Is Diet Coke bad for me?

[Matt]

OK I have several bad habits. Aside from those that involve scratching and picking at myself, the two that I have to solve are eating late at night (I gorge myself, its really bad) and a Coca Cola addiction. As I am trying to belt off some of the weight I put on post-op (see other threads), I have to solve these two things so that I can sign Oprah's contract with myself.

The late night one is really just a willpower thing, but the Coke one seems to have an obvious solution with a switch to Diet Coke. Now I know I should drink exclusively water, but I am just not the sort of person that does that. I have started to drink about a litre a day of water (exercise every morning, drink 500ml bottle, another one with lunch), but recreationally in non alcohol purposes, I drink Coke. Will switching to Diet help me here with my goal of weightloss? Is it otherwise bad for me? Anything secret about it that makes it worse than drinking The Real Thing?

 

[Kent Wang]

The difference in calories is huge. Do it. There is no widely-accepted evidence that the sugar substitutes in diet colas are unhealthy. Ultimately, the certain benefit of reducing your sugar intake far outweighs.

Also, even for those with no weight concerns diet sodas are healthier for your teeth as they don't leave deposits of sugar for bacteria to feast upon.

 

[whoopee]

All other things being equal, swtiching to diet will help you lose weight. And it won't cut you off caffeine like water will, so your metabolism will stay up.

 

[GreyFlannelMan]

Last year, I switched from a 4-5 Coke-a-day habit to a 3-4 a day DC habit. It definitely has had a positive affect. Think about it: each can of Coke contains 150 calories. That's 600 calories a day that I've eliminated, which in turn, means a little less work at the gym.

 

[moosy]

Diet Coke is better than Coke, BUT:

- Diet is bad for you on a psychological level as it generates a "sweet tooth" and makes you get used to having everything overly sweet, which will change you taste in other foods to sweet foods.

- Diet is bad for you on a physiological level as you are trying to fool your body. Sugar is important and your body needs a certain level of it. When you intake fake sugar your body expects certain nutrients but does not get them, hence recalibrating you expectations for sugar. Essentially you are teaching your body that one sweet drink has less value than it thinks it has and hence it will ask for more, again generating a sweet tooth.

All in all, nothing beats water (tab, no reason in the US to pay for bottled one).

 

[imageWIS]

I just cut back to one, or none Coke's per day (regular Coke). And that seems to be helping. Honestly, I can do without the caffeine; you just have to wean yourself off of it like any other drug (and it IS a drug).

Jon.

 

[chorse123]

Originally Posted by imageWIS

you just have to wean yourself off of it like any other drug (and it IS a drug).

But quitting caffeine is not that rough, and some would hesitate even to call it an addiction, because it's so damn easy to stop. Somewhere between 2 and 9 days and you're free.

 

[rdawson808]

Originally Posted by chorse123

But quitting caffeine is not that rough, and some would hesitate even to call it an addiction, because it's so damn easy to stop. Somewhere between 2 and 9 days and you're free.


I don't know, I once had a doctor tell me that quitting caffeine was as bad as quitting cocaine. I think there is a bit of hyperbole in there, but not alot. I think it depends on the level of "addiction" and the individual.

bob

 

[Get Smart]

Mat, when I switched to diet soda I saw a drastic weight loss after a couple weeks. I went from drinking 3+ sodas/day to 1 diet soda day. Def recommend the switch. But diet Coke tastes like crap. Diet Pepsi is infinitely better.

 

[Steve B.]

Matt:

Do some research online on aspartame and other artificial sweeteners. I beg to differ with Kent's conclusion that they're not bad for you.

And so is caffeine- raises blood pressure, messes with your sleep cycle.

I speak from experience. Just gave up a 20-32 oz a day Diet Mt Dew habit about a month ago, and feel infinitely better.

 

[montecristo#4]

Here's what I did with Coke:

Phase 1: Switched to Diet Coke.
Phase 2: Switched to Diet Arizona Green Tea Iced Tea.
Phase 3: Switched to water.

 

[imageWIS]

Originally Posted by Get Smart

Mat, when I switched to diet soda I saw a drastic weight loss after a couple weeks. I went from drinking 3+ sodas/day to 1 diet soda day. Def recommend the switch. But diet Coke tastes like crap. Diet Pepsi is infinitely better.

This is why I'm slowly switching over to Clearly Canadian.

Jon.

 

[odoreater]

Originally Posted by Steve B.

Matt:

Do some research online on aspartame and other artificial sweeteners. I beg to differ with Kent's conclusion that they're not bad for you.

And so is caffeine- raises blood pressure, messes with your sleep cycle.

I speak from experience. Just gave up a 20-32 oz a day Diet Mt Dew habit about a month ago, and feel infinitely better.

In every study where they've found negative effects from aspartame on rats, they fed the rats massive amounts of aspartame that no human would ever ingest relative to his size. To get the amount of aspartame that is used in those studies you would have to drink 5 2-liter bottles of diet coke every day.

Based on my research on the subject (reading various studies), I've determined that diet soda is perfectly safe. However, I rarely drink Diet Coke - I prefer Diet Dr. Pepper.

 

[visionology]

I never liked normal Coke and Pepsi, too sweet so I've always had the Diet alternatives. I recently cut my Diet Soda intake down from about 1 every day to about 1 or two a week and really do feel better. I went to lots of water, more juices, and some crystal light.

 

[Brian SD]

I love Coke.. and I try not to have it but indulge every once in awhile. I have friends that take down 4-5 in a day.. that grosses me out, I can never handle that much sugar!!

Anyway, I switched to Iced Green Tea, which has a little bit of caffeine, but has good anti-oxidants, is much much better for hydration. If you like the taste of tea, which not everyone does, I can't recommend it enough.

Also, do you like juices? I find that when I get thirsty, a cranberry cocktail juice or orange juice is just fine.

Soda is just plain awful stuff. If I have kids, it will be one thing I make sure never to let them slip into an addiction of.