Who drinks diet soda?

@ersmommy1 (12588)
United States
April 10, 2008 2:20pm CST
Recent research has shown that artificial sweeteners in soda may interfere with your body’s ability to estimate how many calories you’ve ingested, so you eat more than you need!For every diet soda you sip daily, your risk of becoming overweight can rise by 37 percent, according to researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. I think I may have to give up my diet pepsi!
7 people like this
27 responses
@rlc456 (415)
• United States
11 Apr 08
I really don't hardly ever drink sodas.But when I do sometimes its diet and sometimes not.
2 people like this
@sirnose (2436)
• United States
10 Apr 08
Iam diabetic and have to cut back on my sugar intake,so I have no choice but to drink diet sodas or my eyesight becomes blurred.But I didn't know about this research on diet sodas,anyway I'm already overweight from this condition.
2 people like this
• United States
10 Apr 08
Yeah, I've heard that and I do notice that people who drink a lot of diet soda tend to be heavier. I like to drink one once in a while. In fact, I might go get one today. But, I don't drink it every day and I don't drink it that much. When I do drink it, I try to drink it with food. Though I have other health problems that make it easy for my weight to jump up (and down), I am not overweight according to all the charts. Maybe that's why (that at hardly any processed foods or sugar).
@skydancer (2101)
• United States
11 Apr 08
One thing I could never understand about diet soda was that diet aftertaste. I therefore never drank it... too strong for me. We also once had a guest speaker come to our dance studio who was a doctor and demonstrated how diet soda was not an efficient source of energy. He even said - believe it or not - that if you're going to drink soda, drink regular soda. He did NOT say it was a particularly healthy thing to drink, but that it was "the lesser of the two evils," because the sugar in regular soda is a natural substance and the NutraSweet in diet soda is not, and because natural sugar is better for your energy level. (Of course, that is one opinion. I have heard from other doctors and medical experts that diet is better. I am led to believe that neither of these theories apply to everyone. A lot if it probably does depend on the individual.) As for me, I don't drink diet soda, and while I tend toward a healthy diet, I am not above an occasional regular soda. I do tend to agree with the theory that diet soda is worse in many ways. I believe they might be onto something in their saying that diet soda tricks the body into thinking it needs more calories. However, it appears that it's the extra calorie intake it stimulates that would cause you to gain weight. I know other people who've drunk diet soda on a regular basis for years and never ended up consuming extra at all. So this probably doesn't apply to everyone. This is not to say that one should not eat smart though.
1 person likes this
@dvschic (1795)
• United States
10 Apr 08
see i dont know if i agree with this study, i switched from regular soda to diet soda and noticed a 10lbs weight loss just by doing that, no other changes. i think if people use their diet soda as a crutch, saying well i can eat this chocolate since i'm having a diet soda, then yes, they'll always be fat... but i dont know
2 people like this
• United States
14 Apr 08
That does seem to make sense. If the body tracks the 'sweetness' of things you've tasted and estimates caloric intact or balances insulin production based on that. However, when it comes to the ingestion of diet soda and association with being overweight, you have to worry about causality. People who are overweight might try to drink diet soda because they hope to restrict calories. Skinny people might not drink diet soda because they don't feel they need to. So being overweight might influence if you drink diet soda instead of diet soda influencing your weight.
1 person likes this
@Modestah (11179)
• United States
11 Apr 08
ever since they started using neutrasweet I have not liked diet soft drinks as they taste way too sweet to me... they also make my head all fuzzy (brain) and stimulate my appetite.
1 person likes this
@lilybug (21107)
• United States
11 Apr 08
Regardless of what researchers say I think that drinking diet soda is still better for you than drinking regular soda. I am still gonna drink my diet soda.
1 person likes this
@luvstochat (6907)
• United States
10 Apr 08
I have heard that but I don't necessarily belive it my aunt drinks diet coke from the time she wakes up in the morning til the time she goes to bed at night and she is about 5'3 and barely weighs 100 pound! I lose 40 pounds once and all I drank was diet soda. I am dieting again and I am having no problem keeping my calorie intack at 1200 while drinking diet coke.
1 person likes this
@michelyn (717)
• United States
11 Apr 08
I bleed Diet Pepsi so that would be horrible for me. I wasn't heavy before, but once I had back problems and wasn't very mobile, I put on 60 pounds. But since my surgery, I've lost 23 pounds and I haven't stopped with the Diet Pepsi. I know that I do need to start mixing some water in with it, but it's become so habitual to grab a can of Diet Pepsi that I don't even think about it at the time. It would be interesting to see some scientific proof as to whether this is true or not.
@chrysz (1602)
• Philippines
11 Apr 08
I stopped drinking diet coke when I was pregnant with my eldest. My teacher said that phenylpropanolalamine, the artificial sweetener is bad for fetus as it may cause mental retardation and other congenital abnormalities.
1 person likes this
@Deea48 (1166)
• United States
10 Apr 08
I have heard this beofre as well, I am not sure if I beleive it or not. I have gone from big to small on diet soda. Plus I have from small to big. So I think it really is dependent on the person. I have been drinking this long because I can not take all the surgar in none diet soda. They taste like real sweet koolaid to me.
• United States
10 Apr 08
I used to drink Diet Dr Pepper daily- 1-2 every day. I recently went for a good 6 months with none at all..none, zero, zippo, nada...NONE. Hubby still drinks it and I had some yesterday- I found I don't even really like the taste anymore. I drank more water. And I felt ALOT better. I don't about the gaining weight thing- the first time I lost a bunch of weight after having the twins, I was still drinking the soda- at least 1 a day. I just feel so much better without it.
1 person likes this
@pooh08 (671)
• Vietnam
11 Apr 08
I drink soda when I want my stomach digest faster. Because I usually get indigestion.
1 person likes this
@deebomb (15304)
• United States
15 Apr 08
I don't drink diet sodas at all. I don't think that the aspartame in the Nutrasweet is very safe. It has been found to cause anything from spasms or shooting pains, numbness, tinnitus, depression, impaired vision and memory loss to dizziness. When it get broken down it can be found to have formaldehyde and that can't be good for you. http://www.mercola.com/article/aspartame/symptoms.htm http://www.dorway.com/badnews.html
@stephcjh (38473)
• United States
1 Aug 08
That sounds about right. Just when we think we are doing the body good, something arises and tells us otherwise. I think plenty of water and exercise as well as watching your food intake, is the best way to maintain your weight levels.
@jillhill (37354)
• United States
14 Apr 08
Oh my! I wonder if I quit drinking it I could lose weight. Someone once told me that....and I didn't believe them. But now I'll take this as a pertinent fact! Thanks for sharing!
@tonyllenium (6252)
• Italy
23 Mar 10
i don't like diet coke or pepsi as taste normally they are strange so if i drink something like that i always prefer the normal one in fact the taste i think is better than others diet drinks!!
@dawnald (85129)
• Shingle Springs, California
15 Apr 08
For me personally, every since I went off artificial sweeteners, I have way fewer cravings between meals. I've lost some weight since then and then managed to mostly maintain it.
@rhane7315 (5649)
• Philippines
16 Apr 08
lol if i drink so many sodas they i can gain more weight, i guess it's better for me coz i'm an underweight lol but sometimes i drink diet sodas, i love the taste of it much better than ordinary sodas