Diet soda, Is it bad for you?

ProudDaddy
ProudDaddy Posts: 80 Member
edited October 5 in Health and Weight Loss
So my wife says that diet soda is just as bad for you as non diet soda, not as far as calories but all other stuff such as sodium and so on...Water is better for me..Any takers on this?

Replies

  • LizHaynes
    LizHaynes Posts: 4
    Well they say water is best. BUT if you are like me and hate to drink water then diet sodas are good. They are actually allowed on the optifast VLCD plan so they cant be all bad. One thing to watch out for is the acid. However if you drink tea or coffee or eat tomatoes oranges etc you will get acid too.
  • kelsbeckins
    kelsbeckins Posts: 26 Member
    There has been research published that people who drink diet soda have more fat around their stomach, which is dangerous. As far as calories go, there is no calories in diet soda. Other research says that eating fake sugar (ie aspartame) makes you crave more sugar meaning you'll eat more calories in the long run. Plus it's dehydrating and loaded with chemicals.

    I had a major diet soda addiction. I'm talking 2 44oz cups a day! I quit cold turkey and haven't looked back. I have so much more energy, my skin has cleared, and I immediately lost about 5 pounds. Switch the diet soda for water and you'll be way better off! Good luck
  • bevsdietfor2011
    bevsdietfor2011 Posts: 361 Member
    There has been research published that people who drink diet soda have more fat around their stomach, which is dangerous. As far as calories go, there is no calories in diet soda. Other research says that eating fake sugar (ie aspartame) makes you crave more sugar meaning you'll eat more calories in the long run. Plus it's dehydrating and loaded with chemicals.

    I had a major diet soda addiction. I'm talking 2 44oz cups a day! I quit cold turkey and haven't looked back. I have so much more energy, my skin has cleared, and I immediately lost about 5 pounds. Switch the diet soda for water and you'll be way better off! Good luck
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
    Artificial sweeteners are incredibly bad for the human body. Google it and you'll find many articles and studies.
  • HonkyTonks
    HonkyTonks Posts: 1,193 Member
    I think if you have to drink soda then maybe diet is better? You shouldn't completely deprive yourself of things you like :)

    But personally I think diet soda is pretty gross! I prefer just water, or try something like soda or sparkling water with freshly squeezed lime juice! Yummy
  • BlooQKazoo
    BlooQKazoo Posts: 56
    It's better than regular soda in the sense that it has a lot less sugar, yes, but diet pop is still bad for you. It contains tons of artificial sweeteners that make you feel hungry, and it just has a ton of chemicals that I can't imagine anyone wanting in his body. Literally, there's nothing good in diet coke. There have been a ton of studies done regarding diet coke and weight loss, the results aren't promising. In one study I found (http://gizmodo.com/5818428/diet-soda-is-as-bad-for-you-as-regular-soda), it says, "The researchers followed 474 diet soda drinkers for ten years and found that their belt size expanded 70% more than those who avoided diet soda. Even as little as two diet sodas a day caused the waistline of the soda drinkers to grow 5 times more than the non-drinkers in the study."

