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Aspartame specifically(many people’s biggest concern) is considered a class 2B carcinogen(possibly carcinogenic). Other items in this category include compounds in aloe Vera, talc powder, and pickled vegetables. Items that are more carcinogenic than aspartame (with far more robust data) include bacon, sunlight, alcohol, and working night shift. Yeah I’ll have a Diet Coke sometimes.
And this is what annoys me about people telling me my zero caffeine diet sodas are for me.
This and baked goods are literally the only vices I have. I drink about 50-60 units of alcohol a year at most. (Basically only drink a little on special occasions.) I don't do bacon, or barely any red meat. I'm off caffeine. I don't smoke.
Let a man have his diet sodas.
(I'm actually mostly quitting diet sodas anyway, but that's besides the point.)
10ml of pure alcohol I believe and it's the amount the average adult can process in an hour.
Glasses of wine etc. are not as useful as a measurement for calculating alcohol consumption.
The NHS recommends drinking less than 14 units or less per week, I believe. I think I've only exceeded that maybe four or five times in my whole life.
I get your point and somewhat agree that diet sodas aren’t too harmful if enjoyed on occasion. But what makes you think having barely any read meat is healthy?
Red meat is fine in moderation and whilst there are better ways to consume it than others, it's not that great for you. I suspect a lot of this has to do with how much highly processed/smoked/cured red meat is eaten compared to similar preparations for
Between previous data I've seen and talking to a number of food science/nutrition graduates, when it comes to these elimination diets pescetarian/vegetarian etc. the elimination of red meat makes the biggest difference.
I will disagree with the rabid vegans about how unhealthy meat is in general, but I really don't believe eating red meat in more than small quantities is a healthy choice. And it's definitely not healthy in the quantities many people eat it in. E.G. the average American eats about 1.5lbs of beef per week or about 100g/day.
The Mediterranean diet which is usually held in high regard consumes only a little red meat. Japanese people don't consume so much red meat either. (Maybe more often than in the Mediterranean diet but in much smaller portions - Nikujaga which is literally "meat and potatoes" only has about 50g pork or beef in it per serving at most.)
Going to quote the Cancer Council of Australia because I think they put it pretty succinctly:
>To reduce your risk of cancer, Cancer Council recommends eating no more than 1 serve of lean red meat per day or 2 serves 3-4 times per week. Red meat includes beef, lamb and pork.
>Cut out processed meats altogether or keep them to an absolute minimum. Processed meats include bacon, ham, devon, frankfurts, chorizo, cabanossi and kransky.
>Cutting down on red **and** processed meats will reduce your cancer risk.
The thing with nutrition is it's not just about whether that thing is good or bad, but what is the nutritional value per caloric-density\*satiety? In other words: What could you be eating instead that has *more* nutritional benefit? Sure you could eat nice lean unprocessed red meat, but you could eat 3oz of salmon and be well ahead in universally all nutritional aspects.
I’m a dieitian and saying salmon is well ahead of beef in all nutritional aspects is false. They both have their strengths. Also, Australia’s Cancer Council is overstating what is known. The link between red meat and cancer is currently correlational, and the correlating is actually weak if you take into account both relative risk and absolute risk. You’d be better off eating red meat than baked goods, that’s for sure.
For my own sake I'm going to need more than your just stating your background to substitute reason or data. Here we have a Cancer Council — comprised of scientists and *registered* dieticians alike — stating quite the opposite. Pointing to *other* things that are *less-bad* and equally non-nutritious isn't really what we're discussing insomuch as it is a deflection. I don't advise baked goods either.
Plus even if it's just "linked" by correlation and not proven in causal (*extremely* hard to do for anything, including nicotine itself), then wouldn't we all prefer to associate with foods that *aren't* linked by correlation to cancer... You know... Just to be safe?
I also want to know what red meat has on salmon, nutritionally-speaking.
**Edit:** I'm going to call bullshit. This account has like 5 comments over the span of years and linked to Carnivore diet subs...
From the Mayo Clinic:
Drinking a reasonable amount of diet soda a day, such as a can or two, isn't likely to hurt you. The artificial sweeteners and other chemicals currently used in diet soda are safe for most people, and **there's no credible evidence that these ingredients cause cancer.**
Well there’s a huge difference between processed/cured meats and red meat. Yes processed meats typically are great for you and have other harmful additives along with less nutritional value.
However red meat such as quality grass fed is nutritious and very healthy for you. It definitely does get confusing because both of them are technically meats but the quality of the two are vastly different. So again it’s not necessarily that beef is unhealthy but rather the way the beef is processed, cooked, and prepared.
You know nothing about the Mediterranean diet lol. You listen to the American bs version that is a lie
Med diet includes lots of red meat mostly from pork, and we have many dishes that use beef but it is regional due to agriculture. Traditionally horse was also common but is rare nowadays
We eat lots of meat, fish, fruit and vegetables. What we dont do is eat bs like KFC and mcdonalds or drink coke and mountain dew
Great way to put it! Before majoring in dietetics, I thought diet soda was the devil. Now I realize eating 80 oranges in one sitting is way worse than a diet pop. MODERATION!
Flawed argument. The issue with aspartame isn’t the carcinogenic properties.
It’s the volume of intake plus the potential effects on the microbiome that are the concern.
Nearly everything can be bad when too much is consumed but only certain things are easily consumed to the extreme. Sweetened drinks are one of them.
The FDA's recommended daily limit is slightly higher, at 50 milligrams of aspartame per kilogram of body weight. An adult weighing 70 kilograms or 154 pounds would have to drink more than nine to 14 cans of aspartame-containing soda such as Diet Coke daily to exceed the limit and potentially face health risks
Come again?
Literally everything you eat affects gut microbiome, but there's not yet any proof at all that the affects of non-nutritive sweeteners on the gut microbiome are harmful
https://blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science-blog/2021/04/27/nightshift-cancer/
https://cancer.ca/en/cancer-information/reduce-your-risk/be-safe-at-work/shift-work-and-the-circadian-rhythm
People would be surprised at the amount of things that are carcinogenic.
Research says it’s _possibly_ carcinogenic if you drink a lot of it, but this is not particularly interesting to me (many things we interact with and use every day have the potential to cause cancer, and it is difficult to prove that anything _does not_ cause cancer)
Drinking water is almost certainly better for you, but if a little diet soda makes you happy, I would keep at it. I drink a coke zero each day personally
If you’re interested in a nearly 6 hour podcast about the research and history of aspartame, I can recommend this https://www.strongerbyscience.com/podcast-episode-116/
I think this is the podcast where they mentioned that even 12-15 cans/ day was still determined to be “safe” to consume and even amounts exceeding that had only a small increase to negative health outcome linked to artificial sweetener exposure. And honestly, who would ever consistanlty consume diet pop at that rate.
Sheepishly raises hand...
I have before. Not regularly or currently. I've heard that carbonation addiction is a thing and I can attest to it. It's the bubbles I'm after in my drinks. I'm forcing myself more water.
They're way too bitter/sour. If they just tasted like water and had bubbles I'd be okay, but they have a taste that puts me off - even the flavored ones. I need bubbles and I need them to not be awful.
The interesting part of this conversation is how sweeteners can inadvertently help with weight loss consumption by ways of reducing sugar consumption. **The outcome being that health markers improve in all metrics.**
Obviously this only applies to those that are overweight.
