Diet Soda - Yes or No?

I drink one a day and I find my self fighting off the craving for sweeter foods. but this is why I drink it I drink it because I want to have something tasty once in awhile to drink. I mean I know folks say its not good and it will add wieght. well you know when I started this I wieghed 260 on the 19th of Feb now today I am wieghing a slimmer happer 248.5 lb's and still losing every day

I think if it helps you kick cravings, go for it. One a day won't hurt. Obviously, diet soda has no carbs, calories, or fat, just some sodium, so while it may make you retain some water, it won't add physical lbs.

Personally, I drink water when I'm at home, when I go out to eat, which is typically a few times a month, I get diet pop there. It hasn't hurt me yet.

I definately use diet sodas to treat myself. Zero calories and sweet - gotta like that!

I don't drink diet sodas and I don't use artificial/chemical sweetners.  They may have no calories, but they still mess up your glycemic index. 

I read that diet soda's fake sugars can sometimes make your hunger increase and have certain cravings...I myself drink at least one can a day. it wont add weight because it is basically carbonated water with little sodium and fake sugar...if it did add weight, u would not be where u are.congrats on ur weight loss...keep it up, and dont worry about diet sodas...they were invented for a reason and lets take advantage of them.

my vote is with plaidpooka . . .

I've been drinking substantial amounts of Diet Coke (>1L) almost every day since I was 4 years old (I'm 22 now).

I don't think it had any impact on my weight whatsoever. I drank it when I was thin, when I was gaining weight, when I was obese, and now. If anything it makes me feel fuller now.

Most people will crave foods after consuming a diet soda because it is sweet not because the aspartame does anything physically to your body.  The link to the raised glycemic response is purely psychological.  If we CRAVE sweet foods our GI will raise automatically regardless if we've been consuming aspartame or not.  

So, if drinking diet sodas helps you satisfy that sweet tooth then go ahead and drink them.

When I first started cutting back my intake (at the time I didn't consider it a diet. One frozen waffle instead of two for breakfast? Yogurt instead of icecream? Didn't sound like a diet to me XD), one of the first things I did was switch to Diet Soda. I weighed 140 pounds at the time, now I hover around 120-123 pretty consistantly. It was a great way for me to cut calories, and I doubt it hindered my weight loss enormously. Now regular soda tastes weird to me, and makes my stomach upset.

As a biopharmaceutical student, I've done my research in the medical journals about the effects of various artificial sweeteners. The results have thus far been inconclusive about their "safety". Most studies have shown no negative effects, whereas some tout it as a possible carcinogen and causative agent of Alzheimers disease.

The way I see the issue is this. You can point out a negative aspect for almost every food out there (multiple for some!). The truth is that we place inappropriate amounts of percieved risk on certain things in relation to other. The chemicals used in our carpets and upholstery (polybrominated compounds) have a much broader long-ranging impact on our health than aspartame has been shown to possess (thus far). The secret is everything in moderation...

I drink diet pop myself and I find it helps me feel psychologically fuller as I still equate the sweetness as being a treat. If it works this way for you, I say go for it. Just make sure that you aren't individually sensitive to the sweeteners themselves and that you don't drink gallons a day to the exclusion of better liquid alternatives.

My two cents looks more like a two dollar lecture. I guess I've had this discussion too many times with my bf and I'm a seasoned professional now! Cheers!

In moderation, 95% of things are totally fine for you, including diet sodas.

Valhenderson!  Finally someone with experience to back up their opinion.

My thoughts exactly, there are many natural chemicals that people eat that can bad for the body in excess, like pure sugars and saturated fats.

Damn Val, that was very well said.

Many thanks for the informative post, based on facts and not just opinion.

The only thing that is always good for you is chocolate... I refuse to listen to any scientific evidence against it cuz my heart might break...

Although the labour and human rights ethics behind the chocolate industry definitely put the stick in my wheels... Too bad.