    I've read more like that too. Diet soda just hurts your health. I used to be addicted, but after a week of completely giving up on it (and all other drinks but water, coffee, and a milk) and drinking my body weight in just water, (though I drank a lot of water before, too) I lost a bunch of weight. I don't even crave it anymore, so I'm going to see how I feel about it when I have it in a year. I've heard that when people stop drinking pop for a long time, they hate the taste when they go back to it. I hope that's true!
  • bevsdietfor2011
    bevsdietfor2011 Posts: 361 Member
    I am also a very addicted diet soda drinker......I have tried to stop but haven't been able to. I am going to have to try to give it up and see if I can lose the weight too. Wish me luck!!!
  • kendrafagan
    kendrafagan Posts: 22
    Maybe you can drink Vitamin Water instead. It tastes better than water but doesn't have as many fillers or cancer causing things in it. But then again who really knows. Water is probably always better. You can try adding lemon to your water and that can help make it taste better.
  • josol1971
    josol1971 Posts: 46 Member
    Diet soda is nothing but artificial chemicals in a can. And the artificial sweeteners in it are no good for you. I used to drink a LOT of soda every day. Now I drink Perrier carbonated mineral water with lemon and/or lime. It's cold and fizzy and has been a good replacement for me. Good luck!
  • annabellj
    annabellj Posts: 1,337 Member
    so I am addicted also and tried stopping but I literally get sick from the caffeine withdrawals. i drink just as much water as i do diet but i dont drink anything else! how do you just exist on water alone?
  • iishnova
    iishnova Posts: 259 Member
    I'll say this, its not GOOD for you.
  • Athena413
    Athena413 Posts: 1,709 Member
    I personally believe that diet soda is worse for you than regular. First of all, it's all fake. There's NOTHING natural in it. Second of all, you feel like you're doing a good thing, thus you drink more of it, and you not only pollute your body with processed crap but you also dehydrate yourself from it. The artificial sweeteners cause you to retain weight because your body is expecting calories and not getting any, so then when it DOES get calories, it just hoards them.

    I think if you MUST drink pop, drink the real stuff and just work it in to your "diet". No, you shouldn't deprive yourself of everything, but it's no different than any other addiction. You CAN live without it, you just choose not to.
  • Athena413
    Athena413 Posts: 1,709 Member
    so I am addicted also and tried stopping but I literally get sick from the caffeine withdrawals. i drink just as much water as i do diet but i dont drink anything else! how do you just exist on water alone?

    Have you tried teas? Tea comes in TONS of flavors and you can drink if hot or cold and it has enough caffeine in it to keep the withdrawal symptoms at bay and it doesn't have anything fake in it.
  • kari1740
    kari1740 Posts: 45 Member
    I just quit drinking diet soda last Saturday and previously that was about all I ever drank. After I made it past the first couple of days with non stop headaches, I have never felt better!
  • ProudDaddy
    ProudDaddy Posts: 80 Member
    :laugh: Thanks everyone for your input..Im going to trust in it and quit drinking diet soda and drink just water..My body could probly use a good flushing anyway..Thanks again. I guess my wife was right lol
  • back2_200
    back2_200 Posts: 27
    I will have an occasional Diet Coke (like once a week at dinner). I have read the studies about diet drinks having a negative effect on weight loss. I dont know how much of that is physiological or psychological, but either way I'd stick with water, and an occasional non aspartame crystal light or herbal tea. Oh and caffeine just does nothing good for you. Stay away from it. My opinion.
  • inlander
    inlander Posts: 339 Member
    Don't know if this has been posted, but I heard (nope, didn't read a study or anything) that the carbonation in sodas (both diet and sugared) cause the stomach to expand and increase hunger. Could be true.
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
    so I am addicted also and tried stopping but I literally get sick from the caffeine withdrawals. i drink just as much water as i do diet but i dont drink anything else! how do you just exist on water alone?

    You can drink tea, juice, sparkling water, sparkling juice. You don't have to drink water alone, though that is pretty much how nature intended it...

    If you gradually cut back on your caffeine consumption you won't have terrible withdrawal symptoms.
  • ProudDaddy
    ProudDaddy Posts: 80 Member
    I dont know, Its new to me but im going to try it for a week or so and see if it helps..I feel i need to flush my body out anyways.. im told i dont drink nearly enough water daily..I like tea so maybe ill substitute tea for diet soda and see how that works.:smile:
  • ccmccoy09
    ccmccoy09 Posts: 284 Member
    If you have any kind of problem with sweets, you'll never be able to ditch your sweet tooth as long as you are drinking diet soda (and eating sugar free candy, using sugar free creamer, over-using non-sugar sweeteners, etc.). The more "sweet" you give your body, the more it wants it. Remember that study a few years back with the rats that, given the choice between saccharin and cocaine, overwhelmingly chose saccharin? http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0000698

    Just writing this makes we want something sweet.

