The Trouble with Diet Soda

David,

 

All of these studies seem to have giant holes. Of course I haven't read them, only what you've condensed here.  

 

My questions:  

 

"Participants in an eight-year study at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, who drank several cans of diet soda every day were more likely to become overweight or obese than those who drank several regular sodas. "

 

Okay, are they saying that these were thin people who began to drink diet sodas and became fat?  Or could it be that people who are fat, or on their way to being fat drink diet sodas in an attempt (usually failing) to lose weight?  Fat people are conditioned to drink diet sodas instead of regular.  

 

"Another study, this one in the Annals of Epidemiology last year, found that adults with diabetes who drank one or more drinks of diet soda per day had A1C levels was 0.7 percent higher than  those who drank none."

 

So, were the diet soda and the non-diet soda drinking folks eating and exercising the same?  Was drinkng diet soda the ONLY variable?   If not, maybe folks who don't drink soda also have other "healthier" behaviors.

 

“The caramel content of both regular and diet drinks may be a potential source of advanced glycation end products, which may promote insulin resistance and can be proinflammatory.”

 

The Grapefruit Diet Shasta sitting in front of me has no caramel... nor does it have aspartame.

 

"When David Pierce and his associates at the University of Alberta studied the eating habits of young rats, the found that the rats tended to eat too much when they ate diet foods."

 

What kind of diet foods?  Low fat?  Sugar Free?  Are the rats bodies just trying to make up for the calorie deficit?

 

I'm not the biggest soda drinker... perhaps a can or two a day.  Mostly non-caffienated. 

 

I just have to take all these studies with a shaker of salt.  It seems if I just wait a week there will be another study with conflicting results.

I think the biggest problem with people drinking diet sodas is the fact they THINK they can eat more because they are saving calories by drinking diet sodas. It all boils down to moderation even on diet sodas.

 

I do drink a diet soda ever so often but my primary beverage is water with lemon and filtered when possible. And I drink unsweetend tea with stevia or splenda.

 

When I was younger I did drink more of them. I have never been a regular soda drinker as these are way too sweet for my taste.

 

 

 

Diet Orange, like the citrus flavored drinks another poster mentioned, has no caramel color.  Diet Creme flavored soda does.  Years ago I switched from diet colas to 7-up etc. because of the phosphorous content. My microalbumin decreased from 1800ug/mg creat. to less than 100.  There may have been other factors responsible but I can't identify any.  Diet citrus and orange drinks seem a reasonable compromise for those adddicted to diet soda.

i have only been diagnosed as a Type 2 for a couple of months. i was never a huge soda fan - but i have now discovered Sprite Zero. This leads me to point out that not all diet soda is "sweetened" with the same agent. therefore, the type of diet soda you drink MUST have a direct correlation on your hba1c. if a diet drink (such as "4C Totally Light) says it has zero carbs then how can it effect your hba1c? does the study mention which diet drink was used or was the choice left to the user? -- Joel

Where can I find a diet drink that does NOT have aspartame as an ingredient?

I have Type II Diabetes for years, I am a huge diet soda drinker because I have never seen any serious study counter it although many freinds have warned me about it and I have heard what I thought were urban myths that it was bad, hurt my HB1C numbers and blood sugar levels.  I have not been greatly successful at maintaining my blood sugar even when eating right.   Well, this stuff with the aspartame and caramel have me concerned enough to quit finally, I should have tested out the water, tea or sparking water but you know us addictive types.  Diet soda had been a way for me to justify an occasional sugary sweet.

 

Anyways, I just started and we sill see.  Based on my own experience I think I may have been having those espisodes from too much aspartame and carmel every day.  Just a few days of drinking water and unsweetened tea I feel much better and my blood sugar seems better.  Heart rate feels better.  Urban myth?  Well maybe sometimes what people learn out of life experience (my freinds advice) may have large kernals of truth that science just finds out latter and that Corporations try to quell.

 

Any help in giving healthy substitues please tell me.  Starting to love carbonated wate with lemon, but what about orange drinks and diet sprite? What about the flavored carbonated Walmart sells.  That stuff is great?  Anyways, I'll try my own research but if anyone knows, I would appreciate it.

Any non-natural substance and many natural substances should be suspect when included as a daily part of your eating habits, but I am skeptical of correlation studies. 

 

Most people who diet are overweight.  Does that mean you can avoid being overweight by avoiding dieting? Too many studies are designed to get press attention rather than advance science. We are living in the Internet generation where instant answers are more valued than correct answers. 

 

Is diet soda good or bad? Coffee? Green Tea? Cinnamon?  Don't know. But I do know that too many carbs, too much sugar and not enough exercise will hurt, so pardon me for focusing on those for now.

 

 

 

I have been wondering for a long time why I felt 'weird' (almost like a sugar low, but mostly just shaky) after drinking diet sodas.  After searching on the internet a number of times, and coming up with nothing, I find this.  I haven't actually read the studies, but maybe there really is something to the diet soda/weird sugar low thing.  btw, I am a type 2 without medication.

I can only speak to my experience -- admittedly as a newly diagnosed diabetic.

When I was diagnosed five months ago, i weighed in at @ 305 pounds. I am 5' 11" tall, so I was pretty heavy.

In the five months since then -- by shifting my HUGE intake of regular soda to diet and by cutting my admittedly huge intake of calories and carbs -- I have been able to LOSE 105 pounds. I have gone from a size 48 pant to now fitting comfortably into a 36.

Diet sodas are NOT the problem. I drink several each day. I have limited my milk and my carb intake -- trying to stay at under 60 carbs per meal -- and my A1C has dropped off the table. I also now run or walk 5 to 6 miles day.

Again, diet sodas are NOT the problem -- they and sugar-free Jello gelatin -- are my salvatioin. People who argue inane points like dumping diet soft drinks for people who in many cases have been sugar-holics their entire lives, are ridiculous. If you can't have a few things that make you happy and satisfy your need for "comfort food" why bother?

In the great scheme of things, I would have to say that the drinking of diet sodas for diabetics is pretty low on the list of concerns. What is a bigger concern is hinted at in this same article -- diabetics repeatedly falling off the wagon and taking in regular sugary foods or foods high in carbs. Another thing is the need to get active. Whether we drink diet soda, water, sugary drinks or the nectar of the gods, we have to get off our butts and start EXERCISING! I know that is a horrible thought to many people, but it is truly the only way to address the issue and is, I believe, the REAL CAUSE of "metabolic syndrome." There is no panacea or way to eat yourself into good health -- good, old-fashioned hard work is the ONLY way to achieve good health.

 

Terry L. Headley

Huntington, WV