Diet Soda & Vitamin Water Zero

I am addicted to Dt Mt Dew. Everyone says I should ditch it.
Before joining MFP I was drinking a 12 pack at day. I now have 2 or 3 a day, and about 10 glasses of water.
I love the vitamin water. Its very good. I am not sure if its bad for you or not.

I am addicted to Dt Mt Dew. Everyone says I should ditch it.
Before joining MFP I was drinking a 12 pack at day. I now have 2 or 3 a day, and about 10 glasses of water.
I love the vitamin water. Its very good. I am not sure if its bad for you or not.

It's really hard to go cold turkey on something especially if you've been drinking that much. Forget what everyone says. You're weaning yourself off it gradually and considering all the caffeine that it has, it's probably the best way to go. As for the vitamin water. It's water with vitamins in. I see no problem.

Well, you could argue I suppose that vitamin water had well vitamins... Not sure how much of those vitamins is actually absorbed and how much is excreted. Vitamin water zero also uses stevia which some will say is better for you than artificial sweetener. I think you should drink plenty of water and enjoy the vitamin water when you feel like it. Personally I don't drink it for the vitamins, I like the taste and it helps me avoid a chronic diet soda habit I've had for a longtime.

Be warned of products that say they have 'natural sweetners'... natural just means it hasent been made from products in a lab.... take for instance the 'natural sweetner' Saccharin..... whats it made from... Coal Tar!

On a side note i still drink the odd pint of pepsi max... and i dont believe for a second it's a sugar gateway, seeing as I have probably the lowest sweet tooth ever (not a fan of 99% of chocolate, and will only ever eat about 5 dessert items a year).... But everyone is different, and i do believe some people do have the infamous 'sweet tooth'

What is the "bad" thing you are avoiding in diet soda?
Because sweetened water is still water. One can of diet soda a day isn't going to kill you, and if it makes you happy and keep on track, have at it.

Diet drinks aren't really "bad" unless you're overdoing it or if they make you crave sweets, causing you to eat more. If you have one or two a day, and are still drinking water, you should be fine.

Personally, I find them helpful since they fill my cravings for sweets without blowing my calories.

Edit: Vitamin Water may be slightly better if you're trying to cut back on caffeine, but neither drink is really bad for you.

Be warned of products that say they have 'natural sweetners'... natural just means it hasent been made from products in a lab.... take for instance the 'natural sweetner' Saccharin..... whats it made from... Coal Tar!

On a side note i still drink the odd pint of pepsi max... and i dont believe for a second it's a sugar gateway, seeing as I have probably the lowest sweet tooth ever (not a fan of 99% of chocolate, and will only ever eat about 5 dessert items a year).... But everyone is different, and i do believe some people do have the infamous 'sweet tooth'

I agree with this, I still drink diet soda, I try to limit myself to one a day, not because of the artificial sweeteners but just because of the caffiene and such, but anyways I don't havea sweet tooth, at all. My mom freaks out on the like 4x a year that I say I want ice cream or something. My dad asks me if I'm pregnant because thats how little I eat sweets. So I agree that I don't think its a sugar gateway. However, if its going to tempt you and open up the flood gates, avoid it. I avoid certain foods for this reason

So I've given up my one a day diet pepsi. It's been a week and so far so good. I've started to drink more water and Vitamin Water Zero XXX. My question is, is the vitamin water zero xxx bad like soda? I do drink a lot of water. Should I give up Vitamin Water? It says naturally sweetened but you just never know...

Thanks for your input!

Sheila

In the flavor industry, natural flavorings mean that they are extracted whole. You could get strawberry flavor out of tar, and that is "natural". In this case, "naturally sweetened" means that the sugar substitute in your drink is extracted whole. It's probably from the stevia plant, but there are natural sweeteners from other plants that are currently in development, and I don't know the status of currently FDA approved sweeteners. (Not to brag or anything, but one of my degrees is in chemistry, so a lot of this stuff is recalled from classes, lectures, and friends who work at flavoring labs.)

As far as weighing how good one thing vs. another, there simply isn't the kind of data for vitamin water there is for diet soda. Stevia extract has not been approved as a food additive for very long. Vitamin water hasn't been around nearly as long, either.

If anyone has any corrections to offer me, I'd welcome them. It's been a couple of years since I've had to learn about this stuff.

