what do you guys think of diet sodas?

good for you? bad for you? make you gain? help you lose?

Taste like poison and not worth it.  A lot of soda has cut way back on how bad it used to be.    Such as this 12 ounce of DR Pepper sitting in front of me  has only 150 calories, a ton of sodium and no fat.  While not great for you it at least still tastes good.   I honestly drink pop (soda) just to keep my calorie count high enough so i dont turn into a frail little thing.   Honestly i could have a can of non diet pop or eat a thing of yogurt, that choice is not hard for me at all...    But yes diet pop still tastes like poison, only the most vile of people can handle drinking that.... you arent a vile person, are you?    God im helpful arent i...  

GROSS!

aspartame  has many side effects, and is not worth it.  

I love Diet Sodas! But I don't know how bad they are. I keep hearing the same arguments: it's not bad or it's terrible!

Diet sodas always helped me lose because they make me feel full with their carbonation and they taste good. I don't buy all the aspertame/splenda hysteria, but I'm still not sure they are so healthy. I am trying to cut down on how much I drink. I probably have like one a day. 

I was one of those who resisted drinking diet sodas for years...until I finally switched from regular to diet 3 years ago. I hated the aftertaste, but I discovered that it takes about 3 weeks for the tastebuds to get used to the diet. So, I stuck it out, and now, I can't go back to regular sodas. For me, there is nothing better than Diet Dr. Pepper and ice-cold Diet Coke (especially at restaurants. Go figure). Both are relatively low in sodium, too. I also love, love, love Jones Diet Green Apple soda. I've limited my soda intake in recent months, but the scale seems to move downward whether or not I have diet soda during the day (I usually have less than 24 oz on any given day). As for the aspartame/Splenda hype, I don't buy into it. People have been drinking diet sodas for years, and without ill effects. If you're thinking of switching from regular soda to diet, be patient and give it 2-3 weeks, and you WILL get used to it.

by the time it is definative whether the sweetners are really bad for you i think it will be too late for many of us either way.

HOWEVER one thing that is relatively undisputed (amongst dentists anyway) is that too many soft drinks DO ERODE the enamel on your teeth. (particularly if you sip them through out the day). Whilst this effect is not confined to soda and is also caused by orange juice etc. it really does start to have an impact on your teeth if you are drinking alot. Apparently diet coke is less acidic than normal coke (ie does less damage to your teeth) but i don't know about the other myriad of diet options that seem to be available in the states.

So if you are drinking alot (ie more than 3-4 cans a day) you might want to take this into account, by finding out which options are less acidic, (ie have a higher pH number) chewing gum and drinking water after consumption, and NEVER brush teeth straight after drinking, always wait at least 30 minutes so the soften enamel has time to harden again, and doesn't get brushed straight off.

yes I am definitely for diet dr. pepper, its better than the real thing! And if you like cream, diet Mug cream is good too. Its always helped me lose weight, bc its a suppressent for me. I'm drinking zero calories instead of eating god knows what

I LOVE diet pepsi. But I try not to drink it because about 30 minutes after I drink one I become ravenously hungry.

I am a huge Coke Zero fan...I drink probably 6 cans or more a day. I also drink 64 or more ounces of water as well. I also have water while working out. I drink pretty much all day and well I spend just about as much time in the bathroom as well = ) I have lost 76 lbs so far and still loosing. I have about 9 more to go to hit goal!!!

I have a hate/need relationship with Diet Soda.

The fact is.. I'm not sure that sugar substitutes are, in any way, good for you. They haven't been found to be bad for you, yet, but that doesn't mean they won't in the future. On the other hand, they're low calorie and not the worst thing you could drink. Soda does contain caffeine which is a mild diuretic, but not a strong one, so drinking a soda, you still get more water than you lose.

My response is.. it's not the worst thing you could have, and alot better than regular soda, but water is the best choice altogether.

Do your own research on aspartame if you are concerned, and weight your sources according to credibility.  The article posted (like so many other internet articles) is very suspect - even if there is good information in there, it is mixed in with some out and out lies.  The 'terrible compounds aspartame supposedly breaks down into' section is particularly amusing.

That said, like everything else, artificial sweeteners should be taken in moderation.  Different people have different reactions to them (like most chemicals).  I wouldn't drink more than one a day in any case.  I am not an aspartame activist by any means, but it is not the demon that many would have you believe.

I personally keep diet sodas and have them as a treat when I really crave something sweet.  It's better to drink a diet Dr. Pepper than eat an ice-cream or a chocolate and if you eat few enough sweets they can fill that niche.

"good for you? bad for you? make you gain? help you lose?"


I guess: "Helps you GAIN" is the right phrase.

They are the reason for many people why they are overweight! They make you hungry and that's because they attack your most important organ besides your heart, your brain!

Your brain needs carbs, suggar, to work well and diet, light, softdrinks don't contain any sugar or carbs at all, however not only your taste gets fooled also your body itself. That's what happens when you drink a bottle diet coke: Your body thinks, "oh great, so much sugar, get the insulin going pancreas! We need a lot to deal with that much sugar!"

And now there is a load of insulin floating arround, but the problem is, it isn't doing anything, cause it can't gain energy from the artificial sweeteners. So your brain takes over:"where is my energy? I need to get energy now, with all that insulin arround"

There we go, you get an eat attack and want to eat more and more, specially carbs, sweet stuff. It's hard to withstand that, at least for me it was, until I completely stopped drinking that stuff, today I only drink a glass a month or so, to a meal.

I'm no nutritionist, but that's so far what I know about those "diet drinks" ^^

Too much of anything is bad for you, and that includes diet soda. But only some people are sensitive to aspartame; most can consume moderate amounts of it safely.

Water is the best thing to drink. Green tea is probably better than diet soda if you need/want a little bit of caffeine. But unless you're particularly sensitive to the ingredients, a little bit of diet soda isn't going to hurt, and it's preferable to sugar-sweetened soda.

Artificial sweeteners work for me and I would have a far poorer life without them. I probably drink 64 oz at least a day of diet sodas (Diet Coke gets the lion's share but also Diet Coke Plus, Jones Diet Cream Soda, Diet IBC Root Beer, Diet Dr Pepper...). I also drink at least 96 oz a day of plain water. So far, I've lost over 70 lb so for me, at least, the sodas don't seem to be hurting anything weight wise.

Even when I still drank soda, I thought diet soda was crap.  Not only is the taste only vaguely reminiscent of the real thing, but there is no nutritional value to it whatsoever.  I could never understand the caffiene free diet sodas - geez, what's even the point?

I suppose it has its purpose for people who are trying to ween themselves off soda, or just need that sweet fix throughout the day, but I could never drink them.

THey are god, ya they helped me gain weight and loose weight before it all depends on what you want, they make me hungry.

Taste awful and are waste of money.  Here's a suggested replacement: get some carbonated water, add about 2 oz. of your favorite juice (whole juice best) and a couple ice cubes -- enjoy!

I like to squeeze lemons and put the juice in the freezer in ice cube trays.  Then on days like today (close to 100 deg. in calif) I put one lemon cube into a glass of fizzy water.  Ahhhh!

I understand the desire for carbonation (part of the draw in beer)...but the carbonated water with a little something can be a nice treat.  Try it!

It took me a while to switch over I would go to a place that had fountain drinks and do half regular and half diet until it started getting less and less regular and more diet and now I can't stand to drink a regular soda its just too sugary for me now. I especially love putting limes in it mmmm

They're bad for you if you have an allergy to aspartame.  They're also bad for you if you think "I had a diet coke, instead of regular.. so now I can have this cookie."