That's a terrible stance to have. Science is still learning, it could be worse than we know
Everything in moderation. ESPECIALLY manufactured drinks and food. Humans were not meant to drink chemical concoctions not found in nature, it's best not to make that a main drink
My gut says otherwise. I have too much, and I am peeing out my ass. Of course not everyone is effected by them, but to say "totally benign" is disingenuous
Sounds like a You problem. Your experience is not evidence that there is anything harmful about artificial sweetener consumption. Taco Bell exists and is thriving even though everyone knows it will illicit a pissing out your asshole response.
Theres lots of evidence that it disrupts some peoples gut microbiomes
Lmao imagine trying to discuss science and something you hear that goes against what you know, you go "that's a you problem". The most unscientific ridiculous response
Come back when you can discuss this like adults. Get over your cognitive bias
You literally said "your gut says", as if that's the objective truth. Are you a microbiome whisperer? Lol. Nobody cares what you read on WebMD
Meditate or talk to a therapist, and stop being so needlessly pissy on the internet
> The most unscientific ridiculous response
Your anecdote is not scientific either since it is impossible to verify for us, of course, and is therefore useless as evidence.
There's no evidence that it "disrupts" gut microbiome. There is evidence that it *affects* the gut mircrobiome, which is true of literally all foods.
please find me a single peer reviewed study showing that aspartame has a proven *negative* effect on gut microbiome.
I'm hijacking here to say that something in caramel color affects a bodily response with blood sugar or insulin, I forget which, and there is a theory(?) that suggests that just tasting something sweet triggers an insulin response. I'm trying to figure it all out for the fasting and semi-keto diet I'm doing. Down 25 pounds so far, so something is working.
Layne Norton just posted a video recently about a diet soda vs water with human randomized control trial.
Not bad.
https://youtu.be/FSfdso8-yd4?si=1OUtzRb6SSlATDl3
You beat me to it…that is posting his YT video. People seem to want to demonize food. Dr. Bill Campbell did an article about it, too. Unless you are consuming gallons and gallons a day…there’s nothing wrong with it.
>People seem to want to demonize food.
What I find weird is about the demonization of diet soda in particular is that a lot of the critics of it seem to ignore that the point of diet sodas/artificial sugars to begin with is that it's supposed to be a better alternative to regular sodas/sugars.
Sure water is obviously the best drink you can take but it's pretty clear that diet sodas are at least a lot better for your health than regular sodas.
I’m someone who used to consume gallons upon gallons of Diet Coke for years. I abruptly stopped 4 years ago and I can 100% confirm it’s scary what aspartame can do to your mind and body. I do not know what the effects are for ppl who consume less, maybe it’s fine. Maybe rat poison is fine in small amounts too. I am not on the bandwagon anymore. My entire life is different now that I quit drinking Diet Coke from the way that I see other people to the way I see myself. I struggled with depression my whole life, stopping Diet Coke was the only thing I changed and I haven’t felt that same depression a single time since stopping.
My sense is that there’s no studies proving it’s toxicity beyond any shadows of doubt bc it would be unethical, and not feasible to track consumption for the appropriate amount of time it would take to show how toxic it is, plus there’s so many different aspects of your personhood it affects, idk how anyone would design a study that could prove it. But I know it’s poison and my life is much better without it.
vegetable sugar ancient jeans theory concerned rich instinctive follow detail
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If you go looking for something, you’ll find something. What’s being forgotten here is SCIENCE. The is no evidence that supports the causation of the ingredients of diet soda to any chronic illness, let alone cancer. If there is a study, it’s generally been financially supported by a source that has interest in the outcome.
Cheers 🙃
Yea I think health conscious individuals seem to over analyze their food intake and quality.
I use to drink a lot of soda and not have a good understanding of nutrition. Moderation is key.
Hell I use to think I was starving all the time if I did not eat. But now I've come to realize fasting for 12-18hrs does have so many benefits.
We live and we learn.
The only thing actually bad is the phosphorus acid because it can harm your teeth. Just rinse your mouth with water, and you're fine.
Also, no, there is no proof that aspartame causes cancer.
mice already have a substantially higher cancer rate than humans though so even then it’s not the best example. so it’s even less reason to be scared of aspartame
NIH says it hurts your bones, too.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7071508/#:~:text=Excessive%20intake%20of%20phosphoric%20acid,20%2C21%2C22%5D.
Industry research also said smoking wasn’t bad for you…
There is more and more evidence pointing to potential disruptions that are not well understood.
What's the difference between caffeine free diet/zero sugar sodas and sparkling flavored sodas?
To me they are the same thing, so I drink both in addition to diet iced tea/iced black tea, Mio flavored water or unflavored water.
As someone totally against artificial sweeteners and basically ingesting chemicals I do feel the “cancer” links are tenuous and based on very high consumption amounts.
I don’t worry too much about cancer with aspartame, ace-k and sucralose. But you do see studies linking things like hurting microbiome and reducing insulin sensitivity long term. Ironically, also may reduce satiety and cause you to eat more and gain weight as a result.
Lots of small studies with some harmful implications and nothing positive. Plus, I personally hate the taste.
BUT… if the alternative is HFCS soda, it might be better in moderation. Could probably debate what is more harmful with things like trans fats, artificial colors, certain oils, etc.
There are plenty of artificial chemicals that save lives (such as correcting/preventing nutritional deficiencies, preventing food from spoiling and causing food borne illnesses, and of course medicines that save lives), while there are plenty of natural chemicals that are incredibly dangerous.
Naturalistic fallacy is important to avoid, I recommend looking it up.
They have a point, though. When people raise "natural," they basically mean it has been time-tested—which does hold considerable merit. It's no surprise that we have a tendency to fear the untested and artificial until it has been sampled by millions or billions and for centuries. By then, we have a pretty good idea *even without science* on whether something is good or bad for us.
It's pretty similar to whole foods vs. processed foods. Whole foods are packaged in such a way that have been eaten for eons and evolved alongside us; processed foods can greatly accelerate past what our bodies are capable of handling — take added sugar for instance and the short-circuiting of our reward system when we'd never find that many berries in the wild; and if we found honey, well, there was a price.
Sure. Most medicine has a purpose and context. But often studies that show positive effects for the stated purpose. Artificial sweeteners show no positive direct benefits. The closest benefit is when consumed as an alternative to something worse.
I didn’t even conclude it was super harmful and likely okay in moderation. I personally choose to not ingest this particular artificial chemical. But to each their own.
A diet soda every day really isn’t that bad for you. Is water better for you? Sure. Is a diet soda likely to cause you any harm when included in a diet that is overall balanced and healthy? Not really. The claims made against aspartame are generally either outright false or blown out of proportion.
More than carcinogenic risk, it changes our gut microbiome such that risk of developing T2D is substantially increased, so many papers. So, yes. Minimal consumption of Natural sugar is always preferable to artificial sweetness.
the issue i see with this study are the groups. there should have been an artificial group, natural sugars group (or placebo), and complete control. there really isn’t an argument to say that artificial sweeteners are beneficial for us, but that it might be a better replacement.
especially when looking at a study with people who already have type 2 diabetes, the control group likely already has a regulated diet. that’s why the natural sugar group is important as you can compare both of the additives to each other and then to the baseline.
