"diet" coke/7up etc and cutting

Chris89

How do

Simple question, can you pretty much drink as much of this stuff as you want, without having it affect your fat loss goals.

I have recently discovered that coke zero isn't that bad, and I have just started a cut.

Thoughts?

d'Oracle

John Schaeffer advocates diet "sodas" to people who want to trim/keep off fat.

Beyond that I don't know.

The Davestator

If you want to get lean, you have to give them up.

As a former 1 litre a day coke zero person, I know now that it was preventing me getting in great shape.

Although there is no 'sugar' in them, the body reacts in the exact same way i.e. raises blood sugar levels, insulin response etc. so it is the same as drinking the normal stuff.

Also, there is very little worse you can drink for overall health IMO.

Chris89

Thanks for the replies guys.

This is pretty much what I've been hearing, two opposite ends of the spectrum.
I wouldnt be drinking anywhere near that much a day. But was curiou about the pros and cons as it certainly satisfies my sweet tooth for a while anyway.

G86

There are some studies that say that the artificial sweeteners in diet drinks can cause the same insulin spikes as sugar. But I know feck all about it to be honest, maybe someone who does could elaborate? I cut out diet coke because it had wrecked my teeth, but I still drink diet 7up the odd time and I don't think it has any mad detrimental effect.

Hanley

The Davestator wrote: »

If you want to get lean, you have to give them up.

As a former 1 litre a day coke zero person, I know now that it was preventing me getting in great shape.

Although there is no 'sugar' in them, the body reacts in the exact same way i.e. raises blood sugar levels, insulin response etc. so it is the same as drinking the normal stuff.

Also, there is very little worse you can drink for overall health IMO.

That's just not true. They've never stopped me when I wanted to lean up.

And lets go back the other way, if the arificial sweetners are what's causing the spike, prolonged exposure over time to them in diet drinks with no accompanying sugar must also deaden the response once you start drinking sugar again?

dotty145

The sweetner in these drinks is called ASPARTAME it goes in every sugar free drink and no added sugar drink... i think its banned over in the states but not in europe

Chris89

I'm kind of asking for peoples personal experiences rather than anything else.

I read a lot of stuff saying you still get the same insulin spike with the aspartame, and I also found a lot of stuff saying it's grand and not to worry.
I'm essentially curious as to wether or not I can get ball grippingly lean and still drink coke cause it's delish.

Banks

There has been strong scientific links with diet drinks containing Aspartame and a high craving of sugary foods/drinks up to 24 hours after consumption as the body believes it is getting sugar as apposed to a sweetner.

Hanley

Banks wrote: »

There has been strong scientific links with diet drinks containing Aspartame and a high craving of sugary foods/drinks up to 24 hours after consumption as the body believes it is getting sugar as apposed to a sweetner.

So if you ignore the craving your body stops linking aspartame to sugar and becomes desensitised to it?

The Davestator

Hanley wrote: »

That's just not true. They've never stopped me when I wanted to lean up.

And lets go back the other way, if the arificial sweetners are what's causing the spike, prolonged exposure over time to them in diet drinks with no accompanying sugar must also deaden the response once you start drinking sugar again?

Bit harsh! In my experience (and those of clients and friends) it has had a big impact.
I'd imagine that when you decide to lean up, you really go for it, and eat very very cleanly and train at a higher intensity than most so you may get away with it more than most.

I really believe that you shouldnt put something in your body that has basically no natural ingredients as god knows what its doing to us.

This is and exert of one study I read recently;

Full article at

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/americas-deadliest-sweete_b_630549.html


How Diet Foods and Drinks CAUSE Weight Problems

In recent years, food manufacturers have increasingly focused on developing low-calorie foods and drinks to help you maintain a healthy weight and avoid obesity. Unfortunately, the science behind these products is so flawed, most of these products can actually lead to increased weight gain!

For example, researchers have discovered that drinking diet soda increases your risk of metabolic syndrome, and may double your risk of obesity -- the complete opposite of the stated intention behind these "zero calorie" drinks.

