Is Diet Soda Worse Than Regular Soda?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the comparative health effects of diet soda versus regular soda, exploring various perspectives on their ingredients, psychological impacts, and potential health implications. Participants share personal experiences, references to studies, and opinions on the consumption of these beverages.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants suggest that artificial sweeteners in diet soda confuse the body's metabolic responses, potentially leading to negative health effects.
  • Others express skepticism about the benefits of diet soda, questioning what advantages it offers over regular soda.
  • One participant shares a personal anecdote about reducing diet soda intake leading to improved metabolic stability.
  • There is a discussion about the psychological effects of diet soda, likening it to classical conditioning, where the brain expects sugar but does not receive it.
  • Some participants note differences in taste between various diet sodas, with preferences expressed for specific brands.
  • Concerns are raised about the labeling of diet sodas, particularly regarding the marketing of "zero calories" and the implications of ingredients like aspartame.
  • Participants question whether other low-calorie sweet foods might have similar negative effects as diet sodas.
  • There is a mention of the evolving recommendations regarding supplements like low-dose aspirin and vitamins, reflecting frustration with changing health advice.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on whether diet soda is worse than regular soda, with multiple competing views and ongoing debate about the health implications and psychological effects of both types of beverages.

Contextual Notes

Some claims rely on personal experiences and anecdotal evidence, while others reference studies without providing detailed data. The discussion reflects a range of opinions on the health impacts of artificial sweeteners and the complexities of dietary choices.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in nutrition, health effects of artificial sweeteners, and the psychological aspects of dietary choices may find this discussion relevant.

Greg Bernhardt
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Some interesting insights!

Fake sugar teases your body by pretending to give it real food. But when your body doesn't get the things it expects to get, it becomes confused on how to respond.

"You've messed up the whole system, so when you consume real sugar, your body doesn't know if it should try to process it because it's been tricked by the fake sugar so many times," says Swithers.

http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2013/07/10/diet-soda-may-do-more-harm-than-good/?hpt=hp_t2

Here are a couple Purdue news stories on it. They are fairly old though.

http://www.purdue.edu/uns/html4ever/2004/040629.Swithers.research.html
https://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2008a/080211SwithersAPA.html
 
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Monique said:
Oh, and I don't know what good diet sodas are supposed to provide :smile:

Refreshment, hydration, etc., without 100 calories a can. :smile:

My manager used to drink a lot of diet soda until his doctor told him about this effect. He cut way back to maybe 2 cans a day, and that stabilized his metabolism. Seemed to be a real effect for him at least.
 
berkeman said:
Refreshment, hydration, etc., without 100 calories a can. :smile:
I think it's better to stay away from soda anyway (I value my teeth: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57586640/diet-soda-erodes-teeth-as-much-as-meth-crack-case-study/), but that's another discussion :biggrin:
 
Its taken me 20 years to finally get it together to start drinking diet soda to lose a few pounds and now this?!

Next thing you're going to tell me is that I should throw away my vitamins and stop taking low-dose aspirin...
 
Why are you taking low-dose aspirin? Did your doc tell you to do it?
 
berkeman said:
Why are you taking low-dose aspirin? Did your doc tell you to do it?

Well, at one point it was recommended that adults take it as part of an overall cardiovascular heath maintenance/prevention program. But then, of course, the model changed. So I don't take it anymore. Same thing with vitamins, their efficacy versus danger utility seems to shift more often than the seasons. There was a whole thread on this a while back (vitamins)

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=675463&highlight=throw+vitamins

where I had a few things to say. The thing is, I love soda, especially cola. I take supplements, conservatively, but I still take them. I take oils, flax seed, fish oil, etc. I take creatine, protein powders for working out, ginko biloba, blueberry extract, yada yada yada. I don't overdo it, mostly I just try to maintain a healthy diet. You can't even win there, there seems to always be some problem with any food you eat.

I just want to do the right thing and get on some sensible program and get on with my life, and somehow the health/prevention/medical community cannot seem to get it together to figure out anything about what is good and what is bad for you. It is really frustrating.

The only safe thing to do seems to chomp on kale all day and drink plenty of water...but I'm sure that will change soon.
 
I lost weight when I switched to diet drinks and the weight has stayed off. Perhaps it's the fact that I know that there are no calories therefore my body isn't tricked. I haven't seen any data on what chemically could cause anything, they only talk about it being psychological.