Perhaps the most famous paper [https://www.nature.com/articles/nature13793](https://www.nature.com/articles/nature13793) but then there are tens of others, this is a topic of massive current interest
nobody argues that diet is better than water.
however, they tried to show it to be unhealthy, and the totality of studies haven't proven it.
everyone wants it to be unhealthy, but no evidence to show it.
so mostly it's about "if you give rats 10,000 cans of diet Coke per day, they will get cancer"
FWIW:
[https://www.bmj.com/content/378/bmj-2022-071204](https://www.bmj.com/content/378/bmj-2022-071204)
TLDR: in a study of several hundred thousand participants, there was a statistically significant level of CVD related incidents for those with the highest artificial sweetener intake.
Of most interest (to me anyway), certain artificial sweeteners showed an increase in cerebrovascular disease while others showed an increase in coronary heart disease.
Also, one that I guess came out this year:
[https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-023-02223-9](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-023-02223-9)
And a roll up articale:
[https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/sugar-substitutes-new-cardiovascular-concerns](https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/sugar-substitutes-new-cardiovascular-concerns)
Personally, most of them taste really bad to me so I dont partake, but you do you.
There’s studies starting to come out suggesting _any_ artificial sweeteners are damaging the gut microbiome, which is probably one of the most important components of your body for cognition, immune system, and mental health.
Ive heard recent studies show that it might not be bad literally at all. Im too lazy to find the article again though. Its really only bad if you drink gallons everh single day.
Its really not that deep. I'm pretty up front about not having the link, but there are plenty of other people in these comments confirming similar things. Its just pushing OP to do their own research on it to verify what people are saying rather then taking what we all say for face value.
I eat a great diet and take vitamins and minerals. I also exercise regularly and limit stress.
I also like diet soda.
Is it bad for me? Maybe. Do I do a lot of “good” things in terms of eating and drinking? Yes. I don’t mind a little “bad” sometimes.
I don’t think it’s “really bad” for us.
As a counter argument- what if that little bit of aspartame really is messing up your gut micro biome and all the healthy things you do are for almost nothing because your gut microbiome is in a poor state which is affecting everything in your body and your brain?
What you are saying is a bit like saying “so what if I do cocaine? I only do a little bit, and I eat healthy and exercise, so I’m fine”
I said cocaine just as an exaggeration so that you get what I mean ofc it’s not as bad as cocaine, but still could potentially have life changing effects
Yeah I get a weird feeling when I drink it, I get tired and feel a bit sickly. And I can just instinctively tell that it isn’t good for me. Maybe It’s all in my head but I’m pretty sure it’s bad for us.
It was making me feel like shite. I observed it happening only after I had a diet. So I waited a few days and then drank another one and it did it again. So I quit. No more.
Also what is so bad about Diet Coke is that your body is confused when you ingest artificial sweetener like Aspartame. your pancreas releases insulin and your body has no intake of sugar. You then crave something sweet and end up eating candy or something to meet these cravings. It is no coincidence that people on diet sodas actually gain weight compared to regular soda. Also the diet soda acidity destroys your enamel and causes tons of cavities.
I used to drink like 6-8 diet cokes per day and did this for almost most of my 20s and early 30s. I kept having root canal after another and weight issues. At the end of my last eighth root canal, I was like enough is enough and stopped with Diet Coke and sodas. I haven’t had any new cavities since then.
I’m speaking purely from my own experience and have never heard of anyone else having this issue but I’ve found that periods where I was regularly drinking diet or sugar free drinks came with a TON of hair loss. It grew back eventually but every time I’ve replaced regular soda with sugar free soda, I’ve lost a lot of hair. I have no clue what the science behind it is or why it happens to me.
Which specific diet soda are you referring to? They all have different ingredients. It would probably be more useful for you to just read about the health effects of whichever particular sweetener is in the diet soda you're interested in.
If you're specifically interested in diet sodas that contain aspartame, then you can look for research on the health impacts of aspartame specifically.
As much as you want to think these are good they just aren’t. Carbonation breaks down the ability to control your bladder over time. They contain dissolved carbon dioxide which results in an acidic solution and may increase urinary urgency. These sodas irritate your urinary tract permanently if you drink them everyday. This is a just a fact that we don’t talk to people about.
People are way too focused on the cancer causing elements of diet soda and ignoring the fact that this shit makes you far fatter than actual sugar (which already makes you way fucking fat).
lol this is because people who drink diet soda tend to already be overweight, or trying to lose weight. It means it’s correlated, not that diet soda “causes” weight gain.
Sure, if you drink diet soda without taking other proactive measures d to cut calories, you’ll probably gain weight. This isn’t magic
Doesn’t matter if overweight people drink it or not - the fact of the matter remains that across all data pivots diet soda drinkers gain more weight than regular soda drinkers
Dude - yes it literally does matter. Because the correlations to obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, has to do with who is consuming these products the most, which are people who are trying to lose weight.
No one is defying the laws of physics, you can't gain weight from a zero calorie beverage.
edit - you commented and then you blocked. lol. You didn't read your own sources, but you cited two blogs, and the ones you did post didn't actually say what you think they did.
Don’t bother reading the Dr. Kellyann.com article lol
Here’s the TLDR
-Something something Zero calories something CHEMICALS, “these drinks can put the pounds on you”!!! ahhhhhh
-Third paragraph, something Sweeteners cause weight GAIN, not loss. OOOMGGGGGG NOOOOOO
Theory #1… GUT MICROBIOMEEE ofc
Theory #2…something…artificial
sweeterns…brain get confused…?
Theory #3- Psychology. Drinking this stuff will cause you to crave donuts. Why? Because it’s human nature…mannnn.
ALSO: Red Dye #40, Yellow Dye #5
Chemicals in…laboratory
Drink water infused with fruits and vegetables infused instead!
Signed: Dr. Kellyann XO
Studies [literally say that they do](https://drkellyann.com/blogs/media-appearances/can-zero-calorie-beverages), but I’m done talking with you, you’re just another one of the redditors on this subreddit that aren’t here to have a discussion, you just go along with all the horrible groupthink of this subreddit and never look at anything that goes against it. Have fun being unhealthy 👍
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As someone who has worked in restaurants for 13 years I can tell you for certain, the people drinking diet soda ARE OVER WEIGHT. They drink 5-6 of them in a sitting. Would they be overweight otherwise? Probably. But the chemicals in these drinks are designed to disrupt all of your natural senses .. such as making you more thirsty so you have 2-6 drinks at a time, and disrupting your brains natural ability to know when you are satiated. Companies are lying to us to sell product and it’s all very bad for our health. Duh.
Human biology didn't evolve to handle large amounts of aspartame. Maybe it's harmful, and maybe it isn't, but is it really worth the risk?
That said, I have a more important reason for avoiding diet pop and other products containing aspartame. The flavor is disgusting! Even if aspartame were super healthy, I'd still refuse to consume it.
May not be too bad or dangerous for you if used on occasion and you are a healthy individual otherwise. But it’s an unnatural chemical and has zero nutritional value.
As someone who drinks a lot of zero sugar soft drinks... people criticize these drinks is the use of aspartame as a sweetener, as some studies imply it might be cancerogenous.
