is diet soda bad for you? (1 Viewer)

[cubbyphan]

Lots of terrible info in this thread. I'll try to make some useful points here.

Anything can be bad for you in the right situation and excess. Oxygen and water, for instance, can be deadly in some circumstances. The key as some have pointed out, is moderation.

General points about Diet Soda:

Can't cause direct weight gain, as many have pointed out, cause it has no calories.

May stimulate the intake of calories leading to secondary weight gain. As far as I know, however, this has never been demonstrated in any noteworthy study.

Could possibly have carcinogenic effects at very high doses (most anything probably could), but there is very little evidence that it really increases risk of cancer. Probably nothing to worry about.

Probably the biggest real medical threat from diet soda is the phosphorous. Taking in the fairly large amounts of phosphorous in pop can affect calcium balance leading to a number of problems. In particular, there is good evidence linking pop to kidney stones.

Overall of course, diet pop is probably not the most healthy thing in the world. It really has little nutritional value, and in high amounts could cause some problems. If used in moderation however, it probably is not a big deal at all.

Whoever mentioned the friend with diabetes should really talk to him and have him discuss it with a doctor or dietician. While diabetes involves high blood glucose, the idea that diabetes = sugar is not really ocrrect. Diabetes is a complex metabolic syndrome that really is associated more with a generally poor diet than with sugar specifically. Eating a lot of junk like McDonald's is probably a lot worse than eating and overall healthy diet and having a pop every once in awhile. Generally the best thing for diabetics is to keep baseline sugar under control and lose weight, which really means keeping calories at a reasonable level, and probably more importantly, exercising.

 

[RKMoney]

Lots of terrible info in this thread. I'll try to make some useful points here.

Anything can be bad for you in the right situation and excess. Oxygen and water, for instance, can be deadly in some circumstances. The key as some have pointed out, is moderation.

General points about Diet Soda:

Can't cause direct weight gain, as many have pointed out, cause it has no calories.

May stimulate the intake of calories leading to secondary weight gain. As far as I know, however, this has never been demonstrated in any noteworthy study.

Could possibly have carcinogenic effects at very high doses (most anything probably could), but there is very little evidence that it really increases risk of cancer. Probably nothing to worry about.



Probably the biggest real medical threat from diet soda is the phosphorous. Taking in the fairly large amounts of phosphorous in pop can affect calcium balance leading to a number of problems. In particular, there is good evidence linking pop to kidney stones.

Overall of course, diet pop is probably not the most healthy thing in the world. It really has little nutritional value, and in high amounts could cause some problems. If used in moderation however, it probably is not a big deal at all.

Whoever mentioned the friend with diabetes should really talk to him and have him discuss it with a doctor or dietician. While diabetes involves high blood glucose, the idea that diabetes = sugar is not really ocrrect. Diabetes is a complex metabolic syndrome that really is associated more with a generally poor diet than with sugar specifically. Eating a lot of junk like McDonald's is probably a lot worse than eating and overall healthy diet and having a pop every once in awhile. Generally the best thing for diabetics is to keep baseline sugar under control and lose weight, which really means keeping calories at a reasonable level, and probably more importantly, exercising.

Yea, thanks for "straightening" that out for us.

 

[moleculo]

Love when people talk about "moderation", we're talking about the USofA, correct?

If you do speed, meth, herion, coke, etc once a week only then it won't kill you or hurt you.

Let's all step back into reality. NOBODY has one diet drink a week, if so, why in the hell would you drink one a week? People who dink diet or sodas tend to be people who don't like water (no taste or don't like the taste).

I really don't know what planet some of you grew up on, but Coke (soft drink) was/is a pretty big deal in Texas while I grew up.

Ok, reality check, then. I know plenty of people who drink a couple of sodas (diet or regular) diet cokes a day, but really only with meals. It's not that they don't like the taste of water in general, but they don't like it with food.I'd like to see the data on people like that who switch from regular to diet. I would think it would take away that Mad Hatter thing, since the body would be getting calories at the same time that they are tasting them.

I also know people who consume more junk food than the law should allow and they are still thin/appear healthy.Can't win this argument to be honest because someone will always pull out the "I drink sodas/diet sodas and have lost or never gain weight so that's bulls***" card.

As for the Mad Hatter thing, I agree, would be interesting but then if you now know about it, will you try harder to NOT eat foods that are not good (high calorie) for you? I assume the test was done on people who simply didn't know.

