Diet Soda Anyone?

Whats your personal opinion?

I say don't bother with it. Aspartame is controversial but at any rate it's not good for you, and it's best to just get rid of the desire for sweet drinks altogether. I had a really bad soda problem (We're talking 60 oz or so of soda a day), and I found that just going cold turkey allowed me to appreciate water more and lose the desire for soda or sweetness in drink form.

While I have my personal favorites - Coke Zero and Diet Mountain Dew - I drink only in moderation. I limit to one or two a week because of the sodium and carbonation. Those make your stomach pooch, your body retain water, and generally do not quinch your thirst. On the days that I do indulge I make sure that I add an extra 32 oz of water to the 80 I try to have every day just to make sure I keep myself hydrated and flushed out. I know that there are a lot of people who see them as evil because, let's face it, they have no nutritional value but it's a nice treat for me. What are your views?

N.  Well.  I love the stuff.  Unfortunately, it doesn't love my brain.  I was drinking a diet soda a day about a year ago and I started getting these MASSIVE headaches.  I thought naturally... caffeine, I need to cut back on caffeine.  Well, they didn't go away until I stopped drinking it for about a week.  I thought not much of it, but later I was looking into health risks of aspartame, which is the sweetener in diet drinks of all kinds.  One of the symptoms was headaches.  Aspartame basically leads to brain cancer... my uncle developed another kind of cancer from this stuff many years ago, thankfully he was okay, though.  I know it's bad but... I can't live without soda!  I just can't make myself bite the bullet and take the cals in regular... so I'll pop about 1 a week, sometimes less, and I've had no problems.  Aspartame is BAD.  I want to emphasize this.  But... diet soda is love.

I think it can be safe in moderation.  Many get tired of just drinking plain water.  I tend to drink more of the things you can add to bottled water now.  They make a great Hawaiin Punch Lemon Berry (this is one that actually does have 5 calories though).  I drink the Lipton to go green teas added to water with no calories carbs or sugar.  I drink a ton of regular green tea a day as it has shown in studies to speed metabolism.  A study last week showed that drinking a cup before working out helps you burn more, and that people that do not exercise and eat well can lose weight just by drinking one cup a day.  I have flavored teas like vanilla caramel and vanilla chai to help when craving a sweet or being tempted by one I just have cup of tea instead:)

since i'm not an aspartame fan i do diet sodas with splenda (aka sucrulose) and so far i like them all. my favorite is Diet Rite cherry cola and the bonus plan with rite is that there is no caffeine or sodium in them either. unfortunately they can be hard to find and i never see more than 2 flavors in any one store. one day i hope to find the white grape and black cherry ones.

my least favorite so far is Jones Soda Black Cherry, just a little to tart for a "sweetened" drink.

I'm not a big pop fan to begin with, but if after I eat dinner I'm craving something sweet and dessert like, I'll just have a diet pop. Usually works!

I have it as a treat. Sometimes, I make a small diet root beer float.

I don't like the after taste and they are tooooo sweet.  I'd rather drink water.  When I get tired of water I put some lemon it.  When I get tired of that I tell myself too bad drink it anyway.

I am trying to cut out regular soda too though.  But artificial sweetners taste awful and I don't want to get used to them.      Did you like them the first time?

I started drinking coke zero and stopped losing weight the Dr. told me to stay away from high fructose corn syrup,msg,aspartame.I stopped drinking diet pop and lost 5lbs within a week and a half.I'm not going back!

Eh, I know that aspartame is bad for you, but I still have about one per day. No one I know has gotten a brain tumor at all, much less one from diet soda. I think that you have to take a lot of these studies with a grain of salt...usually they give high doses to rats (creatures that, I might add, often die of tumors anyway).

I'm not particularly affected by the amounts of sodium in them, and it spices up my beverages when I'm sick of water and crystal light. I like carbonation.

Society always finds some food aspect to loathe: fat, transfat, carbs, sodium, aspartame.

It's funny too that you ask this because my friend just told me the other night (as she sipped on a long island iced tea) that she no longer drinks diet soda because of all the bad things it does to you. Then she asked if I'd like to go outside and so she could have a cigarette.

Keep in mind that nothing is objective on this subject, but read multiple sources and determine for yourself:

http://www.aspartame.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspartame_contro versy

I'm wary of any websites that use scare tactics and make broad statements, regarding ANY ISSUE, not just diet soda.

i am addicted to it... i tried quitting but i lasted 4 days. I drink at least 3 cans a day, with each of my meals (yes i drink diet coke for breakfast along w/ my oatmeal).. but i don't think its gonna kill me.

OOOOOH I wish I could stop but I just HAVE to have a diet coke a day.  

It's bad I know, but cutting out so many other things like alcohol, it's hard.  

It is my treat. I dont get headaches and it's one of the few things I have with caffeine in, though I am concerned about the aspartame.