The sad truth is that diet foods and drinks ruin your body's ability to count calories, and in fact stimulate your appetite, thus boosting your inclination to overindulge.

Unfortunately, most public health agencies and nutritionists in the United States recommend these toxic artificial sweeteners as an acceptable alternative to sugar, which is at best confusing and at worst harming the health of those who take their misguided advice.

Esse85

I know its suggested to try diet coke/coke zero when on a keto diet to curb cravings for junk.

As with anything it will depend on the rest of you diet whether you can fit it in to your diet without it affecting fat loss.

Chris89

Well I'm eating to promote fat loss. I don't think fitting the coke in will be a problem as it pretty much has no calories.

I'm just interested in te aspartame v sugar.

Davestator, Obvioulsy if you eat right and train hard you can "get away" with more than people who don't. That's kind of irrelevant though.

Goldenlady

Only giving my 2 cents worth - But I gave up diet coke (its the only fizzy drink I drank!) before Christmas - Have gone back on it in the last month, and I can honestly say, my cravings for junk food have dissappeared since I went back on it - I found I had put on a couple of pounds since Christmas as I was eating crap food, which I wouldn't have touched (Well not as often!) Maybe it is good to curb the cravings.........:)

Bandara

Goldenlady wrote: »

Only giving my 2 cents worth - But I gave up diet coke (its the only fizzy drink I drank!) before Christmas - Have gone back on it in the last month, and I can honestly say, my cravings for junk food have dissappeared since I went back on it - I found I had put on a couple of pounds since Christmas as I was eating crap food, which I wouldn't have touched (Well not as often!) Maybe it is good to curb the cravings.........:)

I'm the same, I buy the little small cans (the same size as they used give you on planes - i think its 120ml), when I'm craving big time I have one of them, it takes the edge off and stops my HUGE sweet tooth from consuming bad things !

Legen_Dary

I have just replaced coke with coke zero myself. so can't say if it's helping me loose weight just yet.

I used to drink 3-4 cans of coke a day, at almost 150 calories a can, I can only assume the 1 calorie per can in coke zero I will now be getting from will be quite a bit better.

Banks

Thats if you can beat the cravings Hanley

ragg

Banks wrote: »

There has been strong scientific links with diet drinks containing Aspartame and a high craving of sugary foods/drinks up to 24 hours after consumption as the body believes it is getting sugar as apposed to a sweetner.

Is this true? I find diet coke a good is a good substitute if you are dieting and have one of them unbareable cravings for something sweet.
However, I believe the whole insulin spike thing, but if you take it away from food, does it really matter?
Can you show me the link about the sugar cravings the day after, but please remember i'm actually quite stupid, so preferably something that dumbes it down a little cheers

Hanley

Banks wrote: »

Thats if you can beat the cravings Hanley

Mneh... if you can't then ya obviously don't want it bad enough and don't deserve to be lean.

ragg wrote: »

Is this true? I find diet coke a good is a good substitute if you are dieting and have one of them unbareable cravings for something sweet.
However, I believe the whole insulin spike thing, but if you take it away from food, does it really matter?
Can you show me the link about the sugar cravings the day after, but please remember i'm actually quite stupid, so preferably something that dumbes it down a little cheers

In the abscence of kcals I doubt it matters, but when you have food with it it may be detrimental. I'd like to see more about this tho.

Chris89

Hanley wrote: »

I'd like to see more about this tho.

Me too, ill do some digging

Red Cortina

Thought that I had read something about artifical sweetners causing an insulin spike in The Diet Delusion but can't find it:(
The only info that I could find for the mo on aspartame is in the Protein Power Lifeplan where it says that this molecule along with others such as MSG behaves as a brain excitotoxin, triggering oversimulation in the nerve cell such that it dies. They reference the book Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills by Russell L. Blaylock as their source.
Anyway will take another skim through the Diet Delusion to see if I can find anything more about artifical sweetners causing an insulin spike....

