mike8378
12-10-2002, 05:20 PM
Is it not a good idea to drink diet soda if you are trying to loose weight?
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Chum
12-10-2002, 07:26 PM
I dont consume aspartame so it cuts the diet sodas out for the most part. Artifical sweetner can raise insulin which causes cravings.
sean
12-10-2002, 10:31 PM
after reviewing all the reserwach i could find--admitedly i am an amateur and may have missed something--i cannot find any support for the notion that aspartame or other artificial sweeterners raise insulin level. this has been much studied, and no rigorous reserach study has found this effect when it went looking for it.
i think dropping sugared soda (and other sugared drinks) is one of the easiest and most obvious steps to improving one's health and controlling weight. I drink tea, cause i like the research finidngs on that very much, but i get artificially sweetended iced tea for a cold drink, since sugar is such a must-to-avoid.
sean
i think dropping sugared soda (and other sugared drinks) is one of the easiest and most obvious steps to improving one's health and controlling weight. I drink tea, cause i like the research finidngs on that very much, but i get artificially sweetended iced tea for a cold drink, since sugar is such a must-to-avoid.
sean
Chum
12-11-2002, 04:47 PM
Artificial sweetner really gives me cravings just as if I ate real sugar. From what I understand our body releases insulin when we eat the sweetners thinking its sugar.
Magpiezoe
12-12-2002, 09:44 AM
Hello, There will always be controversy over artifical sweetners. Everyone knows they're bad, but they still sell. I refuse to give my child sugar free gum, because there was a study on nutrisweet a long time ago that suggested it interferes with children's brain development. Anyhow, this does not answer your question.
In answer to your question, I'd say it depends on your body...Especially if you are a woman. Diet sodas have high sodium(salt) content, which means that they can cause you to retain a lot of water. (Water weight.) This will make it hard for you to loose weight the amount of weight you really can. Also, there's the gassy, bloating issue. Some people just get gassy on the stuff and others don't. Flavored seltzer water has a lot less sodium. I'm looking at a can of Vintage Raspberry flavored brand and it has 5 g. of sodium, 0 fat, 0 cal., 0 carbs, no artifical sweetners...the ingredients are carbonated water and natural flavor. If you don't want the carbonation, you can try plain water with a little squeeze of real lemon in it.
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Magpie
In answer to your question, I'd say it depends on your body...Especially if you are a woman. Diet sodas have high sodium(salt) content, which means that they can cause you to retain a lot of water. (Water weight.) This will make it hard for you to loose weight the amount of weight you really can. Also, there's the gassy, bloating issue. Some people just get gassy on the stuff and others don't. Flavored seltzer water has a lot less sodium. I'm looking at a can of Vintage Raspberry flavored brand and it has 5 g. of sodium, 0 fat, 0 cal., 0 carbs, no artifical sweetners...the ingredients are carbonated water and natural flavor. If you don't want the carbonation, you can try plain water with a little squeeze of real lemon in it.
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Magpie
Stigma
12-14-2002, 05:04 PM
We all know that pop, in general, is not good for us. In fact, many things most of us consume on a regular basis are not healthy, especially in more than minimal quantities. Of course drinking water instead of other liquids is as perfect as it gets as far as weight loss goes, but let's face the fact that if someone trying to lose weight replaces every regular, sugar-loaded soda that he or she drinks with a diet, it's a big first step...
LoriC1969
12-14-2002, 05:29 PM
I must interject here. I would much rather give my kids sugar free gum and diet coke instead of the others that are loaded with sugar. A-bad for weight gain and B-Tooth DECAY. 2 biggest causes of tooth decay is regular soda and gum. And also, there is no possible way for diet soda to raise your insulin. Impossible! That would be regular sugar's job. So If you think your craving sweets after a diet soda, it is most likely in your head. Diet soda has "0" calories and "0" carbohydrates. Diet soda has been around for a long time! If it disrupts your brain cells, well then a hell of a lot of us are in a lot of trouble, dont you think????
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Lori
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Lori
penguin chick
12-14-2002, 06:26 PM
In reference to diet sodas having a lot of sodium, I must disagree. I have a diet vanilla coke nutrition label which shows that it contains 30 mg of sodium which is absolutely nothing. For example, my Fiber One cereal has more sodium than that.
