diet drinks

[greenice]

I have heard the artificial sweeteners used instead of sugar in diet drinks is just as bad for you. Is this true? i avoid soft drinks completely but i was wondering anyway

[EvilWombatQueen]

Artificial sweeteners don't add calories, but they confuse the body and can result in you actually eating more food. One study with rats has shown that if rats eat food sweetened with artificial sweetener it makes them consume even more calories overall than if they'd had naturally sweetened food in the first place. One theory I've read to explain this is that when your body eats something sweet it expects a huge hit of calories and adjusts accordingly. When it doesn't get those calories it makes you hungry so you eat more, so the body will get its calories one way or the other. Another theory is that it stuffs up your metabolism because normally your body speeds up your metabolism after eating something sweet, but when there are no calories associated with it it goes the other way.

Another reason they're not great is because they are all acidic, artificially or naturally sweetened. If you choose to drink any type of soft drink you should rinse your mouth with water afterward so the acid doesn't damage your tooth enamel.

[greenice]

ah ok. very interesting

[Mandie]

On another note, many people can suffer side effects from the artificial sweeteners like headaches, fatigue, bloating, gas, muscle weakness, etc.

I drank a LOT of diet coke over the last few years.. I started noticing that I was "needing" it more and more (up to 4-5 cans per day) and I was still feeling tired. I was also bloaty and gassy ALL the time - quite embarrassing obviously!

I stopped drinking so many diet drinks and I felt SO much better - more energy (okay, not at first - but I was withdrawing from caffeine!) and best of all, I was no longer embarrassingly gassy! And no longer bloated!

Best thing I ever did.. I limit diet drinks to once per week now and I feel so much better for it. Diet drinks are a great way to avoid the massive sugar loading of regular soft drinks, but everything should still be enjoyed in moderation - just because they are 1 calorie doesn't mean you can have unlimited numbers of them!

[fi_112]

I love diet coke. I gave it up for awhile and it did not help my weight loss at all, in fact I think it hindered it. I drink a lot of water as well so sometimes it's nice to have something yummy for 0 cals. Although I understand that the chemicals are probably really bad I don't think it hinders weight loss at all...

[whit3tig3y]

I shouldn't have read this because I just threw out half a can of pepsi max after reading it I love my diet drinks, but its mainly because they're convenient. I just have to go to the fridge and grab a can, where as with water i'd have to get the jug out, fill up my bottle, put the jug away etc.

I usually drink mostly water at work but I overload on pepsi max at home I'm going to try to fix this.