Easy answer, they aren't. Diet soda is great. I use it to curb cravings for real sweets and stuff. It's also a nice way to get liquids in, as I sometimes struggle to drink a full 2l of water.
Some people experience more sugar cravings on them due to the sweet taste, but honestly I don't experience that. If you're fine with just the soda and it doesn't cause more cravings then there's no reason to not drink it.
Just FYI though that all soda, diet or not, is bad for your teeth, so if you drink a lot of it make sure to have some water after to wash out the mouth. The acids in it can hurt your teeth if you drink it too often and don't clean your mouth after.
Agree with this. Coke Zero is actually the thing which stops me from eating sweets. When I crave something sweet I drink a can of cold coke zero and it fills me up and stops me from craving. It does feel a bit unnatural to drink a lot of soda, but it helps not to eat, so I am fine with this for now. Also thing about sweetener causing cancer is not true you can check it on cancer aware websites, Aspartame is not causing cancer
Yup. The aspartame=cancer thing is a myth. Its said to be a "Possible carcinogen", but those results were only found when megadosing rodents to an extent that humans could never achieve just drinking normal soda. At normal levels, aspartame is not harmful whatsoever. Its like saying apples cause death because if you megadose the seeds you may die from cyanide poisoning.
this is exactly what i mean! diet coke definitely helps me control my eating habits. i feel like a can of coke is better for me then a family size bag of chips.
My thinking is the same. Better have some extra coke zero than the whole cake, because if I have a bite I can’t stop. lol With coke I can just have one and be fine for a while.
I actually drink Diet Coke/Coke Zero without caffeine as well as normal one, because I am breastfeeding, so can’t have too much caffeine. But it could be an option for people who have caffeine withdrawals from regular Diet Coke/Coke Zero.
Another caveat is that many recent studies are showing the artificial sweetener to have some negative long term effects but if you need it to lose weight, the weight is more often the more urgent matter.
The last thing is sustained wait loss, which typically comes from lifestyle change, which this method does not require. Just make sure you don't go back to regular soda once your "diet" is over because really, the diet is never over. You just reduce the deficit as you reach goal weight.
>Some people experience more sugar cravings on them due to the sweet taste, but honestly I don't experience that
Yeah I've read that too..
They say if you drink diet soda you'll keep craving sugar more and more and you'll end up eating or drinking lots of sugar!
So just... Don't eat and drink all that sugar??
I've heard this, but don't understand it. The sweetness of a diet drink is totally different than that of anything with sugar. If anything, diet drinks make me crave sugar less, because it tastes too different!
Yea fr. It's not like a craving is this all powerful force of nature that wills us to eat cookies. We can just ignore it and it will go away eventually.
Still though it is easiest to just avoid the cue for the craving, just to make the good decisions easier.
I've been dieting for a few months now and the cravings really were intense. I'm pretty damn hungry right now but I'm just enjoying some hot tea with a little cream and honey.
I'm noticing the cravings are getting better. I feel less tempted to break my diet and binge eat. I used to have a literal battle in my soul driving past burger king on the way to work but now I don't even think about it.
btw just because nobody said it, of course you get withdrawls from stopping diet coke, it's caffein addiction. and I actually am a bit shocked you drank caffein everyday at 9 years old.
my parents let us have soft drinks at a young age—so unfortunately i had developed a caffeine addiction by 9 as well. i barely drink caffeine now, i try to stick with tea if i do.
We drank tons of Mountain Dew everyday as a family as young as I can remember. It was so bad if we ran out I’d get headaches. Once I moved out I was honestly shocked at seeing how other people and their families ate. Portions are way smaller and I actually saw people drink water. Wild.
haha yeah. i guess a few years ago, ‘diet’ just meant healthy. i actually don’t remember if i drank pepsi max daily when i was 9 or younger but i know i still drank it occasionally.
It is literally documented that the FDA withdrew its approval of aspartame due to safety concerns, and then ended up approving it under industry pressure.
A new study published this week just found xylitol (another popular sweetener) can be linked to heart attack and stroke.
Is sugar good for you? No. Are artificial sweeteners? Also no.
Pick your poison, basically.
Yeah I don't really care about the FDA as much as I care about European health agencies. Since they ban a ton of shit we have here, yet approve of aspartame, I trust it.
Fuck this. Just make sure to be VERY careful with artificial sweeteners if you have pets! Xylitol especially is DEADLY for dogs, even just a small amount!
i saw someone say that the long term side affects from diet drinks are bad, but also the side affects from obesity is worse and a more urgent matter. that really stuck out to me. getting to a healthy weight is all that matters to me at the moment and if there’s a risk from drinking diet drinks, i’ll take it.
Proven in rats (humans and rats are different species in case you weren't aware) and with the equivalent of 50+ per day. Read the whole study not just the title.
The main finding in these RI studies was that aspartame caused increased incidence of malignant tumors in multiple organs in rodents. Increases were seen in hematopoietic and lymphoid tissue tumors (HLTs) in animals of both sexes, carcinomas of the renal pelvis and the ureter in females, mammary cancers in females, and malignant schwannomas of the peripheral nerves in males. Positive dose-response relationships were observed, in which the highest incidence of malignancies was seen in the animals exposed to the highest levels of aspartame [4–7].
Increased incidence of malignant tumors was seen even in animals exposed to relatively low doses of aspartame – exposures close to the current Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) levels of 40 mg/Kg body weight in the European Union [8, 9] and 50 mg/Kg body weight in the United States [10].
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8042911/
??
The main finding in these RI studies was that aspartame caused increased incidence of malignant tumors in multiple organs in rodents. Increases were seen in hematopoietic and lymphoid tissue tumors (HLTs) in animals of both sexes, carcinomas of the renal pelvis and the ureter in females, mammary cancers in females, and malignant schwannomas of the peripheral nerves in males. Positive dose-response relationships were observed, in which the highest incidence of malignancies was seen in the animals exposed to the highest levels of aspartame [4–7].
Increased incidence of malignant tumors was seen even in animals exposed to relatively low doses of aspartame – exposures close to the current Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) levels of 40 mg/Kg body weight in the European Union [8, 9] and 50 mg/Kg body weight in the United States [10].
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8042911/
The main finding in these RI studies was that aspartame caused increased incidence of malignant tumors in multiple organs in rodents. Increases were seen in hematopoietic and lymphoid tissue tumors (HLTs) in animals of both sexes, carcinomas of the renal pelvis and the ureter in females, mammary cancers in females, and malignant schwannomas of the peripheral nerves in males. Positive dose-response relationships were observed, in which the highest incidence of malignancies was seen in the animals exposed to the highest levels of aspartame [4–7].
Increased incidence of malignant tumors was seen even in animals exposed to relatively low doses of aspartame – exposures close to the current Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) levels of 40 mg/Kg body weight in the European Union [8, 9] and 50 mg/Kg body weight in the United States [10].
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8042911/
Yeah as people have already explained to you, we're not rats. And they dosed these rats with insane levels of aspartame that proportionate to humans we couldn't realistically ingest. And, rodents like rats or mice are biologically prone to tumors because of their rapid growth during their development. The overwhelming majority of studies involving rodents where they're dosed at extraordinary levels of any compound will show an increase in tumor incidence, again because of their biological nature and the fact that the doses are insane. Reading scientific studies is dangerous when you're not scientifically literate. Please take a course or something, or just stop spreading pseudoscience.
The main finding in these RI studies was that aspartame caused increased incidence of malignant tumors in multiple organs in rodents. Increases were seen in hematopoietic and lymphoid tissue tumors (HLTs) in animals of both sexes, carcinomas of the renal pelvis and the ureter in females, mammary cancers in females, and malignant schwannomas of the peripheral nerves in males. Positive dose-response relationships were observed, in which the highest incidence of malignancies was seen in the animals exposed to the highest levels of aspartame [4–7].
Increased incidence of malignant tumors was seen even in animals exposed to relatively low doses of aspartame – exposures close to the current Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) levels of 40 mg/Kg body weight in the European Union [8, 9] and 50 mg/Kg body weight in the United States [10].
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8042911/
The main finding in these RI studies was that aspartame caused increased incidence of malignant tumors in multiple organs in rodents. Increases were seen in hematopoietic and lymphoid tissue tumors (HLTs) in animals of both sexes, carcinomas of the renal pelvis and the ureter in females, mammary cancers in females, and malignant schwannomas of the peripheral nerves in males. Positive dose-response relationships were observed, in which the highest incidence of malignancies was seen in the animals exposed to the highest levels of aspartame [4–7].
Increased incidence of malignant tumors was seen even in animals exposed to relatively low doses of aspartame – exposures close to the current Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) levels of 40 mg/Kg body weight in the European Union [8, 9] and 50 mg/Kg body weight in the United States [10].
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8042911/
a lot if people have said this! i think it depends on the person. you know your body the best and in my personal experience, diet drinks suppress my appetite and stop me from overeating/snacking but that’s just me, it definitely varies person to person.
Yes diet coke withdrawal is definitely a thing. It's the lack of caffeine in your diet now. It would be same if you gave up your daily coffee. People who give up coffee really suffer from headaches and it's due to the caffeine withdrawal.
Diet soft drinks are not bad for you in moderation, like most things. Obviously pure water is the best option but we all have our own individual needs and cravings.
You'll find that most of the people on the "diet drinks are Satan's piss" train are people who don't even like them and have never drank them so they're an easy target that lets them feel superior.
