Ok, im addicted tp pepsi. SO, since Im trying to lose weight I've stopped drinking it. Yet my twin sister(who is ubber thinner then me. do you know what its like having your twin sister smaller then you?) has been drinking diet Mountain Dew, and she's gotten me onto it.

She says its alot better then reg. soda but i was wondering why it is so bad for me.

I am also drinking more water.....btw.

These are the main reasons I don't drink diet coke anymore:

Aspartame/Nutrasweet is not very sweet in itself, that may be why Equal puts Dextrose (sugar) and maltodextrin as the first ingredients, so that it tastes sweet.

Aspartame/Nutrasweet is a brain drug that stimulates your brain so you think that the food you're eating tastes sweet. If you pay attention you'll notice that when using Aspartame/Nutrasweet, everything you eat at the same time also tastes sweet! This may be why Aspartame/Nutrasweet causes you to crave carbohydrates. Hence, you won't lose weight using it.

taken from: http://joi.ito.com/weblog/2002/10/26...t-coke-ba.html

I do, however, still indulge in a diet beverage once in a while but I get all natural diet soda by Dr. Hansen and it is black cherry flavored. It is not made with "fake" sugar but with splenda which your body digests as sugar and does not spike blood sugar levels, which can make you snack.

I only have one of these once in a while, but honestly - I believe in everything in moderation and a diet mountain dew once in awhile isn't gonna kill you.

I would never discourage anyone from their decision to stop drinking soda's or diet soda's...however, I've read the good, the bad, and the ugly about diet soda's, and I still choose to drink one almost every day. There are so many people who don't drink either, and I respect their decision...but, like I said, from all of what I've read, I do not think an occasional diet drink is going to hurt me (it's just my personal decision). I've read enough of the bad stuff that makes me limit how much I drink (I even try to get through some days without drinking one). YMMV

Thanks for all of that.
I've read the good with the bad as well, and Im just proud of myself that i was able to stop myself from drinking regular soda.
Im slowly cutting down on it all together tho. Baby steps for moi!

This is a debate for the ages when it comes to diets.

It boils down to what works for your body. And your body alone.

Some people on 3FC avoid it like the plague. Some tend to limit it. Others drink it like a fish does water. And ya know what? Everyone's right. Because what works for one does not work for another. This journey is about what's right for us individually.

As long as you're not having any strange side effects, and it's not hindering your new healthier lifestyle, then I say, why not? Enjoy your Mountain Dew.

I agree with Faerie 100%...but she is usually right and that's why I love her.

personally, i dont like carbonated drinks because i have read that they are bad for your calcium levels, leading potentially to softer bones if you drink enough over a long period of time. But then again, i havent completely given it up, i'll still have the odd diet soda Its probably the same as everything else- fine in moderation

Since i'm not a coffee drinker, I have 2 cans of Diet Mtn Dew every day. I just have a rule that i have to drink an equal amount of water plus my 64 oz. If I didn't have the diet pop, I'd have regular. Lesser of two evils thing. Tons of wasted calories and sugar? or Aspartame?
Eventually I'll get off pop completely but right now, I'm concentrating on staying off starchy foods! One thing at a time!

yeah. Its just i grew up in a household where soda was a special treat, so when i got old enought to buy it on my own i went a little crazy, and now i drink way too much...

I really like hot tea... there is so many different varities... like chai with soy milk or whatever your preference mmmm.... or flavored water.

Iconised Ghost is correct, all sodas containing phosphoric acid can cause bone density loss if you drink too much.

Aspartame can cause all sorts of problems that haven't been mentioned. I was shocked to realize that aspartame can cause female problems. 90% of my PMS symptoms went away once I cut out artificial sweeteners and I have far fewer headaches then I used to.

While it's true that everyone's body is different, I would challenge anyone who is concerned about artificial sweeteners to stop using them for a month or so to see if you feel better not using them. Then notice what happens if you decide to add them back in. I know I feel awful afterward when I've accidentally had aspartame.

I don't drink soda very often. I avoid HFCS as well, so I might have a cane sugar soda 4-6 times a year. Otherwise I drink coffee, tea, and lots of water. Mineral water is nice for those times when you really want carbonation.

I love diet soda. I love the way it tastes, I love drinking one while I'm at work, and one while I'm surfing the internet at home.

However, for whatever reason, I find I lose faster if I don't drink it. So I don't drink it. Like someone else said, whatever works for your body.

One thing I drink as an alternative is club soda/soda water (not the kind with artificial sweeteners, just plain bubbly water!) with some lemon and/or lime juice.

i had posted this on another thread but cant rememeber where so I will post it again. My co-worker, who is quite overweight, and I had a conversation about this a few days ago. She was slowly and steadily loosing weight on her own all last school year. She hit a plateau and decided to stop the diet sodas. As soon as she stopped she lost 15 lbs. Who knows the science behind it, who, what, why??? But it happened. I am stopping after the case in my house is finished, to see if I can break my plateau and b/c the aspertame kind if scares me.

i have to comment on this!!

For me, diet soda gives me really horrible headaches. My doc mentioned I should probably cut out diet anything because of the aspartime, and once I did, I noticed my headaches gradually stopping. I get a headache now about once a month which is a drastic improvement from one a day. Yuck.
I made a mistake one day to drink a diet coke, and I had a splitting migraine over the next two days. Never again. I avoid foods that say diet, 0 calorie, etc etc.
Bad thing is, now I drink cola I hate that I am so addicted to soda. I can't quit this crap no matter how hard I try.

I cut out diet soda at the beginning of the year and when I went on vacation at the end of August I let myself have it as much and whenever i wanted to. The problem is now I'm trying to get back off it. I didn't realize I was that addicted to it. There's a lot of conflicting research out there about the long-term problems associated with using artificial sweeteners (sucralose, nutrasweet, aspartame...etc). However, I think the one thing most people can agree on is the fact that they're excitotoxins which affect cognitive activity and function, which would explain why a couple of people here seem to have gotten rid of some nasty headaches when they stopped drinking it.

For me, [I was] limiting myself to diet pop once in a blue moon as a "special treat". I figure having one of those is probably the equivalent of having a regular pop once in a while in terms of affecting your health. If I can get off the artificial stuff again I may just stick with a can of regular pop. At least it's natural...

There are also lots of natural sweeteners that you can use that have less of an effect on your blood sugar than regular sugar and aren't made with a bunch of chemicals.