    Also, anecdotally, I do not know one thin person who drinks excessive amounts of diet soda (more than one Diet Coke occasionally with a meal). I know a lot of overweight perpetual dieters who do.
  • ProudDaddy
    ProudDaddy Posts: 80 Member
    I will have an occasional Diet Coke (like once a week at dinner). I have read the studies about diet drinks having a negative effect on weight loss. I dont know how much of that is physiological or psychological, but either way I'd stick with water, and an occasional non aspartame crystal light or herbal tea. Oh and caffeine just does nothing good for you. Stay away from it. My opinion.
    thanks i think i will
  • Tyler4846
    Tyler4846 Posts: 41
    The only soda I've gotten in the past month is when I'm at a restuarant,
    I haven;t bought any cases or grabbed any pop from the stores
    when I stop for gas. Actually a huge accomplishment for me.
    Considering I used to down a few cases a week (3-4 or more)
  • ProudDaddy
    ProudDaddy Posts: 80 Member
    so I am addicted also and tried stopping but I literally get sick from the caffeine withdrawals. i drink just as much water as i do diet but i dont drink anything else! how do you just exist on water alone?
    I dont know but im gonna try for a while to see if it helps. It is true that i have a bad sweet tooth and if i cut out the diet soda, maybe ill be killing 2 birds with 1 stone..Thanks for your input, it was helpfull:smile:
  • annabellj
    annabellj Posts: 1,337 Member
    i have quit before I just need to again. dont like tea or coffee either and juice has too many calories but i think if you cut it with water it would be fine. i know how bad it is, just have to bite the bullet just like everything else and stop making excuses! hubby drinks a lot also so that is hard too but I want to be a good example for the kids also, my oldest quit drinking dp and they never drink diet but he has not had any for almost a month!
  • LizHaynes
    LizHaynes Posts: 4
    im told i dont drink nearly enough water daily..I like tea so maybe ill substitute tea for diet soda and see how that works.:smile:

    Be careful with the tea...it has the same amount of caffeine as coffee and if you are trying to give up the caffeine for a de-tox then you will need to give up coffee, tea, cola of All varieties.

    Those studies that said more people gained weight on the diet soda than the regular are mostly bull**** too coz they didn't do food diaries for them to see what they were eating. Apparently when they want to measure just one thing they cant measure everything to see...personally I just think it is an uncontrolled experiment and has absolutely no validity.
  • Johnnyswife
    Johnnyswife Posts: 1,447 Member
    :laugh: Thanks everyone for your input..Im going to trust in it and quit drinking diet soda and drink just water..My body could probly use a good flushing anyway..Thanks again. I guess my wife was right lol
    Rule #1. I am always right.
    Rule #2 If I am wrong, refer back to rule #1.
    :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
    Just kidding..I know you've been frustrated with your progress (and you've been doing great btw), I think if you cut out the diet crap and drink water with an occasional real soda, you might be happier. Its worth a shot right?:smooched:
  • Sarahbara76
    Sarahbara76 Posts: 601 Member
    :laugh: Thanks everyone for your input..Im going to trust in it and quit drinking diet soda and drink just water..My body could probly use a good flushing anyway..Thanks again. I guess my wife was right lol

    She usually is right LOL oxoxo
  • leslielt
    leslielt Posts: 113 Member
    Read these two short articles
    http://www.livestrong.com/article/207992-are-diet-drinks-more-harmful-than-regular-sodas/

    http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/diet-soda/AN01732
  • bbabs99
    bbabs99 Posts: 51
    "The researchers followed 474 diet soda drinkers for ten years and found that their belt size expanded 70% more than those who avoided diet soda. Even as little as two diet sodas a day caused the waistline of the soda drinkers to grow 5 times more than the non-drinkers in the study."

    These studies only test correlation, not causation. Just because they gained weight doesn't mean it's because of the diet soda. They have no scientific proof that diet soda itself causes any sort of weight gain, only proof that people who drink diet soda are overweight and gain weight, which makes perfect sense.
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