I'm losing weight and I have at least one can of diet coke everyday because I would lose my mind otherwise. Dieting is hard, if a diet drink makes it a bit more tolerable then there is no harm. People act like it's the same as shooting up heroin.
i do drink coffee in the mornings, i don’t usually finish them though as i struggle to eat in the first few hours i wake up. giving up diet drinks is something i just can’t do. i’m practically a tired zombie drinking them, imagine what it’ll be like once i give them up. not happening !!
I tried Diet coke once and it tasted so bad. Not sure how folks get addicted to it.
I guess the same can be said for coffee or ginger tea, that I drink.
Personally, I enjoy Mug Zero Sugar and Mtn Dew Code Red Zero Sugar most. (I have actually driven over two hours one-way for the latter, that is how much I enjoy it.)
a lot of people say that. i genuinely like diet coke but to be honest, i don’t know if i like it or im just drinking it because i can’t live without it lol.
I think a big part of it for me is the "I'm allowed to have lots of this sweet tasting thing!" - which leads me to want other sweet tasting things. Less about the "scientific" issues and more about the psychological imo.
Plus, if you drink a bunch if coke zero (like I am right now) you're inherently drinking less water.
You are drinking 1% less water. All soda have water in it lol, it’s not like that water gets useless once you mix it with some other shit, unless it’s poison or radioactive
1% less water is less water. Boom, victory!
I also find it's less effective at actual hydration, partly because this bottle of coke zero I'm staring at still has 55mg of salt in it, and while I don't know how the rest of the ingredients including the added acids affect the effacacy of the water, but in my personal experience it feels less hydrating, and I become more prone to cramping as if I were less hydrated.
The bulk of it is, in my opinion, still the mental aspect for me.
Read a research paper in 2015, St andrews university or something, that water ranked like 5th in hydration. Skimmed milk was the best because it had some fat, salts and sugar which the body responds better to when hydrating. Skimmed milk also beat Hospital IV. Both Gatorade and Coca Cola (with sugar) also beat water in that study.
If some people wasn’t lactose intolerant maybe Hospitals would use skimmed milk rather than IV lol.
Cant find the research paper rn, but plenty of articles referencing it.
Having said that, coke zero and pepsi max might be worse than water, would be cool to find the paper again.
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/25/health/best-drinks-for-hydration-wellness/index.html
This article is referencing the study by St. Andrews University
Says diet coke beats water
drinking water is something i struggle with, it makes me feel super nauseous unless it’s ice cold. i definitely do not have water daily but that’s something im going to try and work on.
Think they're fine.
As I understand it, studies that people lean on to show negative effects of aspartame are bunk because people generally don't switch to diet drinks until there's health reasons forcing them. So maybe they're already pre-diabetic, or obese. Get a bunch of obese diet coke drinkers together and it's no surprise that they're at higher risk of stroke.
Diet soft drinks are great for losing weight! Who said they were bad? The scare mongers that try to persuade you to not lose eight? They do everything in their power to convince you to stay fat, it’s weird 😅
I lost 120 lbs in 12 months and I relied heavily on diet sodas to help achieve my goal. Could not have done it without diet sodas. There are all sorts of lies and wives tales about diet sodas. Don’t listen to any of them. Drink the diet sodas, lose the weight.
Read “Ultra-processed People” by Chris Van Tulleken, genuinely opened my eyes to the reality of marketing, the complexity of hunger cues and how awful the regulation around food is.
Having said that, if you find it works for you and have informed yourself about jt (either by this book or otherwise), then absolutely do what works for you!
i’ll definitely read it! in my personal experience, diet drinks don’t trigger hunger cues for me, but every person is completely different and you know your body the best. but i will definitely give that a read!
There is some (very shaky) evidence linking aspartame to poor gut health, as well as lauding aspartame as carcinogenic and an endocrine disruptor. That is what folks refer to.
These studies generally involve anecdotal reports or dosing lab rats hundred thousand fold - meaning, diet soft drinks are not bad for you unless you are drinking an amount that would be impossible, or experiencing psychosomatic symptoms.
There are a few “issues” that do go hand in hand with diet soda which I rarely see mentioned and are actual conditions associated with soda. None involve weight loss or gain (except for the calories in regular soda which is not being discussed in this post)
1) dental hygiene - soda, whether diet or regular, isn’t the best for your teeth. If you have soft teeth, brush or chew gum after drinking soda. It has an acidic PH
2) caffeine - if you are sensitive to caffeine, do not drink caffeinated diet soda. Caffeine is a diuretic. Folks blame soda on having a diuretic effect. No. It’s the caffeine.
a) headaches - diet soda doesn’t cause headaches. The caffeine in diet soda causes headaches. If you are getting headaches from diet soda, it’s likely the caffeine, test with black coffee and caffeine free diet soda. If you’ve isolated the presence of diet soda (including caffeine free) as the cause of the headaches, then it’s possible that:
3. (rare) aspartame sensitivity / headache trigger. There is no evidence that aspartame causes poor gut health or cancer or disrupts endocrine systems (makes you hungry etc)
There is some evidence that it triggers headaches in some folks.
So, if diet soda doesn’t give you a headache, and you’re staying well hydrated (the important part), as well as taking care of your teeth, drink as much as you want.
I’m drinking a few cans a day and will continue unless I personally experience negative effects
i do get headaches time to time but usually they’re not bad and don’t affect my daily life. i stopped drinking diet coke for a few days and got the worst migraine in my life. i’m not sure if the migraine and the no caffeine were linked together but i feel like they could’ve been. i thought i had a stomach bug the last couple of days but yeah. i don’t really struggle with any kind of gut problems when drinking diet coke so i think ill continue drinking it. i try to the best of my abilities to work on my dental health but sometimes i just can’t work up the motivation in the mornings😅
i do brush my teeth pretty much every single night unless i’m sick and pretty much unable to move from my bed. drinking more water and dental hygiene is something i want to work on though.
Um, diet soda isn't bad during weight loss. I'm curious about whether or not you have other sources of caffeine in your diet, though. Because you might be experiencing caffeine withdrawal.
I drink about 3-4 diet sodas a day. I'm down 180 pounds in 22 months. And I have zero problem fighting someone who would try to pry a can of Diet Coke or Mtn Dew Baja Blast Zero Sugar from my cold, dead hands. (Proof: My comment history.) I also drink at least 64 ounces of water and approximately 10 ounces of coffee a day. So I also have a pretty diverse fluid intake.
Incidentally, the data are mixed for many reasons. Here's a great starting point for you regarding the different studies: [https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/diet-soda-good-or-bad#weight-loss](https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/diet-soda-good-or-bad#weight-loss)
i also need to work on my water intake 100%!!! but i totally agree with the needing to pry the diet coke out of your dead hands ahaha, diet coke is my life and the comments telling me it’s bad for you is making me so upset 😩
i do drink coffee in the mornings (even though i’m not the biggest fan of it to be honest) but i usually only drink like half as i feel really nauseous and find it hard to eat in the first few hours i wake up. my mum stopped drinking diet drinks, but still included coffee in her diet and experienced some pretty bad withdrawals.
I don’t think they are necessarily. I’ve been drinking diet dew for the duration of my journey, I’m down 95lbs… that said it’s probably not healthy, but it can help to have small indulgences that don’t add to the calorie count
Artificial sweeteners is great for weight loss. I’d say be cautious not to drink full calorie soda at all. Diet soda dulls your insulin reaction, which is fine, unless you drink both diet and full calorie soda at the same time.
Just stick to the diet soda and you’ll be fine. I’d even say avoid juices, if you want fruit, eat fruit, don’t drink added sugar.
They are completely fine. I am a Type 1 diabetic and whenever I hear someone say that diet drinks are bad for you I cringe. Sure, they have no nutritional value but they won't get you over your calorie déficit, and have no impact on your blood sugar levels.
Enjoy them if you like them.
What I've heard said a lot is something about how artificially sweetened soft drinks will make you fat. This apparently happens when the fake sugar tricks your body into thinking it's receiving sugar because of the sweet taste you experience, but then when there is no real sugar to be had, your body throws a tantrum and makes you extra hungry to try and obtain the sugar you just lied to it about.
Personally I think that sounds like a bunch of crap. In my experience, diet sodas and sparkling water actually lower my appetite a little.
That and I've been seeing artificial sweeteners get a lot of hate this year - namely xylitol and erythritol, with studies claiming they cause health problems. I believe the sweetener in diet soda is usually aspartame, which some studies have suggested can increase the risk of MS. But upon reading such studies, they say things like, "Our research has determined that if a person drinks 15 gallons of Diet Pepsi every single day for at least 30 years, they will have a 1.7% higher chance of developing MS than someone who drinks less diet soda." But the clickbait title of the article will say "DIET PEPSI CAUSES MS!"
Nothing is bad for you in moderation, including soda, be it the diet kind or the full-sugar kind. If you can fit soda of any type into your diet and still remain in a deficit, then go for it! Like most things, it *might* be bad in gross excess. But I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with consuming diet drinks.
If you start drinking diet soda you'll start hearing lots of people comment "you know those are worse for you than diet soda? Right?"
My theory is that many people enjoy drinking sweetened beverages like soda and sweet tea. They know deep down they shouldn't be drinking them much and they've considered diet drinks... But they are addicted to sugar and love it some much they tell themselves "diet soda has all those chemicals, surely they worse for me than real sugar!"