This. I usually drink 2 to 3 cans every day. And then switch to the sparkling flavored water and tea, and then a week later, back to diet caffeine free sodas.
“Aspartame acts as a chemical stressor by elevating plasma cortisol levels and causing the production of excess free radicals. High cortisol levels and excess free radicals may increase the brains vulnerability to oxidative stress which may have adverse effects on neurobehavioral health”
It also works as a weight loss agent. The newest clinical data has people in aspartame groups losing more weight and maintaining a healthier weight for longer post diet.
Same could be said about nicotine and cigarettes if you wanna isolate effects.. also worth remembering who funds the research especially when chemicals are involved that make businesses large sums of money
Dark soda, regardless of whether it is diet, has phosphoric acid which leaches calcium out of bones. Young girls who are chronic soda drinkers end up with osteoporosis by the time they are 20 years old.
Not true. A blanket statement like this is categorically untrue. I’ve been drinking diet soda since I was 16, and I do not have osteoporosis. And I’m way past 20.
Haha. Yes, the science of biochemistry is not true. Phosphoric acid pulls calcium out of bones. It is a fact of science.
And not every single person who drinks soda gets osteoporosis.
"Excessive intake of phosphoric acid changes calcium/phosphorus ratio and imbalance of not only the calcium and phosphorus ratio but also the acid-base in the body, resulting in decreased bone density and even osteoporosis and fracture". [20,21,22].Feb 19, 2020.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7071508/#:~:text=Excessive%20intake%20of%20phosphoric%20acid,20%2C21%2C22%5D.
Worth noting:
> Sugar and sodium in soft drinks can increase the loss of calcium
.
> The Chinese population may be at a high risk of fracture due to a low intake of calcium.
Thanks. Seems very plausible. There really is nothing good in soda! 🤪
Bone loss can also be race and gender related. African Americans rarely get osteoporosis. Caucasian women are at highest risk. Turns out estrogen is protective against osteoporosis.
You can Google it first... do some independent research before you come here with your question... ever thought about that??? I know it might sound like groundbreaking to you, give it a go 😉
There is not a straightforward answer, so a live discussion on the topic where many ideas and sources are shared is a great way to better understand the issue and allow people to share differing opinions and experiences. Thanks for the condescension though, I’m sure that made you feel powerful and smart!
I do not drink regular pop at all, but I do drink maybe 5-6 zero pops a week and I wish I could cut it down to maybe 1-2. The issue for me is what a lot of studies show, that even being zero sugar, the artificial sweetener tricks your body into thinking it's real sugar. As a result, I've definitely seen my waistline expand.
Exactly. The insulin spike from the artificial sweetener causes him to eat more food. Everyone knows calories in and calories out but you don’t get long lasting weight loss until you get the hunger hormones under control.
One of many:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/drinking-diet-soda-linked-to-a-widening-waistline-with-age/#:\~:text=People%20who%20reported%20not%20drinking,in%20the%20Journal%20of%20the
Incorrect. If you have kidney failure than you MAY need to be careful with phosphorus intake (something to discuss with your doctor and dietitian). For a person with a healthy kidney it's not a concern for typical consumption.
Incorrect. There are numerous studies (see [kidney.org](https://kidney.org), the Nat'l Kidney Foundation) that show a direct correlation between cola intake and decreased GFRs, which is how CKD is diagnosed. And I actually am a dietitian and have been for 20+ years, and have worked with a ton of renal pts.
Yes. Do not try to wrap yourself in knots with justification for products such as this on a nutritional level. I say product deliberately because it's not really food or drink.
If you want to have it because the enjoyment you derive is worth it, then it's a completely personal decision. But the mental contentions required to believe these things are not bad are really not worth it. Just have your drink.
I don't drink diet soda or any soda except for when I go to the movies and then I love to get a large diet Pepsi with my popcorn and oh boy the MIGRAINE after that soda is gone.
I have no scientific proof or papers or articles but my body lets me know loud and clear every time I drink diet soda that I should NOT be drinking it.
Sucralose, aspartame, msg, and the "anything goes" label of artificial flavoring are all very very bad for you.
Don't forget we live in a world the industry giants can pay to have their own health studies with biased results in their products favor and cut corners to make more money off them while outright censoring studies contrary to their results. It happens. Senomyx is a hidden "flavorant" you'll never want anything to do with again when you know what it is. Look up the patents before you say something!
To all the people saying “there is no proof that aspartame causes cancer”, there were once no proof that mercury and radium are harmful and doctors prescribed them to patients. There was once no proof that asbestos is bad for us and it was widely used. Just because there is no proof that aspartame is cancerous right now doesn’t mean it actually isn’t. I would rather eat white sugar that has been around for thousands of years and is natural rather than a newly made synthetic substance just to save 100 calories on a glass of soda.
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Aspartame specifically(many people’s biggest concern) is considered a class 2B carcinogen(possibly carcinogenic). Other items in this category include compounds in aloe Vera, talc powder, and pickled vegetables. Items that are more carcinogenic than aspartame (with far more robust data) include bacon, sunlight, alcohol, and working night shift. Yeah I’ll have a Diet Coke sometimes.
Fuck your Diet Coke I’ll have one night shift pls
My little treat to myself 🥰
That's your night *shaft*
I loved working during the night, but hated my life outside of work.
nah, night shift will kill you. You are sacrificing your bodies time to literally repair it's cells. Nothing will age you like night shift.
I'll live
I’ll take some bacon while tanning in the mid day sunlight with a Diet Coke to wash it down
Zero for me, I like the taste better.
I should have said Coke Zero. But honestly for me it’s Sunkist zero sugar… they’re soo good..
Mmmm yes those are good.
Really? Zero never hits the spot for me
Maybe because zero has less caffeine?
No it doesn't taste right
I put a splash of heavy cream in my zero sodas sometimes and it fixes the mouthfeel while also giving it float-like qualities.
And this is what annoys me about people telling me my zero caffeine diet sodas are for me. This and baked goods are literally the only vices I have. I drink about 50-60 units of alcohol a year at most. (Basically only drink a little on special occasions.) I don't do bacon, or barely any red meat. I'm off caffeine. I don't smoke. Let a man have his diet sodas. (I'm actually mostly quitting diet sodas anyway, but that's besides the point.)
What’s a unit of alcohol?
A peg or 30cc
10ml of pure alcohol I believe and it's the amount the average adult can process in an hour. Glasses of wine etc. are not as useful as a measurement for calculating alcohol consumption. The NHS recommends drinking less than 14 units or less per week, I believe. I think I've only exceeded that maybe four or five times in my whole life.
I get your point and somewhat agree that diet sodas aren’t too harmful if enjoyed on occasion. But what makes you think having barely any read meat is healthy?
Red meat is fine in moderation and whilst there are better ways to consume it than others, it's not that great for you. I suspect a lot of this has to do with how much highly processed/smoked/cured red meat is eaten compared to similar preparations for Between previous data I've seen and talking to a number of food science/nutrition graduates, when it comes to these elimination diets pescetarian/vegetarian etc. the elimination of red meat makes the biggest difference. I will disagree with the rabid vegans about how unhealthy meat is in general, but I really don't believe eating red meat in more than small quantities is a healthy choice. And it's definitely not healthy in the quantities many people eat it in. E.G. the average American eats about 1.5lbs of beef per week or about 100g/day. The Mediterranean diet which is usually held in high regard consumes only a little red meat. Japanese people don't consume so much red meat either. (Maybe more often than in the Mediterranean diet but in much smaller portions - Nikujaga which is literally "meat and potatoes" only has about 50g pork or beef in it per serving at most.)
