Obesity Discussion Forums

[woppa]

I would read this article then decide, this could be why lots of us find it difficult to shift the flab.

Sweetener may be worse for dieters than sugar - health - 16 February 2008 - New Scientist

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...med_RVAbstract

[Obesity Discussion]

We have a number of studies here posted that show results like these. Sweeteners in general can make you crave more sweet foods. Then again, I do drink diet soda if I have to drink soda, as it has drastically fewer calories/sugar than regular soda. Once in a while probably won't hurt ya.

[Thin Desire]

For me it actually helps reduce appetite, but the jury is still out as to the health of aspartame, which may have serious side effects on the brain and even metabolism. Nevertheless, I find it a healthier alternative than regular soda with High Fructose Corn Syrup which can be just as bad and was found in many batches to have mercury residue in it, eek.

Faced with nearly 200 calories a pop and the fact that I am a soda addict, I prefer the 5 or so cals in a diet soda, but yeah it does bloat and such, water is better, but it's more boring. I stay away from "juices" because mostly I find it to be sugar water.

[Fluffymomma]

I drink maybe 1 diet soda or regular soda maybe 4 times a month at best. I really enjoy the drink mixers you can put in your water. And it curves any sweet craving that may creep up.

[Obesity Discussion]

Originally Posted by callah

Sodas is bad, bad, for you, even diet sodas. Studies after studies have shown over and over again that soda is bad for you, its full of sugars. Try drinking Juices, they make good substitutes. At list that what I do and have lost quite a bit of weight

Diet soda does not contain sugar, while fruit juices are full of sugar. The negative about diet soda is that the sweeteners can make you crave more sweet things.

[sweetn_low]

In my humble opinion, I think there is some merit to the connection between sweetners and cravings for sugar, however I think its entirely individual and effects everyone differently. I rely heavly on sweeteners using splenda in my daily tea and for cooking. I also drink 4-6 crystal light mixes contain aspartame daily. I rarely crave sugar and can do without it completely, yet another person consuming the same amount of sweeteners may be running for a cookie like a mad woman on a mission LOL. I don't like it when studies make blanket statements like "all diet pop is bad" and will cause you to crave sugar. It's great to make people aware of the risk but in the end it's up to the individual to decide what is best for them.

[Miranda]

I was a serious diet pepsi addict, I mean I could put away at least one 2-liter a day. Then I started having health issues and had to cut all caffeine out of my diet. Done. They make diet pepsi in decaf! Then, I was thrown into early menopause because of a hysterectomy. The hot flashes were TERRIBLE and my doctor absolutely refused to let me use hormones. So, I started doing research and found that one of the triggers for hot flashes are artificial sugars. I cut out the diet pepsi completely (it was hard) and guess what? The hot flashes decreased dramatically.

I realize that the above advice won't do you the least bit of good, Woppa but I think it is important to acknowledge that some of these chemicals we are putting into our bodies can cause some pretty severe side affects. When I need something sweet now, I reach for the real stuff, I just don't eat as much of it!

[Rue]

Have you seen this study?

Weekly pop may double risk of pancreatic cancer risk

Apparently more than 2 regular sodas a week can give you pancreatic cancer.

I do drink Diet Dr. Pepper. I probably average one glass a day. Don't know if that will come back to haunt me or not.

Well - at least I don't smoke...am I allowed one 'vice'?

[notobeseanymore]

Personally, I have been drinking diet coke for years and I found that it never had an effect on my weight, positive or negative. I wouldn't recommend drinking sugar-free sodas at the same level that I do because they're full of chemicals and other nasties. But I also don't believe that they make you fat in and of themselves. Maybe they make you crave sweet things if you have a sweet tooth, but I don't have a sweet tooth.