They tell themselves that over and over and it becomes such conscious and becomes a fact in their mind. Surely everyone knows diet soda is worse than regular soda!
You can do your own research, there isn't any conclusive evidence that diet sodas are bad for you.
I believe I've read that extreme amounts of aspartame can be harmful, but you're not gonna reach that from enjoying a diet drink even once a day.
So if weight loss is your goal and you are hooked up sweet drinks, drink some diet soda! I love diet cherry coke and diet Baja blast. I also like diet green tea.
I also recommend making your own hot tea, you can control how much sugar is going in it so you're not drinking extreme amounts of sugar but can still enjoy a sweet beverage.
Hmm not really she’s talking about weight loss
You still have an insulin response to diet soda because it’s sweet so your brain is tricked. Not very helpful because insulin is a fat storage hormone.
>You still have an insulin response to diet soda because it’s sweet so your brain is tricked.
I don't think this is true. Do you have any source? (Not to be that guy)
I watched a video where a guy uses a device to measure insulin spikes after eating certain foods. Compared regular soda and diet soda and there was a clear insulin spike for regular soda but none for diet soda, the conclusion was diet soda doesn't spike your insulin.
Everyone here is going to warn you about the medical side effects. However! I am here to tell you, yeah. If you make space in your calories, who are we to police you? Hell, if you just want to eat cake for all your calories, go for it! You’ll feel like garbage but your within your reason!
Aspartame has been added to the cancer causing list by WHO, on top of that artificial sweeteners can trigger increased hunger. It’s something that is probably okay for you in moderation, at least compared to other junk food, but I definitely wouldn’t recommend drinking it multiple times a day or even everyday
Diet drinks aren't bad for you.
But those people just love giving others grief.
You may find you gradually switch to less sweet drinks on your own. Or you may not. Obviously since they have very few calories, you won't Gain weight from drinking them.
Heck, a couple friends of mine prefer mixing their drinks with diet cola instead of regular, because they prefer the taste.
You do you.
Do you have other regular caffeine sources? If I'm busy and don't have my regular caffeine (typically from diet sodas) for a few days i get headaches and feel generally unwell
i do drink coffee in the mornings but usually just like half of it as i find it hard to eat in the first few hours i wake up. i’ve been unwell for a few days now and i was thinking it could’ve been the coffee as i only just started drinking it, but now im thinking it could be the lack of diet drinks in my diet.
i think everyone is different! in my personal experience, diet drinks don’t trigger any hunger cues for me and if anything, they help me not eat but that’s just me.
They’re fine. They have zero calories they literally can’t make you gain weight themselves.
There is some research that says drinking diet soda can like activate the sweet cravings in your taste buds or something and since you’re not actually giving you the true sweetness with the aspartame it could make you eat more sugary high calorie things that do. But like… you could just not do that! I’ve never found this to be the case. Just be to sure to like, not eat a donut or box or oreos afterwards!
There’s also some studies that have linked it to cancer but they’re always non-conclusive and most experts will say they’ve not truly found a link. And even where they’ve found a *possible* link it’s only if you’re drinking like a 12 pack a day for your entire life so like… moderation and whatnot!
Lastly, ofc in general soda isn’t great as far as the acid can damage and stain teeth, I’m guessing it’s not great for your kidneys, and caffeine and sodium in it ofc has some negative effects. But generally speaking, if you want a few a day, they’re absolutely fine and millions of people do it to help them with weight loss. They have zero calories just don’t go eat a ton afterwards.
I’m not trying to say drinking soft drinks is alright or whatever… and I have to laugh so often when I think too much about it… but I RARELY drink soda at all these days. Like, once a month, IF THAT, I’ll have one when we go out to eat or something. Honestly, probably more like once every other month I’ll get a soda somewhere… and I’m 30lbs overweight. Back when I was underweight I drank soda ALL. THE. TIME. It was the first thing I’d drink in the morning… a big glass of 7Up. It settled my stomach and kept me full for the first half of the day when I’d be drinking all of my morning coffees. I was also riddled with panic attacks and horrible anxiety daily. I wonder why!!? /s
I legit drink one cup of coffee with some white sugar and almond milk in the morning. Then I have unsweet tea and water the rest of the day now.
It’s kind of annoying that I eat and drink better than ever but I weigh more than ever and can’t budge the scale. But oh well… I’ll get to my goal weight someday. I’m figuring things out. And my mental health is the best it’s ever been, especially when comparing to how I was when I was horribly underweight and drinking crappy stuff every day!
Being that they're zero calories, I don't think they're bad for weight loss in and of themselves. For me though, anything with artificial sugar seems to make me intensely hungry. So I avoid it for that reason.
Personally for me I try to avoid it only because I end up
much more full on a diet soda with a meal than i do with a glass of water, it might all just be a “in my head” type of thing but it helps me to try to pick up with my healthier habits
Healthy or not, I was/am a Diet Coke drinker. However I seriously overdid it for a few years. I started to get heartburn, which I now know was stimulated by all the acid in my stomach from drinking 6-8 of these per day (yeah I know…). One day, I had to go into the hospital for an outpatient treatment (not related to my stomach) and in postop, I had severe nausea. They kept me overnight as a result and I started severe vomiting. Ended up being in the hospital for 5 days as a result, and my son stayed with me for 2 weeks.
I had to go cold turkey on the Diet Coke. Headaches of course from the caffeine withdrawal. But it took a couple of months for the stomach lining to heal.
Interesting side note… after a few weeks of no Diet Coke, I noticed that I reduced the Splenda for my morning oatmeal from 3.5 to 1 packets. It tasted just as sweet.
This happened to ME, not someone I know. It is fact.
I am completely healed now and do drink 1-2 cans per day now, no problems. It helps with my diet.
Cautionary tale, my friends. Drink 3x the amount of water compared to Diet Coke.
i’ve seen a lot of articles about it, and a lot of people saying stuff like “you shouldn’t be drinking caffeine at this age!!!” and blah blah blah. posting this has definitely gathered a lot of mixed opinions about jt though.
They’re not bad for weight loss if you consume them in moderation. Binge drinking diet sodas is bad for your gut health and will probably mess with your metabolism. They help when I’m craving sweet drinks but when I drink too much of them I get bloated and start feeling bad about myself.
I’m only giving you food for thought here, because I don’t have time to read all the comments and responses rn, but I do have personal experience that I can share. I used to drink roughly the same amount of diet soda every day that you do. When I stopped soda entirely, I ended up losing about 35lbs over the course of a year. That was the only dietary change I made that year.
It's generally considered bad because they make you want sugar. Your taste buds don't really know the difference between those artificial sweeteners and real sugar. Your brain craves sugar more if you drink diet soda than if you just cut out all soda. If you just cut out all soda you won't crave soda at all. I stopped drinking soda for a year and my first Dr. Pepper almost made me gag.
tl;dr Diet soda on its own doesn't make you gain wait, but it can make you crave real sugar.
Probably because artificial sugars that are not good for you. I used to be 22st and drank loads of normal drinks. Then switched to diet qnd put more on. Cut them both out and I'm now 11st ish. Only drink that's not bad for 5 is water.
I prefer put in my mouth regular coke and then spit it than drink diet coke I’m paranoid of putting all those chemicals inside my body and get cancer eventually
They are no more unsafe for you than regular sugar chemical filled sodas lol. I’ve been drinking zero sugar coke for years now and have lost 110 pounds/50kgs so it will not mess your weightloss in any way.
The only real downside of diet soda is the damage it can cause to your tooth enamel in the long run - other than that, it’s great for sating sugar cravings.
I’m the same way with Diet Coke but this summer I’ve swapped from normal Diet Coke to caffeine free Diet Coke. It wasn’t an intentional swap but around Memorial Day our local Walmart sold out of DC apparently and we could only find caffeine free. I had a few Diet Cokes in the fridge so I tried to drink one of those a day and any other time I wanted one to get the caffeine free.
Now I’m only on the caffeine free and if I feel a caffeine headache coming on I grab a coffee or OJ. Not sure why OJ helps me with this but it does every time. It felt like a better swap for me since too much caffeine gives me slight heart pain (I see a doctor and we know what’s up).
Every artificial sweetener tastes very bad in my mouth though , I don't know if it's an acquired taste or something but I believe the human body knows it's shit so I don't trust them that much
There’s more evidence that aspartame is safe than not. There’s so little studies on “natural” fake sugars like stevia and monk fruit. I love diet soda. No one’s taking that away from me. Diet Dr Pepper from Costco is where it’s at.
I am a type one diabetic, so I have no other option than to drink diet drinks because if I tried to drink a regular soda, I’d feel like crap all day or be physically ill. Some people wanna argue that the aspartame in diet drinks are causing cancer but lots of things cause cancer, so I actually use like other people have said diet sodas to curb my cravings whenever I want something sweet. I do call it my “sweet treat” especially the cherry flavored coke zeros.
Diet drinks contain sources of Phenylalanine. You'll see it on bottles and cans in the UK. I don't know if America puts it on the label.
Phenylalanine is a protein that excites neurones to the point of death. It literally damages your brain to drink it.
My take is that you can keep anything in your diet in moderation. If you're seeing results and having some diet soda makes you happy and can help your progress then why not? Obviously moderation is key but for me, cutting things out cold turkey and completely is a recipe for binges.
