Are Diet Soft Drinks Bad for You?

[Enigma]

I've stopped drinking diet sodas completely with only the occasional soda* (not daily, maybe a can or two for the whole week) and switched to water. Diet sodas didn't affect my need for sweets, in fact I had less of a craving for sweets. Same with water. I just stuck to water because I could not justify the expense for something that wasn't helping me with losing weight. I've been eating a couple of Jello (not the pudding) cups for breaks but switched to sugar free version since it tastes the same but contains no sugar an only has 5 calories per cup.

*This past week I basically drank a bottle of Mountian Dew (Pitch Black, Voltage, Orange) each night before my shift because my energy level was way too low. I barely got any rest as the cushion for the CPAP mask was ripped in two and I have been using it since February. The company (Lincare) that deals with CPAP and CPAP supplies have been grossly incompetent and have been lying through their teeth. So now my insurance is involved wondering what the hell are they doing. So yeah, I'm tired but getting progressively worse as Lincare keeps running in circles.

[Sturmfalke]

Naturally; the article is from Nature, 2014, and involves some fairly complex genetics, but the gist is that artificial sweeteners of several common sorts cause mutations in gut flora (fully transplantable in animal trials; not tried in human trials obviously) which severely impact glucose processing, leading to prediabetic and diabetic states in mice as well as in humans. The human trial was two-phased, with a small subset of volunteers from a larger clinical trial given high doses of artificial sweeteners to establish human biological plasuibility with immediate and very strong results; the rest of the trial had more usual dosages, and saw a corresponding rise in the same conditions. I'll dig up the cancer-link ones when I've got a chance, but some of them are cited in this paper, I think.

Sturmfalke, if you're interested in improving your health, by far the best thing you can do for yourself is walk 30 minutes to an hour a day; again, citations as soon as I can find them, but this paper used the Whitehall II study in London if you don't want to wait. Diet-wise, portion control (as a proxy for energy intake/expenditure balance) is the key, not simply cutting out whole categories of foods.

Thanks, I'll see if I can get the entire article.

Actually, I don't think I need to exercise more or make significant changes to my diet. I've found out what works for me (exercise about 4 times a week and a diet with a low proportion of carbs) and I'll stick to it. That I was successful with this after years of obesity is of course no proof of its general effectiveness, so I wouldn't recommend it as a panacea.

Regarding diet soda, my impression so far was that they were a harmless alternative. If this turns out not to be the case, I will try to drink less of them in the future.

[Broomstick]

An occasional diet soda is probably no problem - but far too many people drink it by the liter. Drinking anything other than water by the liter is probably not a good thing, and certainly not as good as potable water.

[Elfdart]

I lost over 40 pounds very quickly by switching to Diet Dr Pepper. It's the one diet soda that is drinkable, provided you drink it over ice and with food.

[Enigma]

I lost over 40 pounds very quickly by switching to Diet Dr Pepper. It's the one diet soda that is drinkable, provided you drink it over ice and with food.

Except it still contains caffeine. Something I am trying to reduce consumption of.

[Elfdart]

They make caffeine free Diet Dr Pepper.

[General Zod]

I lost over 40 pounds very quickly by switching to Diet Dr Pepper. It's the one diet soda that is drinkable, provided you drink it over ice and with food.

Except it still contains caffeine. Something I am trying to reduce consumption of.

Quitting cold turkey isn't too bad, but the first couple of days of migraines suck.

[Me2005]

An occasional diet soda is probably no problem - but far too many people drink it by the liter. Drinking anything other than water by the liter is probably not a good thing, and certainly not as good as potable water.

Anecdotally, I've known people who start drinking diet Coke and for whatever reason they all end up drinking it by the case. Where I'm maxed out at about a can every 3 hours of regular non-diet soda (though I prefer to keep it to one or two a day tops, sometimes it sneaks up to 3-5).

So if that's applicable, just dropping 1-2 cans a day of regular soda will probably be better long-term than switching to diet. And then you can let yourself down slowly rather than making a cold-turkey switch. Do it by packing the cans you'll drink for the day rather than bringing a case or buying them on site, and then reducing the number of cans as the weeks go by.

Anyway, for those who don't like water: Your water is bad. I thought I didn't like water for 20+ years, then started working at a company that provided a water cooler. The big bottles that go in the cooler aren't nearly as costly as little bottles at a store (~$1/gallon as opposed to $1/20 oz or whatever) and taste infinitely better than the stuff I'm getting out of my tap, even if I filter the tap. Another option is to drink running water, for whatever reason I find it tastes way better straight from the tap/fountain/river/waterfall than if I pour it into a cup. I figure it must be the exhilaration of running down and killing my own water rather than leisurely sipping someone else's kill.

[General Zod]

So if that's applicable, just dropping 1-2 cans a day of regular soda will probably be better long-term than switching to diet. And then you can let yourself down slowly rather than making a cold-turkey switch.

I don't know if letting yourself down slowly actually makes a significant difference. When I quit the worst of the effects lasted for about three days and then I was fine.

[Broomstick]

Another option is to drink running water, for whatever reason I find it tastes way better straight from the tap/fountain/river/waterfall than if I pour it into a cup. I figure it must be the exhilaration of running down and killing my own water rather than leisurely sipping someone else's kill.

Better aeration.

Try shaking up water that's been sitting for a bit, that usually makes it taste better.

[His Divine Shadow]

I rememebr reading about a danish study that tested people who drank 1 liter of either soda, diet soda, milk or water, every day for 6 months. The people who drank all three groups aside from soda where quite normal before and after when blood tests and such where performed, milk drinkers had a bit more subcutaneous fat but also slightly better blood values than the other groups. Soda drinkers (coke was the drink) though had worsened every stat. So in this study going from soda to diet soda would be a substantial improvement. It's main weakness was a small test group.


Also juice can be as bad as soda and has an over inflated reputation as a healthy drink. Nevermind they add sugar to most juices if you buy instead of squeeze your own. There's one principal rule that is really sensible if you wanna loose weight and eat healthier and it is: Eat your calories, don't drink them. It's just way too easy to down a massive amount of calories by drinking rather than eating solid food. I'd also say it's less enjoyable.

It's too bad this guy isn't in english because he's extremely methodical and empirical and read (and understands) studies and their methodologies and gives quality advice, guess it can be google translated though:
http://traningslara.se/series/drick-inte-dina-kalorier/

[Broomstick]

When I was a kid, when you had a "glass of orange juice" it was the juice of just one orange, about 60ml. Now, when people have a "glass of juice" it's typically 4-6 times that amount. Can you imagine eating 6 oranges along with a meal? Rinse and repeat for every other fruit juice out there. 60ml of juice is healthy, 6 times that eat time you sit down to eat is not.

Same for the vegetable juicing fad - a kilo of vegetables reduced to a glass of juice, for example. That glass also has the calories of a kilo of vegetables, not to mention being quite wasteful because you'll be using up 5 times or more the quantity of vegetables you would otherwise.

For the most part you should be eating your fruits and vegetables, not drinking them.

[Simon_Jester]

On those occasions when I actually muster the focus and willpower to seriously try to lose weight, I tend to dilute the heck out of things like orange juice- because I'm accustomed to drinking massive quantities of liquid, but if I can keep the actual calorie-containing part down, it's less of a problem.

[Raw Shark]

On those occasions when I actually muster the focus and willpower to seriously try to lose weight, I tend to dilute the heck out of things like orange juice- because I'm accustomed to drinking massive quantities of liquid, but if I can keep the actual calorie-containing part down, it's less of a problem.

I use diet ginger ale for this. The flavor blends well with orange and cranberry, and the carbonation gives it a nice effervescence and makes me feel full faster.

[Jaepheth]

When I was a kid, when you had a "glass of orange juice" it was the juice of just one orange, about 60ml. Now, when people have a "glass of juice" it's typically 4-6 times that amount. Can you imagine eating 6 oranges along with a meal? Rinse and repeat for every other fruit juice out there. 60ml of juice is healthy, 6 times that eat time you sit down to eat is not.

Same for the vegetable juicing fad - a kilo of vegetables reduced to a glass of juice, for example. That glass also has the calories of a kilo of vegetables, not to mention being quite wasteful because you'll be using up 5 times or more the quantity of vegetables you would otherwise.

For the most part you should be eating your fruits and vegetables, not drinking them.

Heh, actual statement I've heard about juicing:

"You have to juice to get the nutrients now because vegetables aren't as nutritious as they used to be."

[Broomstick]

Yeah, I've heard that, too.

And it's bullshit.