Magpiezoe
12-16-2002, 01:00 PM
Hello, You've got it Penguin Chick. The bottom line is to read the labels. Lori, how old are your children? Artifical sweeteners for the very young is flirting with danger. Kids can always brush their teeth to prevent cavities and regular soda will not make them fat if they don't drink a ton of it and are physically active. My son's 4 and weighs 34 lbs., so he is far from fat. He has 1 - 1 1/2 sodas per day. (I do not allow soda for breakfast.)He also drinks 1 glass of whole milk, 1-2 drinkable yogurts, and 1 glass of fruit juice. He's a very picky eater and is very picky about how his food is prepared. Everything has to be broiled or fresh. He eats a couple handfuls of cereal or 4 slices of bacon for breakfast... (An occational doughnut if I'm lucky.) lunch is 4 pizza rolls or 2 sausages or 1 hotdog, chips or pretzels, (Doesn't always finish the chips or pretzels.) raw red peppers, lite-string cheese, and some kind of fruit like grapes, bananas, berries, or kiwi....Super is salmon, lean pork, or lean beef and rice...(He's beginning to look like a salmon plus he will not eat fat.)He snacks on watermellon and peanuts. Can someone tell me were I am going wrong? How can I get him to gain weight? Thanks
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Magpie
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Magpie
Chelle1977
12-16-2002, 01:07 PM
I don't know anything about kids, but 34lbs at 4 years old doesn't sound real underweight. I wouldn't expect him to weigh more than 40 so he's only, maybe, 6lbs underweight.
Enjoy these eating habits while you can. He'll want to eat nothing but junk soon enough.
Enjoy these eating habits while you can. He'll want to eat nothing but junk soon enough.
Magpiezoe
12-17-2002, 09:28 AM
Thanks Chelle, You make me feel better. It's just that my son looks so thin, especially when he stands next to his little friends. I wonder if his height has something to do with it. I have to buy him a 5 slim, because toddlers are way too short and so is a reg. 4. I'm starting to look for 6 slims, because I don't have to roll up the pant legs on the 5s anymore. I will admit, with a lot of pride, that he is the first 4 year old I've ever seen with muscles. You can see them in his arms and legs when he flexes them. I'm assuming the muscles are inheireted from my father, because he doesn't do any thing to get them except for a lot of running around and pushing his daddy down. (They wrestle; eventhough, I keep telling them not to. My husband has gotten hurt so many times by wrestling with our son.)
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Magpie
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Magpie
LoriC1969
12-17-2002, 06:13 PM
Soda is the #1 cause of tooth decay. Unless your 4 year old brushes his teeth everytime he downs another soda, I will guarantee you he will get cavitys. You probably dont know it yet or perhaps you havent taken him for a dental visit yet. No 4 year old should be drinking that much soda a day anyway, diet or reg. By the way, could you please tell me the danger my children are in by chewing sugar-free gum and drinking soda. I havent seen any cold hard facts yet to support everyone's paranoia. Would you be able to supply them for me?
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Lori
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Lori
AngelaMDarling
12-18-2002, 12:58 AM
Woah... 1 1/2 cans a day for a 4 year old??? How did this start up? Being thin is not a guarantee that your body is healthy. I am thin and I don't eat good most of the time.
Magpiezoe
12-18-2002, 10:07 AM
Hello, I agree about sugar and cavities, especially those sticky, gummy candies kids like. I don't agree that my child is garanteed to have cavities. He has been seeing a dentist since he was 3 and no cavities. I don't have cavities and I drank more soda than him when I was small, but I'm not saying soda is good for you. It's not; however, artificial sweeteners are not good either. There are studies if you want to look them up. The problem is that they are older studies, so you have to go to a library and crack the books. You can find infomation on the Internet if you type in "Aspartame children" (without the quotations) in a search engine. Aspartame is what Nutrasweet is. I also read that 1 can of diet soda is twice the allowed amount for a child as advised by the FDA in a website.
I think I was a little missleading about how much soda my 4 year old drinks. During the week he attends day care, so he only has 1 can that he drinks with his supper during the work week. On the week-ends he has 1/2 can with lunch and 1 can with supper. Just recently I've discovered he likes V8 Splash, so I will definately give him that over soda.
Gee, I guess I did get everyone off the orignal topic...Sorry. I talk too much.
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Magpie
I think I was a little missleading about how much soda my 4 year old drinks. During the week he attends day care, so he only has 1 can that he drinks with his supper during the work week. On the week-ends he has 1/2 can with lunch and 1 can with supper. Just recently I've discovered he likes V8 Splash, so I will definately give him that over soda.
