Diet Soda

I can range between a can a week and a couple of cans a day depending on mood. Always diet/zero; I cut right back on caffeine at the start of the year and now it does affect me so I'll always choose caffeine free if available.

I try to prioritise drinking water over soft drinks as I see better results on the scale and feel less bloated, but sometimes I really want the sweet fizz.

paperpudding wrote: »

MargaretYakoda wrote: »

At our house the problem with diet sodas is the sodium some have.
Occasionally, figured into the daily sodium count, my husband enjoys a Diet Coke or a root beer.
This would not be a concern for people who don’t have a need to limit their sodium intake.

Typically we go through 12 to 18 cans of fizzy water daily, though. That’s between three to five people, depending on who’s home, plus any company.

Which ones have high sodium content??

This issue has been brought up before and nutrition labels of popular sodas have not been any higher in sodium than most other beverages, including tap water.

I am wondering this, too. Coke Zero has 40 mg of sodium in a 12oz can. Almost half of that is just from the water that it contains (water has sodium). That's a really low amount...maybe other sodas have more? I'm not sure.

janejellyroll wrote: »

SuzySunshine99 wrote: »

paperpudding wrote: »

MargaretYakoda wrote: »

At our house the problem with diet sodas is the sodium some have.
Occasionally, figured into the daily sodium count, my husband enjoys a Diet Coke or a root beer.
This would not be a concern for people who don’t have a need to limit their sodium intake.

Typically we go through 12 to 18 cans of fizzy water daily, though. That’s between three to five people, depending on who’s home, plus any company.

Which ones have high sodium content??

This issue has been brought up before and nutrition labels of popular sodas have not been any higher in sodium than most other beverages, including tap water.

I am wondering this, too. Coke Zero has 40 mg of sodium in a 12oz can. Almost half of that is just from the water that it contains (water has sodium). That's a really low amount...maybe other sodas have more? I'm not sure.

I really feel like this is a side effect of people not understanding nutrition labels. Since everything else is 0 on a diet soda label, the sodium seems to jump out so people mistakenly think it's high sodium.

I don't know. I seem to remember A&W Root Beer (or some other root beer) having something like 115mg of sodium. Which reminds me I'm lacking in my annual summer hansen's diet root beer six pack. I miss trader joe's carrying it.

I stopped drinking pop, accidentally, 10-12 years ago after a trip to Europe.
It was hot, and a lot of walking and hiking was involved, pop just wasn’t good once sticky, sweet, and warm so I started ordering a couple of bottles of ‘agua minerali con gas’ fizzy water.

By the time I got home pop was out; fizzy water was in.

Never touched diet pop wasn’t interested (off super sweet tasting pop). If I wanted a G&T regular tonic was fine.

COVID

G&T became a frequent drink.
I tried the diet tonic, it was fine.

There, my first diet pop experiment and I didn’t shrivel up and die, didn’t think I would.

Just sat and did a bit of maths. If I had drunk regular tonic I would have put on about 35lbs, weighed the most I ever had, and hit overweight for the first time in my life!

So, after all that, if diet pop fits the bill, drink it.

Cheers, h.

dfwesq wrote: »

Not limited to diet soda, but any acidic drink can demineralize tooth enamel and lead to dental damage or disease if consumed too often.

Not if you take care of your teeth. I've drank it for over 20 years an no issue with either because I have a good oral hygiene plan.


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

Initially I just stuck to regular cola cause 1 cup is under 100 calories and I only drink it like once or twice a month. When I do drink it, I have pretty much about 8 oz. I always hated the taste of diet Coke, since it tastes nothing like regular. But recently I tried a Coke zero and found that was so close to regular Coke, I might as well switch.
I still rarely drink it though. And I tried a Pepsi zero expecting the same results, dear god that was foul. Apparently they felt they should add ginseng to their zero line.. I am not a fan..

Cola is the only soda pop I ever drink, but I was considering trying either Sunkist zero, or Orange Crush zero, to add to a vanilla protein ice cream, for a low cal protein orange float. Yum!!!!

As for the aspartame issue. I have read all the data I could find, and the only legit negative research I came across was based in mice having extremely high amounts for the entirety of their lives. Their lifespan is about 3 years, and in the first two years there wasn't a notable level of health issues. In the third year, yes, some began to get tumors. However, considering that the level they were fed was well beyond what a human would consume, and they were in what would be their elder years comparatively where health issues are more likely to happen; this, plus the fact that aspartame has had more testing done on it than any other sweetener, including sugar and been listed as safe repeatedly by more than just the US - I decided I am okay with it.

I still have sugar here and there, I use stevia, use erythritol, I use aspartame... So often causes of cancer are linked to carcinogens in too high a frequency/volume. The same is true of many other illnesses; too much sugar, too much fat, too high of med doses etc.. So like all things, everything in moderation.

EDIT: I forgot I wanted to mention that as for me, I do not get food cravings when I drink Coke zero, and I don't crave more Coke. And in fact weirdly, when I drank it with a meal a few times (this happened with iced tea sweetened with Equal as well), my meal was more satiating overall. Something about having a flavoured beverage I guess. I usually only drink water. My weight loss stays consistent as well.

I drank diet soda all the time, would stop by and get a huge 50 oz of coke zero from quiktrip or racetrac almost every day along with a bottle or can with every meal. Then I had my gastric sleeve and I had to give soda up, and I'm definitely happier without it. I never thought it was gonna harm you or whatever, but looking back now that I'm over a year without soda I do think it made me crave sweets and junk food more. I'm sure that varies with each person but that's how it affected me.

I'll never go back partly because soda tastes gross to me now that I'm not used to it, I don't wanna risk the irritation carbonation causes, and also the benefits of not having caffeine addiction. It just makes me feel better to no longer have any, especially since soda in general has been something I was hooked on since I was like 6 or 7.

ccrdragon wrote: »

PAV8888 wrote: »

I drank copious amounts of coca cola, and coke classic before 2014. Because, we all know that diet soda can spike our insulin and cause more cravings issues than regular soda even! Right? Am I right, right? I also weighed in somewhere north of 280lbs in obese 3 territory for my height, and will never know how far into type 2 I had tipped since the prediabetes warning was several years and lbs in the past, with no further visits to the doctor.

Since 2014 I've been drinking coke zero or coke zero mixed with diet coke if I can swing it, or any which other diet pop strikes my fancy. Anywhere from zero cans a month, to 4 or 5 cans a day depending on heat and mood.

I have not noticed any particular craving or issue associated with the diet pop and my A1C levels are... normal. I've also been at a normal weight for a good 5 years.

*re: insulin spikes: I wonder if the various national diabetic associations that list diet pop as allowable would be aware of the fictitious insulin spikes the diet pops are rumoured to cause....

Actually, I think there is one study out there (I can't find it today or I would link it here) that shows an insulin spike in rats caused by sucralose. The only problem with the study is that you would have to mainline the diet soda to get the blood concentrations of sucralose components that the study was using to produce the insulin spikes.

Thank you. I am a diabetic with a sweet tooth so I have things like flavored sparkling water with sucralose. I have someone (not my dr) suggesting I avoid all artificial sweeteners. She was talking of insulin spikes. I was not sure what to believe but my glucose levels are great and I feel fine. She does have some good advice but I think I will ignore this and keep doing what works for me.

I have a few Pepsi Max's in a week, and use slimline tonic as a mixer if that counts (I think it also has aspartame)

I guess it's one of those things where it could be slightly better for your health not to, but if you like them then life is less fun without. It's all about balance.