Is Diet Coke really that bad? Anyone feel better after quiting?

Hi All
I am new to forums.
Any of you used to drink Diet Coke and then stopped and feel better? What difference did it make?
Same goes for energy drinks.
Thanks for your help.
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Replies

  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
    My tastebuds got happier when I switched to Cherry Coke Zero. I love diet drinks. I feel good with or without them (at least, once the couple of days of lethargy while I deal with lack of caffeine pass).
  • MoreSteakLessSpice
    MoreSteakLessSpice Posts: 5 Member
    edited June 2017
    If you feel good while drinking it, continue. If you don't feel good while drinking it, stop.

    Generally, as part of a healthy diet you can drink anything. Of course that doesn't mean drink it everyday just because you can. Just don't restrict yourself from anything.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    edited June 2017
    I don't feel any different whether I'm on a diet A&W root beer kick or not.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    I have gone through multiple cycles in my life where I've been drinking a lot of diet soda and then stopped. I have never noticed a difference in how I felt, for better or worse, when I start drinking it again or when I stop.

    This is the same for me.
  • Penthesilea514
    Penthesilea514 Posts: 1,189 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    I have gone through multiple cycles in my life where I've been drinking a lot of diet soda and then stopped. I have never noticed a difference in how I felt, for better or worse, when I start drinking it again or when I stop.

    This is the same for me.

    Same here- I am currently on a down swing, but I have not eliminated in totally, I just drink it occasionally these days.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    Really that bad for what? In what doses?

    It's a zero-calorie (or very near to it) drink composed mostly of water, with an artificial sweetener that it one of the most studied substances on the market, which has been scientifically proven over and over again to be completely safe for consumption.

    In moderation, there's nothing "bad" about diet soda. If you're consuming 3 liters a day, it's probably not such a great thing. Common sense applies as with any other food/drink.

    I have no intention of completely quitting/cutting it out of my diet until I see convincing scientific evidence (not woo and fearmongering) that it is detrimental to my health in some way. I enjoy it in moderation and have seen no adverse effects despite drinking it for 30-some years.

    pretty much this...
  • J_NY_Z
    J_NY_Z Posts: 2,540 Member
    I noticed that my level of dehydration after drinking diet Coke was off the charts. No matter what i drank it with i would need to have so much water to offset both the real bloating and the feeling of thirst. Bad is subjective, ask a smoker.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
    Interesting. Never noticed anything like that and I've been drinking it for years.
  • CatchMom11
    CatchMom11 Posts: 462 Member
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    I noticed that my level of dehydration after drinking diet Coke was off the charts. No matter what i drank it with i would need to have so much water to offset both the real bloating and the feeling of thirst. Bad is subjective, ask a smoker.

    sorry drinking diet coke and smoking are not even remotely the same thing...

    maybe you were just, dehydrated.

    As a former smoker and a former soda drinker I can attest that the addiction to soda is quite similar to that of smoking. I felt great after giving up both! The only difference is that I can't stand the smell of smoke now but I still love the smell of a Diet Pepsi.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    CatchMom13 wrote: »
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    I noticed that my level of dehydration after drinking diet Coke was off the charts. No matter what i drank it with i would need to have so much water to offset both the real bloating and the feeling of thirst. Bad is subjective, ask a smoker.

    1) You actually think smokers don't know that smoking is bad for them?

    2) There's nothing whatsoever in Diet Coke that would cause dehydration. It's 95+% water. The amount of caffeine in a soda is nowhere near enough to cause diuresis sufficient to negate the hydrating effects of the water in a can of soda. The "feeling of thirst" part is subjective - the dehydration part is not.

    3) "Bad" isn't subjective when there's scientific proof one way or the other.

    1) Believe it or not, there's plenty of smokers that believe that the "bad for you" is hyped up. They will give you examples of "grandma smoked for 30+ years and...." blah blah blah... They will rationalize their use whenever they can if they're not the type to just tell you that they don't give a hoot.


    3) There's scientific proof that drinking soda of any kind is not good for you so...

    What proof are you referring to here?
  • CatchMom11
    CatchMom11 Posts: 462 Member
    I will start by saying that I am a diet soda drinker, but I am also a dental hygienist. The acidity of diet (and regular) soda puts you at a higher risk of cavities. If you sip on one can of soda for awhile or if you drink more than one throughout the day it can have devastating effects on your teeth. Keep in mind it is not the amount you drink, it is the amount of time your teeth are exposed to it. So drink it fast and rinse out with water when you are done!

    What if someone used a straw to drink it? I see this a lot with coffee drinks - people using a straw to avoid staining their teeth.
  • mszombiemonster
    mszombiemonster Posts: 7 Member
    I feel better about myself when I don't drink them, but other than that I feel no physical difference.
  • JeepHair77
    JeepHair77 Posts: 1,291 Member
    I don't think it's terrible, and if you like it, go for it.

