How Bad are Diet sodas for you, really??

[FinanceDude]

I'm not much of a coffee drinker, but I like my Diet Pepsi.

is this stuff really that bad? I drink a lot of water also..............

 

[David1961]

My feeling is if it is in moderation, it's OK. Like you, I do not drink coffee and sometimes I need a "pick me up". I alternate between regular sodas and diet sodas when I drink a soda (maybe two per week). Personally, I wonder if the sugar substitutes out there are any better for you than the sugar.

 

[W2R]

I haven't heard of very many death certificates that list "Too many Diet Pepsi's" as the cause of death.

I don't drink them except on special occasions, for three reasons:

(1) I need to drink more water instead
(2) Who needs more chemicals?
(3) They cost more than water

But, I know a lot of very healthy people who drink them every day. So, I think drinking Diet Pepsi's is a "lesser dietary sin", so to speak, and doesn't usually have repercussions that I know of.

Oh, I know of one. My brother had a problem with one of the sweeteners (Nutrasweet?) giving him headaches, so he has to be particular with what type he drinks.

 

[TromboneAl]

Quite a coincidence -- I was thinking about this an hour ago.

I was thinking of it because a month or so ago, based on a discussion in this forum, I switched from drinking 1% milk to drinking non-fat milk. I drink 1.5 gallons per week, so that means that I get 384 fewer calories per week through my milk drinking.

Did I notice any decrease in weight, or notice that it's easier to stay at my target weight? No. I probably just ate more calories elsewhere.

So, at least in terms of weight gain, I'm not sure that drinking diet sodas helps -- that is, one will probably just consume more calories of something else. OTOH you get to enjoy a cookie+diet soda for the same calorie cost as a sugar soda.

Whether the diet sodas are better for you than sugar-filled sodas is another question.

 

[73ss454]

I've heard that if you put a tooth in Pepsi over night it will disappear. Some how I don't think it's very good for you.

I gave up soft drinks 2 1/2 years ago and don't miss it.

 

[REWahoo]

I gave up soft drinks 2 1/2 years ago and...

...now only drink the hard stuff?

 

[Martha]

I like my diet coke so don't dissuade my use. I did read something recently that diet pop drinkers tended to be more overweight than sugar pop drinkers. However, they could be drinking diet pop because they are overweight and don't want to get any fatter. Or, they like certain treats and want their empty calories from somewhere else.

 

[VaCollector]

I was a "diet-coke-aholic" for a decade and a half+....drinking the stuff all day, every day, refilling my cup from those 64 oz bottles.....gave them up 1 1/2 years ago with only an occassional soda with a restaurant meal, I have experienced no noticable changes....with the exception of an occassional loss of energy, but then couldn't that be from ER and gettin' older?

It seems as though that habit has been replaced with another.....diet green tea....all day, every day.....and I agree with Al that whatever we drink in the diet venue, it is soooo easy to replace the calories that any trivial weight diffence is easily lost!

...and 73ss, I remember dropping a "chunk" of zinc in a Coke in my college Chemistry lab and watching it dissolve right before my eyes .....and I have personally used it to clean corrosion off of my car battery cables!!....kinda makes you think twice about putting it in your stomach, huh

 

[bright eyed]

I know a lot of people seriously addicted to diet sodas...must have something that makes them moreso than regular soda?

I drink regular, sister drinks diet - she's the one with the weight problems!

When you are pregnant, they suggest that you don't drink them - i don't think just because of the caffeine, but because of the artificial sweeteners - so that can't be good for you.

I have heard of a few people who passed out because if you drink a bunch (like a 6 pack) the heat of your body warms up the chemicals and makes it toxic - but that could be urban legend...

 

[FinanceDude]

Anybody ever read the book Sweet Poison??

 

[ChemEng]

...and 73ss, I remember dropping a "chunk" of zinc in a Coke in my college Chemistry lab and watching it dissolve right before my eyes .....and I have personally used it to clean corrosion off of my car battery cables!!....kinda makes you think twice about putting it in your stomach, huh

You should see what some people use water to clean! Itll definitely change you mind about drinking the stuff.

 

[W2R]

I know a lot of people seriously addicted to diet sodas...must have something that makes them moreso than regular soda?

You may be on to something, there. When I used to drink diet sodas, I really felt a NEED to have at least one or two every day. Now that I don't, honestly I never think about them and I prefer water. If a diet soda somehow gets into my refrigerator, it sits there untouched for half a year without me thinking about it at all.

Then Frank will drink it when he's over. He loves 'em.