[Elheru Aran]

When I was a kid, when you had a "glass of orange juice" it was the juice of just one orange, about 60ml. Now, when people have a "glass of juice" it's typically 4-6 times that amount. Can you imagine eating 6 oranges along with a meal? Rinse and repeat for every other fruit juice out there. 60ml of juice is healthy, 6 times that eat time you sit down to eat is not.

Same for the vegetable juicing fad - a kilo of vegetables reduced to a glass of juice, for example. That glass also has the calories of a kilo of vegetables, not to mention being quite wasteful because you'll be using up 5 times or more the quantity of vegetables you would otherwise.

For the most part you should be eating your fruits and vegetables, not drinking them.

Heh, actual statement I've heard about juicing:

"You have to juice to get the nutrients now because vegetables aren't as nutritious as they used to be."

Soooo... throwing veggies in a blender, somehow makes them more nutritious? Because the blender is injecting extra vitamins and stuff in them, and all that?

Although there is somewhat of an argument to be made for what amounts to essentially pre-macerating the food in order to make it more rapidly digestible, I suppose...

[Ralin]

Soooo... throwing veggies in a blender, somehow makes them more nutritious? Because the blender is injecting extra vitamins and stuff in them, and all that?

Although there is somewhat of an argument to be made for what amounts to essentially pre-macerating the food in order to make it more rapidly digestible, I suppose...

I think the idea is that drinking the juice means effectively eating more veggies and thus getting more nutrients. See above about a kilo of vegetables making one glass of juice.

[General Zod]

Soooo... throwing veggies in a blender, somehow makes them more nutritious? Because the blender is injecting extra vitamins and stuff in them, and all that?

Although there is somewhat of an argument to be made for what amounts to essentially pre-macerating the food in order to make it more rapidly digestible, I suppose...

I think the idea is that drinking the juice means effectively eating more veggies and thus getting more nutrients. See above about a kilo of vegetables making one glass of juice.

It's not actually supported by any kind of research. Some foods shouldn't be juiced at all.

[Ralin]

It's not actually supported by any kind of research. Some foods shouldn't be juiced at all.

I'm not surprised. I was just explaining the probable logic.

[Starglider]

I've decided to terminate the soda consumption entirely. This thread reminded me to check my weight and it has exceeded 200lbs, mostly due to minimal exercise recently, which is a bit sad (BMI approaching 28). According to the NHS web site, I need to reduce my mass by 13% to be considered healthy. Removing the soda should help but I really need to reinstate daily exercise; difficult at present due to being required to hold the baby from when I get home to midnight or so.

[Me2005]

I've decided to terminate the soda consumption entirely. This thread reminded me to check my weight and it has exceeded 200lbs, mostly due to minimal exercise recently, which is a bit sad (BMI approaching 28). According to the NHS web site, I need to reduce my mass by 13% to be considered healthy. Removing the soda should help but I really need to reinstate daily exercise; difficult at present due to being required to hold the baby from when I get home to midnight or so.

Strap 'em in a chest holder and walk around town. It's what I've done while they're at the "screaming for no good reason" stage. Or baby-lifts (basically do a bench or shoulder press, but with the baby), they usually like that.

[General Zod]

I've decided to terminate the soda consumption entirely. This thread reminded me to check my weight and it has exceeded 200lbs, mostly due to minimal exercise recently, which is a bit sad (BMI approaching 28). According to the NHS web site, I need to reduce my mass by 13% to be considered healthy. Removing the soda should help but I really need to reinstate daily exercise; difficult at present due to being required to hold the baby from when I get home to midnight or so.

The problem is once you've been at a higher weight for so long your body's metabolism really slows down, and it doesn't really go back up again, even if you lose the weight. You could always consider purchasing a treadmill.

[Raw Shark]

The problem is once you've been at a higher weight for so long your body's metabolism really slows down, and it doesn't really go back up again, even if you lose the weight. You could always consider purchasing a treadmill.

Disagree: My metabolism went way back up after I started exercising again, I lost plenty of weight, and I do not own a treadmill - I walk and ride my bike around my neighborhood.

[SCRawl]

My eldest daughter was quite the uncomfortable baby, until we figured out that something in her tummy was making her cranky. When we started carrying her upside down (i.e. on her stomach instead of on her back) she cried a great deal less, and seemed to be much more comfortable.

Sometimes, she could only be made to go to sleep by being laid down on my (or her mother's) torso, again stomach down.

None of these things will help you get in more time for exercise while simultaneously handling your child, Starglider, I just like to reminisce sometimes.