I LOVE SODA! but..

I'm trying to cut back..a lot.. Acually I'd like to not drink it at all.

It seems impossible though...at least for me.

But is it true that diet sodas are bad for you?

I'm drinking a lot of water but being a BIG liquidator, I'd like to drink something other than water...But healthy!

Something that I can drink everyday and stop these soda cravings.

HELP

I love soda as well.  Regular soda is way too sweet for me (I was never allowed to drink it as a child) so I only drink diet.  I drink about 80 oz. of water every day and I only start drinking soda once I've finished my daily water intake.  I also can never finish the whole can at once so I stick it back in the 'fridge for later instead of wasting multiple cans.  If sugar or caffeine are the issues you are worried about, you can try fresca.  It has only natural flavorings, no calories, and no caffeine.  

Coca-Cola Zero is GREAT.  It tastes like the real stuff but has 0 calories.  I drink at least 1 diet soda a day to help my craving for carbonated/sweet drinks. 

drink water.  it's good for you, good for the environment.  and you don't need bottled water; get a stainless steel water bottle and drink straight out of the tap.

i drink milk mixed with black tea &splenda when i want something other than water

I was a soda freak too (diet orange drink) but since being on a diet, I've stopped drinking them completely.  I learned (on this forum) that diet beverages trigger your appetite for sweet foods and it is best to eliminate them completely.

 A few weeks ago, my husband and I were on a long car trip and I bought one - BUT, I hated it!  Weird, huh?  It just had a funny, yucky taste and I threw it out.

 I'm not big on water either, but drink it regardless.   So, I would advise going some period of time without drinking any soda drinks and see if the same thing happens to you.  For me it was a good habit to break.  Good luck

Yeah diet sodas are pretty bad for you. They're filled with artificial sweeteners which are terrible for you. Aspartame is filled with neurotoxins and sucralose has methanol and arsenic. Regular soda provides absolutely no nutritional value, neither does diet. Diet soda may have 0 calories- but that doesn't make it good for you.

You should try drinking water reguardless-because you're body needs it survive and to flush out all the bad stuff. But if you absolutely hate it plain, add some lemon or make some tea or try some crystal light.

You can also try making your own juice. Like juicing an apple, berries, pears, mangos, kiwis, carrots, pomegrenate, ginger, etc.

Or make a smoothie! My favourite is blending chocolate soy milk, a sliced banana and some sliced strawberries. Mmm... Blueberries + banana and vanilla soy milk is also great. Or chocolate soy milk with banana and natural peanut butter.

And a good natural sweetener is agave nectar. Tastes a lot like honey and it's completely organic and safe!

That smoothie drink sounds delicious! Great idea. I think I will try that soon!

I'm doing pretty good on not having soda so far...no cravings yet.

how bout iced tea or lemonade. Both nice and sweet, but you can get all natural kinda or make them yourself. Much healthier! The aspartame in diet pops can cause horrific problems, hense why I'm trying to quit, and the amount of caffeine and strange ingrediants you can't pronounce in pop is probably a good enough reason to cut back entirely.

I'm totally addicted to Wal-mart's Sams choice flavored water. No clue if it's good or bad for you, all I know it's yummie and 0 calories. It's in the isle with the nuts, tea drinks and bottled water, or well, atleast in mine it is.

Original Post by lhtrahan:

Yeah diet sodas are pretty bad for you. They're filled with artificial sweeteners which are terrible for you. Aspartame is filled with neurotoxins and sucralose has methanol and arsenic. Regular soda provides absolutely no nutritional value, neither does diet. Diet soda may have 0 calories- but that doesn't make it good for you.

I noticed in your post after this one you recommended Crystal Light.  Does Crystal Light contain an artificial sweetener?  If it doesn't and is better for you than diet sodas (the yucky stuff you mentioned in the above post sounds pretty scary!), I think I'll try it.

Sometimes it's the carbanation I want.  I tend to drink Perrier or Crystal Geyser Flavored waters.   They are flavored with natural flavorings and *don't*have artificial sweetners.  Check when getting any flavored waters. Some are sweetened with artificial sweeteners which has been mentioned are very bad.  You could also try natural sparkling juices for that fizzyness.

oops forgot a major word in that sentence.