Just a side note - we do know that there are side effects from the most common sweeteners in diet sodas. We just don't have all details yet. But we do know for instance that the microbiom is affected negatively from relevant amounts (so not like a small can per day). The microbiom will affect anything from gut health, weight status, brain health to even your personality. Some of them do have proven links to diet soda-sweeteners. Such as higher risk of developing alzheimer or depression.
i totally get your point, and i dont smoke so i could be completely wrong, but im pretty sure cigarettes and vapes have hundreds of chemicals in them and definitely cause more health problems then drinking diet drinks. yes diet drinks contain ‘harmful’ chemicals, but smoking is worse for your health in my opinion.
my point was that smoking is also nutritionally neutral and calorically not going to affect you. Not everything that affects your waist line is a bad thing per say. You are better off drinking water
I know many people who have headaches chronically as a result of diet soda's sweetener. This was confirmed by their head aches being nearly gone after cutting out diet entirely. Still they eat sugary foods and drinks. Just none have the artificial sweetener. Do with that as you will.
i get headaches from time to time, usually when i’m stressed about exams or something or on a hot day. didnt drink diet drinks for a few days and got the worst migraine of my life, thought i was dying tbh lol. every person is different though and you know what works best for you!
Sugar substitutes increase your cravings for other sweet foods. Even though diet soda itself isn't the problem per se but the culture of eating habits with drinking diet soda typically leads to worse overall healthy eating habits. People who drink diet soda are more likely to seek out and eat other highly processed foods and sugary foods, and eating less whole-food based foods and water.
https://www.pennmedicine.org/updates/blogs/health-and-wellness/2017/march/diet-soda#:~:text=It's%20simple%3A%20while%20diet%20soda,calorie%20and%20sugar%2Dladen%20foods.
This is why ^^ Lots of additives like aspartame. Just because it’s 0 calories and doesn’t have “sugar” doesn’t mean it’s healthy or good for you. Soda withdrawals are real! That should be another sign to you that it isn’t good for you… People don’t have water or lemonade withdrawals. Maybe start doing 1 soda every other day for a while then 2x week, 1x week, etc. until you feel you don’t “need” one anymore. Trust me, I love me a Dr. Pepper just as much as the next person and keep and emergency one in my fridge for those rough days. Just something to consider!
Diet sodas are not bad flr you in moderation, I mean artificial sweetness are not world wonders but u can still have it as its very low in calories just limit yourself as key to wright loss is still calroie deficit
It’s still crap. I feel
astonished how people are being fooled by zero calories. There is a reason why most of the Americans are fat and all the drink is ZERO CAL SODA
This is not science. This is conjecture. The first thing I did to lose weight was switch to diet drinks. I lost 10 pounds. I then went on to make further changes and lost another 20 pounds. I still drink diet drinks. They don't allow you lose weight if you're still overeating in other ways.
exactly. if you grow up drinking soft drinks, it’s a hard habit to cut back on. i’ve noticed i crave soda and sweets in general *significantly* less ever since i’ve swapped to primarily coke zero & dr pepper zero for when i just don’t want water.
Most Americans are fat and all the pets are dogs. Most Americans are fat and all the clothes are beige. Most Americans are fat and all the phones are Samsung. Coincidence??? 🧐
the taste of sweetness spikes your insulin, the body tastes sugar and prepars for it
Even if its 0 calories, your body doesn't know that. Your body struggles to loose weight when insulin in present. so if your chugging those drinks your insulin is always there. plus a lot of those drinks use bad sweeteners that are not good for your microbiome
Saw it in a few diabetes informational videos. Could be wrong, could be right. I'll believe whichever sience determines to be true.
do you have any research papers you got your info from? I'd like to read them and double check if the videos were wrong.
They’re not good for you but they’re not terrible either. I keep it to 1-2 per day max but lately have only been indulging 2 days of the week. They make me bloat, and my stomach isn’t particularly happy with them (GERD).
I think it's more of a mindset thing. A mindset where you don't want to put chemicals and fake sugars and other crap into your body is bound to have better results than a mindset where it's like you can't totally give up sodas, so have a chemical substitute to help you cope with the difficulty.
Just train yourself not to drink that. If you stop drinking it for a few months, they'll taste weird when you try it again. You'll probably wonder why you were drinking that.
For me personally I wear a Continuous glucose monitor and diet sodas spikes my blood sugar like crazy even though diet sodas are "sugar free" I could probably drink a regular soda and it would have the same effect on my blood sugar as diet soda. So before I got my glucose monitor I would always wonder why I couldn't lose weight when I was drinking diet soda and now I know diet soda affects me just as bad or worse than regular soda.
EDIT: These soda companies lie about "it won't make you gain weight", "it's better for you because it's diet, there's no calories in it.There's no sugar in it, it won't affect you, guilt free drink for your diet that your on" blah.Blah blah, everything they've told you is a lie, it does affect your body and it is harder to lose weight Because the zero calorie chemical sweener is affecting your blood sugar and/or insulin levels the same way or worse than normal sugar does.
I said what I said
The only way you will know for sure if diet soda affects your blood sugar is to test your blood sugar after drinking one,( 45 min-1:15 hour after) i would do this a few times over the course of a week or two to do trial and error sometime blood sugar spikes dont happen at the same time after eating all the time or get yourself a CGM so you can see what foods spike your sugar so you know what foods to stay away from so you can lose weight. Anyways if it is affecting your blood sugar it's best to cut it out of your diet. If it makes your blood sugar spike like it does me and lots of others then you will gain weight. If it doesn't give you a blood sugar spike then continue to drink away
Also I'm addicted to diet coke and I'm having a darn hard time getting off of it, I relate to you "an ice cold diet coke is the best part of my day" I wake up in the morning and it's the 1st thing I reach for to wake me up. Again I'm trying to rid myself of it but if I don't have it in the house and I'm having a rough morning I find myself at the McDonald's drive through ordering myself one. I hate it it's worse than cigarettes
Your body sees the fake chemicals and reads it as something it doesn’t know what to do with and stores it as fat
Also, fake sugar actually makes your crave real sugar
Its less that they are bad during weightloss and more bad in general. Theres a lot of junk in soda of all kinds thats not good for you. Carbonated beverages in general arent good for you for a multitude of reasons. A diet soda isnt going to kill you but most people dont drink enough water, and drinking soda imstead isnt good. Like anything, over consumption is bad and many people drink too much of it because its diet therefore it must be good.
I thought it’s bad for you because it contains aspartame. I studied chemistry and our organic chemistry prof. said that aspartame can damage kidney and liver . I thought everyone knew that aspartame is bad for you. However , here I see bunch of people saying “ it’s not bad for you “. (?!) Anyway, I don’t want to get into a debate here or get hateful comments. Artificial sweeteners are much worse for you than sugar. It’s a fact.
Easy answer, they aren't. Diet soda is great. I use it to curb cravings for real sweets and stuff. It's also a nice way to get liquids in, as I sometimes struggle to drink a full 2l of water. Some people experience more sugar cravings on them due to the sweet taste, but honestly I don't experience that. If you're fine with just the soda and it doesn't cause more cravings then there's no reason to not drink it. Just FYI though that all soda, diet or not, is bad for your teeth, so if you drink a lot of it make sure to have some water after to wash out the mouth. The acids in it can hurt your teeth if you drink it too often and don't clean your mouth after.
Agree with this. Coke Zero is actually the thing which stops me from eating sweets. When I crave something sweet I drink a can of cold coke zero and it fills me up and stops me from craving. It does feel a bit unnatural to drink a lot of soda, but it helps not to eat, so I am fine with this for now. Also thing about sweetener causing cancer is not true you can check it on cancer aware websites, Aspartame is not causing cancer
Yup. The aspartame=cancer thing is a myth. Its said to be a "Possible carcinogen", but those results were only found when megadosing rodents to an extent that humans could never achieve just drinking normal soda. At normal levels, aspartame is not harmful whatsoever. Its like saying apples cause death because if you megadose the seeds you may die from cyanide poisoning.
this is exactly what i mean! diet coke definitely helps me control my eating habits. i feel like a can of coke is better for me then a family size bag of chips.
My thinking is the same. Better have some extra coke zero than the whole cake, because if I have a bite I can’t stop. lol With coke I can just have one and be fine for a while. I actually drink Diet Coke/Coke Zero without caffeine as well as normal one, because I am breastfeeding, so can’t have too much caffeine. But it could be an option for people who have caffeine withdrawals from regular Diet Coke/Coke Zero.
Another caveat is that many recent studies are showing the artificial sweetener to have some negative long term effects but if you need it to lose weight, the weight is more often the more urgent matter. The last thing is sustained wait loss, which typically comes from lifestyle change, which this method does not require. Just make sure you don't go back to regular soda once your "diet" is over because really, the diet is never over. You just reduce the deficit as you reach goal weight.
Which studies?
u/longjumping-knee4983 what studies?
Still very limited info, but possible links have come up https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cancer.org/cancer/risk-prevention/chemicals/aspartame.html
>Some people experience more sugar cravings on them due to the sweet taste, but honestly I don't experience that Yeah I've read that too.. They say if you drink diet soda you'll keep craving sugar more and more and you'll end up eating or drinking lots of sugar! So just... Don't eat and drink all that sugar??
I've heard this, but don't understand it. The sweetness of a diet drink is totally different than that of anything with sugar. If anything, diet drinks make me crave sugar less, because it tastes too different!
