Is diet soda keeping me fat?

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  • I love my diet soda each day and have almost felt that it was helping me keep my sweet tooth in check. Now I am wondering if it is helping keep me fat. I have cut down but this week I decided that I just would stop buying any and see what happened. I know that I should not drink it and maybe if someone could give me the down and dirty reasons why it may be helping me stay fat then maybe it will be easier to say NO!

    Thanks!
  • How much diet soda are you drinking per day and what brand or type. Are you drinking any water during the day.

    The key is moderation. 1 or 2 diet sodas a day may not hurt much if you are also drinking water. But drinking say 6-12 would be in excess. Just because something has a sugar alternative in it or lower in calories does not mean we have to go over board with these items. Because going over board will still cause a weight gain or maintaining of a weight no matter how low cal it is.

    Here is an article on line that maybe enough to help you shake the diet soda habit:
    http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/...in701408.shtml
  • That's funny, I recently had the same thought, it really is a cause/effect type of question isn't it. I was at Disneyland waiting for my peeps to get off a ride and it struck me that so many of the really fat people walking by me were having Diet Coke and I thought, OK wait -- are they having it because they're fat or are they fat because they're having it?

    Not that it in itself is fattening but maybe it causes some chem reaction/craving or something.

    I gave up the stuff awhile back just from reading about the benefits of drinking tea which has all these anti-oxidants and stuff, I looked at the ingredients on the Diet Coke can and went, now why am I putting this in my body and spending money on it when it's not doing anything good for me.

    I really do love the unsweetened green tea and black tea from Trader Joes, but if you like something sweet you might want to try the Good Earth brand teas - they're spicy/sweet but no sugar.
  • The other reason those people might be having it is they are diabetic from overweight too. I guess that might be having it because they are fat? I mostly drink water, but I like coffee and tea too, and I use diet sodas as a treat, or if I am craving something sweet. I guess it's about one or two a week. I don't know if it causes you to crave anything else or overeat, but I am suspicous about using too much of any artificial sweetener. I've heard some icky stories, probably urban legends. I'm using them a lot more since I quit using sugar and I am not happy with myself over it. Wish I could just kick the sweet habit completely!
  • I'm not a regular on this forum but wanted to say that I LOVE diet Coke and if it's there will drink it all day long. I know it's bad, I know I should reach for water instead but my water intake already is at a ridiculous 96 oz daily so I figure....what the hey...it's better than reaching for something with calories.

    JMHO
  • Aspartame (I have always been told) kills brain cells. So.... that can either be a reason for you not to drink it, or to buy Diet Coke w/ Splenda.
  • I drink a ton of it and don't find that it hampers weight loss at all. I figure I don't feel bad when I drink it, it makes me happy, and I feel like getting rid of it would just make me feel deprived. Call me addicted, but I love it.
  • I average about a soda a day as well. I love diet coke, and wouldn't want to give it up. It hasn't hampered my weight loss either.
  • I've read that aspartme raises cortisol levels and that can make you gain weight and/or hold onto fat.
  • I drink 2 diet sodas (splenda) a day since losing my 30 pounds and I'm doing fine.
    I didn't drink any at all during my actual weight loss, but I just re-lost 6 pounds that I gained after surgery and I was sooooo sick of water.
    It didn't seem any harder to lose while drinking the sodas.
    I wonder if people subliminally think of diet soda gives them licence to eat more of other things.
    "I am having diet coke instead of a 32 oz coke so I can have a Double Pounder!"
  • I find that when I drink diet soda, ice tea, etc., it makes me crave sweets (carbs) even more and I don't do so well with dieting. When I stick to just water or plain iced tea I do alot better.

    I have also heard how bad artificial sweetners are for you and I remember reading an article once where they are finding more and more people with brain tumors that they are linking to the chemicals in these drinks....



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  • Be careful with sodas!

    Sodas contain phosphoric acid, Phosphoric acid (phosphorous) in sodas limit calcium absorption and has a direct influence on bone mineral density.

    The phosphorus also conflicts with the hydrochloric acid in your stomach and renders it ineffective. This promotes indigestion and bloating in many individuals, causing heartburn when consumed with meals.

    Also - keep soda away from your children - especially girls!
    By age 16, girls have accumulated 97% of their adult bone mass!
  • If diet drinks can couse brain tumors than wouldnt they not be on the market anymore. Is it there not enough scientific evidence that this really occurs because of that chemical in diet sodas.
    If you normally drink regualar sodas then switch over to diet I personally think thats awesome bcause your saving yourself so many pounds.
    I LOVE diet coke and Diet Dr. Pepper. I dont really drink cofee so one Diet coke ROute 44 from sonic does the drink for me before work.
    Everyones views on this are going to be different, but just remember were not EXPERTS on this!!
  • Quote: That's funny, I recently had the same thought, it really is a cause/effect type of question isn't it. I was at Disneyland waiting for my peeps to get off a ride and it struck me that so many of the really fat people walking by me were having Diet Coke and I thought, OK wait -- are they having it because they're fat or are they fat because they're having it?
    Be careful -- that's not enough information to come to a conclusion. If you even want to see if there is a relationship between weight and soda drinking at Disneyland, you also need to look at how many "non-fat" people are drinking Diet Coke. As well as how many fat and non-fat people are drinking Coke, and other beverages!!

    And if there IS a relationship, then you can start to think about cause/effect possibilities!
  • Quote:
    Here is an article on line that maybe enough to help you shake the diet soda habit:
    http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/...in701408.shtml

    There is no legitmate scientific evidence behind the idea that diet soda is harmful to you or contributes to weight gain.

    That article is fairly ridiculous because it suggests that diet soda makes people fat because it found that people who drank diet soda tended to be fat.

    By this logic shopping at Lane Bryant makes women overweight because the average Lane Bryant shopper weighs more than the average non-Lane Bryant shopper.

    Don't confuse correlation with causation.