How do you feel about Diet Soda?

who loves (diet) orange 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

My blood bubbles with diet coke.

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.

diet soda= EVIL... fake sugar= EVIL. you drank soda because you craved sugar, diet soda and fake sugars coat your tongue and actually make you crave MORE sugar and since you didn't get the sugar you were craving when you had a soda you're more likely to go eat ie a candy bar to get that sugar you were actually craving