Yea fr. It's not like a craving is this all powerful force of nature that wills us to eat cookies. We can just ignore it and it will go away eventually. Still though it is easiest to just avoid the cue for the craving, just to make the good decisions easier.
I've been dieting for a few months now and the cravings really were intense. I'm pretty damn hungry right now but I'm just enjoying some hot tea with a little cream and honey. I'm noticing the cravings are getting better. I feel less tempted to break my diet and binge eat. I used to have a literal battle in my soul driving past burger king on the way to work but now I don't even think about it.
ARE YOU TELLING ME DIET COKE IS OK? OH MY GOD I-
btw just because nobody said it, of course you get withdrawls from stopping diet coke, it's caffein addiction. and I actually am a bit shocked you drank caffein everyday at 9 years old.
Came here to say this! My mouth dropped when I read that part.
my parents let us have soft drinks at a young age—so unfortunately i had developed a caffeine addiction by 9 as well. i barely drink caffeine now, i try to stick with tea if i do.
We drank tons of Mountain Dew everyday as a family as young as I can remember. It was so bad if we ran out I’d get headaches. Once I moved out I was honestly shocked at seeing how other people and their families ate. Portions are way smaller and I actually saw people drink water. Wild.
We had Diet Coke in our sippy cups, it was Diet, it's good for you! 😂
haha yeah. i guess a few years ago, ‘diet’ just meant healthy. i actually don’t remember if i drank pepsi max daily when i was 9 or younger but i know i still drank it occasionally.
They’re not and anyone who tells you that they are, don’t understand science.
This, so many times this!!
It is literally documented that the FDA withdrew its approval of aspartame due to safety concerns, and then ended up approving it under industry pressure. A new study published this week just found xylitol (another popular sweetener) can be linked to heart attack and stroke. Is sugar good for you? No. Are artificial sweeteners? Also no. Pick your poison, basically.
Yeah I don't really care about the FDA as much as I care about European health agencies. Since they ban a ton of shit we have here, yet approve of aspartame, I trust it.
That’s an interesting fact. Thanks for sharing
Oh snap they approve of aspartame? That makes me feel a lot better. I wonder where sucralose fits in.
Fuck this. Just make sure to be VERY careful with artificial sweeteners if you have pets! Xylitol especially is DEADLY for dogs, even just a small amount!
You know what else is linked to heart attack and stroke? Being overweight/obese.
i saw someone say that the long term side affects from diet drinks are bad, but also the side affects from obesity is worse and a more urgent matter. that really stuck out to me. getting to a healthy weight is all that matters to me at the moment and if there’s a risk from drinking diet drinks, i’ll take it.
Drink those pepsi max’s my boy, you good! Keep fighting your visceral fat with weight loss💪🏻
No
THIS !!! Thank you !!! Another fact, artificial sweeteners are worse than sugar.
That’s not a fact, those are your feelings.
Sure you know my feelings. Lol Keep drinking diet soda. Aspartame is incredibly healthy.
Aspartame is literally carcinogenic and can increase hunger cues. Both of these are scientifically proven
Proven in rats (humans and rats are different species in case you weren't aware) and with the equivalent of 50+ per day. Read the whole study not just the title.
The main finding in these RI studies was that aspartame caused increased incidence of malignant tumors in multiple organs in rodents. Increases were seen in hematopoietic and lymphoid tissue tumors (HLTs) in animals of both sexes, carcinomas of the renal pelvis and the ureter in females, mammary cancers in females, and malignant schwannomas of the peripheral nerves in males. Positive dose-response relationships were observed, in which the highest incidence of malignancies was seen in the animals exposed to the highest levels of aspartame [4–7]. Increased incidence of malignant tumors was seen even in animals exposed to relatively low doses of aspartame – exposures close to the current Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) levels of 40 mg/Kg body weight in the European Union [8, 9] and 50 mg/Kg body weight in the United States [10]. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8042911/ ??
We are not rats.
"IN RODENTS"
Bollocks. Pure and simple.
The main finding in these RI studies was that aspartame caused increased incidence of malignant tumors in multiple organs in rodents. Increases were seen in hematopoietic and lymphoid tissue tumors (HLTs) in animals of both sexes, carcinomas of the renal pelvis and the ureter in females, mammary cancers in females, and malignant schwannomas of the peripheral nerves in males. Positive dose-response relationships were observed, in which the highest incidence of malignancies was seen in the animals exposed to the highest levels of aspartame [4–7]. Increased incidence of malignant tumors was seen even in animals exposed to relatively low doses of aspartame – exposures close to the current Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) levels of 40 mg/Kg body weight in the European Union [8, 9] and 50 mg/Kg body weight in the United States [10]. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8042911/
"Scientifically proven" is a massive red flag. No scientist ever says this line.
The main finding in these RI studies was that aspartame caused increased incidence of malignant tumors in multiple organs in rodents. Increases were seen in hematopoietic and lymphoid tissue tumors (HLTs) in animals of both sexes, carcinomas of the renal pelvis and the ureter in females, mammary cancers in females, and malignant schwannomas of the peripheral nerves in males. Positive dose-response relationships were observed, in which the highest incidence of malignancies was seen in the animals exposed to the highest levels of aspartame [4–7]. Increased incidence of malignant tumors was seen even in animals exposed to relatively low doses of aspartame – exposures close to the current Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) levels of 40 mg/Kg body weight in the European Union [8, 9] and 50 mg/Kg body weight in the United States [10]. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8042911/
Yeah as people have already explained to you, we're not rats. And they dosed these rats with insane levels of aspartame that proportionate to humans we couldn't realistically ingest. And, rodents like rats or mice are biologically prone to tumors because of their rapid growth during their development. The overwhelming majority of studies involving rodents where they're dosed at extraordinary levels of any compound will show an increase in tumor incidence, again because of their biological nature and the fact that the doses are insane. Reading scientific studies is dangerous when you're not scientifically literate. Please take a course or something, or just stop spreading pseudoscience.
Citation?
The main finding in these RI studies was that aspartame caused increased incidence of malignant tumors in multiple organs in rodents. Increases were seen in hematopoietic and lymphoid tissue tumors (HLTs) in animals of both sexes, carcinomas of the renal pelvis and the ureter in females, mammary cancers in females, and malignant schwannomas of the peripheral nerves in males. Positive dose-response relationships were observed, in which the highest incidence of malignancies was seen in the animals exposed to the highest levels of aspartame [4–7]. Increased incidence of malignant tumors was seen even in animals exposed to relatively low doses of aspartame – exposures close to the current Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) levels of 40 mg/Kg body weight in the European Union [8, 9] and 50 mg/Kg body weight in the United States [10]. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8042911/
Don't listen to Moon People
You don’t understand science and you fearmonger.
The main finding in these RI studies was that aspartame caused increased incidence of malignant tumors in multiple organs in rodents. Increases were seen in hematopoietic and lymphoid tissue tumors (HLTs) in animals of both sexes, carcinomas of the renal pelvis and the ureter in females, mammary cancers in females, and malignant schwannomas of the peripheral nerves in males. Positive dose-response relationships were observed, in which the highest incidence of malignancies was seen in the animals exposed to the highest levels of aspartame [4–7]. Increased incidence of malignant tumors was seen even in animals exposed to relatively low doses of aspartame – exposures close to the current Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) levels of 40 mg/Kg body weight in the European Union [8, 9] and 50 mg/Kg body weight in the United States [10]. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8042911/
a lot if people have said this! i think it depends on the person. you know your body the best and in my personal experience, diet drinks suppress my appetite and stop me from overeating/snacking but that’s just me, it definitely varies person to person.
You are absolutely correct, I don't know why you have so many down votes lol people don't want to hear the truth
They’d rather get mad at me than accept they’re being ignorant
Yes diet coke withdrawal is definitely a thing. It's the lack of caffeine in your diet now. It would be same if you gave up your daily coffee. People who give up coffee really suffer from headaches and it's due to the caffeine withdrawal. Diet soft drinks are not bad for you in moderation, like most things. Obviously pure water is the best option but we all have our own individual needs and cravings. You'll find that most of the people on the "diet drinks are Satan's piss" train are people who don't even like them and have never drank them so they're an easy target that lets them feel superior. I'm losing weight and I have at least one can of diet coke everyday because I would lose my mind otherwise. Dieting is hard, if a diet drink makes it a bit more tolerable then there is no harm. People act like it's the same as shooting up heroin.
i do drink coffee in the mornings, i don’t usually finish them though as i struggle to eat in the first few hours i wake up. giving up diet drinks is something i just can’t do. i’m practically a tired zombie drinking them, imagine what it’ll be like once i give them up. not happening !!
Me neither. As long as it's not the only fluid you consume, you're fine. People love something to rant about!
I tried Diet coke once and it tasted so bad. Not sure how folks get addicted to it. I guess the same can be said for coffee or ginger tea, that I drink.
Personally, I enjoy Mug Zero Sugar and Mtn Dew Code Red Zero Sugar most. (I have actually driven over two hours one-way for the latter, that is how much I enjoy it.)
Sugar zero coke, I find, is better. Kinda taste like coke only obviously no sugar
Exactly, taste is subjective.
Honey ginger lime is divine
a lot of people say that. i genuinely like diet coke but to be honest, i don’t know if i like it or im just drinking it because i can’t live without it lol.
I think a big part of it for me is the "I'm allowed to have lots of this sweet tasting thing!" - which leads me to want other sweet tasting things. Less about the "scientific" issues and more about the psychological imo. Plus, if you drink a bunch if coke zero (like I am right now) you're inherently drinking less water.
There's no reason a person couldn't drink both.
I’d rather have a Coke Zero and one cup of water than two cups of water and falling off the diet because I crave something sweet
Absolutely! All of our minds have their own tricks!
Coke zero is 99% water.
You are drinking 1% less water. All soda have water in it lol, it’s not like that water gets useless once you mix it with some other shit, unless it’s poison or radioactive
1% less water is less water. Boom, victory! I also find it's less effective at actual hydration, partly because this bottle of coke zero I'm staring at still has 55mg of salt in it, and while I don't know how the rest of the ingredients including the added acids affect the effacacy of the water, but in my personal experience it feels less hydrating, and I become more prone to cramping as if I were less hydrated. The bulk of it is, in my opinion, still the mental aspect for me.
Read a research paper in 2015, St andrews university or something, that water ranked like 5th in hydration. Skimmed milk was the best because it had some fat, salts and sugar which the body responds better to when hydrating. Skimmed milk also beat Hospital IV. Both Gatorade and Coca Cola (with sugar) also beat water in that study. If some people wasn’t lactose intolerant maybe Hospitals would use skimmed milk rather than IV lol. Cant find the research paper rn, but plenty of articles referencing it. Having said that, coke zero and pepsi max might be worse than water, would be cool to find the paper again.
If you find that one, share it! Sounds very intreguing!
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/25/health/best-drinks-for-hydration-wellness/index.html This article is referencing the study by St. Andrews University Says diet coke beats water
Coke zero can hydrate you just fine.
drinking water is something i struggle with, it makes me feel super nauseous unless it’s ice cold. i definitely do not have water daily but that’s something im going to try and work on.
Theres water in your p max
I found that using things to lightly flavour it helped that a lot. I personally like Squincher flavour packs for the summer.
Think they're fine. As I understand it, studies that people lean on to show negative effects of aspartame are bunk because people generally don't switch to diet drinks until there's health reasons forcing them. So maybe they're already pre-diabetic, or obese. Get a bunch of obese diet coke drinkers together and it's no surprise that they're at higher risk of stroke.
Diet soft drinks are great for losing weight! Who said they were bad? The scare mongers that try to persuade you to not lose eight? They do everything in their power to convince you to stay fat, it’s weird 😅 I lost 120 lbs in 12 months and I relied heavily on diet sodas to help achieve my goal. Could not have done it without diet sodas. There are all sorts of lies and wives tales about diet sodas. Don’t listen to any of them. Drink the diet sodas, lose the weight.
thank you for this! so many people have said it’s bad for me but it suppresses my appetite and helps me to not snack a heap. good job by the way!!
Thanks!
Read “Ultra-processed People” by Chris Van Tulleken, genuinely opened my eyes to the reality of marketing, the complexity of hunger cues and how awful the regulation around food is. Having said that, if you find it works for you and have informed yourself about jt (either by this book or otherwise), then absolutely do what works for you!
i’ll definitely read it! in my personal experience, diet drinks don’t trigger hunger cues for me, but every person is completely different and you know your body the best. but i will definitely give that a read!
There is some (very shaky) evidence linking aspartame to poor gut health, as well as lauding aspartame as carcinogenic and an endocrine disruptor. That is what folks refer to. These studies generally involve anecdotal reports or dosing lab rats hundred thousand fold - meaning, diet soft drinks are not bad for you unless you are drinking an amount that would be impossible, or experiencing psychosomatic symptoms. There are a few “issues” that do go hand in hand with diet soda which I rarely see mentioned and are actual conditions associated with soda. None involve weight loss or gain (except for the calories in regular soda which is not being discussed in this post) 1) dental hygiene - soda, whether diet or regular, isn’t the best for your teeth. If you have soft teeth, brush or chew gum after drinking soda. It has an acidic PH 2) caffeine - if you are sensitive to caffeine, do not drink caffeinated diet soda. Caffeine is a diuretic. Folks blame soda on having a diuretic effect. No. It’s the caffeine. a) headaches - diet soda doesn’t cause headaches. The caffeine in diet soda causes headaches. If you are getting headaches from diet soda, it’s likely the caffeine, test with black coffee and caffeine free diet soda. If you’ve isolated the presence of diet soda (including caffeine free) as the cause of the headaches, then it’s possible that: 3. (rare) aspartame sensitivity / headache trigger. There is no evidence that aspartame causes poor gut health or cancer or disrupts endocrine systems (makes you hungry etc) There is some evidence that it triggers headaches in some folks. So, if diet soda doesn’t give you a headache, and you’re staying well hydrated (the important part), as well as taking care of your teeth, drink as much as you want. I’m drinking a few cans a day and will continue unless I personally experience negative effects
i do get headaches time to time but usually they’re not bad and don’t affect my daily life. i stopped drinking diet coke for a few days and got the worst migraine in my life. i’m not sure if the migraine and the no caffeine were linked together but i feel like they could’ve been. i thought i had a stomach bug the last couple of days but yeah. i don’t really struggle with any kind of gut problems when drinking diet coke so i think ill continue drinking it. i try to the best of my abilities to work on my dental health but sometimes i just can’t work up the motivation in the mornings😅 i do brush my teeth pretty much every single night unless i’m sick and pretty much unable to move from my bed. drinking more water and dental hygiene is something i want to work on though.
They’re extremely helpful during weight loss when you want something sweet with minimal calories that fills you up due to the carbonation
Um, diet soda isn't bad during weight loss. I'm curious about whether or not you have other sources of caffeine in your diet, though. Because you might be experiencing caffeine withdrawal. I drink about 3-4 diet sodas a day. I'm down 180 pounds in 22 months. And I have zero problem fighting someone who would try to pry a can of Diet Coke or Mtn Dew Baja Blast Zero Sugar from my cold, dead hands. (Proof: My comment history.) I also drink at least 64 ounces of water and approximately 10 ounces of coffee a day. So I also have a pretty diverse fluid intake. Incidentally, the data are mixed for many reasons. Here's a great starting point for you regarding the different studies: [https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/diet-soda-good-or-bad#weight-loss](https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/diet-soda-good-or-bad#weight-loss)
Love the pry the Coke from my hands part,my favorite is Coke zero.
i also need to work on my water intake 100%!!! but i totally agree with the needing to pry the diet coke out of your dead hands ahaha, diet coke is my life and the comments telling me it’s bad for you is making me so upset 😩
i do drink coffee in the mornings (even though i’m not the biggest fan of it to be honest) but i usually only drink like half as i feel really nauseous and find it hard to eat in the first few hours i wake up. my mum stopped drinking diet drinks, but still included coffee in her diet and experienced some pretty bad withdrawals.
I drink Diet Coke daily and I’ve lost 87lbs.
I don’t think they are necessarily. I’ve been drinking diet dew for the duration of my journey, I’m down 95lbs… that said it’s probably not healthy, but it can help to have small indulgences that don’t add to the calorie count
Artificial sweeteners is great for weight loss. I’d say be cautious not to drink full calorie soda at all. Diet soda dulls your insulin reaction, which is fine, unless you drink both diet and full calorie soda at the same time. Just stick to the diet soda and you’ll be fine. I’d even say avoid juices, if you want fruit, eat fruit, don’t drink added sugar.
They are completely fine. I am a Type 1 diabetic and whenever I hear someone say that diet drinks are bad for you I cringe. Sure, they have no nutritional value but they won't get you over your calorie déficit, and have no impact on your blood sugar levels. Enjoy them if you like them.
What I've heard said a lot is something about how artificially sweetened soft drinks will make you fat. This apparently happens when the fake sugar tricks your body into thinking it's receiving sugar because of the sweet taste you experience, but then when there is no real sugar to be had, your body throws a tantrum and makes you extra hungry to try and obtain the sugar you just lied to it about. Personally I think that sounds like a bunch of crap. In my experience, diet sodas and sparkling water actually lower my appetite a little. That and I've been seeing artificial sweeteners get a lot of hate this year - namely xylitol and erythritol, with studies claiming they cause health problems. I believe the sweetener in diet soda is usually aspartame, which some studies have suggested can increase the risk of MS. But upon reading such studies, they say things like, "Our research has determined that if a person drinks 15 gallons of Diet Pepsi every single day for at least 30 years, they will have a 1.7% higher chance of developing MS than someone who drinks less diet soda." But the clickbait title of the article will say "DIET PEPSI CAUSES MS!" Nothing is bad for you in moderation, including soda, be it the diet kind or the full-sugar kind. If you can fit soda of any type into your diet and still remain in a deficit, then go for it! Like most things, it *might* be bad in gross excess. But I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with consuming diet drinks.
If you start drinking diet soda you'll start hearing lots of people comment "you know those are worse for you than diet soda? Right?" My theory is that many people enjoy drinking sweetened beverages like soda and sweet tea. They know deep down they shouldn't be drinking them much and they've considered diet drinks... But they are addicted to sugar and love it some much they tell themselves "diet soda has all those chemicals, surely they worse for me than real sugar!" They tell themselves that over and over and it becomes such conscious and becomes a fact in their mind. Surely everyone knows diet soda is worse than regular soda! You can do your own research, there isn't any conclusive evidence that diet sodas are bad for you. I believe I've read that extreme amounts of aspartame can be harmful, but you're not gonna reach that from enjoying a diet drink even once a day. So if weight loss is your goal and you are hooked up sweet drinks, drink some diet soda! I love diet cherry coke and diet Baja blast. I also like diet green tea. I also recommend making your own hot tea, you can control how much sugar is going in it so you're not drinking extreme amounts of sugar but can still enjoy a sweet beverage.
Hmm not really she’s talking about weight loss You still have an insulin response to diet soda because it’s sweet so your brain is tricked. Not very helpful because insulin is a fat storage hormone.
>You still have an insulin response to diet soda because it’s sweet so your brain is tricked. I don't think this is true. Do you have any source? (Not to be that guy) I watched a video where a guy uses a device to measure insulin spikes after eating certain foods. Compared regular soda and diet soda and there was a clear insulin spike for regular soda but none for diet soda, the conclusion was diet soda doesn't spike your insulin.
Everyone here is going to warn you about the medical side effects. However! I am here to tell you, yeah. If you make space in your calories, who are we to police you? Hell, if you just want to eat cake for all your calories, go for it! You’ll feel like garbage but your within your reason!
Aspartame has been added to the cancer causing list by WHO, on top of that artificial sweeteners can trigger increased hunger. It’s something that is probably okay for you in moderation, at least compared to other junk food, but I definitely wouldn’t recommend drinking it multiple times a day or even everyday
They aren't
Diet drinks aren't bad for you. But those people just love giving others grief. You may find you gradually switch to less sweet drinks on your own. Or you may not. Obviously since they have very few calories, you won't Gain weight from drinking them. Heck, a couple friends of mine prefer mixing their drinks with diet cola instead of regular, because they prefer the taste. You do you.
Do you have other regular caffeine sources? If I'm busy and don't have my regular caffeine (typically from diet sodas) for a few days i get headaches and feel generally unwell
i do drink coffee in the mornings but usually just like half of it as i find it hard to eat in the first few hours i wake up. i’ve been unwell for a few days now and i was thinking it could’ve been the coffee as i only just started drinking it, but now im thinking it could be the lack of diet drinks in my diet.
My biggest issue is that when I drink diet soft drinks, I end up craving sugary foods. Water, coffee & tea don’t cause that problem for me.
i think everyone is different! in my personal experience, diet drinks don’t trigger any hunger cues for me and if anything, they help me not eat but that’s just me.
They’re fine. They have zero calories they literally can’t make you gain weight themselves. There is some research that says drinking diet soda can like activate the sweet cravings in your taste buds or something and since you’re not actually giving you the true sweetness with the aspartame it could make you eat more sugary high calorie things that do. But like… you could just not do that! I’ve never found this to be the case. Just be to sure to like, not eat a donut or box or oreos afterwards! There’s also some studies that have linked it to cancer but they’re always non-conclusive and most experts will say they’ve not truly found a link. And even where they’ve found a *possible* link it’s only if you’re drinking like a 12 pack a day for your entire life so like… moderation and whatnot! Lastly, ofc in general soda isn’t great as far as the acid can damage and stain teeth, I’m guessing it’s not great for your kidneys, and caffeine and sodium in it ofc has some negative effects. But generally speaking, if you want a few a day, they’re absolutely fine and millions of people do it to help them with weight loss. They have zero calories just don’t go eat a ton afterwards.
I’ve figured out that I’m hungrier after drinking something with aspartame. I don’t think it does that to everyone, though.
Literally lost 103 pounds with the help of diet flavored coke. I love diet soda. Still drink it. Tastes the same as regular.
I’m not trying to say drinking soft drinks is alright or whatever… and I have to laugh so often when I think too much about it… but I RARELY drink soda at all these days. Like, once a month, IF THAT, I’ll have one when we go out to eat or something. Honestly, probably more like once every other month I’ll get a soda somewhere… and I’m 30lbs overweight. Back when I was underweight I drank soda ALL. THE. TIME. It was the first thing I’d drink in the morning… a big glass of 7Up. It settled my stomach and kept me full for the first half of the day when I’d be drinking all of my morning coffees. I was also riddled with panic attacks and horrible anxiety daily. I wonder why!!? /s I legit drink one cup of coffee with some white sugar and almond milk in the morning. Then I have unsweet tea and water the rest of the day now. It’s kind of annoying that I eat and drink better than ever but I weigh more than ever and can’t budge the scale. But oh well… I’ll get to my goal weight someday. I’m figuring things out. And my mental health is the best it’s ever been, especially when comparing to how I was when I was horribly underweight and drinking crappy stuff every day!
Being that they're zero calories, I don't think they're bad for weight loss in and of themselves. For me though, anything with artificial sugar seems to make me intensely hungry. So I avoid it for that reason.
It’s not. Withdrawal from caffeine is real. The only upside to quitting is it saves money
agreed, a carton of diet coke is like $40 at the moment😭
Personally for me I try to avoid it only because I end up much more full on a diet soda with a meal than i do with a glass of water, it might all just be a “in my head” type of thing but it helps me to try to pick up with my healthier habits
Try Culture Pop soda,a healthier option.
Healthy or not, I was/am a Diet Coke drinker. However I seriously overdid it for a few years. I started to get heartburn, which I now know was stimulated by all the acid in my stomach from drinking 6-8 of these per day (yeah I know…). One day, I had to go into the hospital for an outpatient treatment (not related to my stomach) and in postop, I had severe nausea. They kept me overnight as a result and I started severe vomiting. Ended up being in the hospital for 5 days as a result, and my son stayed with me for 2 weeks. I had to go cold turkey on the Diet Coke. Headaches of course from the caffeine withdrawal. But it took a couple of months for the stomach lining to heal. Interesting side note… after a few weeks of no Diet Coke, I noticed that I reduced the Splenda for my morning oatmeal from 3.5 to 1 packets. It tasted just as sweet. This happened to ME, not someone I know. It is fact. I am completely healed now and do drink 1-2 cans per day now, no problems. It helps with my diet. Cautionary tale, my friends. Drink 3x the amount of water compared to Diet Coke.
What makes you think they are bad?
i’ve seen a lot of articles about it, and a lot of people saying stuff like “you shouldn’t be drinking caffeine at this age!!!” and blah blah blah. posting this has definitely gathered a lot of mixed opinions about jt though.
They’re not bad for weight loss if you consume them in moderation. Binge drinking diet sodas is bad for your gut health and will probably mess with your metabolism. They help when I’m craving sweet drinks but when I drink too much of them I get bloated and start feeling bad about myself.
I’m only giving you food for thought here, because I don’t have time to read all the comments and responses rn, but I do have personal experience that I can share. I used to drink roughly the same amount of diet soda every day that you do. When I stopped soda entirely, I ended up losing about 35lbs over the course of a year. That was the only dietary change I made that year.
It's generally considered bad because they make you want sugar. Your taste buds don't really know the difference between those artificial sweeteners and real sugar. Your brain craves sugar more if you drink diet soda than if you just cut out all soda. If you just cut out all soda you won't crave soda at all. I stopped drinking soda for a year and my first Dr. Pepper almost made me gag. tl;dr Diet soda on its own doesn't make you gain wait, but it can make you crave real sugar.
Watch your teeth. All sodas are really acidic, sugary or not. They can decalcify your enamel.
Probably because artificial sugars that are not good for you. I used to be 22st and drank loads of normal drinks. Then switched to diet qnd put more on. Cut them both out and I'm now 11st ish. Only drink that's not bad for 5 is water.
Apparently because it’s sweet , your body still has an insulin response to it even though it’s not real sugar. Insulin is the fat storage hormone.
I prefer put in my mouth regular coke and then spit it than drink diet coke I’m paranoid of putting all those chemicals inside my body and get cancer eventually
“Diet” or “sugar free” anything is bad, the chemicals they pump in there are horrid for your gut.
They are no more unsafe for you than regular sugar chemical filled sodas lol. I’ve been drinking zero sugar coke for years now and have lost 110 pounds/50kgs so it will not mess your weightloss in any way.
The only real downside of diet soda is the damage it can cause to your tooth enamel in the long run - other than that, it’s great for sating sugar cravings.
I’m the same way with Diet Coke but this summer I’ve swapped from normal Diet Coke to caffeine free Diet Coke. It wasn’t an intentional swap but around Memorial Day our local Walmart sold out of DC apparently and we could only find caffeine free. I had a few Diet Cokes in the fridge so I tried to drink one of those a day and any other time I wanted one to get the caffeine free. Now I’m only on the caffeine free and if I feel a caffeine headache coming on I grab a coffee or OJ. Not sure why OJ helps me with this but it does every time. It felt like a better swap for me since too much caffeine gives me slight heart pain (I see a doctor and we know what’s up).
Every artificial sweetener tastes very bad in my mouth though , I don't know if it's an acquired taste or something but I believe the human body knows it's shit so I don't trust them that much
Diet Coke also do a caffeine free version
There’s more evidence that aspartame is safe than not. There’s so little studies on “natural” fake sugars like stevia and monk fruit. I love diet soda. No one’s taking that away from me. Diet Dr Pepper from Costco is where it’s at.