Thanks for the kind words guys... I've only started here about 3 days ago myself :)

Who cares about the weight loss issue - I don't drink sodas - diet or otherwise - because of the phosphorous. It causes bones to leach calcium. My mother is a soda addict and she has severe osteoporosis. My DH is a soda addict and he had his first grey hair by 30 (a sign of already weakening bones).

Maybe for us adults it's too late, but if there are any teens following this thread, do yourself a favor, and just say no on the sodas. Even in moderation, it appears that they are detrimental to the bones.

I used to drink 4-5 cans of DDPs a day.  I had heartburn all the time.  I found Calorie-Count on Feb 19.  I have been very strict with eating healthy, excercising and drinking water, water and more water.  For some reason, I have lost all interest in diet drinks.  I don't miss them at all.  I don't feel bloated like I used to.  And the heartburn is gone!  I think I'm in my "healthy place" state of mind now.  Oh yeah, I've gone from 209 to 197.  I feel like I am on the road to my old slim self.

I have a diet DP about once a week. I like the taste and the "treat" but don't need the extra sodium etc. making me retain water (and upping the # on the scale). Plus I had also read that business a long time ago about it leaching calcium from your bones.

We had a football player on the campus where I work who was really pushing his weightlifting one night, doing great it seemed. Right in the middle of it all his humerus shattered, pieces went right through his skin. Strong, impressive muscles don't do you much good when your bones are brittle. I don't know much about him but my theory is he was one of those kids raised on too many sodas and not enough milk.

In response to the original question "diet soda yes or no?", I agree with the "everything in moderation theory". If it helps with your cravings, then why not. Besides, the FDA wouldn't allow all of the children's medications out there to contain the "fake sugar" if it had been proven that it was that detrimental. Also, congrats on your success thus far.

However, a side comment about what ravenlark said regarding the glycemic response. It is NOT a psychological response. It is a physical response to the "fake sugar". This is why you crave food when you drink a diet drink and most nutrition experts would tell you to eat something (even just a handful of peanuts) whenever you have a diet drink. When you ingest sugar (or anything for that matter) your body releases insulin to help "eat" it. The real sugar has carbs that the insulin can "eat". The "fake sugar" (ie. a diet drink) doesn't have any carbs, but your body can tell you've ingested someting so it attempts to "eat" it and sends out insulin. If you haven't had additional food with your diet drink, then there isn't anything there for the insulin to "eat" and you will "crave" or possible get light headed and dizzy depending on how you personally respond.

Of course, I've over-simplified the process so I don't take up a whole page, but after years of battling Hypothyroidism, PCOS, and pre-Diabetes, I have gathered a little knowledge about real/fake sugars and can guarantee the glycemic response is very real.

Good luck to everyone with the "healthy eating"! :-)

I think that if your trying to lose weight and be healthy then why would you want to put those chemicals like aspartame into your body?

I lost 102 pounds and drink way too much diet soda...like 2 64 ozers a day!! I know.....but as far as the weight loss thing...it didn't hurt me at all.

I have gathered a little knowledge about real/fake sugars and can guarantee the glycemic response is very real.

Did you gather this?

"RENWICK, A. G. Intense sweeteners, food intake and the weight of a body of evidence. PHYSIOL BEHAV 55(1) 139-143, 1994.-A review of published data shows that although intense sweeteners have been shown to increase hunger ratings in sorne studies in humans, this has not been a consistent and reproducible observation. Any slight effect on pereeived hunger has not been translated into an increase in food ingestion or effects on blood concentrations of insulin or glucose. Studies on the covert substitution of caloric sweeteners by intense sweeteners have shown either a decrease or no change in body weight. The published database does not support the concept that the consumption of intense sweeteners results in a paradoxical increase in calorie intake and body weight."

And

"What is very clear from all of these studles Is that intense sweeteners do not significantly affect blood glucose levels so that there would not be this physiological stimulus for an increase in percelved hunger."