others, all those studies can show is "People who ended up with diabetes (or whatever else) were consuming diet sodas frequently."
    The way the study was carried out was a questionnaire asking for the amounts of it used, then checking a year later how many developed diabetes.
    The problem with this is, diabetes is usually not something that sneaks up on you and bludgeons you over the head unexpectedly, many people know in advance if they're at risk, and may take measures to help, including switching sugary drinks for artificial sweetened. And if they were drinking lots of sweetened before (which is correlated with incidence), chances are they'll drink lots of artificially sweetened as well. And voilà, there you have it, people who drink lots of diet soda have higher incidence of diabetes.

    If I'm understanding the study correctly, they controlled for that factor. But you're right in taking observational studies with a grain of salt.

    But the other studies are all controlled experiments, where the same objections wouldn't apply.
  • Jlynn06251985
    Jlynn06251985 Posts: 4 Member
    Diet soda is the ONLY way that I've found to control my sugar craving. One can or bottle of Diet Dr. Pepper and I'm fine the rest of the day.
  • ReaderGirl3
    ReaderGirl3 Posts: 868 Member
    rwhyte12 wrote: »
    You're better to buy sugar free beverages with no replacement of the sucralose or aspartame in them. I was told by a Dietician to stop with the Diet Pepsi and after almost a year, I agree that drinking the occasional Diet Pepsi made me more likely to seek food with sugar in it. I sometimes buy beverages with Stevia in it and that is considered by many as the best sweetner. Good luck. It's worth a try for a number of months to see if it helps.

    I was told by my MD that drinking diet soda is fine. I've cut it out as an experiment before, but noticed no difference in how I felt/weighed/reacted towards food. It's never made me seek out food with sugar in it?
  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
    some people might find that diet soda could trigger more sweet cravings but in and of itself, it is zero calorie and feel free to enjoy
  • tomteboda
    tomteboda Posts: 2,171 Member
    Diet soda gives me that sweet taste I really enjoy. Unlike water. So I consider it very helpful.
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    edited April 2016
    klmcneil1 wrote: »

    To your first point in particular, which may also hold true for the others, all those studies can show is "People who ended up with diabetes (or whatever else) were consuming diet sodas frequently."
    The way the study was carried out was a questionnaire asking for the amounts of it used, then checking a year later how many developed diabetes.
    The problem with this is, diabetes is usually not something that sneaks up on you and bludgeons you over the head unexpectedly, many people know in advance if they're at risk, and may take measures to help, including switching sugary drinks for artificial sweetened. And if they were drinking lots of sweetened before (which is correlated with incidence), chances are they'll drink lots of artificially sweetened as well. And voilà, there you have it, people who drink lots of diet soda have higher incidence of diabetes.

    If I'm understanding the study correctly, they controlled for that factor. But you're right in taking observational studies with a grain of salt.

    But the other studies are all controlled experiments, where the same objections wouldn't apply.

    From the full text:

    Model 1 adjusted for baseline age, sex, race/ethnicity, examination site, and energy intake. Model 2 added additional possible socioeconomic or lifestyle confounders: attained education (less than, equal to, or more than high school), time spent in inactive and active pursuits during leisure (MET-minutes per week), smoking status (current, former, or never smoker), pack-years, and regular dietary supplement use (weekly use or more versus nonweekly use). We also explored the impact of adjustment for various dietary factors (specifically, those associated with both diet soda consumption and type 2 diabetes and/or metabolic syndrome in ours or previous studies), such as food intakes (servings per day of whole grain bread/rice/cereal/pasta, nuts/seeds, fruit, vegetables, white potatoes, refined grain bread/rice/cereal/pasta, salty snacks, desserts, red meat, processed meat, high-fat dairy products, low-fat dairy products, sugar-sweetened soda, and coffee) or nutrient intakes (fiber, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, and sodium). Finally, to assess the contribution of adiposity, we adjusted for 1) baseline waist circumference (continuous, in centimeters), baseline BMI (continuous), or both (single model); 2) change in waist circumference or body weight (most recent measurement − baseline measurement); and 3) stratification by BMI (<25 and ≥25 kg/m2).


    They controlled for BMI. They did not control for subjects' knowledge of personal risk for developing T2D.
  • coreyreichle
    coreyreichle Posts: 1,039 Member
    So I have a huge diet soda habit and a friend at work insists that despite being 0 calories, diet soda is negatively impacting my weight loss.

    Thoughts?

    I dunno. Lost 56 lbs, and I drink a metric ton of it each day.
  • dubird
    dubird Posts: 1,849 Member
    If you're someone that can drink diet soda and not have excess craving for sweets, go for it. At worst, the high acid can screw up your teeth, and can contribute to acid reflux if you have an issue with it, but any soda does that, not just diet soda.
  • Btheodore138
    Btheodore138 Posts: 182 Member
    edited April 2016
    If it's something you're concerned about, have you considered flavored seltzer water? Dasani makes some pretty good ones (Black Cherry is amazing!). La Croix is another favorite as well. They have no artificial flavoring or sweeteners, but do satisfy the need for a fizzy drink. Good Earth Sweet and Spicy tea is also super good iced, and is naturally sweet so you don't need to add sugar.
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
    Lost 121 pounds drinking it most every day.
  • Scamd83
    Scamd83 Posts: 808 Member
    edited April 2016
    So I have a huge diet soda habit and a friend at work insists that despite being 0 calories, diet soda is negatively impacting my weight loss.

    Thoughts?

    The only people who've ever told me this are overweight people who eat takeaway food every night and binge drink and still have never answered my question as to why I'm still slim despite drinking diet coke.
  • MominTX80
    MominTX80 Posts: 12 Member
    edited April 2016
    I had stopped drinking diet soda 2 years ago because of the debate of artificial sweeteners acting like sugar. But then I began drinking diet soda again occasionally and found that I feel full more often when drinking the soda, have the energy from the caffeine and I end up eating less and still losing weight. So for now, I drink diet sodas about 2-3 times a week.
  • hybridangel
    hybridangel Posts: 25 Member
    Got to say diet soda itself doesn't contribute to weight gain. There may be an issue with the type of sweetners in them making us want more sweet foods. But that may not be the soda but habits
  • Wetcoaster
    Wetcoaster Posts: 1,789 Member
  • RWClary
    RWClary Posts: 192 Member
    So I have a huge diet soda habit and a friend at work insists that despite being 0 calories, diet soda is negatively impacting my weight loss.

    Thoughts?
    You can lose weight drinking diet soda or any processed soft drink.
    If mere weight loss is your goal, eat/drink whatever.
    For optimal health, you might consider other alternatives like green tea. I just trust what I make and prepare myself more than anything that comes canned, boxed or in a package.
    Some of us are just strange that way.... :*
  • Sawjer
    Sawjer Posts: 229 Member
    If you are counting calories, macro counting like myself you can feel free to enjoy diet soda... however the chemicals cant be doing any good for your insides!!! It has 0-11 calories most "diet" and "zero" drinks.. just log it, you will loose weight.