As for the different between diet and regular coke, I am sure you could consume MORE calories if diet drinks shoots off a craving to eat high calorie food. For example:

Someone goes to Wendy's and thinks about ordering the following:

1. Hamburger

2. Med Fries

3. Coke

Then decides to get a diet coke instead but orders:

1. Cheeseburger

2. Large Fries

3. Diet Coke

Heck, even with same order of fries, the cheese alone would more than makeup the difference.

do you honestly think people who are already ordering a hamburger will hold off on the cheese because of calorie concerns?"I'm getting a diet coke, so I can afford to supersize the fries and add cheese "

This logic is flawed.

 

[moleculo]

My mom was diagnosed with diabetes in 1983. Since then, she has maintained a healthy, sugar free diet (which totally sucked for me growing up - sugar free cranberry sauce @ thanksgiving is for the birds), exercises for at least an hour a day, and watches her glucose. Oh yeah - she has probably 2-3 diet cokes each day. That's 2-3, every day, for the past 23 years!!!

She has not seen any adverse side effects, and I dare say, diet coke for her has been MUCH healthier than regular coke.

 

[jhib]

Love when people talk about "moderation", we're talking about the USofA, correct?

If you do speed, meth, herion, coke, etc once a week only then it won't kill you or hurt you.

Let's all step back into reality. NOBODY has one diet drink a week, if so, why in the hell would you drink one a week? People who dink diet or sodas tend to be people who don't like water (no taste or don't like the taste).

I really don't know what planet some of you grew up on, but Coke (soft drink) was/is a pretty big deal in Texas while I grew up.

Ok, reality check, then. I know plenty of people who drink a couple of sodas (diet or regular) diet cokes a day, but really only with meals. It's not that they don't like the taste of water in general, but they don't like it with food.I'd like to see the data on people like that who switch from regular to diet. I would think it would take away that Mad Hatter thing, since the body would be getting calories at the same time that they are tasting them.

I also know people who consume more junk food than the law should allow and they are still thin/appear healthy.Can't win this argument to be honest because someone will always pull out the "I drink sodas/diet sodas and have lost or never gain weight so that's bulls***" card.

As for the Mad Hatter thing, I agree, would be interesting but then if you now know about it, will you try harder to NOT eat foods that are not good (high calorie) for you? I assume the test was done on people who simply didn't know.

As for the different between diet and regular coke, I am sure you could consume MORE calories if diet drinks shoots off a craving to eat high calorie food. For example:

Someone goes to Wendy's and thinks about ordering the following:

1. Hamburger

2. Med Fries

3. Coke

Then decides to get a diet coke instead but orders:

1. Cheeseburger

2. Large Fries

3. Diet Coke

Heck, even with same order of fries, the cheese alone would more than makeup the difference.

do you honestly think people who are already ordering a hamburger will hold off on the cheese because of calorie concerns?"I'm getting a diet coke, so I can afford to supersize the fries and add cheese "

This logic is flawed.

Even so, the cheese turns out to be about 50 calories extra. Going from Medium Fries to Biggie Fries adds another 50 calories. Going from a Medium Coke to a Medium Diet Coke saves 140 calories. So it's not a bad trade after all, calorie-wise. Going from Medium Fries to Great Biggie Fries actually adds 150 calories, but maybe she had a Biggie drink, too, so switching to diet saves 224 calories.

 

[jhib]

I would think if you took a chemical such as diet soda, which is basically a man made chemical drink and ran tests on it that said

A) Increases weight gain / not good for you but can't pin point exactly why

B) in larger doses, causes cancer in rats

then why even drink it? Drink water. Drink tea (unsweetened).

You keep answering that question yourself. It's the taste.Like other decisions, people weigh the perceived benefits vs risks. The taste benefit is very real to many people. The risks, meanwhile, are far from concrete.

 

[KillerNerd]

My mom was diagnosed with diabetes in 1983. Since then, she has maintained a healthy, sugar free diet (which totally sucked for me growing up - sugar free cranberry sauce @ thanksgiving is for the birds), exercises for at least an hour a day, and watches her glucose. Oh yeah - she has probably 2-3 diet cokes each day. That's 2-3, every day, for the past 23 years!!!

She has not seen any adverse side effects, and I dare say, diet coke for her has been MUCH healthier than regular coke.

