diet soda or no diet soda

I occasionally enjoy a diet soda. I realize that my body wasn't born expecting to be fed chemicals but it's inevitable in today's world. Whatever, there are a lot more dangerous things out there that will kill me before a can of soda.

I drink 3 cans of Diet Coke per day. Sometimes more. I reached my GW and am now on maintenance cals and have still lost more even eating maintenance. If it kills me, I'll die happy. :bigsmile:

First, just because it hasn't been proven to your satisfaction to be harmful, doesn't mean it isn't. You can choose to believe what you want to believe, and others can chose to believe what they want to believe. Your opinion doesn't get to supersede mine any more than mine can supersede yours. Second, the OP asked for opinions about drinking diet soda. Those who are for it are certainly allowed to share their opinions, but so are those who are against it. If your ego is so fragile than an opposing opinion threatens you, perhaps debate posts like these are ones you ought to skip? Take a deep breath, go drink your beverage of choice and relax a bit - this isn't worth getting yourself so worked up over. Wow.

My opinion is backed by clinical trials and science. Again if it's found to be truly a detriment to health, I'm sure I'll change my stance on it just like when Pluto was actually found not to be a planet.
Lol, my dear I hardly get worked up over an issue like this.:laugh: But I will defend against falsified information being pushed by the ever "healthy than everyone else because I eat healthy" crowd. Sounds more like you don't like that I oppose the "healthy" option and that I'm in the Fitness business.
People like transparency. I'm not a sheep who just takes whatever is stated in the the Fitness industry as gospel. I will research and find out on my own. Again evidence doesn't show that aspartame has the negative effects that some here tout.


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Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Just as it is implied that the "sheep and healthy crowd" are pushing thier values, the same can be said of those hard-core rationalists who unconditionally believe that just because certain numbers and supposed "evidence" are presented and published, that it has to be fact and true (especially when it is the government with their own motives/interests touting the safety of certain chemicals/products). I dont trust anyone much less our government. If you choose to -that's your choice in this wonderful free country of ours. But I choose not to. If in 10 to 20 years or more it IS found that certain things the studies and government said were not harmful are dangerous after all, then so be it. At least everyone had the right to choose whether we wanted to consume/use them or not.

Choosing to not believe government is fine. But the link I posted above states studies from the Mayo Clinic, The American Cancer Society, and even The American Diabetic Association. Do you believe they are corrupted too?

I agree with annabelle23. An opinion was asked and we all gave our opinion. I love to debate as much as the next person but we can go back and forth all day with this, and as many have said before - it's your individual choice. No need to get personal using condescending/judgmental terms like "sheep" and "my dear". But i do respect your OPINION on the given subject.

The reference to "sheep" was to people in my line of work in the Fitness Industry and didn't imply anything to the "healthy crowd" here on MFP. Reread it again. And when did "my dear" become a condescending term? Enlighten me on what other terminology that I could have used.


A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
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Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

NONE!

Just drink water or green tea - these diet sodas are poison.

It's the things people eat between the diet sodas that make them fat. I don't drink much pop, but it's because I don't like it.

Diet soda isn't the devil, although it DID kill my family and steal my identity.

Diet soda is a terrible thing. Yucky chemicals. Those that have caramel coloring can leach the calcium from our bones.

That being said....

My favorites are diet coke and diet mountain dew. :laugh: I'm like you - only 2 or so a week. I know I shouldn't indulge to be my healthiest, but I have them anyway. No rational other than that I like them so I treat myself. I think it's a personal decision.

:laugh: It's rational to have drinks and foods in moderation in your lifestyle that you enjoy. Sense of content goes a long way.


A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

They do sort of trick the body into thinking it is receiving calories so those who drink diet sodas tend to over eat and are generally heavier than those who don't. You don't have to cut out anything all the way in my opinion but limit them to a few times a week. I haven't had much soda since I've been on MFP and I honestly don't miss it. See how your body reacts with and without them and decide what works best for the results you want.

It could also just be that people that drink diet soda DON'T think they are overeating, but really are. There are lots of people who think they eat just fine, but are shocked when they find out how many calories they actually consume in a day. People don't get overweight from eating within calorie limits unless they have an ailment that may attribute to it.


A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
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Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

I drink water/tea. I'll have juice as an occasional treat. Aspartame causes me intense stomach pain, so I pass on diet sodas. I will have a regular soda as a rare treat and there's a brand of locally made ginger ale that I'll have a diet of every now and again(it's made with Splenda though). It sits well with me, so I have one now and again.

Since I see the anti-soda committee has responded also, let me add that you're entitled to make your own choices here. Do your own research before you decide something is toxic. If it didn't cause me so much pain, I would have a diet soda now and again. As it is, it does, so I don't. When I did my own research, I found compelling arguments, but very little empirical data. There's quite a bit of correlation research out there though, but you still have to make your own decisions.

I'll also add that part of why I occasionally have a regular soda has nothing to do with the empty calories, blah blah blah. I can always exercise it off, so if I want it, I'll have it. Sugar makes me grumpy, which is why I resist the temptation. I eat very little sugar in my diet because it just puts me in a nasty mood. I feel better without it, so I don't have it. It's that simple.

This isn't about dehydration. It's about health. Carbonic Acid which is what's added to make carbonated water, has a ph level of 3-4. Which is not neutral. Water is a 7. Which makes soda acidic. That is why you ALWAYS drink equal amounts of water to soda. Sure you can count it, but your not doing yourself justice if your drinking acidic ph level water. It defeats the purpose of flushing your system!

No one said caffeine dehydrates you. It reduces bone density. Please take the time to understand what the hell your saying.

The human body is naturally way more acidic than soda. Your stomach has a pH of 1. So why would something with a pH of 3, which makes less acidic than your stomach, negatively effect your body? And why is soda the only acidic thing that gets complained about? Citrus fruits are more acidic that soda, do they do the same thing? Also, distiller water is a 7. Drinking water can range anywhere from 5-8.

Winner. So many pseudo analogies make their way here without considering the whole spectrum. "Diet soda has carcinogens in it and it's poison!" but the amount you would have to drink in a day to actually affect the body isn't reachable.
And now the pH acidic level...............................lol next thing you know you'll hear about how the cans used for holding them transfer their metallic properties to soda....................

A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

The argument your raising is a straw man. Google it and then re analyze why I said that. To really make a sound argument, try to understand exactly the argument made.

"The human body is naturally way more acidic than soda. Your stomach has a pH of 1. " -- false ph can be anywhere between 1-5 depending on ...... YOUR DIET. There is nothing in that fact to support your position is anything natural.

"why would something with a pH of 3, which makes less acidic than your stomach, negatively effect your body?" --

acidic foods deprive your body of minerals
acidic diets greatly increase osteoporosis
The only counter balance to acidic diet is potassium rich foods
meat and grains like corn are rampant in todays western diet already. They alone cause your diet to be acidic.
For a female, high acidic diets can lead to prolonged hormone imbalances

Read here :http://arizonaadvancedmedicine.com/articles/diet_soda.html There is a but load of links to sources of the claims.

"? And why is soda the only acidic thing that gets complained about?" -- It's not. Maybe you should read the title of the thread your commenting on for advice on this one.

"Citrus fruits are more acidic that soda, do they do the same thing?" - again, Soda. If you ate 12 of any of these a day (oranges - pineapples - sour apples - sour plums - lemons - grapefruits - sour peaches - limes - tangerines - sour grapes - tomatoes) we would probably be talking about those as well.

I went from regular to diet and found it helped in my weight loss.

For whatever reason I cut out all soda 2yrs ago.

I like depriving myself of things I enjoy.

Forbidden fruit is the sweetest.

I disagree with diet soda making you overeat. I switched from regular soda to diet soda and lost 50 pounds.

Not for you, not for others probably too. But your response is hardly the facts for everyone.

For many, especially those with weight problems because of insulin spikes, anything sweat tasting kicks off digestive juices and insulin response for what the body thinks it's about to get.

When it doesn't get it, the blood sugar just went down, and now you are hungrier than you would have been without drinking it.

Count yourself fortunate. Or perhaps you always drank it with a meal, which is much smarter than just by itself in middle afternoon perhaps.

Same effect found with diet bars that have supposedly a good ratio of macro-nutrients, but have a chocolate flavor or a bit in it. Some bodies respond way too eagerly.

As long as your not counting it as fluid intake. Drink as much water and more for every can you drink.

Completely wrong. In terms of hydration soda counts just as much as pure water. Caffeine does not dehydrate you.

This isn't about dehydration. It's about health. Carbonic Acid which is what's added to make carbonated water, has a ph level of 3-4. Which is not neutral. Water is a 7. Which makes soda acidic. That is why you ALWAYS drink equal amounts of water to soda. Sure you can count it, but your not doing yourself justice if your drinking acidic ph level water. It defeats the purpose of flushing your system!

No one said caffeine dehydrates you. It reduces bone density. Please take the time to understand what the hell your saying.

According to the Duke University Diet Center researchers, that is false. There may be some relationship with phosphoric acid and bone density, or possibly caffeine which interferes with calcium absorbtion, or the fact that the person doesn't drink other beverages like milk. In that case, drink a diet clear soda with no caffeine and you should be fine. But if losing bone density worries you, you might want to cut out coffee and tea too since they contain caffeine and lean chicken breasts since they contain more phosphoric acid than the colas do.

No soda here, and it's been that way for a couple years now. I do not drink items with unnatural sugar substitutes, it is either organic sugar, honey or nothing for me.

The reference to "sheep" was to people in my line of work in the Fitness Industry and didn't imply anything to the "healthy crowd" here on MFP. Reread it again. And when did "my dear" become a condescending term? Enlighten me on what other terminology that I could have used.

Well if a man had made this statement,"my dear" wouldnt have been used I'm sure. I'm also sure you dont know her personally well enough to use that term with her affectionately. It's a "polite" yet still condescending way of addressing a woman that one is not giving full credit/respect to. You could have respectfully used her MFP username.

wow-this thread is still going?

You can eat junk food and be healthy.

well i guess that depends on your own definition of the word "healthy" ninerbuff.

.

You're just feel bad that you don't have my great genetics! Average age of death in my family is 87.

i'm sorry. ((hugs)). average age in my family is over 100. there will be 4 people at the holiday dinner table over 100 in fact this year.

For some reason you think all I do here is tell people to eat junk food for ALL their meals. Again, I've never advocated that.

no, i never said that all you do here is tell people to eat junk for all their meals nor is that what i think (*ouch get outta my head* lol). but you are up to what? 50? 60? posts on this thread (I have a life, not going to actually count- maybe you would like to and ten wonder why?). we get it. you advocate (for there is no other word that could be used when someone posts so often in one thread) diet soda. great. however apparently no one is allowed to post an opinion that differs from yours on MFP. the question asked 'what's your opinion on diet soda?' and the and the chauvinistic condescending attitude if the poster that doesn't agree w/ you happen to be female is truly offensive. just because some of us are secure enough in our worlds not to fill our sig lines w/ our credentials doesn't mean there isn't letters after our names irl.

I defend against falsified information. There is NO evidence that having diet soda and junk food in moderation will kill you. To state that it will without any actual proof is a scare tactic used by people to try to persuade others to believe like they do. I don't use scare tactics. I post studies and proofs. If you have an issue, then get the studies to change their data

equating posting links as indisputable fact is a trap often bandied about on message boards. w/o knowing who paid for study to be done, the methodology used, studying the statistics, running through each footnote, etc., it is worthless. just googling for links that support whatever one is trying to 'prove' on a message board is basically a joke, anyone can find numerous links by 'reputable' sources that will supposedly support their side of view on ANY controversial topic. i've seen link wars even on the VIN where ppl posting them did not take the time to really study the link they were posting (and that is a place where everyone posting has the education background to truly analyze the link posted).

If you're really that sad, I will lend you a shoulder to cry on. For real.

aww, that's so sweet. where were you while i was a hospital bed for months and then a wheelchair for over a year? i'm doing much better now though thank you- i'll take a pass on that offer. (condescending attitude evokes response of same),besides, i'm not the crying type.

You don't like my posts, hit the ignore button.

right back at ya! who wants to take bets that you won't though? *yawn* i've lost interest in this topic and have more urgent things to tend to. the only thing important in this post is what i said about links, that i hope gets read by a few ppl.