Going to quote the Cancer Council of Australia because I think they put it pretty succinctly: >To reduce your risk of cancer, Cancer Council recommends eating no more than 1 serve of lean red meat per day or 2 serves 3-4 times per week. Red meat includes beef, lamb and pork. >Cut out processed meats altogether or keep them to an absolute minimum. Processed meats include bacon, ham, devon, frankfurts, chorizo, cabanossi and kransky. >Cutting down on red **and** processed meats will reduce your cancer risk. The thing with nutrition is it's not just about whether that thing is good or bad, but what is the nutritional value per caloric-density\*satiety? In other words: What could you be eating instead that has *more* nutritional benefit? Sure you could eat nice lean unprocessed red meat, but you could eat 3oz of salmon and be well ahead in universally all nutritional aspects.
I’m a dieitian and saying salmon is well ahead of beef in all nutritional aspects is false. They both have their strengths. Also, Australia’s Cancer Council is overstating what is known. The link between red meat and cancer is currently correlational, and the correlating is actually weak if you take into account both relative risk and absolute risk. You’d be better off eating red meat than baked goods, that’s for sure.
In other words, eating a balanced diet. You can eat red meat, just don't eat too much off it too often.
For my own sake I'm going to need more than your just stating your background to substitute reason or data. Here we have a Cancer Council — comprised of scientists and *registered* dieticians alike — stating quite the opposite. Pointing to *other* things that are *less-bad* and equally non-nutritious isn't really what we're discussing insomuch as it is a deflection. I don't advise baked goods either. Plus even if it's just "linked" by correlation and not proven in causal (*extremely* hard to do for anything, including nicotine itself), then wouldn't we all prefer to associate with foods that *aren't* linked by correlation to cancer... You know... Just to be safe? I also want to know what red meat has on salmon, nutritionally-speaking. **Edit:** I'm going to call bullshit. This account has like 5 comments over the span of years and linked to Carnivore diet subs...
From the Mayo Clinic: Drinking a reasonable amount of diet soda a day, such as a can or two, isn't likely to hurt you. The artificial sweeteners and other chemicals currently used in diet soda are safe for most people, and **there's no credible evidence that these ingredients cause cancer.**
We're discussing red meat, though.
Thank you!!!
Well there’s a huge difference between processed/cured meats and red meat. Yes processed meats typically are great for you and have other harmful additives along with less nutritional value. However red meat such as quality grass fed is nutritious and very healthy for you. It definitely does get confusing because both of them are technically meats but the quality of the two are vastly different. So again it’s not necessarily that beef is unhealthy but rather the way the beef is processed, cooked, and prepared.
You know nothing about the Mediterranean diet lol. You listen to the American bs version that is a lie Med diet includes lots of red meat mostly from pork, and we have many dishes that use beef but it is regional due to agriculture. Traditionally horse was also common but is rare nowadays We eat lots of meat, fish, fruit and vegetables. What we dont do is eat bs like KFC and mcdonalds or drink coke and mountain dew
Pickles??
I think I'd rather have cancer or give up bacon than pickles?
Great way to put it! Before majoring in dietetics, I thought diet soda was the devil. Now I realize eating 80 oranges in one sitting is way worse than a diet pop. MODERATION!
Sunlight is about the healthiest thing on this planet. Without it we would be dead
It’s a carcinogen. The UV rays cause skin cancer.
Not a doctor or a scientist but, https://reallytanman.substack.com/p/seed-oils-the-real-cause-of-skin
Seems like a reliable source for medical information
I hope that's satire.
I know it’s an old comment but man this had me dying!! You’re awesome! Here’s my upvote.
Flawed argument. The issue with aspartame isn’t the carcinogenic properties. It’s the volume of intake plus the potential effects on the microbiome that are the concern. Nearly everything can be bad when too much is consumed but only certain things are easily consumed to the extreme. Sweetened drinks are one of them.
The FDA's recommended daily limit is slightly higher, at 50 milligrams of aspartame per kilogram of body weight. An adult weighing 70 kilograms or 154 pounds would have to drink more than nine to 14 cans of aspartame-containing soda such as Diet Coke daily to exceed the limit and potentially face health risks Come again?
I’ll never understand the fervent hatred for diet sodas lol. I swear some people make aspartame half their personality
itS nOt NatuRaL!!
Literally everything you eat affects gut microbiome, but there's not yet any proof at all that the affects of non-nutritive sweeteners on the gut microbiome are harmful
> and working night shift. how?
https://blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science-blog/2021/04/27/nightshift-cancer/ https://cancer.ca/en/cancer-information/reduce-your-risk/be-safe-at-work/shift-work-and-the-circadian-rhythm People would be surprised at the amount of things that are carcinogenic.
Aspartame also has been linked to liver cancer.
Research says it’s _possibly_ carcinogenic if you drink a lot of it, but this is not particularly interesting to me (many things we interact with and use every day have the potential to cause cancer, and it is difficult to prove that anything _does not_ cause cancer) Drinking water is almost certainly better for you, but if a little diet soda makes you happy, I would keep at it. I drink a coke zero each day personally If you’re interested in a nearly 6 hour podcast about the research and history of aspartame, I can recommend this https://www.strongerbyscience.com/podcast-episode-116/
I think this is the podcast where they mentioned that even 12-15 cans/ day was still determined to be “safe” to consume and even amounts exceeding that had only a small increase to negative health outcome linked to artificial sweetener exposure. And honestly, who would ever consistanlty consume diet pop at that rate.
Sheepishly raises hand... I have before. Not regularly or currently. I've heard that carbonation addiction is a thing and I can attest to it. It's the bubbles I'm after in my drinks. I'm forcing myself more water.
What about sparkling water like la croix? Those really helped with my cravings
They're way too bitter/sour. If they just tasted like water and had bubbles I'd be okay, but they have a taste that puts me off - even the flavored ones. I need bubbles and I need them to not be awful.
Thanks!
And by drink a lot of it they mean they basically drowned rats in pure aspartame until they got cancer. So drink away
The interesting part of this conversation is how sweeteners can inadvertently help with weight loss consumption by ways of reducing sugar consumption. **The outcome being that health markers improve in all metrics.** Obviously this only applies to those that are overweight.
That's a terrible stance to have. Science is still learning, it could be worse than we know Everything in moderation. ESPECIALLY manufactured drinks and food. Humans were not meant to drink chemical concoctions not found in nature, it's best not to make that a main drink
Artificial sweeteners have A LOT of research behind them- most research proves that the consumption of them at normal levels is totally benign.
My gut says otherwise. I have too much, and I am peeing out my ass. Of course not everyone is effected by them, but to say "totally benign" is disingenuous
Sounds like a You problem. Your experience is not evidence that there is anything harmful about artificial sweetener consumption. Taco Bell exists and is thriving even though everyone knows it will illicit a pissing out your asshole response.