This stuff is what breaks down nutritional debates for a lot of people. EVERYBODY knows somebody that eats like #### and lives to be 90. Can't be all bad, right? My grandma smoked like a chimney, drank like a fish and lived to be 89 -- I am not about to say that means that the argument for cigs is faulty.

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

The potential effects on gut flora are why I prefer sugar-laden soda to artificially sweetened versions. (Not that the sugar-laden versions aren't also harmful to gut flora, but they're probably not as bad.)

Nature

Some popular articles from The Scientist and The New York Times blog.

 

[Vike Me]

What about Stevia? I've given up diet coke (again) and stuck to Honest Tea (lightly sweetened) and an occasional Zevia Cola sweetened with Stevia. I'm sure I'll still get ball cancer.

 

[Deranged Hermit]

When I was in HS, our Science teacher was a retiree from the 'chemical' division of Pepsi. She was the kind of woman who was always 'on a diet' (though she was certainly at a healthy weight). One time I was joking around with her and asked why she always drank regular Pepsi if she was on a diet. She said "If you knew what the chemicals in diet soda did to the human body, you'd never drink it again either".

 

[Brony]

When I was in HS, our Science teacher was a retiree from the 'chemical' division of Pepsi. She was the kind of woman who was always 'on a diet' (though she was certainly at a healthy weight). One time I was joking around with her and asked why she always drank regular Pepsi if she was on a diet. She said "If you knew what the chemicals in diet soda did to the human body, you'd never drink it again either".

That's why I only use iodine-free salt. Don't they realize what iodine can do to a body?

 

[pollardsvision]

I have no idea what the truth is regarding what diet soda does to a body, but I sure as hell don't trust anything that claims to offer the rewards for an indulgence with no consequences.

Then there's the issue that artificial sweetener tastes like ####. That aftertaste makes me want to gag. I believe the claims of diet soda leading to overeating. The times I've had it, I'd eat or drink anything else to get that taste out of my mouth.

 

[Dynasty Walkers]

Let's all step back into reality. NOBODY has one diet drink a week, if so, why in the hell would you drink one a week? People who dink diet or sodas tend to be people who don't like water (no taste or don't like the taste).

I probably drink one diet soda a week + one regular a week. I usually will drink the regular when we're at a restaurant and I know the tap water isn't so good. Or I'm getting something where water doesn't fly and I'm not in the mood for a beer (like pizza?). The diet comes when I'm just plain thirsty and I'm just not in the mood for water. We have a few cans in the fridge, and I drink one.Otherwise, I drink water or milk.

But I guess that's somebody, anyway.

Well, you said you drink two cokes a week though Ok, drinking two a week then, I am pretty confident you are in the .000001% who does this in regards to diet/regular soda drinkers. Soda sales are incredible in this country. Go outside USA and you don't see the near amount of people who are walking around with Big Gulp's of soda.

Yeah, but only one diet a week, which is what you said Nobody does. So there. So really, though, what's the horrible thing, the soda or the habit of drinking it non-stop?

Just because a majority of the people in this country might have difficulty with the concept of moderation shouldn't be a reason to discount it as the sensible thing to do.

I would think if you took a chemical such as diet soda, which is basically a man made chemical drink and ran tests on it that saidA) Increases weight gain / not good for you but can't pin point exactly why

B) in larger doses, causes cancer in rats

then why even drink it? Drink water. Drink tea (unsweetened).

Why would anyone drink unsweetened tea? That tastes terrible. I agree people should drink more water however.

 

[parasaurolophus]

When I was in HS, our Science teacher was a retiree from the 'chemical' division of Pepsi. She was the kind of woman who was always 'on a diet' (though she was certainly at a healthy weight). One time I was joking around with her and asked why she always drank regular Pepsi if she was on a diet. She said "If you knew what the chemicals in diet soda did to the human body, you'd never drink it again either".

So we are to believe that she is aware of countless studies showing all sorts of damage to the human body that she freely tells you exist, but of course never reveals any of the details because that would uncover the secrets that are locked away in the cedar trunk in the basement of Pepsi Pentagon.

If that were really true and she had this inside knowledge, fatty would have already blabbed to everybody in the media and diet soda would be off the market.

 

[17seconds]

Let's all step back into reality. NOBODY has one diet drink a week, if so, why in the hell would you drink one a week? People who dink diet or sodas tend to be people who don't like water (no taste or don't like the taste).

