Diet soda

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Replies

  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,050 Member
    megpie41 wrote: »
    run2brazil wrote: »
    Wow people. I'm not talking my aunt into anything at all. She struggles with this, and she wants advice as to how she can cut down and stop drinking it. So, I asked for tips for her. You guys have really gotten carried away here.

    And in what dictionary does "support" mean "healthy debate?"

    So why does your aunt want to cut down her diet soda consumption? If it is because the various reasons that have been refuted here such as aspartame causes cancer so it will worsen her's or increase risk of recurrence, or is toxic, or is in itself unhealthy, then she can rest assured it does none of that.

    This is my point. Posts like this one that flat out say it is not harmful.

    The OP wasn't asking for a debate on diet soda. She was asking for tips on how to approach the issue with her aunt. Obviously she feels there is a reason to limit the amount of diet soda, as does her aunt. She has her own set of opinions on the matter just like you guys do. Rather than give her some ideas, most of you felt the need to criticize her and tell her she's wrong when she simply has her aunts health in mind. She wasn't asking for lecture on why it is fine to drink...she was just looking for helpful suggestions on how to reduce the consumption.

    So if you had the sort of surety of winning the lottery that we have about aspartame would you buy a ticket, I certainly would. I didn't say 100%, I said rest assured. I will next time be so precise as to make sure there are qualifications for everything, or I might not because who knows, I am not 100% reliable, but then again I am pretty reliable and people generally say I get things done, except of course people who don't know me, or those who expect things on impossible timelines, I am sure there are other caveats I should include but that would just be silly, like saying the small possibility that the huge amount of research on aspartame is horribly wrong and people cannot rest assured that it is safe.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    Just to turn that question around is there anyone here who genuinely believes that a good way to lose weight is to focus on getting over a diet soda habit?

    I don't get that mindset. I'm in the camp of zero calories are zero calories and can not contribute to weight gain.

    I can't speak for those people who claim diet sodas/artificial sweeteners spike their appetite or give them sugar cravings etc etc Nor will i ever argue against someones personal experience to any food/drink, if they say it affects them, then i'll take their word for it.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    edited October 2017
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    Just to turn that question around is there anyone here who genuinely believes that a good way to lose weight is to focus on getting over a diet soda habit?

    No ones saying that. For me, anything that can't be made in a kitchen I wouldn't consume daily.

    Well if no one is saying that then why would anyone want to advise someone who is trying to lose weight that they should focus their willpower on overcoming a diet soda habit?

    Maybe the soda causes them to have a prominent sweet tooth which in turn makes them overeat. That's my guess. However if that were true i'd just suggest to use their willpower to not overeat rather than tackle the soda habit. That being said, if you can't withhold from consuming something you're addicted to it.

    Yeah I wouldn't disagree with that. Of course if you are addicted to something that really isn't harming you in anyway I'm not sure how much that matters really. I suppose if you could have everything in life it would be best to have no addictions or hangups but given we can't have everything in life I feel its better to prioritize things that actually matter. That is all really I'm just insufferably pragmatic.

    I mean I'm addicted to caffeine, largely get it through coffee. I suppose if instead of coffee I drank tons of diet soda as my caffeine source it'd be the same addiction. As a result of said addiction if I go a long stretch without coffee I tend to get headaches and if I drink my normal amount of coffee I need to make sure to drink lots of water. If I could snap my fingers and change that I guess I would as I don't particularly like being dependant on something to avoid a headache, but honestly I have more important things to put my effort into than that as it doesn't really bother me that much. If at the same time I was wanting to lose weight I certainly wouldn't waste my time trying to stop drinking coffee at the same time as it'd just be a distraction to my goal.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,050 Member
    To the question of how much diet soda I drink, it really depends on the week. Sometimes 8-10 a week, sometimes far less.

