Soda / Diet soda / Alternatives

madamso1
madamso1 Posts: 19 Member
edited November 15 in Food and Nutrition
My diet no longer allows for sugar soda because there are so many calories. What do you think about drinking diet soda or alternatives to soda like crystal light mix drinks or diet Gatorade? Are they really "Free" of calories?

Will the processed sweeteners hurt my diet or nutrition in other ways?
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Replies

  • serindipte
    serindipte Posts: 1,557 Member
    I drink up to two 2 liters of Dt Dr Pepper per day. I've lost 30lbs so far.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1308408/why-aspartame-isnt-scary
  • annacole94
    annacole94 Posts: 994 Member
    I drink some diet pop, and I also took up brewing water kefir. It's low sugar, fizzy, and probiotic. I really like it.
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    I drink diet sodas. I actually prefer it now. If I drink a regular soda I find it's much too sweet now. It used to be I thought diet soda had an aftertaste. Really, it was just that I was used to the sweetness of regular soda.
  • HvymetalMG
    HvymetalMG Posts: 93 Member
    I drink seltzer
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    There's nothing inherently wrong with them. Some people prefer to avoid the artificial sweeteners, colors, and sodium that can come with them, but in most cases, those things in reasonable quantities won't matter much. They certainly won't impact your weight loss. As for nutrition, look at your overall diet to determine nutrition, not a single food/item.

    Personally, I drink a fair bit of diet soda and a lot of various water "enhancers". No issues here.

  • lehach1
    lehach1 Posts: 2 Member
    It's not just the sugar content of soda that's detrimental to your health, it's the sodium content and artificial sweeteners too. Even diet soda is sabotaging your weight loss and your overall health. Also consider the carbonation keeps your belly bloated and stomach stretched. What you're REALLY craving when you drink soda is the sweetness. So if you absolutely cannot do without it, I suggest going to Crystal Light water supplement or some of the other water supplements. Plain water can get boring so I completely understand. Just keep an eye on the calories and avoid using it with every drop you drink. (75 lbs. lost here and consume one full calorie soda every once in a while...I don't really miss it).
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,149 Member
    Unless you have an allergy or plain hate the taste, artificial sweeteners (or non-artificial) shouldn't hamper weight loss. It took me a long time to find something low-no calorie that I could stand drinking once/twice a day. I went with diet soda pop, mostly because I drank soda pop before and the carbonation helped me not "feel" hungry. I tried out a few well-stocked brands, liked most of them, and drink 2 servings a day.

    Just log them if they have calories (or other macros/micros you want to track).
  • bossyblackdog
    bossyblackdog Posts: 36 Member
    Hi have a bit a diet pop addiction - given to me by my mother haha. I can't stand the taste of regular. I don't buy into the artificial colours/sweetners hysteria b.s. I practically want to slap people that try to tell me that aspartame does terrible things to your body (reality - extensive testing has not been able to link aspartame to ANYTHING in the amounts normally consumed by regular diet pop drinkers). I do find that drinking diet pop seems to make me retain water. I don't know if it is limited to diet or regular would do the same, but I know its only water. For the same reason though I have been trying to cut back on it just because I get frustrated with water weight gains.

    If it helps keep you off of regular pop, then I say do it!
  • bossyblackdog
    bossyblackdog Posts: 36 Member
    On another note - I just looking back up at the other replies I noticed annacole and I are the only ones calling it pop, everybody else is saying soda. Then I have a quick glance at her profile and see she is also Canadian lol - must be a Canadian thing! My husband says "soda" and I always wondered where in the heck he got it from... he was the only person I have ever met that did so!
  • serindipte
    serindipte Posts: 1,557 Member
    One 12oz can of Dt Dr Pepper has 55mg of sodium. I don't see the concern.
  • bigislandgrrl
    bigislandgrrl Posts: 196 Member
    I prefer Nestle Splash waters - they come in lemon, orange and acai grape. They don't even taste artificial. Otherwise I drink water and chilled spearmint tea with a little splenda.
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    rileysowner wrote: »
    jjpptt2 wrote: »
    There's nothing inherently wrong with them. Some people prefer to avoid the artificial sweeteners, colors, and sodium that can come with them, but in most cases, those things in reasonable quantities won't matter much. They certainly won't impact your weight loss. As for nutrition, look at your overall diet to determine nutrition, not a single food/item.

    Personally, I drink a fair bit of diet soda and a lot of various water "enhancers". No issues here.
    lehach1 wrote: »
    It's not just the sugar content of soda that's detrimental to your health, it's the sodium content and artificial sweeteners too. Even diet soda is sabotaging your weight loss and your overall health. Also consider the carbonation keeps your belly bloated and stomach stretched. What you're REALLY craving when you drink soda is the sweetness. So if you absolutely cannot do without it, I suggest going to Crystal Light water supplement or some of the other water supplements. Plain water can get boring so I completely understand. Just keep an eye on the calories and avoid using it with every drop you drink. (75 lbs. lost here and consume one full calorie soda every once in a while...I don't really miss it).

    Have you ever actually looked at the nutrition information on a can of pop? They have almost the same amount of sodium as water, and in some cases less. It definitely has less than the milk I have with my breakfast.

    Yep, like I said in my post... in reasonable quantities, it won't matter.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,331 Member
    jjpptt2 wrote: »
    rileysowner wrote: »
    jjpptt2 wrote: »
    There's nothing inherently wrong with them. Some people prefer to avoid the artificial sweeteners, colors, and sodium that can come with them, but in most cases, those things in reasonable quantities won't matter much. They certainly won't impact your weight loss. As for nutrition, look at your overall diet to determine nutrition, not a single food/item.

    Personally, I drink a fair bit of diet soda and a lot of various water "enhancers". No issues here.
    lehach1 wrote: »
    It's not just the sugar content of soda that's detrimental to your health, it's the sodium content and artificial sweeteners too. Even diet soda is sabotaging your weight loss and your overall health. Also consider the carbonation keeps your belly bloated and stomach stretched. What you're REALLY craving when you drink soda is the sweetness. So if you absolutely cannot do without it, I suggest going to Crystal Light water supplement or some of the other water supplements. Plain water can get boring so I completely understand. Just keep an eye on the calories and avoid using it with every drop you drink. (75 lbs. lost here and consume one full calorie soda every once in a while...I don't really miss it).

    Have you ever actually looked at the nutrition information on a can of pop? They have almost the same amount of sodium as water, and in some cases less. It definitely has less than the milk I have with my breakfast.

    Yep, like I said in my post... in reasonable quantities, it won't matter.

    I just find it odd that sodium is constantly pointed out as a negative with them and in many cases water has more. Basically they are flavored water, so I agree with you that it is not an issue unless a person has an actual issue with it, in which case it is like anything that a person has a sensitivity to or allergy to, they should avoid it.
  • Carlos_421
    Carlos_421 Posts: 5,132 Member
    lehach1 wrote: »
    It's not just the sugar content of soda that's detrimental to your health, it's the sodium content and artificial sweeteners too. Even diet soda is sabotaging your weight loss and your overall health. Also consider the carbonation keeps your belly bloated and stomach stretched. What you're REALLY craving when you drink soda is the sweetness. So if you absolutely cannot do without it, I suggest going to Crystal Light water supplement or some of the other water supplements. Plain water can get boring so I completely understand. Just keep an eye on the calories and avoid using it with every drop you drink. (75 lbs. lost here and consume one full calorie soda every once in a while...I don't really miss it).

    There is nothing harmful about artificial sweeteners. They do not sabotage weight loss or health (in fact, they can make it easier to stick to a calorie deficit). Bloating from carbonation results in nothing any more harmful than burping it back out.
    Also, there's about as much sodium in diet soda as there is in tap water.

    When will all these myths die??
  • bossyblackdog
    bossyblackdog Posts: 36 Member
    edited February 2017
    rileysowner wrote: »
    jjpptt2 wrote: »
    rileysowner wrote: »
    jjpptt2 wrote: »
    There's nothing inherently wrong with them. Some people prefer to avoid the artificial sweeteners, colors, and sodium that can come with them, but in most cases, those things in reasonable quantities won't matter much. They certainly won't impact your weight loss. As for nutrition, look at your overall diet to determine nutrition, not a single food/item.