I probably drink one diet soda a week + one regular a week. I usually will drink the regular when we're at a restaurant and I know the tap water isn't so good. Or I'm getting something where water doesn't fly and I'm not in the mood for a beer (like pizza?). The diet comes when I'm just plain thirsty and I'm just not in the mood for water. We have a few cans in the fridge, and I drink one.Otherwise, I drink water or milk.

But I guess that's somebody, anyway.

Well, you said you drink two cokes a week though Ok, drinking two a week then, I am pretty confident you are in the .000001% who does this in regards to diet/regular soda drinkers. Soda sales are incredible in this country. Go outside USA and you don't see the near amount of people who are walking around with Big Gulp's of soda.

Yeah, but only one diet a week, which is what you said Nobody does. So there. So really, though, what's the horrible thing, the soda or the habit of drinking it non-stop?

Just because a majority of the people in this country might have difficulty with the concept of moderation shouldn't be a reason to discount it as the sensible thing to do.

I would think if you took a chemical such as diet soda, which is basically a man made chemical drink and ran tests on it that saidA) Increases weight gain / not good for you but can't pin point exactly why

B) in larger doses, causes cancer in rats

then why even drink it? Drink water. Drink tea (unsweetened).

Why would anyone drink unsweetened tea? That tastes terrible. I agree people should drink more water however.

It's like diet soda. When you first have it you don't like it, but drink it enough and you get into it.

 

[mphtrilogy]

I moved on to Poland Spring sparkling about 8 years ago and haven't looked back....

 

[IC FBGCav]

This thread just made me pour our my diet coke and get water. I hate you guys for that. I have researched this before and I think the only good drink besides water are certain green teas. I got a 4-6 a work day diet coke habit, well not anymore.

 

[leftcoastguy7]

My parents are the perfect test subjects for this. They started drinking TAB back in 1963 and have been drinking diet soda ever since.

If diet soda is harmful, it must take over 50 years for the effects to show.

 

[IC FBGCav]

My parents are the perfect test subjects for this. They started drinking TAB back in 1963 and have been drinking diet soda ever since.

If diet soda is harmful, it must take over 50 years for the effects to show.

:cracksanicecolddietcoke:

 

[trogg78]

My parents are the perfect test subjects for this. They started drinking TAB back in 1963 and have been drinking diet soda ever since.

If diet soda is harmful, it must take over 50 years for the effects to show.

How can I give you a Tab when you haven't ordered anything!

 

[Slapdash]

The potential effects on gut flora are why I prefer sugar-laden soda to artificially sweetened versions. (Not that the sugar-laden versions aren't also harmful to gut flora, but they're probably not as bad.)

Nature

Some popular articles from The Scientist and The New York Times blog.

:(

 

[Slapdash]

Even more reason to drink liquor straight up.

 

[Maelstrom]

This thread just made me pour our my diet coke and get water. I hate you guys for that. I have researched this before and I think the only good drink besides water are certain green teas. I got a 4-6 a work day diet coke habit, well not anymore.

Buying into the bad science and anecdotal evidence huh? Seriously, as just mentioned, artificial sugars have been one of the most tested substances we use, and if there was actually the chance they were significantly harmful, we would know.

Now, anything in large quantities can be really bad for you, but a couple diet soda's, even regularly, are not going to kill you. 4-6 a day is quite a lot, but 1-2 a day is not unhealthy.

 

[Deranged Hermit]

When I was in HS, our Science teacher was a retiree from the 'chemical' division of Pepsi. She was the kind of woman who was always 'on a diet' (though she was certainly at a healthy weight). One time I was joking around with her and asked why she always drank regular Pepsi if she was on a diet. She said "If you knew what the chemicals in diet soda did to the human body, you'd never drink it again either".

So we are to believe that she is aware of countless studies showing all sorts of damage to the human body that she freely tells you exist, but of course never reveals any of the details because that would uncover the secrets that are locked away in the cedar trunk in the basement of Pepsi Pentagon.If that were really true and she had this inside knowledge, fatty would have already blabbed to everybody in the media and diet soda would be off the market.

Believe whatever you want, I don't give a flying ####.

 

[Time Kibitzer]

My parents are the perfect test subjects for this. They started drinking TAB back in 1963 and have been drinking diet soda ever since.

If diet soda is harmful, it must take over 50 years for the effects to show.

If school has taught me anything, it's that a piece of anecdotal evidence is enough to make scientific claims. So I'm sold.

 

[leftcoastguy7]

My parents are the perfect test subjects for this. They started drinking TAB back in 1963 and have been drinking diet soda ever since.

If diet soda is harmful, it must take over 50 years for the effects to show.

If school has taught me anything, it's that a piece of anecdotal evidence is enough to make scientific claims. So I'm sold.

Believe whatever you want, I don't give a flying ####.

 

[parasaurolophus]

When I was in HS, our Science teacher was a retiree from the 'chemical' division of Pepsi. She was the kind of woman who was always 'on a diet' (though she was certainly at a healthy weight). One time I was joking around with her and asked why she always drank regular Pepsi if she was on a diet. She said "If you knew what the chemicals in diet soda did to the human body, you'd never drink it again either".

So we are to believe that she is aware of countless studies showing all sorts of damage to the human body that she freely tells you exist, but of course never reveals any of the details because that would uncover the secrets that are locked away in the cedar trunk in the basement of Pepsi Pentagon.If that were really true and she had this inside knowledge, fatty would have already blabbed to everybody in the media and diet soda would be off the market.

Believe whatever you want, I don't give a flying ####.

I've got a bridge I would like to sell you. My social studies teacher from middle school was a realtor. She assures me it is all on the up and up.

 

[proninja]

When I was in HS, our Science teacher was a retiree from the 'chemical' division of Pepsi. She was the kind of woman who was always 'on a diet' (though she was certainly at a healthy weight). One time I was joking around with her and asked why she always drank regular Pepsi if she was on a diet. She said "If you knew what the chemicals in diet soda did to the human body, you'd never drink it again either".

So we are to believe that she is aware of countless studies showing all sorts of damage to the human body that she freely tells you exist, but of course never reveals any of the details because that would uncover the secrets that are locked away in the cedar trunk in the basement of Pepsi Pentagon.If that were really true and she had this inside knowledge, fatty would have already blabbed to everybody in the media and diet soda would be off the market.

Believe whatever you want, I don't give a flying ####.

I've got a bridge I would like to sell you. My social studies teacher from middle school was a realtor. She assures me it is all on the up and up.

Are you calling him a liar, or are you just discouraging anyone from posting their interesting experiences with things that aren't verifiable?

 

[ghostguy123]

My parents are the perfect test subjects for this. They started drinking TAB back in 1963 and have been drinking diet soda ever since.

If diet soda is harmful, it must take over 50 years for the effects to show.

I know a guy who snorted coke every day for 15 years and is healthy.

I know someone else who snorted coke once and died of a heart attack.

Same can be said about many other harmful things.

YES people diet soda is bad for you....................but I would not personally view it as something to avoid because of it. I drink it. F it. But I do it knowing I am putting very unnatural chemicals into my body each time I do.

 

[MC Gas Money]

I got that driving job I mentioned the day before I got a 30 day timeout last month and ive started drinking 2-6 monster energies a day, even on my days off.

How bad is that for me?

 

[ghostguy123]

I got that driving job I mentioned the day before I got a 30 day timeout last month and ive started drinking 2-6 monster energies a day, even on my days off.

How bad is that for me?

The caffeine alone is probably going to take a decade off your life.

 

[MC Gas Money]

I got that driving job I mentioned the day before I got a 30 day timeout last month and ive started drinking 2-6 monster energies a day, even on my days off.

How bad is that for me?

The caffeine alone is probably going to take a decade off your life.

No biggie. Those would have been the worst years of my life.

Off to work to shave a few more years off

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

My parents are the perfect test subjects for this. They started drinking TAB back in 1963 and have been drinking diet soda ever since.

If diet soda is harmful, it must take over 50 years for the effects to show.

How can I give you a Tab when you haven't ordered anything!

If you want something to drink, you're gonna have to pay for it.

 

[Vike Me]

My parents are the perfect test subjects for this. They started drinking TAB back in 1963 and have been drinking diet soda ever since.

If diet soda is harmful, it must take over 50 years for the effects to show.

How can I give you a Tab when you haven't ordered anything!

Well, then you should try a Pepsi Free.

 

[parasaurolophus]

When I was in HS, our Science teacher was a retiree from the 'chemical' division of Pepsi. She was the kind of woman who was always 'on a diet' (though she was certainly at a healthy weight). One time I was joking around with her and asked why she always drank regular Pepsi if she was on a diet. She said "If you knew what the chemicals in diet soda did to the human body, you'd never drink it again either".

So we are to believe that she is aware of countless studies showing all sorts of damage to the human body that she freely tells you exist, but of course never reveals any of the details because that would uncover the secrets that are locked away in the cedar trunk in the basement of Pepsi Pentagon.If that were really true and she had this inside knowledge, fatty would have already blabbed to everybody in the media and diet soda would be off the market.

Believe whatever you want, I don't give a flying ####.

I've got a bridge I would like to sell you. My social studies teacher from middle school was a realtor. She assures me it is all on the up and up.

Are you calling him a liar, or are you just discouraging anyone from posting their interesting experiences with things that aren't verifiable?

A liar? I believe his teacher told him that. I just give such a statement zero credibility. She freely tells a HS student how dangerous diet soda is. However diet soda has been on the market for many many years and it is still legal to sell it. Millions drink it and we don't have people falling over in the streets with an open can of diet soda in their hand due to diet soda disintegration.

I am not arguing diet soda is good for you, just pointing out this teacher/former employee's statement means nothing because if it did, diet pepsi would have been pulled from shelves long ago. Somebody would have uncovered and released the data showing this insider information that she freely speaks about.

I guess I understand why he was so angry in his reply. He must have thought I was questioning his honesty in relaying the story similar to how you did. Was not my intent.

 

[[icon]]

I got that driving job I mentioned the day before I got a 30 day timeout last month and ive started drinking 2-6 monster energies a day, even on my days off.

How bad is that for me?

The caffeine alone is probably going to take a decade off your life.

No biggie. Those would have been the worst years of my life.

Off to work to shave a few more years off

• Has to mooch food and lodging off girlfriend while mooching the rest off the government

• Spends $3000-3500/yr on energy drinks

Seems legit.

 

[culdeus]

This thread just made me pour our my diet coke and get water. I hate you guys for that. I have researched this before and I think the only good drink besides water are certain green teas. I got a 4-6 a work day diet coke habit, well not anymore.

nothing wrong with black coffee.

 

[Brony]

Jayrod's thread got me curious. Here were results from a recent published study on diet soft drink consumption and the risk of cardiovascular events:

"After an average follow-up of 8.7 years, the primary outcome – a composite of incident coronary heart disease, congestive heart failure, heart attack, coronary revascularization procedure, ischemic stroke, peripheral arterial disease and cardiovascular death – occurred in 8.5 percent of the women consuming two or more diet drinks a day compared to 6.9 percent in the five-to-seven diet drinks per week group; 6.8 percent in the one-to-four drinks per week group; and 7.2 percent in the zero-to-three per month group."

The study size was 59,614 women. Not too shabby. Granted this just looked at a CV bad outcome, but it's still a good indicator

Based on this study, your optimal consumption of diet soda is 1 to 4 drinks per week and next best is 5 to 7 drinks per week. This may give better outcome than no diet soda. Probably not, but I don't see any reason to not enjoy a diet coke in moderation.

 

[Arsenal of Doom]

In moderation most things are fine. Staying in moderation is what people tend to struggle with.

 

[Gawain]

Joe Bryant does all things in moderation, but moderate.

 

[moleculo]

My mom was diagnosed with diabetes in 1983. Since then, she has maintained a healthy, sugar free diet (which totally sucked for me growing up - sugar free cranberry sauce @ thanksgiving is for the birds), exercises for at least an hour a day, and watches her glucose. Oh yeah - she has probably 2-3 diet cokes each day. That's 2-3, every day, for the past 23 years!!!

She has not seen any adverse side effects, and I dare say, diet coke for her has been MUCH healthier than regular coke.

wow, this is a throwback.

update: my mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer about 7 years ago. She's been up and down, lately more down than up. She's spent more time in the hospital than out of it since july, and hasn't been out of her hospital bed in probably 3 weeks. Right now I'm not sure she will make it to Thanksgiving.

not that her diet coke habit had anything to do with her turn for the worse, it just struck me, reading about how healthy she was 8 years ago.

 

[tjnc09]

When I was in HS, our Science teacher was a retiree from the 'chemical' division of Pepsi. She was the kind of woman who was always 'on a diet' (though she was certainly at a healthy weight). One time I was joking around with her and asked why she always drank regular Pepsi if she was on a diet. She said "If you knew what the chemicals in diet soda did to the human body, you'd never drink it again either".