 

[flipstress]

Sweet Poison

Didn't know there was such a book (2 actually when I looked at Amazon.com).

But coincidentally, I got an email from someone at work with the very same subject of "Sweet Poison" just today. It claimed that aspartame is linked to MS, lupus, ADHD, etc. Looked over at snopes.com which dismissed the chain email as being false: Urban Legends Reference Pages: Aspartame -- Sweet Poison?

I avoid diet soda. I seldom drink soda anyway but just choose the non-diet because it tastes better to me.

 

[clifp]

I drink several diet cokes a day. I am sure that water is better for you, but I like the taste. A number of friends and relatives have said they are bad for ... But I went to a nutritionist talk recently since my latest physical said my blood sugar levels were slightly elevated (101 vs 100 normal). The nutritionist was fine with consumption of diet soda, he said that only when you get into the 50+ cans a day do you have problems.

 

[donheff]

I used to drink about 6 diet cokes a day. Now I drink about 1 a week. I am not worried about zinc dissolving or anything but I have heard on several occasions that all carbonated beverages leach calcium from bones. Don't know if it is true but that would keep me from going back.

 

[Buckeye]

I thought the phosphoric acid in the colas was very bad for bone health because it causes calcium to leech out to balance the phosphorus intake. Urban legend?

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/21/opinion/21tues4.html
Aspartame may cause lymphoma/leukemia in rats even at moderate doses. NY Times

Study reaffirms safety of aspartame - MIT News Office
Aspartame does not seem to affect behavior, even in kids.

Aspartame: review of safety. [Regul Toxicol Pharmacol. 2002] - PubMed Result
Good example of publicity posing as science; the type of reference you should not believe one way or the other. Note how it appears unbiased and scientific at first glance. Brought to you by the Nutrasweet company. What NOT to rely on.

JAMA -- Abstract: Aspartame. Review of safety issues. Council on Scientific Affairs, July 19, 1985, 254 (3): 400
JAMA review (sorry, need membership to enter); no conclusive evidence of harm.

FWIW, in my opinion aspartame in nonextreme doses appears to be safe enough that its risk, if any, is below the "noise level" as identified by less than optimal research (diet habits and risk are very hard to study well -- too many uncontrollable variables, noncompliance, etc.). Because of its identified credible risk in rats, it's something I would avoid in high, sustained doses just based on common sense and its total lack of nutritional value.

It was interesting to note how many information sources had agendas other than science.

Hope this is helpful.

 

[clifp]

Thanks doc. I feel better, but it would take pretty conclusive evidence for me to give up my habit.

"FWIW, in my opinion aspartame in nonextreme doses appears to be safe enough that its risk, if any, is below the "noise level" as identified by less than optimal research "

My I wish studies on everything had this type of common sense disclosure.

 

[One-Zero]

The health effects of drinking soda - quotes from the experts

The health effects of drinking soda - quotes from the experts

Doesn't restict commentary to just diet soda...

 

[clifp]

Wow dozens of quotes and not a single peer review study published in scientific or medical journal.

The plural of anecdotes is NOT data.

 

[Nords]

Those of you worried about aspartame should consider switching to beverages using Splenda. Start a campaign with your favorite bottler!

Tate & Lyle PLC needs the money...

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Thanks doc. I feel better, but it would take pretty conclusive evidence for me to give up my habit.

"FWIW, in my opinion aspartame in nonextreme doses appears to be safe enough that its risk, if any, is below the "noise level" as identified by less than optimal research "

My I wish studies on everything had this type of common sense disclosure.

That's what they mean by a Cox proportionate hazard ratio of 1.18 with a 95% confidence interval of .94 to 1.27.

 

[youbet]

I prefer beverages free of Aspartame or any other artificial sweetener and that are widely regarded as being "good for you."

 

[FIREd]

I personally don't like diet sodas. I hate the after taste in all of them.

I remember reading somewhere that drinking diet soda actually decreases blood sugar and, as a consequence, increases cravings for sugar-rich foods. So it looks like many people might drink a diet soda but then negate the benefits by eatings a brownie or a candy bar. That might be perhaps the reason why some studies find that diet soda drinkers are more overweight than regular soda drinkers. But who knows?

 

[donheff]

I just read an article that cites an article that ...

At any rate, the article cites an article supposed published in the [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]American Journal of Clinical Nutrition [/FONT](who knows who funds it) that finds no evidence of calcium leaching from phosphoric acid in soda. Maybe I will go back. Then again, maybe not.[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/FONT]