I am a water drinker, but sometimes I like to drink Diet Pepsi's. But it amazes me that everything in the Nutrition Facts is 0 except for the Sodium. How can something taste so good without having anything in it? It's almost like drinking water, but that can't be true. Is there something they aren't telling us? or is it really healthy? I have heard that regular drinks are just liquid candy so to speak, what about diet cokes?

Christina

I agree that whether or not it's healthy is questionable. There's nothing nutritious in it, and it's just a bunch of chemicals in water. But it is calorie free and can't hurt your diet. I know a lot of people that have lost a lot of weight while including diet sodas in their calorie controlled plans. But some people feel that it makes them crave other sweets, so they prefer to cut them out. It's a personal choice. If they help you stick to your diet, they won't hurt. If they cause you to crave other things and go off of your diet, then ditch them

There's nothing healthy about soft drinks, diet or not. However, I'd rather drink the diet stuff than something loaded with sugar.

That's just it--it's not that there's nothing in diet soda, it's more that what is in there has no nutritional value so it doesn't show up on the nutrition label. But if you read the ingredients, you'll see there's a lot more in there than water. I buy a sort of high-end diet soda from Trader Joe's and here are the ingredients: carbonated water (at least this is the number 1 ingredient!), vanilla extract, natural and artificial flavors, caramel color, citric acid, sodium benzoate, sucralose, acesulfame potassium. In something like diet pepsi or coke, it's all chemicals: artificial sweetener, artificial flavoring, and artificial color. I can't believe that any of that stuff is good for you, even in my high-end soda, so I do limit my diet soda intake (everything in moderation, right ).

I'm not much of a water drinker, so I generally force myself to drink water during the day (except for one cup of decaf tea or coffee in the morning) and then allow myself to have one diet soft drink (could be soda or iced tea) with dinner as a reward for sucking down all the bland water during the day. I can't say whether it's hurt my diet or not or caused me to crave sweets (there are just so many different factors that could be causing these things it's hard to really narrow it down to the soda). I like the diet soda so, at least at this point in my life, I'm not giving it up entirely.

In any event, though, the diet soda has to be way better for you than drinking regular soda.

- Barbara

ok. Thanks everyone. Eeee chemicals. Not good.

LOL well I guess there will always be an endless debate on this one. But personally I think all the chemicals and artificial sweeteners are very unhealthy. I speak as one who used to guzzle the stuff day and night but who cut it out of my life almost completely about 7 years ago... so it can be done.

It definitely can be done, I've cut it out for my pregnancy, I just didn't want to put that stuff into my body, my baby doesn't need it. I also cut out fat free half and half and other stuff. I'm just more cautious now about chemicals. Why drink them if you don't need to?

Good alternatives are iced tea, I could drink ice tea all day if I could but when I eat it I'll drink water with lemon until my entree arrives and then I'll have just one iced tea. I really like water with lemon.

Might want to check out this article.



Another reason to dump soda

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Cola Raises Women's Osteoporosis Risk
10.06.06, 12:00 AM ET

FRIDAY, Oct. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Cola may not be so sweet for women's bones, according to new research that suggests the beverage boosts osteoporosis risk.

"Among women, cola beverages were associated with lower bone mineral density," said lead researcher Katherine Tucker, director of the Epidemiology and Dietary Assessment Program at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University.

There was a pretty clear dose-response, Tucker added. "Women who drink cola daily had lower bone mineral density than those who drink it only once a week," she said. "If you are worried about osteoporosis, it is probably a good idea to switch to another beverage or to limit your cola to occasional use."

The report was published in the October issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

About 55 percent of Americans, mostly women, are at risk for developing osteoporosis, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation.

In the study, Tucker's team collected data on more than 2,500 participants in the Framingham Osteoporosis Study, averaging just below 60 years of age. The researchers looked at bone mineral density at three different hip sites, as well as the spine.

They found that in women, drinking cola was associated with lower bone mineral density at all three hip sites, regardless of age, menopause, total calcium and vitamin D intake, or smoking or drinking alcohol. Women reported drinking an average of five carbonated drinks a week, four of which were cola.

Bone density among women who drank cola daily was almost 4 percent less, compared with women who didn't drink cola, Tucker said. "This is quite significant when you are talking about the density of the skeleton," she said.

Cola intake was not associated with lower bone mineral density in men. The findings were similar for diet cola, but weaker for decaffeinated cola, the researchers reported.

The reason for cola's effect on bone density may have to do with caffeine, Tucker said. "Caffeine is known to be associated with the risk of lower bone mineral density," she said. "But we found the same thing with decaffeinated colas."

Another explanation may have to do with phosphoric acid in cola, which can cause leeching of calcium from bones to help neutralize the acid, Tucker said.

One expert agrees that women should reduce the amount of cola they drink.

"I would expect this finding," said Dr. Mone Zaidi, director of the Mount Sinai Bone Program at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, in New York City. "It's probably a caffeine-related problem."

Women should limit their caffeine intake, Zaidi said. "Caffeine interferes with calcium absorption, which results in less bone formation," he said.

This can be a problem for younger women who never develop peak bone density, Zaidi noted. "Younger women who have a lot of coke will not form bone to an extent their peers would; so, years later, in menopause, they are going to be disadvantaged," he said.

More information

There's more on osteoporosis at the U.S. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.
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