Can I drink diet sodas?

It seems like everyone has sworn off all sodas, so could someone
explain whats so bad about sodas??  What if its diet, should you
still not drink them?  I find myself drinking a can of diet soda
once every 2 days or so.... sometimes more often.  Should I cut
back?

What do you call a soda? Do you mean Diet Coke? That's alright to drink. There's no sugar added. Have you checked the nutritional table?

I seriously drink at least 2 liters of diet coke a day. No, it's probably not good for me, and yeah, I'm probably getting way too much caffeine, but I love it. I haven't noticed any problems from my diet coke addiction, aside from the addiction part -- if I don't drink it I get a headache. At the levels you're consuming diet coke, you should have no problems whatsoever. Others on this list will probably contradict me, but in my opinion you are fine.

edit: spelling. it's hard to type w/ a cat on your lap...

hmm, your right. I forgot were not all from the same part of the
country.  When I say "soda" I mean "pop", "cola", and basically
anything fizzy.  Like Dr. Pepper and Pepsi and drinks like
that.  Of course I would drink them all in their diet versions.

If you're trying to lose weight I probably wouldn't drink sodas or pop. So you could drink diet pop, theres no calories, or not many anyway.. If you don't mind drinking all the terrible sugar replacements like aspartame or splenda which are terrible for you.

And diet pop isn't that good tasting anyway.

I would have to disagree with you...diet pop tastes good!  lol Atleast to me anyways.!

I'm in love with diet root beer.  The good stuff from the glass bottle.  omg *drool*  one of those things has me uber full too.  

I've heard that diet soda actually contributes to weight gain :/

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/06/13/hea lth/webmd/main701408.shtml

Just be careful that you don't tell yourself I saved this amount of calories on a diet soda I am going to treat myself to more calories. 
Also carbonated water may weaken your bones.  There are studies going on about this now.

Sodioum. Thats about it.

I drink four cans a day, no shame here, and it didn't/dosn't hinder my progress at all.

When I began my weight loss journey, I completely stopped drinking regular sodas and switched to diet ones.  Now, I can't even stand the taste of regulr sodas.  They are way too sweet to me.  I think as long as one drinks plenty of water during the day that there is nothing wrong with drinking diet sodas. 

Oh, and I'm right there with the person who mentioned diet root beer.  I love the stuff too! 

My absoute favorite drink is IBS Cream Soda. It comes in a bottle. I'm sure the root beer is good too, but I hate the taste of root beer.

I just came across but have to pipe in... I read the article linked above that states "statistically" diet drinks lead to obesitiy...

first, we all know statistics can be swayed what ever way we choose, so I always take studies based on statistics with a grain of salt.

but I will say in my simple observation a lot of obese people drink diet pop and it appears to me many think because they are drinking diet they can splurge on other foods. the classic I see is someone super-sizing a McDonalds meal and then gets diet pop, what the hell is the point of diet pop if you are already over-eating at mcdonalds.

i drink quite a bit of diet soada and so does my wife. combined we have lost 160 lbs both of us have had recent check ups and are in the best health since we have known each other(13 yrs). all that said diet ibc is great but you have to try the diet A&W soooo much better and 1/2 the price

"One possible part of the explanation is that people who see they are beginning to gain weight may be more likely to switch from regular to diet soda," Fowler suggests. "But despite their switching, their weight may continue to grow for other reasons. So diet soft-drink use is a marker for overweight and obesity."

Why did the media not have this on the first page? The study doesn't show that "Diet Soda Drinkers Gain Weight" it shows that people who are over weight drink diet soda.

But if you are looking for health effects Cola drinking may weak(en) women('s) bone(s). Key passage "No evidence exists that occasional use of carbonated beverages, including cola, is detrimental to bone," they note. "However, unless additional evidence rules out an effect, women who are concerned about osteoporosis may want to avoid the regular use of cola beverages."

I already posted on the other thread re. the nutritional value of diet sodas (not the best, but probably won't give you cancer), so I will save that for another time.  However, I too, have heard that consuming a lot of artificial sweetners can be somehow linked to obesity.  From what I remember, the jist was that artificial sweetners taste SOOOOO sweet, when test subjects had the option to consume real sugar after given artificial sweetners, they consumed more.  It seems that consuming the artificial sweetners kind of impairs your ability to judge how sweet things should be/taste.  Food for thought.  Overall though, more power to ya if you want to drink diet soda- it's a step in the right direction!

jmellow, were you thinking of this study?

Artificial Sweeteners May Damage Diet Efforts

Key paragragh left out of the headline:

"The message is not to give up your diet soda and go drink a regular soda," says researcher Susan Swithers, PhD, associate professor of psychological sciences at Purdue University. "But when you do drink beverages you probably need to pay a little more attention to whether they have calories or not and what the consequences of that fact will be on the rest of your diet."

mfchill- yes!  So interesting, don't you think?  I love evolutionary bio!!! :-D

there is also a thread in the food section about artificial sweeteners like aspartame and other products like that in sodas. basically, its a personal choice of whether you want those kinds of things in your body. most of the time, your body can't use those kinds of artificial sweeteners. a lot of people actually feel sick from eating foods with these additives and don't realize it.

I treat myself to a can of diet coke a day but I also tell myself that for that can of soda that I drink, I must drink 8oz of water for it.... in addition to the 80oz I drink daily. Did I say 80oz?? Boy, no wonder why sometimes I feel like a camel. lol

Highly debatable subject matter. 

For me I love my diet drinks - Dr pepper, pepsi Crystal light doesnt matter.  I don't have any side effects from the fake sugar substitute.  I have switched from regular to the caffeine free varieties though.  I still have my pot of coffee each morning though.  There are just some things I don't want to give up.  Quitting smoking was hard enough and to deprive myself of my sodas would just be too much.