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I don’t get people who drink diet soda

Dark Star

Member
I drink water all day every day and only occasionally drink soda and “juices” that only contain like 10 percent juice lol.

that being said If I’m going to drink Coke I’ll drink the real, original formula. Not that aspartame BS. I’m a skinny guy anyways.
 

Karmic Raze

Member
I wasn’t bullshitting anyone when I said I lost 60 pounds by cutting out regular soda. I drank a shit ton of soda before, and I turned it around by drinking less and drinking diet/zero sugar sodas instead. I do more activities now than I did before, but I contribute most of that weight loss to the switching of the soda. It was a major change in my diet because I was fucking addicted to the shit like a crackhead is to crack.

On another note, anyone try the new Zero Sugar Dr. Pepper? I enjoyed Diet Dr. Pepper for a while, but it started to taste too sweet and too much like diabetes in a bottle, so I gave it up and then tried the Zero Sugar variant now that it’s out and it’s way, way better.
 

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
And what is the deal with lampshades? I mean, why not just turn off the lights if you want shade?
What's the deal with getting sick? What's the deal with cancer?

And I'm legit stunned how many people like the taste straight up of diet soda over regular. I can't tolerate artificial sweeteners. Even the ones that don't have an initial bad taste have that aftertaste that makes your tongue feel like you got a shot of novocaine. It's that really weird feeling and aftertaste it makes me gag.
 
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I wasn’t bullshitting anyone when I said I lost 60 pounds by cutting out regular soda. I drank a shit ton of soda before, and I turned it around by drinking less and drinking diet/zero sugar sodas instead. I do more activities now than I did before, but I contribute most of that weight loss to the switching of the soda. It was a major change in my diet because I was fucking addicted to the shit like a crackhead is to crack.

On another note, anyone try the new Zero Sugar Dr. Pepper? I enjoyed Diet Dr. Pepper for a while, but it started to taste too sweet and too much like diabetes in a bottle, so I gave it up and then tried the Zero Sugar variant now that it’s out and it’s way, way better.
I tried the cream soda flavor and it was surprisingly good.
 

Dural

Member
Sweeteners are one of the most studied things out there. You'd have to drink an astronomical amount to see any adverse effect. I think I remember reading you need the equivalent of 24 24-packs a day for a long time. I follow some bodybuilders who drink a 2 liter every day. For some in contest prep it's almost the only thing with any flavor they have in the last couple of weeks lol. Anyway, for me it can actually curve hunger. I'll have a can once or twice a day when cutting.

I do agree that people who go to fast food places and get one while also swinging by DQ for dessert aren't going to make any headway if trying to lose fat. I get one when I go to McDonald's so that my meal is 800 calories instead of 1200. For people diligent about counting calories, flavored water and diet soda are great. Low sugar gum, skipping breakfast etc are other tools that can help.

I'd read aspartame is the most studied food item period, I'd feel safer drinking something with it than high fructose corn syrup.

Yep, I'll have a can around 11 and not eat anything until dinner. Without it I'd be starving around lunchtime. Have a can with dinner and I'll eat less as the carbonation fills me up.
 

DavidGzz

Member
And I'm legit stunned how many people like the taste straight up of diet soda over regular. I can't tolerate artificial sweeteners. Even the ones that don't have an initial bad taste have that aftertaste that makes your tongue feel like you got a shot of novocaine. It's that really weird feeling and aftertaste it makes me gag.

You get used to it and then it's delicious, especially Coke Zero. It essentially tastes like Coke without the sugary film effect covering my teeth. Also, the knowledge that I'm not drinking hundreds of calories that are not filling in the least helps. I'd rather have a twinkie than a soda. Once you're no longer used to liquid sugar, it is kind of repulsive.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
What's the deal with getting sick? What's the deal with cancer?

And I'm legit stunned how many people like the taste straight up of diet soda over regular. I can't tolerate artificial sweeteners. Even the ones that don't have an initial bad taste have that aftertaste that makes your tongue feel like you got a shot of novocaine. It's that really weird feeling and aftertaste it makes me gag.
It depends on the diet pop.

I hate Diet Coke and prefer Diet Pepsi if I had to choose. But for regular pop, I'd choose Coke over Pepsi.

Some diet pops taste close to regular.... Coke Zero, Pepsi Max, Diet Dr Pepper and Sprite Zero are all pretty good. But some are awful. Any diet orange pop is crap.
 

Termite

Member
The idea that diet soda is as unhealthy as full-sugar soda is anti-science bullshit. Other people have covered studies into aspartame so I won't go into it.

However, it's still not healthy. Many diet sodas have acids that are hell on your teeth, and many diet soda fiends have horrifically bad dental hygiene.

For me, I started drinking about 1 to 1.5 litres of soda a day when I was 12. I knew it wasn't "great" for me, but I had no concept of calories, or TDEE. The boarding school I went to literally provided 1.5L bottles of coke to kids who wanted them, and I got addicted. And I was a healthy young lad who played sport every day, so how much harm could it be? Could never understand why I was always heavier than everyone else in my class despite being so active. I would diet, but never cut out soda - simply didn't understand that it was part of the equation.

Well, eventually I learned about CICO, that 3500 excess calories = 1 stored pound of fat. This was when I was about 25. I was 6'2, 230 lbs then, despite working out a fair bit - in the gym three/four times a week. I immediately looked at the calories in soda and switched to diet ones in total shock at what I had been doing to myself. My weight immediately started to decline, settling at 175 lbs - with no other changes to diet or lifestyle. In fact, I exercised far less as I no longer needed to do so just to have some control over my weight. I ended up quitting the gym within 6 months of giving up full-fat soda. Didn't need it.

All that was 12 years ago. My weight has been relatively stable since. (175-185 lbs). Not fit, but healthy.

The math of what I was doing:
1 can coke - 140 calories
3 cans a day - 420 cals
7 days a week - 2,940 cals
Excess fat in pounds a week purely as a result of soda - 0.84 lbs
Weight gained in a year - 43.7 lbs

I was basically having to exercise or diet off almost 43.7 lbs a year to stand still, lol. And I had much more than 3 cans a day on the weekend. Christ I'm glad those days are gone. I don't play sport any more now in my late 30s. Had I never switched to diet sodas I'd be 300+ lbs instead of 175.

I wonder if the OP, after reading this, would still say "Just drink a normal one if you're going to drink diet! There's no health difference!" I won't take a shot at him, though, since my ignorance of these issues was my problem for a long time so I know it's easy to be uninformed.
 
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DavidGzz

Member
I think for people who don't count calories, soda also has the effect of making one over eat. Say, you're done with your snack but you still have soda left. Time to grab some more chips, uh oh, not enough soda now, so you grab another. Chips are gone again, time to get more. These food items don't fill you up until you're well into the 1k+ calorie range, and that's just a snack. Time for a real meal less than an hour later. Couple this with the fact that you were motionless in front of your tv, cpu, or at your desk job. Shit is detrimental over time.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
The idea that diet soda is as unhealthy as full-sugar soda is anti-science bullshit. Other people have covered studies into aspartame so I won't go into it.

However, it's still not healthy. Many diet sodas have acids that are hell on your teeth, and many diet soda fiends have horrifically bad dental hygiene.

For me, I started drinking about 1 to 1.5 litres of soda a day when I was 12. I knew it wasn't "great" for me, but I had no concept of calories, or TDEE. The boarding school I went to literally provided 1.5L bottles of coke to kids who wanted them, and I got addicted. And I was a healthy young lad who played sport every day, so how much harm could it be? Could never understand why I was always heavier than everyone else in my class despite being so active. I would diet, but never cut out soda - simply didn't understand that it was part of the equation.