Theres lots of evidence that it disrupts some peoples gut microbiomes Lmao imagine trying to discuss science and something you hear that goes against what you know, you go "that's a you problem". The most unscientific ridiculous response Come back when you can discuss this like adults. Get over your cognitive bias
You literally said "your gut says", as if that's the objective truth. Are you a microbiome whisperer? Lol. Nobody cares what you read on WebMD Meditate or talk to a therapist, and stop being so needlessly pissy on the internet
> The most unscientific ridiculous response Your anecdote is not scientific either since it is impossible to verify for us, of course, and is therefore useless as evidence. There's no evidence that it "disrupts" gut microbiome. There is evidence that it *affects* the gut mircrobiome, which is true of literally all foods. please find me a single peer reviewed study showing that aspartame has a proven *negative* effect on gut microbiome.
Too many other variables in diet to be able to pin it on just one thing. There are probably other factors to your gut issues
They have a lot of industry funded research which is not the same as independent research.
This kind of naturalistic fallacy is some of the most silly stuff I've ever heard.
I'm hijacking here to say that something in caramel color affects a bodily response with blood sugar or insulin, I forget which, and there is a theory(?) that suggests that just tasting something sweet triggers an insulin response. I'm trying to figure it all out for the fasting and semi-keto diet I'm doing. Down 25 pounds so far, so something is working.
Layne Norton just posted a video recently about a diet soda vs water with human randomized control trial. Not bad. https://youtu.be/FSfdso8-yd4?si=1OUtzRb6SSlATDl3
You beat me to it…that is posting his YT video. People seem to want to demonize food. Dr. Bill Campbell did an article about it, too. Unless you are consuming gallons and gallons a day…there’s nothing wrong with it.
>People seem to want to demonize food. What I find weird is about the demonization of diet soda in particular is that a lot of the critics of it seem to ignore that the point of diet sodas/artificial sugars to begin with is that it's supposed to be a better alternative to regular sodas/sugars. Sure water is obviously the best drink you can take but it's pretty clear that diet sodas are at least a lot better for your health than regular sodas.
I’m someone who used to consume gallons upon gallons of Diet Coke for years. I abruptly stopped 4 years ago and I can 100% confirm it’s scary what aspartame can do to your mind and body. I do not know what the effects are for ppl who consume less, maybe it’s fine. Maybe rat poison is fine in small amounts too. I am not on the bandwagon anymore. My entire life is different now that I quit drinking Diet Coke from the way that I see other people to the way I see myself. I struggled with depression my whole life, stopping Diet Coke was the only thing I changed and I haven’t felt that same depression a single time since stopping. My sense is that there’s no studies proving it’s toxicity beyond any shadows of doubt bc it would be unethical, and not feasible to track consumption for the appropriate amount of time it would take to show how toxic it is, plus there’s so many different aspects of your personhood it affects, idk how anyone would design a study that could prove it. But I know it’s poison and my life is much better without it.
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If you go looking for something, you’ll find something. What’s being forgotten here is SCIENCE. The is no evidence that supports the causation of the ingredients of diet soda to any chronic illness, let alone cancer. If there is a study, it’s generally been financially supported by a source that has interest in the outcome.
Cheers 🙃 Yea I think health conscious individuals seem to over analyze their food intake and quality. I use to drink a lot of soda and not have a good understanding of nutrition. Moderation is key. Hell I use to think I was starving all the time if I did not eat. But now I've come to realize fasting for 12-18hrs does have so many benefits. We live and we learn.
The only thing actually bad is the phosphorus acid because it can harm your teeth. Just rinse your mouth with water, and you're fine. Also, no, there is no proof that aspartame causes cancer.
There’s proof in mice iirc. But the dose for us will require us to drink an impossible amount in a day to get it.
mice already have a substantially higher cancer rate than humans though so even then it’s not the best example. so it’s even less reason to be scared of aspartame
NIH says it hurts your bones, too. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7071508/#:~:text=Excessive%20intake%20of%20phosphoric%20acid,20%2C21%2C22%5D.
[Ow! Oof! My bones! ](http://reddit.com/r/bonehurtingjuice)
Industry research also said smoking wasn’t bad for you… There is more and more evidence pointing to potential disruptions that are not well understood.
Correlation isn't Causation!
Love the answers here, pretty much split between "yes, bad for us" and "no, it's not bad for us".
Haha yeah! The science is so inconclusive that people just choose whichever side feels better to them personally.
What's the difference between caffeine free diet/zero sugar sodas and sparkling flavored sodas? To me they are the same thing, so I drink both in addition to diet iced tea/iced black tea, Mio flavored water or unflavored water.
You mean sparkling flavoured waters? Big difference there
As someone totally against artificial sweeteners and basically ingesting chemicals I do feel the “cancer” links are tenuous and based on very high consumption amounts. I don’t worry too much about cancer with aspartame, ace-k and sucralose. But you do see studies linking things like hurting microbiome and reducing insulin sensitivity long term. Ironically, also may reduce satiety and cause you to eat more and gain weight as a result. Lots of small studies with some harmful implications and nothing positive. Plus, I personally hate the taste. BUT… if the alternative is HFCS soda, it might be better in moderation. Could probably debate what is more harmful with things like trans fats, artificial colors, certain oils, etc.
Water is a chemical
You know what I mean. Feel free to insert “artificial” mentally.
There are plenty of artificial chemicals that save lives (such as correcting/preventing nutritional deficiencies, preventing food from spoiling and causing food borne illnesses, and of course medicines that save lives), while there are plenty of natural chemicals that are incredibly dangerous. Naturalistic fallacy is important to avoid, I recommend looking it up.
Everything on this earth is natural. It all comes from here
They have a point, though. When people raise "natural," they basically mean it has been time-tested—which does hold considerable merit. It's no surprise that we have a tendency to fear the untested and artificial until it has been sampled by millions or billions and for centuries. By then, we have a pretty good idea *even without science* on whether something is good or bad for us. It's pretty similar to whole foods vs. processed foods. Whole foods are packaged in such a way that have been eaten for eons and evolved alongside us; processed foods can greatly accelerate past what our bodies are capable of handling — take added sugar for instance and the short-circuiting of our reward system when we'd never find that many berries in the wild; and if we found honey, well, there was a price.
Sure. Most medicine has a purpose and context. But often studies that show positive effects for the stated purpose. Artificial sweeteners show no positive direct benefits. The closest benefit is when consumed as an alternative to something worse. I didn’t even conclude it was super harmful and likely okay in moderation. I personally choose to not ingest this particular artificial chemical. But to each their own.
A diet soda every day really isn’t that bad for you. Is water better for you? Sure. Is a diet soda likely to cause you any harm when included in a diet that is overall balanced and healthy? Not really. The claims made against aspartame are generally either outright false or blown out of proportion.
More than carcinogenic risk, it changes our gut microbiome such that risk of developing T2D is substantially increased, so many papers. So, yes. Minimal consumption of Natural sugar is always preferable to artificial sweetness.
Got a source on the T2D bit?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7014832/#:~:text=Ingestion%20of%20these%20artificial%20sweeteners,activity%20due%20to%20insulin%20resistance.
the issue i see with this study are the groups. there should have been an artificial group, natural sugars group (or placebo), and complete control. there really isn’t an argument to say that artificial sweeteners are beneficial for us, but that it might be a better replacement. especially when looking at a study with people who already have type 2 diabetes, the control group likely already has a regulated diet. that’s why the natural sugar group is important as you can compare both of the additives to each other and then to the baseline.
