I have and always will love Diet Coke. I drink 5-6 cans per day. However, I am starting to think it is impeding my weight loss. Does anyone else have any insight into this?

The chemical Aspartame in Diet Coke actually turns into formaldehyde in your digestive system. It basically preserves your fat.

http://www.naturalnews.com/024302_as...diet_soda.html

http://www.dorway.com/ This website has alot of information for you

Additionally there is a video out there on the interweb over an hour long which explains in wonderful detail all about aspartame and the conspiracy (sorry but it's true this time) that got it "approved" in the first place. You can find it here:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...1488524526735#

http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/nutraswt.htm here is another interesting site

The reason i am all stalker about this topic is that i just used to be addicted to diet pepsi. i was you, i could drink it all_day_long and i never thought i'd be able to give it up. This video made me decide i had to, and when i went vegan, i was able to, thank God, give it up. i have had 2 servings of diet soda in the last 6 weeks so YOU CAN DO IT!!!!

-fm

It might impede your weight loss--some people find that it whets their appetites--but the preponderance of reputable research from peer-reviewed sources indicates that it won't poison you unless you have phenylketonuria.

Here's a link from Snopes.com, the urban legends web site, that has some extensive information about aspartame. Included are links to articles from the Lancet, the FDA, MIT, Dr. Dean Edell, and Time magazine, all of which are valuable reading for anyone who's curious about the health risks of aspartame.

Pears, apples, and shiitake mushrooms (among other foods) also produce formaldehyde in minute quantities as one of their metabolites or contain trace amounts of it. It's a water-soluble compound, so if it's a concern to you in these foods, give them a soak before eating them. (I don't, but then I figure that if a trace amount of something occurs naturally in foods, my body's probably evolved to be able to cope with it--and if I'm wrong, then the mortician can just use less embalming fluid on me when I'm lying on his table.)

The link I used for the formaldehyde info was the Hong Kong Centre for Food Safety, but if you Google other .gov and .edu sites, you can find some denser literature about it, if you're interested in deeper research.

Anecdotally, I never drink water--like, less than a glass a month. I drank diet coke/coke zero for months, and then switched over to Crystal Lite because I developed a taste for it. I also put equal in my tea and cottage cheese. I lost 135 pounds in 14 months and have maintained it since. So I, personally, have not found it to interfere with weight loss.

Ohh..a pet subject for me! I drink coke zero. I will not give up my coke zero. I have lost 71 pounds in 9 months, in a nice steady downward slide, with not a single plateau. I drink at least 2 coke zeros per day, and sometimes 3 or 4. yes..water would be better for me, but I like my carbonation burn and my caffeine. Supposedly the artificial sweetener in diet sodas makes you crave real sugar. This may be true, I can't say for sure. I sometimes crave sugar, but that could be just because I want sugar. But if I could not control my cravings, I would not be where I am now, regardless of whether I drink diet soda or not. So, as I said in one of my very first posts on 3fc, keep your damn hands off my coke zero.
Keep your hands off my coke zero, and I promise not to snigger at your cottage cheese. ewwwww

I just watched "Sweet Misery" this weekend. A good reinforcement for what I already believe - that aspartame is nasty stuff. Everybody's sensitivity to chemicals is different. It never kept me from losing weight but it did make me crave sweets. I quit using it quite a while ago when I was having panic attacks, memory problems, visual disturbances and bloating like blowfish. Every now and then I have a Diet Coke, but even after just one, I feel some of the effects. Anyway, check out the documentary if you get a chance. I think we all know if it sounds too good to be true, or in this case, tastes too good to be true, then it probably isn't.

my thoughts would be to do the research yourself, and make the decision for yourself Additionally, i would trust snopes with alot of things, but not my health. One more thing too, the chemical compound found in fruit and mushrooms in nature are bound to another substance in nature. Our bodies cannot separate this bond, i believe it is called pectin. Thus the formaldehyde comes through our bodies bound to the pectin. This isn't true in aspartame.

i have no doubt most people, including myself, can consume aspertame and have no ill effects (at least i haven't attributed any to that). But the research done on this product before it's approval is shoddy.

i have been wanting to get off the diet soda band wagon for awhile, i wanted to drink more water and i didn't like that i couldn't control myself with the soda.

i have lost weight since then but i have made alot of drastic changes so i can't attribute it to just that good luck!!!

-fm

I can't drink diet sodas. All the chemicals and artificial flavors make me sick.

I have cycled on and off diet soda for years. At times I've given it up because I was living out the country and it was unavailable. I'm gone off it because of cost reasons, and I've been off it for the last 8 weeks specifically to see if it was affecting my weight loss.

Anecdotally, no. My weight loss has actually slowed slightly since I've stopped my beloved Cherry Coke Zero, but I attribute that to my current lower weight. I'm still losing an average of 1-1.5 lbs per week.

Obviously only you can decide for yourself, and I don't think anyone out there is going to call diet soda a health beverage. But, if it keeps you from eating sugar or drinking regular soda, and isn't harmful, why not?

All I can say is stop drinking soda!! I was a die hard diet pepsi drinker...i drank over 2 litres per day. When I decided to go back to WW in Sept I also decided to stop drinking diet soda. I can only wish that I had stopped years ago. I feel so much better and I contribute my WW success so far to giving up diet soda. I joined WW on Sept 11 and I am down 25 lbs as of last week. I am not an exerciser either. I have no cravings for soda or food and barely ever eat anything after supper now because I'm not hungry in the evenings anymore. The first few days were tough but it was smooth sailing after that, give it a try - you'll be glad you did!! Good luck!

I've had a terrible diet cherry pepsi ADDICTION for years. I drank it like water...prolly only drinking about 8 oz of actual water daily...and did this for YEARS!!!

Did it stop/slow my weight loss? NO. ( I shrunk all the way down to runway model weight and wore a size 6) Did it cause me to get GASTRITIS (irritation in the lining of your abdominal wall)? YES!!!

Clearly anything done is excess is BAD for you. period. Drinking soda is no different. No one wants to ever get so 'far removed' from reality as to make losing weight more important than staying ALIVE (which is the bottom line to all of this 'getting skinny' thing right? or maybe not?)

Anyhoot...it's been over a year since I've beat my diet soda addiction. I still drink it, but it usually takes me about 3 weeks or better to go through 12 cans as to the amount I used to drink (2-4 liters daily). I drank about 100 oz of water daily and my skin has never been better. I exercise (run), so I no longer need that "caffeine" high...btw, natures BEST natural stimulant is called "endorphins"...it's really OUT OF THIS WORLD!!!! WOOO HOOOO!!!!

ANNNNNNNNNNNND, I'm completely cured of my gastritis and no longer have to double over in pain in public establishments, drive myself to the ER thinking I'm having a heart attack, and/or worry about bleeding to death....YEAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!

Sorry for my sarcasim (it's just me...don't take it personal)...but hopefully you catch my drift and light hearted spirit in which is was meant!

All the best!

I have been drinking diet coke since the beginning, and will until I die

A little dramatic, but what can I say, I love my diet coke!

Oh, but I don't drink it like water. I only have 2 cans a day and the rest is water.

I like diet pepsi. I don't have it very often, but I never drink regular soda...it tastes like syrup to me. I didn't know that diet soda was bad for you. I understand the chemicals in it now, after reading the above posts. But will having diet soda only every once in a while still be bad? {excuse my ignornace, but I'm curious.}

I am sure it is fine for some. I went cold turkey giving up soda and lost 20lbs. without doing much else. BUT I was addicted to regular soda. I can't stand the flavor of diet and could never make myself get used to it. I said I would NOT drink diet, so the only option was to give it up.