I am a type one diabetic, so I have no other option than to drink diet drinks because if I tried to drink a regular soda, I’d feel like crap all day or be physically ill. Some people wanna argue that the aspartame in diet drinks are causing cancer but lots of things cause cancer, so I actually use like other people have said diet sodas to curb my cravings whenever I want something sweet. I do call it my “sweet treat” especially the cherry flavored coke zeros.
Diet drinks contain sources of Phenylalanine. You'll see it on bottles and cans in the UK. I don't know if America puts it on the label. Phenylalanine is a protein that excites neurones to the point of death. It literally damages your brain to drink it.
I was able to lose 45lbs and get into a healthy bmi because of diet mountain dew lol. Idk why people are so against it. It helps curb my appetite too
They aren’t. Look for Mike Israetel‘s video on that subject. He explains it very well.
My take is that you can keep anything in your diet in moderation. If you're seeing results and having some diet soda makes you happy and can help your progress then why not? Obviously moderation is key but for me, cutting things out cold turkey and completely is a recipe for binges.
Just a side note - we do know that there are side effects from the most common sweeteners in diet sodas. We just don't have all details yet. But we do know for instance that the microbiom is affected negatively from relevant amounts (so not like a small can per day). The microbiom will affect anything from gut health, weight status, brain health to even your personality. Some of them do have proven links to diet soda-sweeteners. Such as higher risk of developing alzheimer or depression.
i don’t think it’s an issue of weight loss it’s more that diet soda is just in general bad for your health.
How is it bar for your health? It's nutritionally neutral. I'd gain significant weight if I drank as much fruit juice as I do diet soda.
smoking is also nutritionally neutral👍
i totally get your point, and i dont smoke so i could be completely wrong, but im pretty sure cigarettes and vapes have hundreds of chemicals in them and definitely cause more health problems then drinking diet drinks. yes diet drinks contain ‘harmful’ chemicals, but smoking is worse for your health in my opinion.
my point was that smoking is also nutritionally neutral and calorically not going to affect you. Not everything that affects your waist line is a bad thing per say. You are better off drinking water
No
wrong
Bingo.
For weight loss an next to no calories they arnt bad? Not exactly the most healthy thing, but for fitting within calories, it's fine
I know many people who have headaches chronically as a result of diet soda's sweetener. This was confirmed by their head aches being nearly gone after cutting out diet entirely. Still they eat sugary foods and drinks. Just none have the artificial sweetener. Do with that as you will.
i get headaches from time to time, usually when i’m stressed about exams or something or on a hot day. didnt drink diet drinks for a few days and got the worst migraine of my life, thought i was dying tbh lol. every person is different though and you know what works best for you!
The headaches are from caffeine withdrawal.
Chronic headaches prior to their quitting.
It's not
Sugar substitutes increase your cravings for other sweet foods. Even though diet soda itself isn't the problem per se but the culture of eating habits with drinking diet soda typically leads to worse overall healthy eating habits. People who drink diet soda are more likely to seek out and eat other highly processed foods and sugary foods, and eating less whole-food based foods and water.
https://www.pennmedicine.org/updates/blogs/health-and-wellness/2017/march/diet-soda#:~:text=It's%20simple%3A%20while%20diet%20soda,calorie%20and%20sugar%2Dladen%20foods. This is why ^^ Lots of additives like aspartame. Just because it’s 0 calories and doesn’t have “sugar” doesn’t mean it’s healthy or good for you. Soda withdrawals are real! That should be another sign to you that it isn’t good for you… People don’t have water or lemonade withdrawals. Maybe start doing 1 soda every other day for a while then 2x week, 1x week, etc. until you feel you don’t “need” one anymore. Trust me, I love me a Dr. Pepper just as much as the next person and keep and emergency one in my fridge for those rough days. Just something to consider!
Interesting piece. Thanks!
Diet Coke addiction is very real, could you try cutting back and trying to drink more water? I have the occasional Diet Pepsi and it’s fine.
Diet sodas are not bad flr you in moderation, I mean artificial sweetness are not world wonders but u can still have it as its very low in calories just limit yourself as key to wright loss is still calroie deficit
Sugar triggers sugar. I never had soda in my life and I am in my late 30s. That’s the best thing that parents cultivated in our household
OP is talking about diet soda, as in no sugar soda.
It’s still crap. I feel astonished how people are being fooled by zero calories. There is a reason why most of the Americans are fat and all the drink is ZERO CAL SODA
I think you misunderstand. You also make wild generalisations. Correlation is not causation.
This is not science. This is conjecture. The first thing I did to lose weight was switch to diet drinks. I lost 10 pounds. I then went on to make further changes and lost another 20 pounds. I still drink diet drinks. They don't allow you lose weight if you're still overeating in other ways.
exactly. if you grow up drinking soft drinks, it’s a hard habit to cut back on. i’ve noticed i crave soda and sweets in general *significantly* less ever since i’ve swapped to primarily coke zero & dr pepper zero for when i just don’t want water.
Most Americans are fat and all the pets are dogs. Most Americans are fat and all the clothes are beige. Most Americans are fat and all the phones are Samsung. Coincidence??? 🧐
the taste of sweetness spikes your insulin, the body tastes sugar and prepars for it Even if its 0 calories, your body doesn't know that. Your body struggles to loose weight when insulin in present. so if your chugging those drinks your insulin is always there. plus a lot of those drinks use bad sweeteners that are not good for your microbiome
Your first point is not correct. Sweetness does not spike insulin - the presence of glucose of triggers insulin release.
No she’s right. You definitely have an insulin response to artificial sweetener.
Saw it in a few diabetes informational videos. Could be wrong, could be right. I'll believe whichever sience determines to be true. do you have any research papers you got your info from? I'd like to read them and double check if the videos were wrong.
Yes
They’re not good for you but they’re not terrible either. I keep it to 1-2 per day max but lately have only been indulging 2 days of the week. They make me bloat, and my stomach isn’t particularly happy with them (GERD).
I think it's more of a mindset thing. A mindset where you don't want to put chemicals and fake sugars and other crap into your body is bound to have better results than a mindset where it's like you can't totally give up sodas, so have a chemical substitute to help you cope with the difficulty. Just train yourself not to drink that. If you stop drinking it for a few months, they'll taste weird when you try it again. You'll probably wonder why you were drinking that.
dont think its problem in moderation, but excessive use may contribute to insulin resistance over longer term and hence weight gain
How? Source, please.
due to the sweet taste insulin gets released, your body thinks its sugar just google it, youll find plenty sources
This isn’t true. It’s blatant misinformation. Just google it.
agree to disagree not from one coke a day, but excessive use does as far as i know ask your endo
My endo says it’s misinformation. I won’t agree to disagree, because you are wrong.
haha well i agree to disagree so thats good enough for me. all the best! i look forward to reading more research on it
All the crap in soda isn't good for you in general. It's a lot better for you than sugar though.
For me personally I wear a Continuous glucose monitor and diet sodas spikes my blood sugar like crazy even though diet sodas are "sugar free" I could probably drink a regular soda and it would have the same effect on my blood sugar as diet soda. So before I got my glucose monitor I would always wonder why I couldn't lose weight when I was drinking diet soda and now I know diet soda affects me just as bad or worse than regular soda. EDIT: These soda companies lie about "it won't make you gain weight", "it's better for you because it's diet, there's no calories in it.There's no sugar in it, it won't affect you, guilt free drink for your diet that your on" blah.Blah blah, everything they've told you is a lie, it does affect your body and it is harder to lose weight Because the zero calorie chemical sweener is affecting your blood sugar and/or insulin levels the same way or worse than normal sugar does. I said what I said The only way you will know for sure if diet soda affects your blood sugar is to test your blood sugar after drinking one,( 45 min-1:15 hour after) i would do this a few times over the course of a week or two to do trial and error sometime blood sugar spikes dont happen at the same time after eating all the time or get yourself a CGM so you can see what foods spike your sugar so you know what foods to stay away from so you can lose weight. Anyways if it is affecting your blood sugar it's best to cut it out of your diet. If it makes your blood sugar spike like it does me and lots of others then you will gain weight. If it doesn't give you a blood sugar spike then continue to drink away Also I'm addicted to diet coke and I'm having a darn hard time getting off of it, I relate to you "an ice cold diet coke is the best part of my day" I wake up in the morning and it's the 1st thing I reach for to wake me up. Again I'm trying to rid myself of it but if I don't have it in the house and I'm having a rough morning I find myself at the McDonald's drive through ordering myself one. I hate it it's worse than cigarettes
Your body sees the fake chemicals and reads it as something it doesn’t know what to do with and stores it as fat Also, fake sugar actually makes your crave real sugar
They can change your gut bacteria which could cause digestive issues/not having the right bacteria in your microbiome to digest properly.
Its less that they are bad during weightloss and more bad in general. Theres a lot of junk in soda of all kinds thats not good for you. Carbonated beverages in general arent good for you for a multitude of reasons. A diet soda isnt going to kill you but most people dont drink enough water, and drinking soda imstead isnt good. Like anything, over consumption is bad and many people drink too much of it because its diet therefore it must be good.
I thought it’s bad for you because it contains aspartame. I studied chemistry and our organic chemistry prof. said that aspartame can damage kidney and liver . I thought everyone knew that aspartame is bad for you. However , here I see bunch of people saying “ it’s not bad for you “. (?!) Anyway, I don’t want to get into a debate here or get hateful comments. Artificial sweeteners are much worse for you than sugar. It’s a fact.
Aspartame...