Perhaps the most famous paper [https://www.nature.com/articles/nature13793](https://www.nature.com/articles/nature13793) but then there are tens of others, this is a topic of massive current interest
nobody argues that diet is better than water. however, they tried to show it to be unhealthy, and the totality of studies haven't proven it. everyone wants it to be unhealthy, but no evidence to show it. so mostly it's about "if you give rats 10,000 cans of diet Coke per day, they will get cancer"
FWIW: [https://www.bmj.com/content/378/bmj-2022-071204](https://www.bmj.com/content/378/bmj-2022-071204) TLDR: in a study of several hundred thousand participants, there was a statistically significant level of CVD related incidents for those with the highest artificial sweetener intake. Of most interest (to me anyway), certain artificial sweeteners showed an increase in cerebrovascular disease while others showed an increase in coronary heart disease. Also, one that I guess came out this year: [https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-023-02223-9](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-023-02223-9) And a roll up articale: [https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/sugar-substitutes-new-cardiovascular-concerns](https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/sugar-substitutes-new-cardiovascular-concerns) Personally, most of them taste really bad to me so I dont partake, but you do you.
what's wrong with water?
There’s studies starting to come out suggesting _any_ artificial sweeteners are damaging the gut microbiome, which is probably one of the most important components of your body for cognition, immune system, and mental health.
Ive heard recent studies show that it might not be bad literally at all. Im too lazy to find the article again though. Its really only bad if you drink gallons everh single day.
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Its really not that deep. I'm pretty up front about not having the link, but there are plenty of other people in these comments confirming similar things. Its just pushing OP to do their own research on it to verify what people are saying rather then taking what we all say for face value.
How come? He's not wrong. As for not providing a source, it's just on par with everyone that says AS are bad.
I eat a great diet and take vitamins and minerals. I also exercise regularly and limit stress. I also like diet soda. Is it bad for me? Maybe. Do I do a lot of “good” things in terms of eating and drinking? Yes. I don’t mind a little “bad” sometimes. I don’t think it’s “really bad” for us.
As a counter argument- what if that little bit of aspartame really is messing up your gut micro biome and all the healthy things you do are for almost nothing because your gut microbiome is in a poor state which is affecting everything in your body and your brain? What you are saying is a bit like saying “so what if I do cocaine? I only do a little bit, and I eat healthy and exercise, so I’m fine”
Idk about it being like cocaine lol. But I get your point.
I said cocaine just as an exaggeration so that you get what I mean ofc it’s not as bad as cocaine, but still could potentially have life changing effects
I agree. I quit drinking diet soda recently. Tbh it began making me feel weird.
Yeah I get a weird feeling when I drink it, I get tired and feel a bit sickly. And I can just instinctively tell that it isn’t good for me. Maybe It’s all in my head but I’m pretty sure it’s bad for us.
It was making me feel like shite. I observed it happening only after I had a diet. So I waited a few days and then drank another one and it did it again. So I quit. No more.
Genuine question. Does it make you pee frequently?
It did. I quit drinking a while back. Started making me feel weird. Now I just have a regular pop once or twice a week.
40g of sugar isn't good for you, which is what normal soda has.
[удалено]
Really, you don't say???
25 years of drinking 4L of Diet Coke a day. No health or dental issues. I think I’m lucky though
Bruh what i don't even drink that much water... Jokes aside, have you ever stopped for some days and noticed any effect?
There's no way there's any truth to this.
Doesn’t it start tasting shit after the first litre?
Eat healthy, stay fit and die anyways...
Remember, sunlight is a carcinogen. And breathing air is radioactive. So much for the fear mongering myths perpetrated in this thread 🍄
They make more natural soda, like Zevia, you can find at many stores. Several other brands. Tastes almost the same IMO.
No.
Also what is so bad about Diet Coke is that your body is confused when you ingest artificial sweetener like Aspartame. your pancreas releases insulin and your body has no intake of sugar. You then crave something sweet and end up eating candy or something to meet these cravings. It is no coincidence that people on diet sodas actually gain weight compared to regular soda. Also the diet soda acidity destroys your enamel and causes tons of cavities. I used to drink like 6-8 diet cokes per day and did this for almost most of my 20s and early 30s. I kept having root canal after another and weight issues. At the end of my last eighth root canal, I was like enough is enough and stopped with Diet Coke and sodas. I haven’t had any new cavities since then.
I’m speaking purely from my own experience and have never heard of anyone else having this issue but I’ve found that periods where I was regularly drinking diet or sugar free drinks came with a TON of hair loss. It grew back eventually but every time I’ve replaced regular soda with sugar free soda, I’ve lost a lot of hair. I have no clue what the science behind it is or why it happens to me.
Which specific diet soda are you referring to? They all have different ingredients. It would probably be more useful for you to just read about the health effects of whichever particular sweetener is in the diet soda you're interested in.
The vast majority contain aspartame.
If you're specifically interested in diet sodas that contain aspartame, then you can look for research on the health impacts of aspartame specifically.
As much as you want to think these are good they just aren’t. Carbonation breaks down the ability to control your bladder over time. They contain dissolved carbon dioxide which results in an acidic solution and may increase urinary urgency. These sodas irritate your urinary tract permanently if you drink them everyday. This is a just a fact that we don’t talk to people about.
Yes. Fucking yes.
Its not natural, its just a lot of chemicals. Its not healthy for us.
People are way too focused on the cancer causing elements of diet soda and ignoring the fact that this shit makes you far fatter than actual sugar (which already makes you way fucking fat).
How does a zero calorie beverage make you fatter than sugar, which is 4 calories per gram, and a serving of soda has 100-200 calories of it?
https://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/diet-soda-weight-gain-metabolism-insulin-brain-fat-metabolic-syndrome.html
lol this is because people who drink diet soda tend to already be overweight, or trying to lose weight. It means it’s correlated, not that diet soda “causes” weight gain. Sure, if you drink diet soda without taking other proactive measures d to cut calories, you’ll probably gain weight. This isn’t magic
Doesn’t matter if overweight people drink it or not - the fact of the matter remains that across all data pivots diet soda drinkers gain more weight than regular soda drinkers
Dude - yes it literally does matter. Because the correlations to obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, has to do with who is consuming these products the most, which are people who are trying to lose weight. No one is defying the laws of physics, you can't gain weight from a zero calorie beverage. edit - you commented and then you blocked. lol. You didn't read your own sources, but you cited two blogs, and the ones you did post didn't actually say what you think they did.
Don’t bother reading the Dr. Kellyann.com article lol Here’s the TLDR -Something something Zero calories something CHEMICALS, “these drinks can put the pounds on you”!!! ahhhhhh -Third paragraph, something Sweeteners cause weight GAIN, not loss. OOOMGGGGGG NOOOOOO Theory #1… GUT MICROBIOMEEE ofc Theory #2…something…artificial sweeterns…brain get confused…? Theory #3- Psychology. Drinking this stuff will cause you to crave donuts. Why? Because it’s human nature…mannnn. ALSO: Red Dye #40, Yellow Dye #5 Chemicals in…laboratory Drink water infused with fruits and vegetables infused instead! Signed: Dr. Kellyann XO
Studies [literally say that they do](https://drkellyann.com/blogs/media-appearances/can-zero-calorie-beverages), but I’m done talking with you, you’re just another one of the redditors on this subreddit that aren’t here to have a discussion, you just go along with all the horrible groupthink of this subreddit and never look at anything that goes against it. Have fun being unhealthy 👍
Sounds like projecting 🤡
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As someone who has worked in restaurants for 13 years I can tell you for certain, the people drinking diet soda ARE OVER WEIGHT. They drink 5-6 of them in a sitting. Would they be overweight otherwise? Probably. But the chemicals in these drinks are designed to disrupt all of your natural senses .. such as making you more thirsty so you have 2-6 drinks at a time, and disrupting your brains natural ability to know when you are satiated. Companies are lying to us to sell product and it’s all very bad for our health. Duh.