The Guvnor

Hammertime wrote: »

I'm the same, I buy the little small cans (the same size as they used give you on planes - i think its 120ml), when I'm craving big time I have one of them, it takes the edge off and stops my HUGE sweet tooth from consuming bad things !

That is pretty much the point - if on a strict calorie controlled diet be it for a show or other reasons your taste buds will not be overly excited on a daily basis.

Having a can or two a day of diet soda pop is IMO fine - it has very few calories. Takes the edge off the monotony of the food you are eating.

As for mental or physical cravings due to a can of diet soda pop - people going for shows or trying to get proper lean obviously have decent will power to stick the diet so these theories can be binned.

As for all the anti aspartame stuff going on - I will surmise this as succinctly as I can:

• Large anti aspartame lobby groups get funded by alternatve sweetner manufacturers in the USA - hence the 92+ list of side effects including DEATH.

• Aspartame has been around for 45 years now.

• Good or bad we know the facts about Aspartame by now.

• Sucralose whilst the hot sweetner atm 'may' have some skeletons waiting to come out.

• Moderation is always the key.

Do I actively avoid aspartame or acesulfame k - no. They are rare in protein powders nowadays but I consume both the above in the can of diet soda pop that I consume maybe 5 times a week.

Mellor

dotty145 wrote: »

The sweetner in these drinks is called ASPARTAME it goes in every sugar free drink and no added sugar drink... i think its banned over in the states but not in europe

Nonsense.

Aspartame isn't banned in the states. In fact it has been one of the highest tested additives ever by the FDA and they deamed that it was clean cut and safe.
It's allowed as an additive EU wide, and is likely in diet coke everywhere

The Davestator wrote: »

Bit harsh! In my experience (and those of clients and friends) it has had a big impact.

How do you know that its the diet coke and not their diet else where.

I really believe that you shouldnt put something in your body that has basically no natural ingredients as god knows what its doing to us.

I agree, i'm gonna stick with opium and cocaine on my oats in the morning.

Banks wrote: »

Thats if you can beat the cravings Hanley

If I crave sugar, I find diet coke satisfy it.
Regardless of online scarmongering, studies and conflicting advice, I am 100% sure that, when I crave something sweet, a bottle of diet coke is far far better than either regular coke, or some sweets.

Dixie Chick

I find I am the total opposite whenit comes to diet coke. It actually starts me on a sugar bender so I need to cut it out. I just dont see why if you are eating clean that you would drink it. It does cause you to get a spike, then there is the inevitable slump. I think its fine if you are just counting calories but if you are eating clean, you break teh sugr cravings anyway after 2 weeks.

Will Heffernan

Chris89 wrote: »

How do

Simple question, can you pretty much drink as much of this stuff as you want, without having it affect your fat loss goals.

Yes.

I have recently discovered that coke zero isn't that bad, and I have just started a cut.

Thoughts?

Just got your PM. You can believe what you like I suppose and posters are entitled to their opinion but this thread after having only a quick look at it is full of garbage and the only thing that will make you fat is swallowing some of it.

The only studies I've seen that showed even mild insulin elevations as a result of artificial sweeteners was in diabetic subjects.

MyPeopleDrankTheSoup

i drink from 2 to 4 litres of coke zero a day during cuts, it's the only way i can stay sane. i'm a bit worried about anything over 2 litres, mostly about my teeth. but it works wonders to kill food cravings. tbh, i don't where i'd be without it.

as for insulin spike and all that stuff, sure that stuff shouldn't affect you if you stay in calorie deficit.

Barry.Oglesby

Diabetics can drink diet drinks. Also Will Heffernan must drink 5-10 litres of Coke Zero per day and he's not fat...

eilo1

Diet drinks do not affect your blood sugar levels and therefore in healthy people should not cause any insulin release.

Im a type one diabetic and drink a lot of diet drinks, they have never had an affect on my blood sugar levels. I check my sugars up to 8 times a day, so if they where having any kind of affect I would definitely have picked up on it after 14years!

Diet drinks and artificial sweeteners definitely helped me to avoid sweets and sugary treats when I was a teenager. I say drink away!

Also on the whole aspartame debate the world health organisation declared last year that there is no link between aspartame and cancer. Aspartame is one of the most widely used and tested artificial sweeteners on the market. There are literally thousands of scientific studies on it. If it where the demon some websites try to make out then surely there would be much stronger evidence available.

Hanley

eilo1 wrote: »

Diet drinks do not affect your blood sugar levels and therefore in healthy people should not cause any insulin release.

Im a type one diabetic and drink a lot of diet drinks, they have never had an affect on my blood sugar levels. I check my sugars up to 8 times a day, so if they where having any kind of affect I would definitely have picked up on it after 14years!

Diet drinks and artificial sweeteners definitely helped me to avoid sweets and sugary treats when I was a teenager. I say drink away!

Also on the whole aspartame debate the world health organisation declared last year that there is no link between aspartame and cancer. Aspartame is one of the most widely used and tested artificial sweeteners on the market. There are literally thousands of scientific studies on it. If it where the demon some websites try to make out then surely there would be much stronger evidence available.

I love you. Guy or girl, I love you. Thank you.

MyPeopleDrankTheSoup

eilo1 wrote: »

Diet drinks do not affect your blood sugar levels and therefore in healthy people should not cause any insulin release.

Im a type one diabetic and drink a lot of diet drinks, they have never had an affect on my blood sugar levels. I check my sugars up to 8 times a day, so if they where having any kind of affect I would definitely have picked up on it after 14years!

Diet drinks and artificial sweeteners definitely helped me to avoid sweets and sugary treats when I was a teenager. I say drink away!

Also on the whole aspartame debate the world health organisation declared last year that there is no link between aspartame and cancer. Aspartame is one of the most widely used and tested artificial sweeteners on the market. There are literally thousands of scientific studies on it. If it where the demon some websites try to make out then surely there would be much stronger evidence available.

yeah, that's what i always say about aspartame when friends are family are saying 'ehhh that stuff will kill ya'. if the FDA approve it, it's grand by me.

actually tbh, i don't say anything anymore, no point arguing, i just nod and agree.

carpediem

Interesting article on the side effects of aspartame.

http://www.casesjournal.com/content/2/1/9237

Mellor

carpediem wrote: »

Interesting article on the side effects of aspartame.

http://www.casesjournal.com/content/2/1/9237

That is neither interesting, nor is it about the side effects of aspartame for the general population. It's a about a pair of siblings that have a reaction to it.

Three of the most common reactions are fish, milk and nuts.
It's a pretty fair statement that these are 3 very nutritous foods. ergo, above is totally irrelevant for the general population.

Rycn

Hanley wrote: »

if the arificial sweetners are what's causing the spike, prolonged exposure over time to them in diet drinks with no accompanying sugar must also deaden the response once you start drinking sugar again?

Sweetener tastes the same as sugar, how can your body learn to differentiate between the two, in your mouth?

This insulin response happens when it hits the taste buds, not in the gut.

Even if your body realises "oh wait how come this time there wasnt any actual sugar?"

It still has to respond the same way next time.

Its impossible for your body to even try to adjust, unless you have superhuman tastebuds where you can taste each and every seperate compound in food, and distinguish between them.

Maybe then the body can adapt.

Xavi6

I've just started cutting back on eating crap as I've been hitting the gym very heavily lately but still have diet drinks to satisfy my sweet cravings. I was worried about the impact it would have but this thread has given me some great info.

Thanks guys.

Americangirl1

Well all I can say for me is that when I cut off all soda, I lost 5 pounds. Even if you have one a day, remember that it can make you blotted too.
I can also agree with the some people who say, why would you want to drink that if your trying to lose weight and are eating healthy foods, but it can also be bad. Strictly cutting yourself off from certain things can be hard, but if you really wanna go for it, you will. Good luck to anyone who is trying to.

brianthebard

Rycn wrote: »

Sweetener tastes the same as sugar, how can your body learn to differentiate between the two, in your mouth?

This insulin response happens when it hits the taste buds, not in the gut.

Even if your body realises "oh wait how come this time there wasnt any actual sugar?"

It still has to respond the same way next time.

Its impossible for your body to even try to adjust, unless you have superhuman tastebuds where you can taste each and every seperate compound in food, and distinguish between them.

Maybe then the body can adapt.

What? Do you have a source to back up these claims?

Rycn

brianthebard wrote: »

What?

Sweetener tastes the same as sugar, how can your body learn to differentiate between the two, in your mouth?

This insulin response happens when it hits the taste buds, not in the gut.

Even if your body realises "oh wait how come this time there wasnt any actual sugar?"

It still has to respond the same way next time.

Its impossible for your body to even try to adjust, unless you have superhuman tastebuds where you can taste each and every seperate compound in food, and distinguish between them.

Maybe then the body can adapt.

brianthebard wrote: »

Do you have a source to back up these claims?

A degree in Biology.

brianthebard

Rycn wrote: »

Sweetener tastes the same as sugar, how can your body learn to differentiate between the two, in your mouth?

This insulin response happens when it hits the taste buds, not in the gut.

Even if your body realises "oh wait how come this time there wasnt any actual sugar?"

It still has to respond the same way next time.

Its impossible for your body to even try to adjust, unless you have superhuman tastebuds where you can taste each and every seperate compound in food, and distinguish between them.

Maybe then the body can adapt.
A degree in Biology.

How do I know you were even in class the day they were talking about aspartame? An actual source would be nice, thanks. My understanding is that the body's hormonal response can and are constantly adapting, so there's no real need for superhuman tastebuds.
This paper (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18556090) suggests sucrose and saccharin provoke an insulin response, but doesn't mention aspartame.

Rycn

brianthebard wrote: »

How do I know you were even in class the day they were talking about aspartame? An actual source would be nice, thanks. My understanding is that the body's hormonal response can and are constantly adapting, so there's no real need for superhuman tastebuds.
This paper (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18556090) suggests sucrose and saccharin provoke an insulin response, but doesn't mention aspartame.

I dont have a source man but im 100%, im not talking specifically about aspartame, moreso insulin. Anything that tastes "sweet" like sugar provokes an insulin response, because generally in nature most sweet foods contain sugar or some form of it.

This is a situation where your body is being tricked to think its about to consume sugar, when its not. And it cannot adapt to this.

brianthebard

Rycn wrote: »

I dont have a source man but im 100%

Fraid I won't be taking your word for it. The discussion is specifically about asparatame, not insulin.

Rycn

brianthebard wrote: »

The discussion is specifically about asparatame, not insulin.

Specifically? Not really because insulin has alot to do with what were talking about.

I presume you dont know this from your posts so why are you involved in the discussion?

Why not just read and learn?

imitation

In my own experience its a useful tool for loosing weight, it was my crutch when I was loosing some weight myself. Its not going to be of any use unless you diet properly.

What I will say is however, that after getting 5 cavity's in the space of a year and half, you need to be smart about how you drink it, drink it through a straw at mealtimes, dont have a bit every so often. Have some water as well afterwards to wash it out. I think sugar free dilutable orange might be a better option for all arguments, as you can dilute down the aspirimite and the tooth roting acids.

rocky

Even protein will raise insulin, so 'raising insulin levels' is not bad in and of itself. When it is caused by food consumed above maintenance, it will cause weight gain.

The Guvnor

imitation wrote: »

In my own experience its a useful tool for loosing weight, it was my crutch when I was loosing some weight myself. Its not going to be of any use unless you diet properly.

What I will say is however, that after getting 5 cavity's in the space of a year and half, you need to be smart about how you drink it, drink it through a straw at mealtimes, dont have a bit every so often. Have some water as well afterwards to wash it out. I think sugar free dilutable orange might be a better option for all arguments, as you can dilute down the aspirimite and the tooth roting acids.

Gppd points mate and I had heard of the straw before - basically bypassing the teeth. Water is also a good idea and one I now do. Always order tap water with whatever other drink I am getting.

Mooo

Personal experience:

I used to drink 1-2:5litres of diet drinks a day, ate fruit, veg and chicken and some carbs and was skinny as a whippet. The drinks curbed my appetite immediately but I found that there were side effects like
-my cravings for carbs increased on the days after I increased my diet drink intake
-my stomach became more acidic which may have linked with craving carbs
-

there was no major impact on my teeth that i know of yet but i switched from coke to 7up to reduce staining

water is always no.1 but it does nothing for me to curb any cravings

mloc

Does anyone have any links to a peer reviewed paper where they show that diet soft drinks elicit an insulin response in healthy individuals?

I'm looking for a decent paper in a decent journal, with the results available (not just the conclusions).

Lantus

Fizzy drinks of a diet nature contain an artificial sweetner that heighten the body's craving for more sweet things. So even though you think your being good by not having anything sugery it can often trigger a response to seek out more sugary items. Depending on the type of person you are this can be better or worse.

Fizzy drinks have been shown to leach calcium from bones, caused by the phosphoric acid. For anyone this is detrimental, especially women who tend to use diet drinks over a long time period.

The main sweetner agent in these drinks; Aspartame is chemical your body doesn't recognise. It cannot be dissolved or processed and slowly builds up over time. It was bullied through the FDA by powerful companies in the US and has inevitably made it's way all round the world. I'm not sugesting all the claims on it's side affects are true, but, we should all have enough distrust in chemicals to know when stepping away is a good thing.

A lot of diet drinks contain high amounts of caffenine and most isn't identified in terms of quantity.

ApeXaviour

eilo1 wrote: »

Im a type one diabetic and drink a lot of diet drinks, they have never had an affect on my blood sugar levels. I check my sugars up to 8 times a day, so if they where having any kind of affect I would definitely have picked up on it after 14years!

A Type I diabetic is a special case altogether since you do not have an insulin response (pre absorptive or otherwise) and are very unlikely to be insulin resistant. But yes, diet drinks causing a blood sugar "spike" as it were makes very little sense. A prophylactic response to sweetness, as a protection against hyperglycemia is normal however.

brianthebard wrote: »

This paper (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18556090) suggests sucrose and saccharin provoke an insulin response, but doesn't mention aspartame.

I'd say for all intents and purposes in this case you can consider them the same.

mloc wrote: »

Does anyone have any links to a peer reviewed paper where they show that diet soft drinks elicit an insulin response in healthy individuals?
I'm looking for a decent paper in a decent journal, with the results available (not just the conclusions).

The paper brianthebard linked (full paper) is one of the closest you'll get. It seems fairly conclusive that there is a pre-absorptive response, and that drinking diet drinks mess with your metabolism in a not so favourable way.

behavioural neuroscience paper wrote:

There is little doubt that sweet tastes can evoke responses in
addition to the thermic reflexes that we measured in Experiment 3
(Mattes, 1997; Teff, 2000). For example, ingestion of sweet food
is also accompanied by preabsorptive or cephalic-phase insulin
release (CPIR). It is interesting that both reduced CPIR and
cephalic-phase thermic responses have been linked to energy dys-
regulation in humans. Teff, Mattes, Engelman, and Mattern (1993)
reported that the magnitude of the CPIR is diminished in obese
humans when expressed as a proportion of basal insulin levels,
whereas Hashkes, Gartside, and Blondheim (1997) reported that
obese humans exhibited a weaker cephalic-phase thermic response
than did nonobese controls following consumption of a palatable
(Ensure) test meal. It may be that the magnitude of the thermic
response to food is mediated by insulin release (Laville et al.,
1993). In keeping with this possibility, Storlien and Bruce (1989)
proposed that a primary failure of normal cephalic-phase responses
eventually leads to increased postprandial hyperglycemia and de-
creased thermogenesis. Persistent hyperglycemia leads to insulin
resistance (as insulin does not effectively dispose of glucose), and
diminished postprandial thermogenesis promotes weight gain
based on reduced energy expenditure (Watanabe et al., 2006). This
analysis suggests a potential mechanism whereby degrading the
predictive relationship between sweet taste and calories could lead
to excess food intake and body-weight gain.

Or reworded: Sweetness causes an insulin and thermic (increased metabolic) response. A reduction in this pre-absorptive insulin and thermic response has been linked with energy dys-regulation and obesity in humans. So reducing this connection between sweetness and the responses (by regularly consuming artificial sweetener) leads to frequent hyperglycemia, which leads to insulin resistance.


Anecdotally I've found diet drinks deleterious to my cutting efforts... both in terms of increased cravings/hunger, light-headedness and a lack of results. Switched to soda water and was doing much better. Now I realise I probably wasn't doing myself any good long-term with those drinks. The preabsorptive responses are good things I would like to hang on to.

Perhaps (and maybe I'm speculating naively) diet drinks are okay to consume when otherwise consuming carbohydrates. I doubt the CIPR is very quantity sensitive... nor would can I imagine the disconnect occurring if there is actually something for the cells to absorb in response to the insulin.

imitation

Lantus wrote: »

Fizzy drinks of a diet nature contain an artificial sweetner that heighten the body's craving for more sweet things. So even though you think your being good by not having anything sugery it can often trigger a response to seek out more sugary items. Depending on the type of person you are this can be better or worse.

I have never noticed this in practice, I found diet drinks a good stand in for the real deal, I didnt feel any great hunger or craving for sugary food after drinking some, I think more than likely it stems from the old willpower chestnut. I think it functioned as a good stand in for the "real" deal to prevent boredom in the taste deparment

Fizzy drinks have been shown to leach calcium from bones, caused by the phosphoric acid. For anyone this is detrimental, especially women who tend to use diet drinks over a long time period.

I agree here, its the same deal with teeth, I dont know how phosphoric acid flushes through the system though, would it have a great deal of contact with bone.

The main sweetner agent in these drinks; Aspartame is chemical your body doesn't recognise. It cannot be dissolved or processed and slowly builds up over time. It was bullied through the FDA by powerful companies in the US and has inevitably made it's way all round the world. I'm not sugesting all the claims on it's side affects are true, but, we should all have enough distrust in chemicals to know when stepping away is a good thing.

A lot of diet drinks contain high amounts of caffenine and most isn't identified in terms of quantity.

Aspartame has been on the market for 36 years now, and has been examined in great detail by a lot of studies, I'm not saying there aren't any side effects, but clearly there has been no evidence in this amount of time to suggest that its an extremely dangerous substance. I would also bet many other "natural" chemicals would fare worse under the scrutiny that aspartame has gotten. I also wonder if aspartame had the same side effects of say ethanol how long it would take for it to get pulled

Lantus

imitation wrote: »

I have never noticed this in practice, I found diet drinks a good stand in for the real deal, I didnt feel any great hunger or craving for sugary food after drinking some, I think more than likely it stems from the old willpower chestnut. I think it functioned as a good stand in for the "real" deal to prevent boredom in the taste deparment

Like I said some people won't. But for others it can be a trigger.

I agree here, its the same deal with teeth, I dont know how phosphoric acid flushes through the system though, would it have a great deal of contact with bone.

I had a friend who did some work at the coke factory. After seeing what effect it had on stainless steel vats he decided never to drink it again. Rotting teeth is another bad side affect.

Aspartame has been on the market for 36 years now, and has been examined in great detail by a lot of studies, I'm not saying there aren't any side effects, but clearly there has been no evidence in this amount of time to suggest that its an extremely dangerous substance. I would also bet many other "natural" chemicals would fare worse under the scrutiny that aspartame has gotten. I also wonder if aspartame had the same side effects of say ethanol how long it would take for it to get pulled

Ultimatley the criteria is weight loss and in that regard I dont feel that and diet drinks would contribute negativley. But in the context of health and wellbeing these chemical liquids are as far from a nature as you can get. There are so many downsides compared to any positive's.

My advice is to drink water, best drink there is!