I've heard before that diet soda, while not being as bad as regular, is still not good for you while dieting, anyone else hear that? I've wondered too how good for you the baked chips, and 'light' products are? I try to drink one diet soda a day and plenty of water, so far I'm doing okay, but man I miss my regular Pepsi!!!
I think that there are two big problems with "Diet" food that we are likely to encounter.
Firstly, portion control. For me, it's easy to think "Well, these are diet baked chips, so I can eat twice as many" or even to do it without thinking about it.
Secondly, nutritional value. Low-fat or low-calorie versions of crap food are still crap (and often low-fat varieties have MORE calories than the regular!) They often don't offer any nutritian and have lots of processed food and high salt and it's worthless to your body as fuel.
Combine eating too much of food that is nutritionally void is where the problem comes in, I think, as a whole.
I find that "diet" products leave me craving real sugar. So rather than drink diet soft drink I have one real coke a week and really enjoy it.
I echo PhysDom's comments about foods which are nutritionally void. I tend to eat unprocessed "real" food when I can, it's not always possible, but I like to know what is in my food.
The downside with soda, whether it's "fully loaded" or "diet" is that some of the chemicals cause problems within our systems -- the phosphoric acid in sodas can affect calcium absorption (bad for the bones), and a small sector of the population has trouble processing phenylalanine (a protein in aspartame). I'm not sure what else it can do.
I've just been telling myself that it IS bad for me so I'll avoid it because I know water is the best. Before Monday I haven't bought a bottle of water in a store in years
In all my previous (and failed) weight loss attempts, I always eagerly embraced the "substitute" foods - the Lean Cuisines, the Snackwell cookies, the low fat chips, sugar free candy. Those foods never satisfied me, made me happy or filled me up. Eating those foods just made me want more of them or their full fat/full sugar counterparts. I would always end up binging. Or I would stop "dieting" and go back to eating how I used to eat.
This time, I made my goal long term health. My goal is to eat whole foods and eliminate processed foods as much as possible - including junk food and fake food. I have changed how I eat forever - the biggest drawback is time, it takes time to plan and shop for healthy eating.
The foods I eat satisfy me and fill me up. Best of all, I finally kicked that terrible sugar habit.
Personally, I don't think there's anything wrong with diet soda as an alternative to regular soda IF it works for you. Like some have said, some people can crave sugary foods just by having anything swet, even if it's a diet soda. I, on the other hand, LOVE soda and don't know what I would do without diet versions! I usually have at least 2 cans of Coke Zero every day (first thing in the morning and with dinner) and sometimes also a big Diet Pepsi with lunch.
I've heard the horror stories about how bad caffeine is for you and how bad artifical sweeteners are for you and how bad the acids in soda are for you...but IMO, EVERY product out there has some horror stories. Some people can't eat Splenda, but I don't have a problem with it, so I use it (or products that include it) all the time. I've never known anyone who developed osteoporosis as a result of drinking too much soda, and I would think that anyone who did would have to have been drinking a HUGE quantity of soda to begin with. I don't drink coffee, tea, or normally eat chocolate, so I don't think a few sodas' worth of caffeine in a day will do any damage (since I've read that you can have the equivalenet of 4-5 cups' of coffee worth of caffeine a day without negative side effects). My bones are strong, my teeth are strong, and the diet soda keeps me happy. I just make sure I get in a least 9 servings of water a day in addition to the sodas, but that's not because of anything I've read, that's just for my own mental sanity (I can tell myself I'm healthier if I keep drinking that much water ).
Short and sweet: if it works for you, then why change it?
I'm normally in favour of whole, natural foods but I have four exceptions. Diet coke, ultra low fat miracle whip, fat free dressings and the really low cal coolwhip.
We're all going to consume some chemicals somehow so I'm using mine to make food more enjoyable and tasty.
I say, what ever work for you, use it! the only way to lose weight is calories in, calories out! I don't drink many sodas, but if I want one I have it. I use the splenda products all the time. I drink coffee! Yeah, water is better for you, and I do drink my water also. But, i'm one of the fortuante ones, I like water. I keep a bottle in the fridge all the time drink it throught the day. I eat regular candy and cookies if I want something sweet. Look on the box at the nutrition label. Most of the diet ones have almost the same amount of calories. I also use the low cal miracle whip and cool whip. Just makes my low cal pudding taste better. And yes, I do eat for health too. I just use all the help I can get to lose weight. After all, how unhealthy is it to be over weight!
I'm normally in favour of whole, natural foods but I have four exceptions. Diet coke, ultra low fat miracle whip, fat free dressings and the really low cal coolwhip.
We're all going to consume some chemicals somehow so I'm using mine to make food more enjoyable and tasty.
I drink diet soda and use the "lite" cool whip, but I agree with the fat-free salad dressing and fat-free miracle whip.
I cut fat anywhere I can cut it, but there are some things I just couldn't stomach and those are two of them. Besides, they say you need SOME fat in your salad dressings in order to absorb the nutrients from the salad itself. Or at least that's what I've been reading lately. Lite salad dressings I can handle (I love the Marzetti's Lite Honey French) but fat-free? Forget it.
I have heard that DC raises your apetite. It can also bloat your stomach. I love baked chips, but you can't eat a whole bag of those either if trying to lose weight.
Ruffles light (with Olean) make a fine laxative...kinda keeps you from eating too many more than once...
I've actually never had a problem with the Olean chips, but man, those sugar-free chocolate candies (made with sugar alcohols...basically anything ending with "itol"), they really do a number on me
Artificial sweeteners are dreadful; to some people. I get cramps, nausea, diarrhea, the works. And that's not if I intentionally drink a sugar free soda- I had to switch to an organic toothpaste because most toothpastes are loaded with sorbitol. I even have to watch and check what gums or mints I eat-- it's in there too!
"Diet" foods
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