is diet soda evil?

Lately I’ve been feeling like I’m holding a lot of extra water weight and I can’t figure out why. My diet and training haven’t changed, but I’ve been feeling bloated and puffy for a week now. Could diet sodas or artificial sweetners cause this?

Diet sodas contain ALOT of sodium.

Whats an acceptable amount of sodium to consume daily?

I kept reading so much stuff about potential<\b> problems with caffeine, artificial sweeteners, carbonated water, etc., that I have simply quit. Let’s face it: water is better for you. I decided that living for the next Diet Coke was a sign of mental weakness, and I have had enough of it.


That was 2.5 hours ago… =)


Just kidding. It’s been a week now, and I already feel better, more energetic, and I’ve lost any trace of mood swings. For the record, I actually “look” better, and have lost some of the puffiness you mentioned. The biggest difference is actually in my stomach and face; they are visibly “thinner”.

Just to let you know: there IS light at the end of that tunnel! I stopped drinking ANY type of soda back in '95. Haven’t touched one since. Not only did my asthma improve, but yes, became instantly more energized. Mucho better-o!

Try Diet RC or Diet Rite. Both have Splenda, and don’t seem to cause one to retain H20 either.

Dang!!! Second time I jacked up a thread with a screwed-up tag. Sorry, guys!



Patricia, thanks for the encouragement. It actually hasn’t been bad. I have found myself craving some sweets, though, as the Diet Cokes were the only thing that tasted sweet in my diet. I’ll have to carry around some fruit or something.

Kelly have you ever looked at a soda can? What is alot of sodium to you? Frankley 40mg isn’t much. There is more in a glass of milk. second of all I would have to say there is some over reaction to sodium. My opinion. Anyway why do people seem to think there is a lot of sodium in soda.

Sorry I meant Patricia not Kelly, there is about a 50 50 chance and I was wrong go figure. Sorry again.

Hmmm, I had thought it was ALOT more than that -more like 100mgs of sodium per serving. You see, it’s been quite a while since I’ve even looked at a can of any kind of soda. I was consuming about 4 cans a day, and would even up that a bit during the early stages of precontest. NOT good. I had even switched to a “no sodium” brand right before I decided to stop drinking the stuff.

Diet soda did not wean me from sweets, too (which is one of the primary reasons people drink diet soda) - but made me crave sweets more. And don't carbonated drinks contain phosphorous? And doesn't (phosphorous)limit the body's ability to absorb calcium? I won't even begin about the Aspartame. yuck.

I used to do enviromental consulting for a Coca Cola bottling plant and part of the sampling I did was for their production wells.
(Regular coke is 85% by wt water and Diet Soda is 95% by wt water) and one thing that they were very worried about was the sodium content. It had to be below .5 Parts per million. I think the red coke can even says it’s a low sodium drink.

As far as the diet stuff goes, I’ve heard that the Nutrasweet has been linked to memory loss and some other crap, although I cnnot provide studies to back that statement up.

I DO know however, that for producing soft drinks, that Coca Cola plant sure had to report a lot of hazardous chemicals!

Every so often I hear the claim that Nutrasweet (aka aspartame) actually causes increased cravings for sweets. Does anybody know if this is true or not?


Also, I think it was Dr. Atkins who said there was anecdotal evidence that aspartame inhibits fat loss. Has this ever been researched to get a definitive answer?

I think I’ll join the club and try to cut out on the diet sodas… is Crystal light an acceptable substitute?

Here’s what I’m doing: if it’s got an artificial sweetener or caffeine, I’m not doing it. So, water it will be. But, hey, that’s just me.



I’m still trying to find out how Patricia gets away with her beer diet… =)

there is a reaction to anything sweet in your taste buds that causes a release of insulin. That means that diet pop, even without calories can cause insulin to be released. However, its not very much. I read studies on medline talking about it, most of them use about a liter’s worth of pop, and still the insulin release isn’t that big. Still…something to think about.