Gee, I guess I did get everyone off the orignal topic...Sorry. I talk too much.
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Magpie
Absinthe
12-18-2002, 03:52 PM
Well, the "cold hard facts" about artificial sweetners are constantly being debated and revised, so how about using a little common sense and logic?
#1: Don't consume anything that must carry a warning label. That includes saccharin, aspartame, fake fats, etc.
#2: Similarly, don't consume anything that does not occur in nature. If humans invented it, it ain't food.
#3: Compared to our minds, the human body is fairly primative. When you taste something sweet, your body expects some calories to go along with it. The body primes all systems to digest the incoming food item, but everything gets screwed up if there is nothing but chemicals for it to work on.
#1: Don't consume anything that must carry a warning label. That includes saccharin, aspartame, fake fats, etc.
#2: Similarly, don't consume anything that does not occur in nature. If humans invented it, it ain't food.
#3: Compared to our minds, the human body is fairly primative. When you taste something sweet, your body expects some calories to go along with it. The body primes all systems to digest the incoming food item, but everything gets screwed up if there is nothing but chemicals for it to work on.
redwing
12-19-2002, 11:38 AM
See the below excerpt regarding diet sodas:
Double trouble for teeth. It's not just sugar that's bad for teeth, but the acids included in many popular drinks are said to "eat" away enamel and make teeth more prone to decay. The pH of regular and diet pops ranges from 2.47-3.35. Phosphoric and citric acids contribute to the acidity of pop. Below is a look at how some soda pops compare to water as well as to battery acid.
Product/Acid
per 12 oz:
Pure Water 7.00 (neutral)
Barq's 4.61
Diet Coke 3.39
Mountain Dew 3.22
Gatorade 2.95
Coke Classic 2.63
Pepsi 2.49
Sprite 3.42
Diet 7-Up 3.67
Diet Dr. Pepper 3.41
Surge 3.02
Gatorade 2.95
Hawaiian Fruit Punch 2.82
Orange Minute Maid 2.80
Dr. Pepper 2.92
BATTERY ACID 1.00!
Recommendations to reduce the affects of sugar and acid on your teeth:
Pop should be consumed at meals to limit your teeth's exposure to sugar and acid.
Limit regular pop to 1 can per day
Neither regular nor diet pop should replace nutrient dense foods or beverages.
Excessive intake of pop is detrimental to health.
Drink pop through straws to reduce the direct contact to the teeth.
Rinse your mouth with water after consuming pop. It is important to do this prior to brushing your teeth after you just drank a pop.
Select pop cans over re-sealable bottles. This limits the consumption of the pop to one sitting rather than sipping bottles and re-sealing them over a longer period of time.
Include bottled water and fruit juices in vending machines.
[This message has been edited by redwing (edited 12-19-2002).]
Double trouble for teeth. It's not just sugar that's bad for teeth, but the acids included in many popular drinks are said to "eat" away enamel and make teeth more prone to decay. The pH of regular and diet pops ranges from 2.47-3.35. Phosphoric and citric acids contribute to the acidity of pop. Below is a look at how some soda pops compare to water as well as to battery acid.
Product/Acid
per 12 oz:
Pure Water 7.00 (neutral)
Barq's 4.61
Diet Coke 3.39
Mountain Dew 3.22
Gatorade 2.95
Coke Classic 2.63
Pepsi 2.49
Sprite 3.42
Diet 7-Up 3.67
Diet Dr. Pepper 3.41
Surge 3.02
Gatorade 2.95
Hawaiian Fruit Punch 2.82
Orange Minute Maid 2.80
Dr. Pepper 2.92
BATTERY ACID 1.00!
Recommendations to reduce the affects of sugar and acid on your teeth:
Pop should be consumed at meals to limit your teeth's exposure to sugar and acid.
Limit regular pop to 1 can per day
Neither regular nor diet pop should replace nutrient dense foods or beverages.
Excessive intake of pop is detrimental to health.
Drink pop through straws to reduce the direct contact to the teeth.
Rinse your mouth with water after consuming pop. It is important to do this prior to brushing your teeth after you just drank a pop.
Select pop cans over re-sealable bottles. This limits the consumption of the pop to one sitting rather than sipping bottles and re-sealing them over a longer period of time.
Include bottled water and fruit juices in vending machines.