So we are to believe that she is aware of countless studies showing all sorts of damage to the human body that she freely tells you exist, but of course never reveals any of the details because that would uncover the secrets that are locked away in the cedar trunk in the basement of Pepsi Pentagon.If that were really true and she had this inside knowledge, fatty would have already blabbed to everybody in the media and diet soda would be off the market.

Believe whatever you want, I don't give a flying ####.

I've got a bridge I would like to sell you. My social studies teacher from middle school was a realtor. She assures me it is all on the up and up.

Are you calling him a liar, or are you just discouraging anyone from posting their interesting experiences with things that aren't verifiable?

A liar? I believe his teacher told him that. I just give such a statement zero credibility. She freely tells a HS student how dangerous diet soda is. However diet soda has been on the market for many many years and it is still legal to sell it. Millions drink it and we don't have people falling over in the streets with an open can of diet soda in their hand due to diet soda disintegration.I am not arguing diet soda is good for you, just pointing out this teacher/former employee's statement means nothing because if it did, diet pepsi would have been pulled from shelves long ago. Somebody would have uncovered and released the data showing this insider information that she freely speaks about.

I guess I understand why he was so angry in his reply. He must have thought I was questioning his honesty in relaying the story similar to how you did. Was not my intent.

If the teacher worked previously at Philip Morris and we replaced "diet soda" with "cigarettes" 30 years ago, would the story still has zero credibility then?

 

[CurlyNight]

I have to have tea every day. Grew up that way. Caffeine has 0 visible effect on me. In fact, it makes me tired which isn't good unless it's bed time. I'm trying to drink more green tea but the flavor doesn't quite do it. :/ The people I know who drink diet soda drink Coke one due to it's very low calories. Otherwise no soda diet or not is good for you. Water and green tea are the best beverages for you.

 

[Brony]

In moderation most things are fine. Staying in moderation is what people tend to struggle with.

One thing I hate about our current culture is the need to make everything so black and white. Things have to be bad for you or good for you. The reality is that many things are nuanced and can be both bad and good depending on your consumption.

 

[Arsenal of Doom]

In moderation most things are fine. Staying in moderation is what people tend to struggle with.

One thing I hate about our current culture is the need to make everything so black and white. Things have to be bad for you or good for you. The reality is that many things are nuanced and can be both bad and good depending on your consumption.

Yes, I think part of our cultural problem with food is that we've focused too much attention on what's "good" or "bad" and too little attention on "how much."

That's compounded by the amount of mis-information that exists in the good vs. bad discussion (e.g., eggs and fats being categorically bad, grains being categorically good).

 

[Brony]

In moderation most things are fine. Staying in moderation is what people tend to struggle with.

One thing I hate about our current culture is the need to make everything so black and white. Things have to be bad for you or good for you. The reality is that many things are nuanced and can be both bad and good depending on your consumption.

Yes, I think part of our cultural problem with food is that we've focused too much attention on what's "good" or "bad" and too little attention on "how much."

That's compounded by the amount of mis-information that exists in the good vs. bad discussion (e.g., eggs and fats being categorically bad, grains being categorically good).

amen.

 

[parasaurolophus]

When I was in HS, our Science teacher was a retiree from the 'chemical' division of Pepsi. She was the kind of woman who was always 'on a diet' (though she was certainly at a healthy weight). One time I was joking around with her and asked why she always drank regular Pepsi if she was on a diet. She said "If you knew what the chemicals in diet soda did to the human body, you'd never drink it again either".

So we are to believe that she is aware of countless studies showing all sorts of damage to the human body that she freely tells you exist, but of course never reveals any of the details because that would uncover the secrets that are locked away in the cedar trunk in the basement of Pepsi Pentagon.If that were really true and she had this inside knowledge, fatty would have already blabbed to everybody in the media and diet soda would be off the market.

Believe whatever you want, I don't give a flying ####.

I've got a bridge I would like to sell you. My social studies teacher from middle school was a realtor. She assures me it is all on the up and up.

Are you calling him a liar, or are you just discouraging anyone from posting their interesting experiences with things that aren't verifiable?

