Should I give up diet coke to lose weight?

[Anonymous]

I've been drinking diet sodas daily for about 35 years (except for one time in college when I managed to give them up for Lent). I don't drink coffee or alchohol. Instead, I drink several Coke Zeroes every day. Not sure I can give them up. But now that I am almost 50 I've suddenly gained 20 pounds and I have a tire around my middle for the first time. I know some people say drinking diet sodas triggers hunger and especially sugar cravings. How important is it to my weight loss efforts to give up my beloved soda? Has anybody made it over to the other side and can convince me of the benefits, or is it not worth giving it up?

[Anonymous]

What is the point of life with no diet coke?

[Anonymous]

I don't think you can lose weight and keep it off without giving it up. Many studies point to diet sodas causing carb cravings and weight gain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think you can lose weight and keep it off without giving it up. Many studies point to diet sodas causing carb cravings and weight gain.

Yes, if you are consuming a lot of carbohydrates, you will certainly gain weight...duh? Throwing Diet Coke on top won't really make much of a difference.

Neither will giving up Diet Coke.

OP, if you want to lose weight, try Weight Watchers, Atkins, or another good diet. Drink all the diet soda you want.

[Anonymous]

This is not a good idea.
When I tried to give up my 2-3 cans of coke a day, I actually gained weight.

[Anonymous]

You should give up diet coke because the ingredients label reads like a science experiment, not food.

But, I don't think it will have too much impact on weight loss.

[Anonymous]

I think you should give it up. I think it helps me lose weight if I'm not drinking any soda, diet or regular. Also, I think if you're trying to lose weight you should cut out anything you're consuming that has zero or negligible nutritional value, and diet soda does nothing for you.

[Anonymous]

YES....give up the sodas. If it isn't the high fructose corn syrup (in regular sodas) that get you, it's the artificial sweeteners in the diet sodas. I was addicted to diet coke for probably 12 years. Before I decided to have my first child, I gave up sodas cold turkey. Had the worst headaches of my life for a week, but they eventually went away and my daily moodswings were now better without the sodas. I drink water with lemon now and it is very thirstquenching for me.

Good luck OP.

[Anonymous]

Yes, give all soda if you want to avoid osteoporosis and kidney stones. Soda is truly horrible. Save it for a treat once or twice a year. I personally believe that Coca Cola is the nectar of the Gods, but I only drink it at Christmas and it makes it taste even better.

[Anonymous]

Artificial sweetners are terrible for you. You are better off consuming real sugar.

[Anonymous]

I can't understand why aspartame is still legal. It is highly toxic:
http://aspartame.mercola.com/


Splenda is not looking much better:

http://www.medicinenet.com/artificial_sweeteners/page9.htm

[Anonymous]

You can do it. Soda, diet or regular, is terrible for you. I used to drink a 12-pack a day!!! yes, 12 a day!!! I used to work out on the elliptical with a diet coke instead of water. It was disgusting and I suffered bone loss and its probably what caused me to get a stress fracture in my hip at 26 years old. I also had a lot of trouble concentrating, and though I haven't found any really good studies on it (most studies on asparatame that i found were a little wonky), I suspect it was the overload of aspartame. At 50 you should really be thinking about osteoporosis for which more robust studies have been conducted using soda. Even 3 sodas a day can contribute to significant bone loss.

I switched to black tea with and without milk for my caffeine boost, because I wasn't willing to give that up. You can even add a teaspoon of real sugar if you want for 15 calories and the sweetness that you're looking for. I bet it will help in weight loss and just your overall health in general. I definitely notice that I get more cravings when I have fake sugars. And it weirds me out that ants/bugs won't touch the stuff. Its not real food and probably shouldn't be ingested.

[Anonymous]

It definitely worked for me. My mom always drank diet, even though she didn't like it, saying that regular soda was "liquid candy". So I drank diet too. Then I read about the weird stuff artificial sweeteners do to your body, and I switched to regular coke, which tastes so much better anyway. Lost 10 pounds in a snap, with no other changes to my diet. It was kind of miraculous.

[Anonymous]

Give up the Diet Coke for water. I'd do it gradually so that the caffeine-withdrawal headaches aren't too terrible (or substitute unsweetened iced tea).

The new studies that artificial sweeteners can cause you to feel hungry and then overeat are pretty fascinating. The gist is that diet soda tastes sweet, so your body expects a jolt of energy from the calories. When you don't get the spike, your body feels cheated and that it needs more calories and you get hungrier.

I still love Diet Coke, but only have it a few times a year, generally while traveling. I pretty much try to stay away from artificial sweeteners, fake fats, and other things not found in nature or that our great grandparents would not have recognized as food.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, give all soda if you want to avoid osteoporosis and kidney stones. Soda is truly horrible. Save it for a treat once or twice a year. I personally believe that Coca Cola is the nectar of the Gods, but I only drink it at Christmas and it makes it taste even better.

Coca Cola - Nectar of the Gods!!!!! Hilarious!! I had to give up or I was going to become an addict. I too only buy it as Christmas and it has to be the one with Santa too. Only 6 months to go...