    Personally, I feel better when I'm not drinking any soda at all. I seem to feel less bloated and sluggish. I think, though, that's less to do with the potential harmful ingredients in the diet soda, and more to do with the fact that I'm drinking more water instead.
  • JeepHair77
    JeepHair77 Posts: 1,291 Member
    CatchMom13 wrote: »
    I will start by saying that I am a diet soda drinker, but I am also a dental hygienist. The acidity of diet (and regular) soda puts you at a higher risk of cavities. If you sip on one can of soda for awhile or if you drink more than one throughout the day it can have devastating effects on your teeth. Keep in mind it is not the amount you drink, it is the amount of time your teeth are exposed to it. So drink it fast and rinse out with water when you are done!

    What if someone used a straw to drink it? I see this a lot with coffee drinks - people using a straw to avoid staining their teeth.

    I'm a ridiculous person, but I like to avoid using straws because of the minute possibility that it might increase the wrinkling of the skin around my mouth.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    In terms of taste, yes Diet Coke is that bad. But I drink a couple cans of Diet Dr Pepper daily and have no issues. I don't drink coffee or tea, so I'll stick with it.
  • jennifer13311
    jennifer13311 Posts: 2 Member
    CatchMom13 wrote: »
    I will start by saying that I am a diet soda drinker, but I am also a dental hygienist. The acidity of diet (and regular) soda puts you at a higher risk of cavities. If you sip on one can of soda for awhile or if you drink more than one throughout the day it can have devastating effects on your teeth. Keep in mind it is not the amount you drink, it is the amount of time your teeth are exposed to it. So drink it fast and rinse out with water when you are done!

    What if someone used a straw to drink it? I see this a lot with coffee drinks - people using a straw to avoid staining their teeth.

    Straws don't make much of a difference in terms of cavity risk.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    I noticed that my level of dehydration after drinking diet Coke was off the charts. No matter what i drank it with i would need to have so much water to offset both the real bloating and the feeling of thirst. Bad is subjective, ask a smoker.

    sorry drinking diet coke and smoking are not even remotely the same thing...

    maybe you were just, dehydrated.

    Of course they are not, not even close. Read my sentence "Bad is subjective, ask a smoker" That means that we all know that smoking is unhealthy and will cause problems. But if you ask a smoker if smoking is bad, they are likely to try and justify the amount of bad.

    and diet coke is none of those things, so failure on comparisons...
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    CatchMom13 wrote: »
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    I noticed that my level of dehydration after drinking diet Coke was off the charts. No matter what i drank it with i would need to have so much water to offset both the real bloating and the feeling of thirst. Bad is subjective, ask a smoker.

    1) You actually think smokers don't know that smoking is bad for them?

    2) There's nothing whatsoever in Diet Coke that would cause dehydration. It's 95+% water. The amount of caffeine in a soda is nowhere near enough to cause diuresis sufficient to negate the hydrating effects of the water in a can of soda. The "feeling of thirst" part is subjective - the dehydration part is not.

    3) "Bad" isn't subjective when there's scientific proof one way or the other.

    1) Believe it or not, there's plenty of smokers that believe that the "bad for you" is hyped up. They will give you examples of "grandma smoked for 30+ years and...." blah blah blah... They will rationalize their use whenever they can if they're not the type to just tell you that they don't give a hoot.


    3) There's scientific proof that drinking soda of any kind is not good for you so...

    links to said scientific proof????
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    CatchMom13 wrote: »
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    I noticed that my level of dehydration after drinking diet Coke was off the charts. No matter what i drank it with i would need to have so much water to offset both the real bloating and the feeling of thirst. Bad is subjective, ask a smoker.

    1) You actually think smokers don't know that smoking is bad for them?

    2) There's nothing whatsoever in Diet Coke that would cause dehydration. It's 95+% water. The amount of caffeine in a soda is nowhere near enough to cause diuresis sufficient to negate the hydrating effects of the water in a can of soda. The "feeling of thirst" part is subjective - the dehydration part is not.

    3) "Bad" isn't subjective when there's scientific proof one way or the other.

    1) Believe it or not, there's plenty of smokers that believe that the "bad for you" is hyped up. They will give you examples of "grandma smoked for 30+ years and...." blah blah blah... They will rationalize their use whenever they can if they're not the type to just tell you that they don't give a hoot.


    3) There's scientific proof that drinking soda of any kind is not good for you so...

    What proof are you referring to here?

    Yeah, I'd love to see that proof too.

    And I don't know any smokers who don't know it's bad for them. They either say "It's too hard to quit/I'm too busy/too stressed to quit right now" or they fall back on "Well I'm gonna die of something".

    I drink usually one diet drink a day (Coke Zero or Diet Dr. Pepper or Crystal Light). I feel great, drinking no cals instead of reg soda helped me lose weight, I have great numbers on blood tests, no digestive problems, no cavities in years. I wouldn't drink tons of diet soda a day because of the carbonation and because I don't think it's good to overdo anything. :drinker: