How do you feel about Diet Soda?

My motto.... go hard or go home. If I'm going to consume calcium-leaching phosphoric acid, I might as well get all the sugar to go with it :laugh:

I only drink water and unsweetened green tea 95% of the time. I will drink mega green juice or an iced tea when I'm out sometimes.

I drink a can of diet coke a day. As well as plenty of water. I can't have full fat coke as the sugar makes me have mouth ulsers as i dont drink sugary drinks.

A lot of people are confused about diet coke.

There are a lot of myths about diet coke:

- That is causes spikes in blood sugar - WRONG - it can't do as there is no sugar in it - it is an artificial sweetner that fakes the sweet taste - no glucose.
- That it causes weight gain - WRONG - there are zero calories in diet coke. The only far fetched link any articles makes between obesity and diet coke is the suggestion that because it makes you taste a sweet taste, you will go onto having chocolates etc, or that because you have opted for a diet coke, you are fooled into thinking youve saved loads of cals and then eat an extra large big mac. I think you've gotta be pretty stupid if you do either of those things. I treat diet coke as my sweet treat to sooth my sweet tooth- i dont then go onto have chocolate and biscuits.
- That it rots your teeth - WRONG - only sugar can rot your teeth - real sugar. DIet coke is carbonated water, colouring and sweetners. Yeah ok its not nutritional and healthy but its not the end of the world

The only true health concern surrounding diet coke, as with all sweetners that you'll find in chewing gum, splenda sugar, diet food products, is that it is linked to cancer - and the aspartame is linked to brain disease. However this hasnt been proved and many many things are linked to cancer, as a lot of articles base their 'science ' on "Oh Johnny has cancer... Johnny ate bread... BREAD CAUSES CANCER!"

_- Also, dont be fooled into thinking it hydrates you and that you can replace water with diet coke -YOU CANT!

I feel that diet soda is bad for me because it tastes like *kitten*. That, and it doesn't go well with Jack.

Would you call that drink a "Jack *kitten*?"
sorry, somebody had to say it...

I "heard" diet soda is bad (thru reading over the years)
1. takes calcium from your bones
2. the sweetness actually makes you crave more sweetness

HOWEVER

I LOVE DIET COKE AND I STILL DRINK IT
I do not like the splenda diet coke-yuck

Useless substance. Has no nutritional value or benefit. The caffeine dehydrates the body, causing more thirst. I will stick with water, almond milk, protein shakes. But do whatever you want. Whatever works for you.

I'm not that into soda, but I have a diet cherry coke about once every few months, they're pretty good. I was going to buy one today but decided to get a diet sprite instead--they're awesome! Tastes just like regular sprite. I wouldn't make it a habit of drinking diet soda daily because they're still very high in sugar.

I just don't like soda in general because the carbonation bloats me. Otherwise, I don't have a problem with it, although I tend to just ignore what the news says about it.

who loves (diet) orange soda?!!

kelllll loves (diet) orange soda!
I do, I do, I DO OOOO!!!!

It's fine for those who enjoy it and don't suffer any ill effects, but since I'm highly allergic to the artificial sweetners in it I'm content with water, flavored with a lemon slice and someimes a cucumber slice. Having continued to read about many reasons to avoid diet soda, i.e. in "The Blood Sugar Solution" and other published research, I'm happy to treat myself a couple of times a month with a small regular soda.

Useless substance. Has no nutritional value or benefit. The caffeine dehydrates the body, causing more thirst. I will stick with water, almond milk, protein shakes. But do whatever you want. Whatever works for you.

well, no ...

everything you put into your body is broken down and used as fuel. diet soda is no different.

and then the whole dehydration thing? not so much. take this, for example, from the mayo clinic:

It is true. Researchers used to believe that caffeinated drinks had a diuretic effect. This means that you would urinate more after drinking them, which could increase your risk of becoming dehydrated. Recent research shows that this is not true and that caffeine has a diuretic effect only if you consume large amounts of it — more than 500 to 600 milligrams (the equivalent of 5 to 7 cups of coffee) a day.

or this, from the New York Times:

Medical experts have been saying for years that caffeine acts as a potent diuretic. Consume too many caffeinated beverages, and you end up drinking yourself into dehydration.

But research has not confirmed that notion. Most studies have found that in moderate amounts, caffeine has only mild diuretic effects — much like water.

One report, by a scientist at the University of Connecticut who reviewed 10 previous studies, appeared in June 2002 in The International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism.

Investigations comparing caffeine with water or placebo seldom found a statistical difference in urine volume, the author wrote. “In the 10 studies reviewed, consumption of a caffeinated beverage resulted in 0 to 84 percent retention of the initial volume ingested, whereas consumption of water resulted in 0 to 81 percent retention.”

Another study, in the same journal in 2005, involved scientists following 59 active adults over 11 days while controlling their caffeine intake. They were given caffeine in capsule form on some days and on other days were given a placebo. Researchers found no significant differences in levels of excreted electrolytes or urine volume.

Other recent studies have found similar results.

want more?

In his review, “Caffeine, Body Fluid-Electrolyte Balance, and Exercise Performance,” Lawrence E. Armstrong, a professor of exercise physiology at the University of Connecticut disproves the notion that caffeinated beverages rob us of our precious fluids. By reviewing the scientific research on the subject, he concludes that although caffeine, like water, is a mild diuresis (it increases excretion of urine), moderate caffeine consumption does not produce a “fluid-electrolyte imbalance” that can affect health or exercise performance. Furthermore, we retain roughly the same amount of fluid after drinking a caffeinated beverage as we do after drinking water.

Even more encouraging for habitual coffee consumers is the finding that those with caffeine tolerance have reduced likelihood that a fluid electrolyte imbalance will occur. The more regular your caffeine habit, the more fluid your body is conditioned to retain.

Other findings support his conclusions. A small study done at the University of Nebraska tested the body weight, urine output, and blood of eighteen subjects after they consumed caffeinated and non-caffeinated beverages. They determined that there was “no significant differences in the effect of various combinations of beverages on hydration status of healthy adult males.” The Institute of Medicine expert panel on water and electrolyte intake asserts that the diuretic effects of caffeine are transient, and that coffee, tea, and colas can contribute to total water intake.