[This message has been edited by redwing (edited 12-19-2002).]
kurta11
12-20-2002, 12:51 AM
This is in response to absinth's comment on warning labels. I hate to burst your bubble, but warning labels are put on everything to protect companies from lawsuits. Of course sachrin caused cancer in rats, but the amount of sacharin or aspartame used on those animals in the tests is not very realistic. If we were to look at it in comparable terms, a person would have to drink TWO CUPS of aspartame or Sacharin in a single serving to receive the same amount comparable to what the test animals were given.
The bottom line is that restraint and common sense are the best guidelines in regards to food. A 12 case of Soda, regardless of calories is not good for you, but a can a day will not kill you. For the record, I drink diet pop, but only because soda contains no beneficial nutritional content, so regular pop is wasted calories, which makes a person gain weight, all things being equal.
The bottom line is that restraint and common sense are the best guidelines in regards to food. A 12 case of Soda, regardless of calories is not good for you, but a can a day will not kill you. For the record, I drink diet pop, but only because soda contains no beneficial nutritional content, so regular pop is wasted calories, which makes a person gain weight, all things being equal.
zip2play
12-20-2002, 08:58 AM
There are warning about cancer (rightly so) on saccharine sweetened diet sodas, but these have almost been removed from the marketplace because people stopped buying (cancer warning and DREADFUL taste).
Most now have aspartame for sweetning and there is NO warning about it- the FDA has deemed it SAFE!
The Diet Rite (and RC-same company) brand is sweetened with Splenda (sucralose) but I find that somewhat flat and cloying.
My favorite is PepsiONE which uses a mix of aspartame and acesulfameK for a VERY natural flavor (to my taste buds)
Eaten acid (phosphoric) does NOT cause tooth decay. It is caused by the the very different acids given by off by certain bacteria that thrive in a sugary environment and virtually "glue" the acids to the teeth (of children especially)
I think diet sodas are a godsend. Maybe they aren't as pure as the driven snow- but I'm aiming for weight control rather than sainthood!
[This message has been edited by zip2play (edited 12-20-2002).]
Most now have aspartame for sweetning and there is NO warning about it- the FDA has deemed it SAFE!
The Diet Rite (and RC-same company) brand is sweetened with Splenda (sucralose) but I find that somewhat flat and cloying.
My favorite is PepsiONE which uses a mix of aspartame and acesulfameK for a VERY natural flavor (to my taste buds)
Eaten acid (phosphoric) does NOT cause tooth decay. It is caused by the the very different acids given by off by certain bacteria that thrive in a sugary environment and virtually "glue" the acids to the teeth (of children especially)
I think diet sodas are a godsend. Maybe they aren't as pure as the driven snow- but I'm aiming for weight control rather than sainthood!
[This message has been edited by zip2play (edited 12-20-2002).]
Absinthe
12-20-2002, 11:35 AM
My comment on warning labels was meant to make people examine the contents of their "food." I know that products are often over-labeled, but one should still think twice about eating the man-made crap. If it causes problems in one species, it may well carry over to another. Just my point of view - take it or leave it.
And YES there is a warning label on all products containing aspartame. It only applys to a segment of the population that cannot process phenylaline, but it IS a warning label. ;)
FDA approval means nothing. The FDA approved thalidomide, phenylpropanolamine, and Phen/Fen too - look how many people died or suffered serious damage from those drugs.
Artificial sweeteners do not necessarily aid weight control. In fact, consuming them may lead to increased consumption of carbohydrates shortly after. Research by the American Cancer Society indicates that regular users of artificial sweeteners tend to gain weight not lose it.
And YES there is a warning label on all products containing aspartame. It only applys to a segment of the population that cannot process phenylaline, but it IS a warning label. ;)
FDA approval means nothing. The FDA approved thalidomide, phenylpropanolamine, and Phen/Fen too - look how many people died or suffered serious damage from those drugs.
Artificial sweeteners do not necessarily aid weight control. In fact, consuming them may lead to increased consumption of carbohydrates shortly after. Research by the American Cancer Society indicates that regular users of artificial sweeteners tend to gain weight not lose it.
rhody
12-20-2002, 05:55 PM
Absinthe,
I like what I read from your replies. I'm a natural food person myself. I started avoiding sodas, desserts, and other junk foods about 20 years ago....
I like what I read from your replies. I'm a natural food person myself. I started avoiding sodas, desserts, and other junk foods about 20 years ago....