As for the mice that drank the chocolate milk as opposed to eating a thick, viscous pudding, my assumption would be that the pudding was more filling therefore the mice felt fuller and ate less than the milk drinkers.

In the second study, two groups of rats were given a high-calorie dietary supplement along with their regular food every day for 30 days. Although the supplements were identical in calories and nutritive content, they differed in viscosity. For one group the supplement had the consistency of thick chocolate pudding, whereas for the other group, the supplement was similar to chocolate milk. Davidson and Swithers found that over the course of the study, the rats given the milk-like supplement gained significantly more weight than the rats given the more viscous, pudding-like supplement.
From the Purdue study posted above.

Are there any non-psychological studies on this?
 
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The psychology is like that of the Pavlov dogs, they learned to associate a bell with food. In the end merely the sound of the bell caused the dogs to salivate.

The diet soda should then cause a dissociation, since the brain expects sugar but there is no sugar. I don't think 'knowing there is no sugar' would cause a changed response, but then again it could.
 
  • #10
Monique said:
The psychology is like that of the Pavlov dogs, they learned to associate a bell with food. In the end merely the sound of the bell caused the dogs to salivate.

The diet soda should then cause a dissociation, since the brain expects sugar but there is no sugar. I don't think 'knowing there is no sugar' would cause a changed response, but then again it could.
I'd be interested in seeing more detailed tests involving chemistry in the body.

Watermelon and cantaloupe are very sweet, low calorie foods, are they saying these foods also have the same negative effects, causing cravings? The subject is interesting, but I'm the type that needs real data. It could be true for some and not for others.
 
  • #11
I don't think diet soda tastes anything like regular soda, so I should be immune to this effect.
 
  • #12
Have you tried the newer ones like Coke Zero? Cherry Coke Zero? :smile:
 
  • #13
berkeman said:
Have you tried the newer ones like Coke Zero? Cherry Coke Zero? :smile:

What exactly is the difference between Coke Zero and just regular Diet Coke, anyway? I tried a taste test between the two and on some friends and nobody could tell the difference, the results were basically chance.

They're both zero calories, they both use aspartame, and they both have exactly the same ingredients. The only difference on the label is that the aspartame is like the third ingredient in one and the fourth in the other, I don't remember which is which. But that's it, otherwise they are identical.
 
  • #14
For me, Diet Coke has the softest, round kind of flavor. Diet Pepsi is a bit sharper, and Coke Zero is the sharpest. I prefer Coke Zero, but drink all three off and on. I'm pretty sure I could tell the difference in a blind taste test. But maybe that's not such a good skill after all... :smile:
 
  • #15
The problem is with aspartame. I think food labelling should be updated. '0 calories' in 'diet' soda is a marketing thing. There should be another way to show people that something has a negative effect on health. Perhaps a glycemic index or something.

PS I'm still waiting for cis-fats to be on labels.
 
  • #16
You mean trans fats?
 
  • #17
Greg, if you wish to drink a beverage of pH 4 or less, then drink orange juice. At least it contains a few nutrients, contains a natural concentration of real sugar, and generally does not contain ant poison.
 
  • #18
DiracPool said:
What exactly is the difference between Coke Zero and just regular Diet Coke, anyway? I tried a taste test between the two and on some friends and nobody could tell the difference, the results were basically chance.

They're both zero calories, they both use aspartame, and they both have exactly the same ingredients. The only difference on the label is that the aspartame is like the third ingredient in one and the fourth in the other, I don't remember which is which. But that's it, otherwise they are identical.

Caffeine?
 
  • #19
Just rule out processed drinks all together, including those with 25% fruit juice (haha).

By the term processed, that would include Coffee o_o
 
  • #20
I am an overweight male but here is my game plan:

1. Never drink diet.

2. Never drink soda.

3. If you are at a movie theatre or a restaurant get ice tea.

4. If you want extra points, get spakling water.
 
  • #21
Diet soda drinkers have the same health issues as those who drink regular soda, according to a new report published Wednesday.

Immediately I thought to myself, "what were the daily diets like for the diet soda drinkers vs regular soda drinkers". Were the daily diets comparable? Where did said diets lay on the health spectrum? The article does not address these very important parameters. Unless these issues are addressed, I wouldn't take the study to heart.