    Personally, I drink a fair bit of diet soda and a lot of various water "enhancers". No issues here.
    lehach1 wrote: »
    It's not just the sugar content of soda that's detrimental to your health, it's the sodium content and artificial sweeteners too. Even diet soda is sabotaging your weight loss and your overall health. Also consider the carbonation keeps your belly bloated and stomach stretched. What you're REALLY craving when you drink soda is the sweetness. So if you absolutely cannot do without it, I suggest going to Crystal Light water supplement or some of the other water supplements. Plain water can get boring so I completely understand. Just keep an eye on the calories and avoid using it with every drop you drink. (75 lbs. lost here and consume one full calorie soda every once in a while...I don't really miss it).

    Have you ever actually looked at the nutrition information on a can of pop? They have almost the same amount of sodium as water, and in some cases less. It definitely has less than the milk I have with my breakfast.

    Yep, like I said in my post... in reasonable quantities, it won't matter.

    I just find it odd that sodium is constantly pointed out as a negative with them and in many cases water has more. Basically they are flavored water, so I agree with you that it is not an issue unless a person has an actual issue with it, in which case it is like anything that a person has a sensitivity to or allergy to, they should avoid it.


    I completely agree with this - but I do wonder why I seem to retain water with them. Could it be that they are carbonated? I think caffeine is a diuretic so that shouldn't be it. It is also completely possible the it is all in my head... maybe it just happened a couple times for unrelated reasons and now I associate it with diet pop...
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    rileysowner wrote: »
    jjpptt2 wrote: »
    rileysowner wrote: »
    jjpptt2 wrote: »
    There's nothing inherently wrong with them. Some people prefer to avoid the artificial sweeteners, colors, and sodium that can come with them, but in most cases, those things in reasonable quantities won't matter much. They certainly won't impact your weight loss. As for nutrition, look at your overall diet to determine nutrition, not a single food/item.

    Personally, I drink a fair bit of diet soda and a lot of various water "enhancers". No issues here.
    lehach1 wrote: »
    It's not just the sugar content of soda that's detrimental to your health, it's the sodium content and artificial sweeteners too. Even diet soda is sabotaging your weight loss and your overall health. Also consider the carbonation keeps your belly bloated and stomach stretched. What you're REALLY craving when you drink soda is the sweetness. So if you absolutely cannot do without it, I suggest going to Crystal Light water supplement or some of the other water supplements. Plain water can get boring so I completely understand. Just keep an eye on the calories and avoid using it with every drop you drink. (75 lbs. lost here and consume one full calorie soda every once in a while...I don't really miss it).

    Have you ever actually looked at the nutrition information on a can of pop? They have almost the same amount of sodium as water, and in some cases less. It definitely has less than the milk I have with my breakfast.

    Yep, like I said in my post... in reasonable quantities, it won't matter.

    I just find it odd that sodium is constantly pointed out as a negative with them and in many cases water has more. Basically they are flavored water, so I agree with you that it is not an issue unless a person has an actual issue with it, in which case it is like anything that a person has a sensitivity to or allergy to, they should avoid it.

    I assume it's because most people don't actually know what they are consuming... they just know the stigma that surrounds those things. Stigmas often created by media, advertisers, etc rather than perspective, common sense, or truth/fact.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,331 Member
    bossyblackdog wrote: »
    rileysowner wrote: »
    jjpptt2 wrote: »
    rileysowner wrote: »
    jjpptt2 wrote: »
    There's nothing inherently wrong with them. Some people prefer to avoid the artificial sweeteners, colors, and sodium that can come with them, but in most cases, those things in reasonable quantities won't matter much. They certainly won't impact your weight loss. As for nutrition, look at your overall diet to determine nutrition, not a single food/item.