I agree with everyone who says to avoid diet drinks. The artificial sweeteners really do train your palate to crave sweet things (not to mention they are TOXIC). I would try drinking iced or hot green tea. The flavor (to me anyway) is somewhat sweet on its own, unlike a black tea which can be bitter. I also drink Canada Dry sparkling water (the plain kind) when I want something with a little fizz. Try adding a splash of juice to it when you want something sweet. It's delicious that way. There are many brands of sparkling water that sweeten without using artificial ingredients. It's an adjustment, but after a while, diet soda will taste like the garbage it is if you substitute other things for long enough.

No matter what kind of soda, I try to have only one per week.  Besides drinking water, here are some of my favorite Non-soda drinks:

1) Arizona Arnold Palmer Lite, 50 calories per serving (Arnold Palmer is half Iced Tea/Half Lemonade...so it's not too sweet!)

2) 3/4 club soda with 1/4 reduced calorie cranberry juice

3) Chai Latte, with Skim Milk...only everyonce in a while!

I don't worry about artificial sweeteners, but I do avoid all soda because of the phosphoric acid content. Some research indicates that phosphoric acid can contribute to bone loss, so if you have a history of osteoporosis in your family, you probably want to avoid it as much as possible. I do drink diet sodas on occasion, but I try not to make it a habit.

I like putting a little lemon or orange slice in my water - just for some tast!

I can't wait to go grocery shopping later to get all these nice healthy drinks yall suggested! But I'm still definately drinking a lot of water.

 My friend told me that drinking diet sodas now can contribute to weight gain in the future...

=/

Ok, first, let me say that crystal light DOES have artificial sweetner (aspartame). Second, the idea that artificial sweetners are bad for you is not proven.

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/aspartam e.asp

This is not saying that they are good for you, either.  But until proven otherwise, I believe they are a useful tool to those of us trying to reduce our calorie intake.  Some people will have reactions to the sweetner, but some people have reactions to sugar, some to chicken, etc.  Its a matter of what your body can handle.

I personally can't stand water, and drink crystal light to get my water intake.  I also drink sparkling water (I like the safeway select strawberry watermelon), and sprite zero.  These all have aspartame as the sweetner.

And the reason diet soda is known to lead to weight gain has nothing to do with the soda itself.  It has to do with the mindset. They explain it here:

http://www.prevention.com/cda/article/can-die t-soda-make-you-fat/cbfb8169c1903110VgnVCM200 00012281eac____/weight.loss/strategies.for.su ccess/diet.sabotage/?trafficsource=PVSL_2005_ 09_14

The one thing to watch out for with diet sodas is caffiene.  Caffiene is a diuretic.  In my nutrition class, my instructor recommended only counting caffienated sodas, teas, and coffees as half their weight in oz.  IE, if you drink a 20 oz bottle of soda, you can count 10 oz of fluid.

I love diet sodas. =]   I have no idea what people mean when they say they make you crave sweet things. In fact, if I have a craving for something sweet (very rare) I'll just have a can of diet soda and I'll be fine. Everyone's different!

I agree with wistfulthinking.  My family was in the soda pop business from 1890 to 1960.  I have been drinking Coca cola all my life, worked there  growing up and I suppose have drank thousands of gallons of coke in my life time.  I'm now 73 and still kicking and great health just too damn fat.  Not from coke but beer and pretzels.  These nutritionists are always coming up with something that is going to kill you. It alows them to write a book and make a few bucks.  Remember when cranberries was the end of humanity. Then it was eggs, than butter now eggs and butter are ok,  it's margarine and trans fat.  Who knows what it will be tommorrow. They test mice and equate it to humans.  They don't tell you a human has to consume 2000lbs and day of the item they want you to believe will kill you.

If I understand the concept of this site, it is counting CALORIES.  Eat less than you burn and you lose weight.  Diet SODA has no calories therefore no weight gain.  OH, but your fooling you body into thinking your getting something that tastes good and must have calories in it.  Ok now you body is MAD and going to get back at you by making you crave and eat more  FATNING FOOD.   BUNK BUNK BUNK