    If a person finds that drinking diet soda makes they crave sweets, they can make the choice to avoid it. In my case it is the opposite. If I am craving sweet, a diet soda satisfies me so I don't want something with calories. The reason I push people to realize there is an extremely high degree of certainty that aspartame is safe, and those who talk about it being scary or bringing up all the junk google brings up about how dangerous it is without scientific support that could make someone who does not know better avoid a legitimate means of help in reducing calories, then yes, I will advocate for it being something that has a far greater certainty of being safe than many other things people deal with without a thought every day.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
    I'm genuinely curious how often/how much the vehement pro diet soda advocates drink diet soda... Everyday, regularly? Knowing this will make their position a lot easier to understand :wink:

    I have one in the morning on my way to work (I don't do coffee) and one with dinner. Water in between.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
    I'm genuinely curious how often/how much the vehement pro diet soda advocates drink diet soda... Everyday, regularly? Knowing this will make their position a lot easier to understand :wink:

    As Aaron said, I'm "anti-false information about health/nutrition", not "vehemently pro diet soda". If somebody chooses not to drink diet soda for whatever reason, I wouldn't try to make arguments to convince them that they should. But I'll certainly call out all the junk science, woo and fearmongering about it because it's ridiculous. I don't claim that anybody should drink it, but neither do I feel there's any compelling reason one shouldn't drink it if they enjoy it. As Aaron and others have repeatedly shown (in thread after thread about diet soda), the science is abundant to support that moderate/reasonable intake is not unsafe. The "evidence" claiming that it is unsafe is weak, poorly supported and usually comes from woo sites and unhinged crackpots like Mercola.

    With that said, I'll humor you - on average, I drink 1-2 cans of diet soda a day. I also drink 2-3 cups of coffee, iced tea, usually at least one cup of milk and lots of water on a daily basis.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 8,926 Member
    I'm genuinely curious how often/how much the vehement pro diet soda advocates drink diet soda... Everyday, regularly? Knowing this will make their position a lot easier to understand :wink:

    I'm not sure anyone is 'vehemently pro diet soda' - more vehemently pro accurate information.

    But since you asked and since i pop up in these threads on what I call the pro accurate information side - my own personal consumption is an average of about 2 - 3 cans per week.

    Some people drink more - the main reason I do not is not because I see that as the cut off point but more that most days all I drink is plain water and 3 or 4 cups of unsweetened coffee.
    But when I drink alcohol (which is once or twice a week at most) I do use diet soda as the mixer because less calories than regular and when I go out to a party or to a meal in a restaurant/cafe I want something cold but different than water and so I get diet soda.

    My being on the side of pro accurate information would apply just as much to drinks I drink more of than diet soda, like water or coffee, and to drinks I drink but less often like milk or apple juice and to drinks I never drink like green smoothies.

    I'm not sure how knowing how often I drink something makes my position easier to understand though- my position isnt about me personally and doesnt change dependant on whether I myself consume product in question.
  • TonyB0588
    TonyB0588 Posts: 9,520 Member
    run2brazil wrote: »
    Hi all! My aunt has been trying to lose her extra weight and has struggled in the last year specifically, (endured many health scares this year too). The one thing (that she constantly goes back to) is EXCESSIVE diet soda drinking. I'm positive this does not help the weight loss, but she gives it up and then always goes back, harder than ever. Any suggestions to help her kick the habit?!

    How much is she actually consuming? What is it contributing to the numbers on her MFP daily chart?

    Does your aunt exercise? What is her daily or weekly calorie burn? Is there a deficit or a surplus at the end of each day?

    The best tip I can give is that careful analysis of the chart over a while will give you an idea what foods or drinks need to be reduced, or what level of exercise needs to be incorporated into the weekly routine, in order to lose weight.

  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
    I'm not pro diet soda, I'm pro let's not try to stop someone consuming something they enjoy that objectively, all current evidence and evidence gathered in the last 50 years is safe to consume in the doses, even at the upper end, the average person consumes.

    I'm anti panic for pretty close to no reason.

    I drink diet soda very rarely, usually ginger ale or cherry coke I think. Maybe Dr Pepper. Oh or Irn-Bru 'cos Scottish. I think the last one i had was 3 weeks ago on my way to my physio appointment.

    But I do drink what we in the UK call squash. Water flavouring you dilute. No added sugar (so basically sugar free) and I get through quite a lot. Have done for about 20 years as never been a huge soda drinker. I'm sure I'm going to drop dead tomorrow.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,454 Member
    I'm genuinely curious how often/how much the vehement pro diet soda advocates drink diet soda... Everyday, regularly? Knowing this will make their position a lot easier to understand :wink:
    Everyday. At least 2 cans.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

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