I drink too much Diet Coke but it fills me up

If I said to you "I eat too many M&Ms but it fills me up" what would you say and think?
I think its more an excuse and looking for someone else to help justify or defend your choice.

Carbonated drinks add additional gas (carbonic acid) to your stomach which causes all sorts of issues.

The diet element is achieved by substituting sugars for chemicals but your brain is still being tricked into having its now imaginary sugar fix rather than learning to deal without it.

So as an alternate suggestion and something I have done for over 2 years and lost over 15kg with:

"I drink too much water but it fills me up"
It was hard to adjust but it just takes willpower and commitment, you form a habit and then it just becomes natural....which is sort of how its supposed to be. My skin has never been better, my breath, health, digestion have all improved dramatically.

Firstly, sorry about the following essay. It's a really interesting topic when you get down to it, and it's way too complicated a field to simply say 'Yes it does' or 'No it does't'. Seeing as you've posted this question before, hopefully this will give you a clearer answer.

A lot of people have a lot of different views on this! It's a tough one, and I also drink lots of diet coke and have noticed weight fluctuations, but I'm not sure how much of that can be linked to Diet Coke as there has never been a full scientific study on the stuff.

So lets break it down. Diet Coke has very few ingredients (even fewer could be considered natural) and it shares some of those ingredients with full full fat Coke. Carbonated Water, Caramel Color, Aspartame, Phosphoric Acid, Potassium Benzoate (to Protect Taste), Natural Flavors, Citric Acid, Caffeine. Those in bold are the same as in normal Coke.

In terms of it filling you up, Carbonated Water is water that has had Carbon Dioxide added. This will make you feel full in the same way as sparkling water will. The gas is released in your stomach causing you to feel fuller, but it doesn't last - The C02 is passed through your system (either going up or down) but can cause bloating and feeling fuller before it does that. By itself, Carbonated Water isn't hugely damaging to health - it's mildly acidic but that is neutralised by saliva before it does anything. It can cause IBS and other conditions, but very rarely is it the sole cause.

In terms of the other ingredients, the main bad boys in there are Aspartame, Phosphoric acid and Caffeine. Most people know that Phosphoric acid and Caffeine aren't great for you in large quantities, but they can have a beneficial outcome in smaller doses. Caffeine, for example, can boost metabolism and raise heart rate, causing a surge in the body's insulin production and a quickening in the break down of some sugars within the body.

However, the downside to this is the Aspartame. While not inherently harmful, Aspartame can cause certain reactions within the body that can cause it to contribute to weight gain. Specifically, Aspartame tricks the pancreas into creating and releasing more insulin to combat a sugar intake that has never happened (there is no actual sugar in Diet Coke, so the insulin is trying to do it's job with nothing there). Overtime, your body anticipates when you will be needing more insulin and produces it in accordance with what you eat and drink. Again, the down side is, your body produces x amount of insulin to combat x amount of sugars in your system. You then drink Diet Coke and the body sends some of that insulin to mop-up the (not actually there) sugars. Then you eat some food. Your body doesn't have enough insulin to breakdown the sugars in this food because its sent some of its store to combat the Aspartame. You then have left over sugar in your blood stream which is stored and converted to fat. Hence, Diet Coke can make you gain weight. (This is a very simplified version of the process, there is lots more to take into account when looking at insulin production, if you want to know more, get in touch or Wikipedia is actually a great resource for explaining it).

The study that looked at this was inconclusive and there are current studies ongoing on how much impact Diet Sodas actually have on the body's production of insulin. While Diet Coke itself doesn't carry much nutritional value, it does react with the body in negative ways under certain conditions. In all honesty, we don't know if Diet Coke causes weight gain. We don't know if Aspartame and is metabolites are causing significant damage to the liver and kidneys. We just don't know. In all honesty, if you are happy and healthy with the amount of Diet Coke you drink, continue, just try not to drink in excess.

hec1985 wrote: »

I stand corrected, I haven't read the latest on the topic. Seems to me, and this is just my opinion after doing a little research, that drinking things like diet coke gives some people a false sense to get away with eating more which in turn can cause weight gain. Again just my opinion.

You could have just said it was your opinion to begin with rather than try and pass it off as scientific fact. People asking for help here are trusting others to tell them what's what, giving them false information is harmful.

chef447 wrote: »

Firstly, sorry about the following essay. It's a really interesting topic when you get down to it, and it's way too complicated a field to simply say 'Yes it does' or 'No it does't'. Seeing as you've posted this question before, hopefully this will give you a clearer answer.

A lot of people have a lot of different views on this! It's a tough one, and I also drink lots of diet coke and have noticed weight fluctuations, but I'm not sure how much of that can be linked to Diet Coke as there has never been a full scientific study on the stuff.

So lets break it down. Diet Coke has very few ingredients (even fewer could be considered natural) and it shares some of those ingredients with full full fat Coke. Carbonated Water, Caramel Color, Aspartame, Phosphoric Acid, Potassium Benzoate (to Protect Taste), Natural Flavors, Citric Acid, Caffeine. Those in bold are the same as in normal Coke.

In terms of it filling you up, Carbonated Water is water that has had Carbon Dioxide added. This will make you feel full in the same way as sparkling water will. The gas is released in your stomach causing you to feel fuller, but it doesn't last - The C02 is passed through your system (either going up or down) but can cause bloating and feeling fuller before it does that. By itself, Carbonated Water isn't hugely damaging to health - it's mildly acidic but that is neutralised by saliva before it does anything. It can cause IBS and other conditions, but very rarely is it the sole cause.

In terms of the other ingredients, the main bad boys in there are Aspartame, Phosphoric acid and Caffeine. Most people know that Phosphoric acid and Caffeine aren't great for you in large quantities, but they can have a beneficial outcome in smaller doses. Caffeine, for example, can boost metabolism and raise heart rate, causing a surge in the body's insulin production and a quickening in the break down of some sugars within the body.

However, the downside to this is the Aspartame. While not inherently harmful, Aspartame can cause certain reactions within the body that can cause it to contribute to weight gain. Specifically, Aspartame tricks the pancreas into creating and releasing more insulin to combat a sugar intake that has never happened (there is no actual sugar in Diet Coke, so the insulin is trying to do it's job with nothing there). Overtime, your body anticipates when you will be needing more insulin and produces it in accordance with what you eat and drink. Again, the down side is, your body produces x amount of insulin to combat x amount of sugars in your system. You then drink Diet Coke and the body sends some of that insulin to mop-up the (not actually there) sugars. Then you eat some food. Your body doesn't have enough insulin to breakdown the sugars in this food because its sent some of its store to combat the Aspartame. You then have left over sugar in your blood stream which is stored and converted to fat. Hence, Diet Coke can make you gain weight. (This is a very simplified version of the process, there is lots more to take into account when looking at insulin production, if you want to know more, get in touch or Wikipedia is actually a great resource for explaining it).

The study that looked at this was inconclusive and there are current studies ongoing on how much impact Diet Sodas actually have on the body's production of insulin. While Diet Coke itself doesn't carry much nutritional value, it does react with the body in negative ways under certain conditions. In all honesty, we don't know if Diet Coke causes weight gain. We don't know if Aspartame and is metabolites are causing significant damage to the liver and kidneys. We just don't know. In all honesty, if you are happy and healthy with the amount of Diet Coke you drink, continue, just try not to drink in excess.

The bold is false. Neither aspartame not caffeine stimulate insulin production. Sugar, carbs and protein can all cause insulin production, but aspartame (as noted in my last post) doesn't have the quantity to impact a body's insulin response.


Also, Aspartame has been studied over 50 years. And only the blogs are the one who suggest its actually bad for you. Don't get me wrong, one should still drink water and other drinks but have a a few a day is not going to have any adverse affects on you, unless you are one of the few in the minority who get headaches from artificial sweeteners (<-- not the same as sugar).