Is Diet soda REALLY better for you?

[Queen.Cellophane]

Queenie again.
And right now, I'm drinking this Diet Pepsi Jazz stuff (I let myself have it today because I didn't get any Valentines emo ) Anywho, It says here that it's 0 (That's right! 0) Calories. 0?? ZERO? Hm.
So is it really okey to drink diet soda?
Queenie  

[Moonecho]

Yes and no.

While it's better to drink water, diet soda is better than regular.
But the sugar-replacement is just as bad as sugar, and tends to make fat.
Calories aren't the only thing that makes fat.

So I'd say skip the carbonation, and go for some good ol` H2O, but it's not bad every once in a while. :]


I'm guilty as charged, I drink diet soda about every other day. ><;  

[Faux-Lanzer]

"Water is the only drink for a wise man."
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)  

[dangerousfish]

okay, a "lol" for the Thoreau quote and...

From a calorie standpoint diet soda is better if you're watching your intake. However, from the view of your body it doesn't want any of that fake stuff in there or the chemicals from soda itself.

aspartame or sucralose cannot make you fat, that stems from an urban legend (scroll down for the fat part) on the internet. "diet" foods often fool people into thinking they are better for them so they eat more and eat too many calories and then get fatter. Most of that stuff I just go for a serving of the original if I'm really craving it because most of the diet stuff tastes horrible and if you can only eat the taste you're craving (90% of dessert pleasure comes from 10% of the food - totally true) then the calorie difference isn't that great.

ziploc baggies are some of my best friends as they keep me honest and my serving sizes in handy ready to grab packages.

water and iced green tea are my primary intakes and since the tea counts as water and I can boil my apartment's icky tap water I can still get in my water requirements. I drink about a gallon each day. mmm, hydration. xd

Do I still drink pop? Yes, sometimes I have regular but more often I have diet and most months I have less than one per week but I don't cut them out completely. I mildly avoid aspartame and sucralose, too but they are in a ton of food, way more than when I was a kid before it was approved for general foods in the mid-90's. I don't think they're going to give me a brain tumor or anything but everything in moderation. (And it is kinda scary how much stuff has artificial sweeteners and high fructose corn syrup these days).  

[Groovy Spleen]

I used to drink a lot of diet soda.
Now, I can count on one hand anything I've drank besides water in the last month.  

[Divash]

Diet soda is just fine, if it's caffeine-free. Caffeine causes dehydration, so while you'll quench your mouth's thirst, your body will react as if you haven't had anything at all to drink; worse, your body will also release a lot of its needed water (you'll have to pee more). Whenever you drink a caffeinated drink, drink that same amount in regular water. This goes for coffee, tea, hot chocolate, chocolate milk, soda pop, and anything else which contains caffeine (including, yes, even a chocolate bar).

Sodium and alcohol are also liable to get you dehydrated, so drink more water when you have alcoholic drinks or high-sodium foods.  

[Oshii-chan]

I just want to say beforehand that I absolutely love the taste of diet soda, and have drank it for almost my entire life.

Diet soda will not make you gain weight. However, aspartame has proven to be highly addictive (apparently, it's gotten the nickname 'Diet Crack.') I limit myself to one a day, but I used to drink three or four.

The cancer thing? I've got a story on that. My Papa Hugh (grandfather) works for Johanna foods. They're a company that's big with yogurts and juices. He's been there for a while, so he's one of the elite business men. Somehow, he got into a situation where he was speaking with one of the people who approved Aspartame for regular consumption. My Papa asked something along the lines about the cancer tests. The guy said that at the time, there was nothing wrong with it but more and more tests are coming up that prove that it is capable of causing cancer in high amounts.

This is what really gets me. My Papa asked if he would drink it as an approver of the product, the guy said,"Let me put it this way. You wouldn't find it in my fridge."

Apparently it causes joint pains in some people, along with other things. I stopped drinking it for a while/lessened the intake, and alot of random pains I was having stopped.

And here I am, sipping on a Wild Cherry Diet Pepsi. stare  

[Straight to Pluto]

Well, I don't care what they say about Diet Pop. 8D

I only got one life to live, and I LOVE Diet Pop.
I can't stand the taste of Regular, but I drink it occasionally.
I usually don't drink more than a couple servings a week, but Dang it all! <3

I adore it. xP I love the way it tastes and such.  

[Oshii-chan]

[Emo Ninja 3.0]

Well, I don't care what they say about Diet Pop. 8D

I only got one life to live, and I LOVE Diet Pop.
I can't stand the taste of Regular, but I drink it occasionally.
I usually don't drink more than a couple servings a week, but Dang it all! <3

I adore it. xP I love the way it tastes and such.

I know. It's REALLY good.  

[Kipluck]

Like they say, water IS better, but in moderation I still say Diet Soda is better than regular! At least you aren't DRINKING your calories, you know?

But I would agree with avoiding Caffeine (and not just because I'm Mormon and try to avoid it anyway, even though I do sometimes anyway). Just healthier that way.

But still, I would say when you are actually THIRSTY, go with water. But using a diet soda as a treat is a whole lot better for you than eating a slice of cake!