    Personally, I drink a fair bit of diet soda and a lot of various water "enhancers". No issues here.
    lehach1 wrote: »
    It's not just the sugar content of soda that's detrimental to your health, it's the sodium content and artificial sweeteners too. Even diet soda is sabotaging your weight loss and your overall health. Also consider the carbonation keeps your belly bloated and stomach stretched. What you're REALLY craving when you drink soda is the sweetness. So if you absolutely cannot do without it, I suggest going to Crystal Light water supplement or some of the other water supplements. Plain water can get boring so I completely understand. Just keep an eye on the calories and avoid using it with every drop you drink. (75 lbs. lost here and consume one full calorie soda every once in a while...I don't really miss it).

    Have you ever actually looked at the nutrition information on a can of pop? They have almost the same amount of sodium as water, and in some cases less. It definitely has less than the milk I have with my breakfast.

    Yep, like I said in my post... in reasonable quantities, it won't matter.

    I just find it odd that sodium is constantly pointed out as a negative with them and in many cases water has more. Basically they are flavored water, so I agree with you that it is not an issue unless a person has an actual issue with it, in which case it is like anything that a person has a sensitivity to or allergy to, they should avoid it.


    I completely agree with this - but I do wonder why I seem to retain water with them. Could it be that they are carbonated? I think caffeine is a diuretic so that shouldn't be it. It is also completely possible the it is all in my head... maybe it just happened a couple times for unrelated reasons and now I associate it with diet pop...

    It could be for various reasons possibly related to the diet soda or something else you eat or drink when you consume them. It is sort of difficult to say. Then again, retaining water is just retaining water, unless you have a medical condition that is exacerbated by water retention, it isn't really an issue long term.
  • kwtilbury
    kwtilbury Posts: 1,234 Member
    Here's what I drink for caffeine:

    Coffee - Hot in the morning and iced with protein powder pre-workout
    Amino Energy
    Energy drink packets from Wal-mart - sugar free flavors /caffeine
    Monster/Rockstar/Diet Mt Dew - A couple of times a week
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    I'm still not a big fan of the taste of diet pop, or artificial sweeteners in general so don't drink a lot of them. I've got a sodastream and am quite happy with straight bubbly water. I don't even flavour it.

    3 coffee's in the morning (black, no sugar) and water for the bulk of the day.
    Wine with dinner.
  • srk369
    srk369 Posts: 256 Member
    I realized that I wasn't drinking enough water in a day and back in August decided to cut my diet pop from my diet to force my water consumption to increase. You read everything that says how much better you will feel. I still drank my morning coffee and then nothing but water and soymilk (never have liked cows milk). I did this for 4 months and was miserable. I've been back to drinking my diet pop now for 2 months and am happy and feel better. It's not worth it for me to give up for no gain. I just am making sure I'm getting sufficient water in during the day now too.
  • Commander_Keen
    Commander_Keen Posts: 1,179 Member
    madamso1 wrote: »
    My diet no longer allows for sugar soda because there are so many calories. What do you think about drinking diet soda or alternatives to soda like crystal light mix drinks or diet Gatorade? Are they really "Free" of calories?

    Will the processed sweeteners hurt my diet or nutrition in other ways?

    Sooo.. what my family drinks are the sparkling flavored water. Its sugar free, its water , and for me it passes as soda
  • Lizarking
    Lizarking Posts: 507 Member
    Free of calories? No, not really. There's often 2-3 cals per serving of diet soda, but labeling rules allow it to be 0.

    That said, I drink diet soda exclusively. (ZERO water/etc)
    About a gallon a day.

    Doesn't affect my weight loss.
  • prattiger65
    prattiger65 Posts: 1,657 Member
    madamso1 wrote: »
    My diet no longer allows for sugar soda because there are so many calories. What do you think about drinking diet soda or alternatives to soda like crystal light mix drinks or diet Gatorade? Are they really "Free" of calories?

    Will the processed sweeteners hurt my diet or nutrition in other ways?

    I'll answer the question. Diet sodas are fine. Yes they are free of calories. No they will not.
  • shandy82165
    shandy82165 Posts: 184 Member
    I think diet soda is fine, I never had a negative effect from it. The only effect I had from artificial sweeteners is that high amounts of them make me less sensitive to the sweetness in sugar, and foods that contain natural sugars. Since i've eliminated most of the artificial sweeteners in my diet, fruits taste much sweeter to me now.

    But I don't think you'll be harmed by consuming it.
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