If I am feeling very good I substitute sodas for carbonated water or low cal natural flavoured juices.  Just plain water is dull.  In the winter I rarely drink just water, more like green tea.  In the summer I must drink litres a day.  

But there's nothing like the taste of an ice cold "full fat" classic red label coke every now and then if you deserve it! lol

Original Post by kizzichan:

N.  Well.  I love the stuff.  Unfortunately, it doesn't love my brain.  I was drinking a diet soda a day about a year ago and I started getting these MASSIVE headaches.  I thought naturally... caffeine, I need to cut back on caffeine.  Well, they didn't go away until I stopped drinking it for about a week.  I thought not much of it, but later I was looking into health risks of aspartame, which is the sweetener in diet drinks of all kinds.  One of the symptoms was headaches.  Aspartame basically leads to brain cancer... my uncle developed another kind of cancer from this stuff many years ago, thankfully he was okay, though.  I know it's bad but... I can't live without soda!  I just can't make myself bite the bullet and take the cals in regular... so I'll pop about 1 a week, sometimes less, and I've had no problems.  Aspartame is BAD.  I want to emphasize this.  But... diet soda is love.

 What about Splenda (or sucralose)?  Does it create the same effects?

shortcut- There haven't been many studies on Splenda to my knowledge, but there are lots of people out there who think it's just as bad if not worse than aspartame. (I'm not one of them.)

The thing about Splenda is, no one actually knows what it does to you.  Sucralose is, effectively, chlorine-treated sugar (hence the made-from-sugar slogan).  Chlorine is toxic, but can be tolerated in minimal doses (like pools).  While nothing to date has been proven of Splenda, in my opinion, it's only a matter of time.  I'm highly fearful of these new short-cut products.  The FDA has approved more than one deadly product for consumption (ie. Fen Phen and aspartame, among other diet products).  That's why I don't trust it.  But anyway, I do read up on it.  Probably one of the most interesting points, I think, is that of chlorine.  One site comments on its entry into the body:

The inventors of Splenda admit around fifteen percent (15%) of sucralose is absorbed by the body, but they cannot guarantee us (out of this fifteen percent) what amount of chlorine stays in the body and what percent flushes out.

To me, that's kind of scary.  What's sucralose gonna do to us in the long run?  I'm not going to say NO ONE SHOULD EVER HAVE ANYTHING CONTAINING SPLENDA EVER... because Splenda, as far as anyone can see, is a lot less toxic than aspartame, and well, I drink stuff with that in it.  One day I'll probably eat some Splenda, who knows.

I think it's about moderation.  Anyone who drinks a lot of diet soda is taking their chances.  You may get cancer, you may have no problems whatsoever.  I think the idea is to listen to your body.  If you find something is interfering with your health, like I did with aspartame, then you're gonna have to stop it.

But, in my opinion, a lot of these are just shortcuts; ways for people to have the cheat food without the repercussions.  I think the repercussions exist, just not in the OH NOES I GAINED WEIGHT dreaded way.  Strange to me how we can be so concerned about losing weight for health reasons but compromise our health through this stuff.

And, on an interesting note, artificial sweeteners have been linked to an increase in appetite - promoting - you guessed it - weight gain.  I've heard it messes with your metabolism, but I'm not exactly an aspartame/Splenda expert, so I'm not sure if those claims are justified.

I've heard this but I agree with you, I haven't seen any studies on Splenda...I used to use it all the time before I swore off artificial sweetners (only because I heard it hinders weight loss).

I just checked out the Sugar Council's site:  truthaboutsplenda.com and it indicates that Splenda is made from Chlorine!!!  Hmmmmm....I'm re-thinking my position on Splenda.  Maybe everyone should have a chance to look at this.  Apparently, there's a class-action lawsuit claiming that Johnson & Johnson (manufacturer of Splenda) mislead consumers by saying that splenda is made from sugar.  Hmph...

 

I'd really just stick with water - maybe with lemon - and for a great very low cal drink, try pelligrino or perrier with about 1 or 2 ounces of POM pomegranite juice - tastes great, no "gunk" and super low-cal

Original Post by shortcut2k:

I've heard this but I agree with you, I haven't seen any studies on Splenda...I used to use it all the time before I swore off artificial sweetners (only because I heard it hinders weight loss).

I just checked out the Sugar Council's site:  truthaboutsplenda.com and it indicates that Splenda is made from Chlorine!!!  Hmmmmm....I'm re-thinking my position on Splenda.  Maybe everyone should have a chance to look at this.  Apparently, there's a class-action lawsuit claiming that Johnson & Johnson (manufacturer of Splenda) mislead consumers by saying that splenda is made from sugar.  Hmph...

 

I thought it was!!!  Wow.  I wonder if this is accurate?

I'm not too fond of soda (diet or not) - the taste is bad (and much too sweet), I strongly prefer regular water or herbal tea, but if I'm somewhere with my friends I ocasionally drink it (=once every 2 months or so)