I have been reading about the link between diet soda and Metabolic Syndrome and I am actually considering giving up my beloved Diet Dr. Pepper. I never thought the day would come. At the very least, I should probably reduce my daily 36 ozs.
I have seen posts where some of you said you have given up diet soda. Have you seen a difference afterward after being off them? Are you healthier for giving up diet drinks?
I personally Am still on my diet caffiene free pepsi...Still losing weight and still feeling great and better daily with each lb lost...But I also drink water and try to eat as healthy as possible.So I really aint sure but wanted to state that.
Awesome job with 50lbs lost! I am so close to that 50lbs!
I was on Atkins in 1999 then again, strictly, in 2003. Restarted in 2008.
In 1999 I let myself have basically unlimited diet caffeine-free soft drinks, primarily diet pepsi. Generally 2-4 a day. I had carb cravings the entire time but I still lost over 100 lbs. It was hard though, and I was unhappy.
In 2003 I limited myself to 1 caffeine-free diet pepsi a day, with my supper. Still had carb cravings, still found the diet hard to stick to. 2004 I forsook Atkins then regained all the weight I'd lost plus a bunch more. Stuck with caffeine-free diet sodas though ~ I've never gone back to full-sugar soft drinks. Gross.
I restarted Atkins in 2008 and forswore aspartame this time. No diet soft drinks. I haven't had a single sip of one since August. NO CARB CRAVINGS. 100% on plan. Haven't found it difficult to stick to. I'm not a research scientist so I can't prove causation but I can observe correlation.
We're all different. For me, completely eliminating all processed foods and drinks, including aspartame and diet soft drinks, is the key difference between this round on Atkins and the two previous ones ~ and it's working great for me. I think diet drinks don't derail everyone but I think they hurt me, so I avoid them.
Actually ~ I did have one sip of diet pepsi a few weeks ago and it was SO DISGUSTING I had to spit it out ... your body really does adjust to not having it.
I feel better. Diet Coke just goes with junky foods. When I drink it, I want to be snacking on junk all day. If I have water or iced tea instead, I'm naturally inclined to have some yummy vegetables and whole grains with it. I try to remember my teeth and my bones when I think I want Diet Coke.
Plus I found that the caffeine was keeping me from sleeping well. I didn't think it was affecting me, because I didn't feel any caffeine buzz, and I didn't lay in bed with my eyes open feeling like I couldn't sleep. But I was tossing and turning and waking up often, and that much improved when I was off the soda, even earlyish in the day.
And this might sound extreme - but those big giant cups of Diet Coke (my McDonald's sells them for $1) really aggravate my tennis elbow!
I enjoy a wholefoods diet (at least, I work towards that), and I just can't convince myself that Diet Coke is actually food. I about gave it up entirely last summer, but have been struggling with it again lately. Really, I don't want to keep anything in my life that has that kind of power over me. OTOH, you have to choose your battles at any given point in time.
Some of us are more sensitive to things like artificial sweetners. I've heard many say that they quit drinking and eating these and began to lose weight quicker and more consistently. Strictly from a health perspective, I've often considered not using them anymore. I drink 1-2 diet Barq rootbeers each day. But, I also use Splenda in my coffee and my SF creamer has sweetner. I can't believe this could be healthy for me.
I think it really keeps your sweet tooth in fine working order. That ends up causing lots of cravings which can lead to a binge. I say ditch them if you can or save them for the occasional (once a week maybe?) treat.
Keep up the great work though!! Maybe hold off on any changes until you have sugar cravings or a plateau because you are kickin' butt!
I have a cancer phobia. After reading about the link between artificial sweetners and bladder cancer I decide to stop drinking my 2 liters a day of diet soda.
The first week was terrible, I had a headache all week long. Then after that I was in the clear. I have since had a tiny serving of it once in the past 6 months but.... it wasn't the same. I am so over it.
I feel less bloated, less thirsty and my teeth are whiter.
You should really try to kick the diet soda habit.
My personal experience is that when I cut down on diet drinks my cravings for sweets and junk were reduced significantly. I still have diet drinks, but I used to always buy soda and have it in the house. Now I drink about 32 oz a week. BUT, I also find that if I'm craving sweets at night, a diet soda will satisfy it, and keep me from going on a candy run.
Last edited by thinpossible; 04-09-2009 at 02:02 PM.
I could NOT get below 190 before, no matter what I tried. Some was no doubt psychological - I was scared to lose weight.
But one of the other things I did this time was give up all sugar and artificial sugar through an online challenge on another thread to win money for a charity of your choice. This meant giving up diet soda, too. I had been trying off and on to eliminate soda for 6-8 months before that, but could not go longer than week. This finally got me to do it.
Things I've noticed?
After the initial week to two weeks, I don't miss the soda. I crave water. I do still drink coffee, but I have some in the a.m. and then generally get decaf at lunch.
I've also been losing weight at a pretty steady pace since then, too. And if I DO taste something with sugar, it tastes nasty now.
So, yes, I think in general it will help your weight loss if you cut out, or at least drastically reduce, your soda intake.
I usually equate yummy cold diet coke with a snack - so for me, I got rid of it by accident. if i don't eat chips or cheeseys, don't need a diet coke LOL I've read so many things about it, like it leaches calcium from our bones, etc., that i thought i could live without it. Once in a while at a restaurant i'll get it. That being said, I gave up Chemical Light..I mean Crystal hehheh The laundry list of chemicals in that are pretty scary too
As for artificial sweeteners, i just don't like the taste. I'd rather have NO sugar than that taste; or a tiny bit of real sugar. Luckily tho I've never taken sugar in my tea/coffee so it's not too big a sacrifice.
time2lose, I did notice a difference and gave them up for several months--now, I usually just have diet C (my baby) on friday nights only..during the first few months I made a deal with myself to ONLY drink milk or water...now, I have loosened up a bit--I drink a glass or two of wine each week and I also enjoy my soda on Friday night--lots of people will dismiss the idea that giving up soda helps but in my case, it did
No- it's simple- calories in and calories out. Eat right and exercise. How can a non-caloric, liquid beverage contribute to obesity? Could it be the chips or brownies that we eat with it?
No- it's simple- calories in and calories out. Eat right and exercise. How can a non-caloric, liquid beverage contribute to obesity? Could it be the chips or brownies that we eat with it?
Studies have linked it to an increased desire for sweets, because your body is tasting something sweet but is not being given calories...
The research found that artificial sweeteners were linked with an increased desire for sweets - but there was no study done yet as to whether sugar has the exact same effect (I suspect, so from my own experience). It's possible that all sweet foods (regardless of why they are sweet) increase the desire for sweet foods (it does not, however march them down your throat).
Already, magazines are recommending that people eat "real sugar" in moderation instead of artificial sweeteners because of the link between aspartame (other sweeteners weren't studied) and a desire for more sweets.
Well just because they haven't linked real sugar to wanting more real sugar doesn't mean that eating sugar is a better solution. Besides, don't many of us already suspect that eating sugar only increases the desire for more sweet foods - isn't that common knowledge? Shouldn't it at least be tested, before recommending replacing sugar substitutes with sugar?
Of course, telling people to cut out all foods that have more than a hint of sweetness wouldn't be very popular - but advising them to "eat sugar instead," is pretty irresponsible when there's no evidence that "a little of the real thing," is any less likely to trigger a sweet tooth.
If you're calorie, point, or exchange counting, it's easy enough to test whether diet sodas slow your loss and/or increase your appetite. Go without for a few weeks (3 or 4 should do it) - then add them back in for a few weeks, and then take them away again for a few weeks. Write down everything you eat (and the calories) and when and whether you were hungry or experienced cravings and what they were for - and then examine your results. Repeat the experiment until you are satisfied that the results are clear to you.
It's not a well-controlled experiment, because placebo affect is likely (you may see the results you expect), but it will at least give you some idea as to how artificial sweeteners affect you.
So far, in my own experimentations I've found that my calorie and carbohydrate intake predict my weight loss a lot better than does my sugar substitute use.
I was up to 2-4 diet cokes a day at one point. My dentist urged me to only have 1 a day and all at once, no all-day 'nursing' of the teeth deterioration.
So I still had at least 1 (usually 2) daily the first two months of my weight loss. And the weight loss was going great (always is at first, though). I did finally read about the links to obesity, the stuff that was all over the news.
Looked over the data behind the articles and concluded that diet soda definitely correlates with all sorts of bad habits/results but does not literally cause weight gain or diet stalling.
This relieved me somewhat but having had it in my head, I had pretty much already decided to cut back. For my teeth (had just had filling/bonding, hence the dentist lecture) and money, too, I decided to go down to one diet cola per week. I didn't think it would help the diet, but I figured it sure couldn't hurt.
Which is what I've been doing for the last 5 months-- 1 per week. At first the cravings were omnipresent. For several weeks I really looked forward to my one a week.
Then, for a few more weeks, every time I had my weekly soda I was convinced that it was flat. It didn't taste so good. I would complain to my husband about the soda going flat right before my coveted weekly can.
Husband says, no, not flat! He was drinking it regularly, so ... And we bought more, and it was the same. Finally concluded that diet coke/diet pepsi was not actually that great to begin with, and I was just used to it. The fact that I was literally convinced I was getting flat/otherwise inferior soda cans is pretty funny now that I type it out.
I do still have my weekly diet soda. I guess I got used to the supposed drop in quality, because it starting hitting the spot again :-) I'm fine with this because I never intended to quit altogether.
Sometimes it is still a treat I look forward to, but more often it's something I randomly feel like having, and so I check my food logs to make sure ... and find that I haven't had one in 10 days, so greenlight. Ha, who would've thought I'd so frequently 'forget' to have my weekly soda? It used to be so important to me.
As far as my weight loss, can't claim that it's actually helped, but it's surely good for overall health. I definitely do not crave sweets like I used to, but I figured that was because of eating healthier overall.
Does diet soda contribute to obesity?
At the very least, I should probably reduce my daily 36 ozs. 