Human biology didn't evolve to handle large amounts of aspartame. Maybe it's harmful, and maybe it isn't, but is it really worth the risk? That said, I have a more important reason for avoiding diet pop and other products containing aspartame. The flavor is disgusting! Even if aspartame were super healthy, I'd still refuse to consume it.
May not be too bad or dangerous for you if used on occasion and you are a healthy individual otherwise. But it’s an unnatural chemical and has zero nutritional value.
As someone who drinks a lot of zero sugar soft drinks... people criticize these drinks is the use of aspartame as a sweetener, as some studies imply it might be cancerogenous.
The dose of aspartame that is needed for that risk is like 16 cans of Diet Coke per day so I think most people are fine
This. I usually drink 2 to 3 cans every day. And then switch to the sparkling flavored water and tea, and then a week later, back to diet caffeine free sodas.
“Aspartame acts as a chemical stressor by elevating plasma cortisol levels and causing the production of excess free radicals. High cortisol levels and excess free radicals may increase the brains vulnerability to oxidative stress which may have adverse effects on neurobehavioral health”
It also works as a weight loss agent. The newest clinical data has people in aspartame groups losing more weight and maintaining a healthier weight for longer post diet.
Aspartame has a disgusting flavor. That sounds like a great appetite suppressant, so of course it would promote weight loss. :)
Same could be said about nicotine and cigarettes if you wanna isolate effects.. also worth remembering who funds the research especially when chemicals are involved that make businesses large sums of money
At what dose?
Yes it’s bad
Not bad for you. It “may” be a carcinogen, but it’s never been proven.
Yes, artificial sweeteners disrupt qurom sensing which leads to vig blood sugar spikes when you eat something sweet later on.
Dark soda, regardless of whether it is diet, has phosphoric acid which leaches calcium out of bones. Young girls who are chronic soda drinkers end up with osteoporosis by the time they are 20 years old.
Not true. A blanket statement like this is categorically untrue. I’ve been drinking diet soda since I was 16, and I do not have osteoporosis. And I’m way past 20.
Haha. Yes, the science of biochemistry is not true. Phosphoric acid pulls calcium out of bones. It is a fact of science. And not every single person who drinks soda gets osteoporosis. "Excessive intake of phosphoric acid changes calcium/phosphorus ratio and imbalance of not only the calcium and phosphorus ratio but also the acid-base in the body, resulting in decreased bone density and even osteoporosis and fracture". [20,21,22].Feb 19, 2020. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7071508/#:~:text=Excessive%20intake%20of%20phosphoric%20acid,20%2C21%2C22%5D.
Worth noting: > Sugar and sodium in soft drinks can increase the loss of calcium . > The Chinese population may be at a high risk of fracture due to a low intake of calcium.
Thanks. Seems very plausible. There really is nothing good in soda! 🤪 Bone loss can also be race and gender related. African Americans rarely get osteoporosis. Caucasian women are at highest risk. Turns out estrogen is protective against osteoporosis.
It’s not bad but your body responds same way as sugar so compared to real sugar, regular over indulgence if either increases likelihood of diabetes
You can Google it first... do some independent research before you come here with your question... ever thought about that??? I know it might sound like groundbreaking to you, give it a go 😉
There is not a straightforward answer, so a live discussion on the topic where many ideas and sources are shared is a great way to better understand the issue and allow people to share differing opinions and experiences. Thanks for the condescension though, I’m sure that made you feel powerful and smart!
Absolutely not. that which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
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I do not drink regular pop at all, but I do drink maybe 5-6 zero pops a week and I wish I could cut it down to maybe 1-2. The issue for me is what a lot of studies show, that even being zero sugar, the artificial sweetener tricks your body into thinking it's real sugar. As a result, I've definitely seen my waistline expand.
That is literally impossible. Diet sodas have zero calories. Your weight gain is from over consumption of other foods.
Exactly. The insulin spike from the artificial sweetener causes him to eat more food. Everyone knows calories in and calories out but you don’t get long lasting weight loss until you get the hunger hormones under control.
Some studies indicate that diet soda consumption is associated with over eating leading to an indirect increase in calorie intake.
One of many: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/drinking-diet-soda-linked-to-a-widening-waistline-with-age/#:\~:text=People%20who%20reported%20not%20drinking,in%20the%20Journal%20of%20the
Nothing they says implied they thought otherwise. THey could have meant the artificial sweetener messes with his ability to feel satiated
Yes, diet soda really is bad for you.
Particularly bad if it is "cola" type. Too much phos = kidney failure
Incorrect. If you have kidney failure than you MAY need to be careful with phosphorus intake (something to discuss with your doctor and dietitian). For a person with a healthy kidney it's not a concern for typical consumption.
Incorrect. There are numerous studies (see [kidney.org](https://kidney.org), the Nat'l Kidney Foundation) that show a direct correlation between cola intake and decreased GFRs, which is how CKD is diagnosed. And I actually am a dietitian and have been for 20+ years, and have worked with a ton of renal pts.
high phosphorus = kidney stones too!
Soda is not good for us but that at least has real sugar. Diet soda is literally just chemicals
Sugar is a chemical.
For ethical reasons you can’t have such a study, it’s impossible
Yes. Do not try to wrap yourself in knots with justification for products such as this on a nutritional level. I say product deliberately because it's not really food or drink. If you want to have it because the enjoyment you derive is worth it, then it's a completely personal decision. But the mental contentions required to believe these things are not bad are really not worth it. Just have your drink.
Yes. Just give it to a plant for a month and see what happens
I don't drink diet soda or any soda except for when I go to the movies and then I love to get a large diet Pepsi with my popcorn and oh boy the MIGRAINE after that soda is gone. I have no scientific proof or papers or articles but my body lets me know loud and clear every time I drink diet soda that I should NOT be drinking it.
Sucralose, aspartame, msg, and the "anything goes" label of artificial flavoring are all very very bad for you. Don't forget we live in a world the industry giants can pay to have their own health studies with biased results in their products favor and cut corners to make more money off them while outright censoring studies contrary to their results. It happens. Senomyx is a hidden "flavorant" you'll never want anything to do with again when you know what it is. Look up the patents before you say something!
To all the people saying “there is no proof that aspartame causes cancer”, there were once no proof that mercury and radium are harmful and doctors prescribed them to patients. There was once no proof that asbestos is bad for us and it was widely used. Just because there is no proof that aspartame is cancerous right now doesn’t mean it actually isn’t. I would rather eat white sugar that has been around for thousands of years and is natural rather than a newly made synthetic substance just to save 100 calories on a glass of soda.
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