Diet soda

[TomGreen]

Some internet websites believe the aspartame from the diet drinks cause cancer which is a bit extreme tbh but some also say that it has no bearing on weight loss.

So does this make them neutral in weight loss category? Not healthy, but not necessarily unhealthy?

[Revi]

Makes you crave sugar, doesn't it? So while it's not fattening by itself, it'll make you eat more sugar from other sources, which is both fattening and unhealthy. Unless you're good at exercising self control, in which case just stop drinking soda.'

By themselves I'm not sure how unhealthy they are, but they're certainly not neutral.

[Spectral]

Makes you crave sugar, doesn't it?

Not necessarily. There's wide individual variance on this and that the only way to know whether you'll personally experience that is giving it a shot. Personally, I don't have any sort of hunger or craving surges from sweeteners.

So does this make them neutral in weight loss category?

Again, depends on the individual. For someone accustomed to drinking sodas that would have a difficult time quitting cold turkey, they're certainly going to be much better off drinking a liter of Diet Coke and than regular Coke.

[apepi]

I would honestly drink green tea with honey in it instead.

[Deleted]

Aspartame does not cause cancer. There is neither any controlled studies nor any correlational studies that supports the notion. Aspartame, and other sweeteners, have been heavily studied and in any sane amount they are safe to ingest.

There are some controversy on whatever or not, sweeteners can affect weight. No controlled studies have shown this to be the case. However, there are studies that suggest that sweeteners increase the threshold of your sugary cravings before one is satisfied, this however seems to be mostly related to already obese people. Any evidence that supports the idea of sweeteners affecting weight, seems to come from uncontrolled studies. The common belief from this, seems linked with the previous statement about threshold of cravings. Some people seem to miscalculate or cheat themself when ingesting sweetened products, thinking the calories saved from the beverage can make it okay to eat some extra food or an extra snack.

So in short, diet are safe to ingest and doesn't cause weight gains. However for some people they mess with your cravings and results you to eat more calories than the ones you save by drinking diet instead of regular.

[Sonatine185]

Sodas, regular or diet, are all unhealthy. Regular sodas obviously because of the excessive amounts of sugar and diet sodas because of the artificial chemicals. Im pretty sure of all of them will cause weight gain. Diet sodas directly wouldn't cause you to gain calories, but will indirectly mess with your body and metabolism.

[Deleted]

Diet sodas directly wouldn't cause you to gain calories, but will indirectly mess with your body and metabolism.

Is there any evidence to back that up?

I am drinking a lot of diet soda for years now, and so far did not have any problems because of it.
Does it increase the cravings for sweet stuff? I don't know, maybe, maybe not. But it doesn't really matter if you have a minimum amount of self-control - cravings are cravings, but in the end, you don't have to give in to them. Cravings alone won't magically put sugar in your mouth and thus cause you to gain weight.
The fact is: Replacing regular soda with diet soda can save you a LOT of calories depending on how much you drink. Like around 840 calories per 2 litres.

[Deleted]

Is there any evidence to back that up?

No there is not, he is just spouting random nonsense.

[pkm]

No there is not, he is just spouting random nonsense.

Not random, just the common belief.

The common myths that you hear by word of mouth.

[Hammerfest]

They need to make this stuff again... steel can and all...

[Zvinny]

I grew up drinking all the Mountain Dew and Coke I wanted without ever getting fat, but as I got older and noticed squishy parts that weren't squishy before. I switched to diet pop about a year ago, and lost about 30 pounds without really changing my diet or exercise routines any. I never noticed any craving for sugar, but now when I do have a normal pop, it tastes better, which is nice.

As long as you don't use diet pop as your only weight loss or healthier choice, I think it's pretty safe to drink.

[anakin57]

here's a question for the thread: what are the benefits to drinking diet soda? while there are a lot of studies being done on the negatives of soda, there isnt really anyone anymore stating that this is in any way beneficial. i switched to coffee years ago - more caffeine, better tasting (i drink it black), and more natural stuff than all the junk jammed into that 12 oz can.

[Deleted]

better tasting

And this is the point where stuff becomes subjective. Some people like the taste.
Personally, I do. But I absolutely hate (for example) coffee.

[Deleted]

here's a question for the thread: what are the benefits to drinking diet soda? while there are a lot of studies being done on the negatives of soda, there isnt really anyone anymore stating that this is in any way beneficial. i switched to coffee years ago - more caffeine, better tasting (i drink it black), and more natural stuff than all the junk jammed into that 12 oz can.

There isn't anything beneficial to drinking diet soda. You cut the calories from regular and get a similar taste that many people crave, and the carbonation. It is somewhat similar to asking what is beneficial about nicotine gum and patches, while they might refrain someone from their worse counterparts, they alone are still not a 'healthy' option but better than what they are substituting.

[xezar]

If it does, it's only because I don't like diet soda and normally drink regular (I mean I'll drink it if it's the only thing around, but not happily).

[LongTimeCreeper]

Some internet websites believe the aspartame from the diet drinks cause cancer which is a bit extreme tbh but some also say that it has no bearing on weight loss.

So does this make them neutral in weight loss category? Not healthy, but not necessarily unhealthy?

Aspartame has no effect on weight (positive or negative). At normal doses, it's caloric contribution to the food is negligible.

As far as being unhealthy, there are no studies that confirm any of those claims. There are many studies showing that aspartame and it's metabolites are safe (at normal doses).

They only people that truly need to worry are people with PKU (a genetic condition). It has also been attributed to headaches and a trigger for migraine (though studies don't confirm this at this time). However, if you suffer migraine and think it's a trigger, it is probably a good idea to stay away.