I'm curious, have any of you ever noticed that drinking diet soda impedes on your weight loss? I drink a considerable amount almost daily so I was wondering if I should cut back...although that's easier said than done!

I haven't. I drink a few cans of coke a day and the occasional diet coke and Bacardi Mostly water (and wine) though.

I think you will be fine as long as you are drinking enough water as well. Too much of anything is simply not healthy, soi make sure you are getting water and other forms of hydration, but there is no reason why diet soda would impede your weightloss.

The only time I have heard of any diet drink impeding weight loss is on Atkins on the induction stage. I drink a lot of diet drinks but I do try and avoid too much coke as the caffeine isn't very good for you. I often buy caffeine free diet coke.

I think in some way it helps because your brain gets a message its had something sweet and your stomach feels full because of the gas, but as a self-confessed Diet Coke addict I would certainly recommend taking calcium and magnesium supplement if you drink more than a couple of 330ml cans a day.

Also remember, never brush your teeth within half an hour of drinking a fizzy drink of any kind as it screws your enamel (please see my teeth for proof!)

i only drink juics with the occasional coffe and i stick to diet irn-bru and diet fanta a ive had a major coca cola addiction which caused my weight gain in the first place but im still steadilly losing weight
kirsty

Well, if you believe anything that Richard Simmons says then it does he said that he switched from drinking coke to water and quickly lost another 14lbs don't know where from tho'

A lot of people make these things up... I just think that ANYTHING that people drink or eat TOO much of may be unhealthy, but if you want to enjoy a diet coke now and then, it won't impede weight loss, it has no calories...

If you are drinking cola the caffeine acts as a diuretic (sp?) and there have been studies that suggest that consuming a lot of caffeine may inhibit the body's absorption of calcium.

I had to switch to decaf coffee and tea as the caffeine was causing me to have chest pains - apparently this is common in women (according to my doctor) but will go away once you cut back on the caffeine

If you are having one or two a day then you should be okay but consuming large quantities of caffeinated beverages is probably not a good idea. A couple of options would be to alternate between water and diet drinks or switching to a caffeine free cola or a different type of diet drink.

mauvaisroux
I agree with what you are saying... moderation is the best rule to follow... Also, as a diuretic, caffiene is okay if you are making sure you are getting enough water. It is important to make sure you are getting enough water.

True about the water

There is a whole heap of top quality research ont the effects of soda - more than 3 normal size cans per day significantly increases your risk of deleveloping osteoporosis.

This is not a scare message it has been reported by the World Health Organisation and many Governments own health departments (US and UK included).

As for the weight loss impedance I have heard of this one too, but can't find any research on it! I know that most of the commercial weight loss groups seem to espouse this idea. Idf any one knows where I can find some hard evidence I would love to read it, cos I am often asked about this and would like a definitive answer for the science freaks (me included in that one!)!!

My own take is that, without any odd physiological trigger we haven't heard of, putting all of that highly process unnatural sugary stuff in you body isn't really going to help change to a healthy life long dietary intake - and that includes the low cal sweeteners especially!

I mean WHAT IS IT IN THERE?

Even water seems to be adulterated with stuff nowadays. You buy a bottle of water and it comes with natural lemon flavouring - well I read Fast Food Nation and I know that natural just means "chemicals extracted from", not a squeeze of lemon juice. After all how can they keep a squeeze of real lemon juice from fermenting in the bottle, reducing the 100 year shelf life .....

WOOP WOOP - HOBBY HORSE ALERT HOBBY HORSE ALERT - WOOP WOOP!!!!

Sorry about that. I'll slope off and have a lie down, with my water and slice of real lemon..... aaaaagh I can't help myself.......

There was research done quite recently (it was on the news!) that said that artificial sweeteners in diet drinks can effect the way your brain perseves sweetness and can therefore make you crave sugar (or summat like that) Soft drinks manufacturers aren't daft they make fizzy drinks in such a manner that the make you even more thirsty - therefore buying more of the stuff, they are also acidic, causing indegestion, which can make you feel hungry when your not....I'll go see if I can find some proof now! lol...

Here it is...http://my.webmd.com/content/article/...000_1000_1n_03

Thanks everyone for your input! Wow, mystic...thanks for that great article. My mom is always trying to convince me to stop drinking so much diet soda, but it's hard! But reading an article like that is very motivating to quit drinking it so much!