Although I somewhat agree with your response and a few others, just a couple of things...

1) Vitamin Water definitely uses stevia
2) Stevia has been in use in Japan since 1970s and has been consumed on a regular basis by millions of Japanese for decades. There's quite a few papers on stevia, although since it's not in as wide spread use as other sweeteners in the west it hasn't been as intensely studied, that's true. Many other countries have regularly consumed stevia, including some for over 1500 years! I would like to see more studies including some on the long term side effects so far the consensus seems to be that it's safe.

Personally I enjoy a few bottle of vitamin water zero a week and a few cans of diet soda a week. This is down from 8-12 cans of diet soda a day.

I have to disagree with a lot of the naysayers here... I LOVE my diet coke and now that I found cherry coke zero, I'm in heaven!

If you are really concerned about the health benefits then check the label... Are the ingredients the same? Do they use the same sweetener? If the answer is yes then I'm assuming the health 'risk' is the same. In fact, as a dentist, I would argue that the only real difference is the acidity in the soda which really isn't good for your teeth as it dodemineralize them. BUT, if these drinks are helping you lose weight by tricking you into thinking that yr eating sugar then what's the harm? In fact, 2 diet sodas a day is far healthier than a sugar deprived bingeathon!

Look, a 12 pack a day probably isn't good but 1-2 a day... Go for it and keep stripping that weight!

One other thing to consider...as if we aren't overloaded with info already while losing weight ....Vitamin Water also contains a good deal of vitamins.

If you take a multi vitamin daily and you drink 2-3 of these, you might be over loading yourself. I have blood work done every 4-6 wks for thyroid issues and they test all kinds of vitamin levels as well. My last test showed that my Vit C and B 12 were 4X the normal range!!

I do not take these 2 supplements--it was from my Vit Water only: I drank 2-3 a day. My Dr. suggested switching to Propel and keep VW at 1 /day. I'm back in normal range now.

I wondered the same thing about the vitamin water zero. I gave up diet pop at the end of the year and have only had maybe 5 in the past 3 months (compared to 4 or 5 diet coke's/day). I really did it after reading about how bad aspartame/sucralose are for you. Plain water does get a little borring. I like one comment about putting fruit in the water, I have also put fresh mint leaves in a pitcher of water and let it soak and it is very refreshing and easy to grow. I thought giving up diet pop would be harder...but honestly only occasionally do I miss it for the coldness and the carbonation. The other thing I like is the Sobe zero calorie lifewater

Make your own "vitamin water!"



Ingredients

fruit -- 2 cups berries, citrus, melons, pineapple...most fruits will work (see recommended amounts in directions)
herbs -- a sprig of mint, basil, sage, rosemary, tarragon, thyme, or lavender
water (tap or filtered)
ice

Directions
Supplies needed: 2 quart pitcher or jar with lid; muddler or wooden spoon

General formula for whatever fruit/herb combo you desire.
1. If using herbs, add a sprig of fresh herbs to jar/pitcher; press and twist with muddler or handle of wooden spoon to bruise leaves and release flavor; don't pulverize the herbs into bits.
2. Add approx. 2 cups of fruit to jar/pitcher; press and twist with muddler or handle of wooden spoon, just enough to release some of the juices
3. Fill jar/pitcher with ice cubes.
4. Add water to top of jar/pitcher.
5. Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

Suggested flavor combinations:
ALL CITRUS (no herbs) -- Slice 1 orange, 1 lime, 1 lemon into rounds, then cut the rounds in half. Add to jar and proceed with muddling, add ice & water.
RASPBERRY LIME (no herbs) -- Quarter 2 limes; with your hands, squeeze the juice into the jar, then throw in the squeezed lime quarters. Add 2 cups raspberries. Muddle, add ice & water.
PINEAPPLE MINT -- Add a sprig of mint to the jar (you can throw in the whole sprig; or, remove the leaves from the sprig, if you prefer to have the mint swimming around and distributing in the jar). Muddle the mint. Add 2 cups pineapple pieces, muddle, add ice & water.
BLACKBERRY SAGE -- Add sage sprig to jar and muddle. Add 2 cups blackberries; muddle, add ice & water.
WATERMELON ROSEMARY -- Add rosemary sprig to jar & muddle. Add 2 cups watermelon cubes; muddle, add ice and water.