A liar? I believe his teacher told him that. I just give such a statement zero credibility. She freely tells a HS student how dangerous diet soda is. However diet soda has been on the market for many many years and it is still legal to sell it. Millions drink it and we don't have people falling over in the streets with an open can of diet soda in their hand due to diet soda disintegration.I am not arguing diet soda is good for you, just pointing out this teacher/former employee's statement means nothing because if it did, diet pepsi would have been pulled from shelves long ago. Somebody would have uncovered and released the data showing this insider information that she freely speaks about.

I guess I understand why he was so angry in his reply. He must have thought I was questioning his honesty in relaying the story similar to how you did. Was not my intent.

If the teacher worked previously at Philip Morris and we replaced "diet soda" with "cigarettes" 30 years ago, would the story still has zero credibility then?

The law making it mandatory to put the warning on cigarettes passed back in the 60's. So Making statements about the negative health effects of cigarettes 30 years ago was hardly groundbreaking stuff. It was also a completely different time information wise. Diet soda has been on the market for decades in the modern era and there really isn't much consensus on its health effects. Somebody claiming that they have inside information that it has disastrous effects on health similar to what his teacher claims that we don't know about yet is just making stuff up. Especially when said person freely blabs about it.

This is just more foodbabe-like fodder. That woman practically broke her arm patting herself on the back that she "discovered" there was no real pumpkin in Starbucks pumpkin spice lattes.

Again, I am not saying Diet Soda is good for you. I am saying it isn't some secret killer that has been covered up. That is conspiracy theory goofiness.

 

[Premier]

My mom was diagnosed with diabetes in 1983. Since then, she has maintained a healthy, sugar free diet (which totally sucked for me growing up - sugar free cranberry sauce @ thanksgiving is for the birds), exercises for at least an hour a day, and watches her glucose. Oh yeah - she has probably 2-3 diet cokes each day. That's 2-3, every day, for the past 23 years!!!

She has not seen any adverse side effects, and I dare say, diet coke for her has been MUCH healthier than regular coke.

wow, this is a throwback.update: my mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer about 7 years ago. She's been up and down, lately more down than up. She's spent more time in the hospital than out of it since july, and hasn't been out of her hospital bed in probably 3 weeks. Right now I'm not sure she will make it to Thanksgiving.

not that her diet coke habit had anything to do with her turn for the worse, it just struck me, reading about how healthy she was 8 years ago.

Wow that sucks. Sorry.

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

My mom was diagnosed with diabetes in 1983. Since then, she has maintained a healthy, sugar free diet (which totally sucked for me growing up - sugar free cranberry sauce @ thanksgiving is for the birds), exercises for at least an hour a day, and watches her glucose. Oh yeah - she has probably 2-3 diet cokes each day. That's 2-3, every day, for the past 23 years!!!

She has not seen any adverse side effects, and I dare say, diet coke for her has been MUCH healthier than regular coke.

wow, this is a throwback.update: my mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer about 7 years ago. She's been up and down, lately more down than up. She's spent more time in the hospital than out of it since july, and hasn't been out of her hospital bed in probably 3 weeks. Right now I'm not sure she will make it to Thanksgiving.

not that her diet coke habit had anything to do with her turn for the worse, it just struck me, reading about how healthy she was 8 years ago.

Wow that sucks. Sorry.

I'm Sorry. :(

Be grateful for the time you've had since her initial diagnosis. I've had 2 relatives pass from pancreatic cancer. The first lasted 2 months to the day from diagnosis and the other just over 3 months.

 

[cstu]

Jayrod's thread got me curious. Here were results from a recent published study on diet soft drink consumption and the risk of cardiovascular events:

"After an average follow-up of 8.7 years, the primary outcome – a composite of incident coronary heart disease, congestive heart failure, heart attack, coronary revascularization procedure, ischemic stroke, peripheral arterial disease and cardiovascular death – occurred in 8.5 percent of the women consuming two or more diet drinks a day compared to 6.9 percent in the five-to-seven diet drinks per week group; 6.8 percent in the one-to-four drinks per week group; and 7.2 percent in the zero-to-three per month group."

The study size was 59,614 women. Not too shabby. Granted this just looked at a CV bad outcome, but it's still a good indicator

Based on this study, your optimal consumption of diet soda is 1 to 4 drinks per week and next best is 5 to 7 drinks per week. This may give better outcome than no diet soda. Probably not, but I don't see any reason to not enjoy a diet coke in moderation.

A friend is 60 year old GI doctor and he drinks a diet Coke everyday. He doesn't believe it's bad for you in that amount.