Well, eventually I learned about CICO, that 3500 excess calories = 1 stored pound of fat. This was when I was about 25. I was 6'2, 230 lbs then, despite working out a fair bit - in the gym three/four times a week. I immediately looked at the calories in soda and switched to diet ones in total shock at what I had been doing to myself. My weight immediately started to decline, settling at 175 lbs - with no other changes to diet or lifestyle. In fact, I exercised far less as I no longer needed to do so just to have some control over my weight. I ended up quitting the gym within 6 months of giving up full-fat soda. Didn't need it.

All that was 12 years ago. My weight has been relatively stable since. (175-185 lbs). Not fit, but healthy.

The math of what I was doing:
1 can coke - 140 calories
3 cans a day - 420 cals
7 days a week - 2,940 cals
Excess fat in pounds a week purely as a result of soda - 0.84 lbs
Weight gained in a year - 43.7 lbs

I was basically having to exercise or diet off almost 43.7 lbs a year to stand still, lol. And I had much more than 3 cans a day on the weekend. Christ I'm glad those days are gone. I don't play sport any more now in my late 30s. Had I never switched to diet sodas I'd be 300+ lbs instead of 175.
One thing about calories and weight is that it's a siding slope.

If someone ate an extra 3500 calories per week = 1 lb gained per week = 52 lbs per week, the human body will somehow level itself off as the body starts buring calories at a higher clip because someone is big and heavy so that 3500 threshold moves. I'm no scientist but I think thats what happens.

If someone did that for 20 years, they arent going to be 1000 lbs. If they did that for 40 years they wont be 2000 lbs.

I'm fat at about 230 lbs, but have been stable for years. I eat junk all the time, but I've stabilized. I dont know how many calories I eat per day but it's got to be more than 3500, yet I havent gained anything in 5 years.
 
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Ikutachi

Member
What's the deal with getting sick? What's the deal with cancer?
People can get cancer even if they do everything right. There's an observational study suggesting that colon cancer patients who regularly drink diet soda have a lower risk of their tumors coming back, or of dying from their cancer. The science isn't clear to say diet soda is the culprit for anyone's cancer.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
People can get cancer even if they do everything right.
Totally.

I've known people from grade school and coworkers who were lean and fit, got cancer and died in their 30s and 40s. One was even brain cancer, she got her skull drilled open, they did whatever to help her so she lived an extra year, but then died anyway. First time I met her was in grade 8.
 

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
People can get cancer even if they do everything right. There's an observational study suggesting that colon cancer patients who regularly drink diet soda have a lower risk of their tumors coming back, or of dying from their cancer. The science isn't clear to say diet soda is the culprit for anyone's cancer.
You missed the joke there.
 

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
You get used to it and then it's delicious, especially Coke Zero. It essentially tastes like Coke without the sugary film effect covering my teeth. Also, the knowledge that I'm not drinking hundreds of calories that are not filling in the least helps. I'd rather have a twinkie than a soda. Once you're no longer used to liquid sugar, it is kind of repulsive.
I haven't had soda in 10 years, but I have taken sips of it since then and I think it tastes terrible now. Once my palate adjusted to non sugary syrupy liquids, I can't consume them anymore. Nor do I want to really, I don't even miss them because they didn't quench my thirst. I'll have a glass of lemonade on a hot summer day now and again, and it's refreshing, or I'll do a smoothie if I want a sugary drink fix. But the syrupy nature of soda is what I hate now once I adjusted. But I just find water more refreshing in every way. And the essence waters are flavorful enough for me. I like the subtlety of them more, actually.
 
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the taste of aspartame is AWFUL I refuse to believe anyone enjoys the flavor

coke zero = goat
Coca-Cola Zero Sugar (Coke Zero) uses several common artificial sweeteners, including aspartame and acesulfame potassium (Ace-K). The remaining ingredients are carbonated water, caramel color, food additives, and natural flavors (1).Sep 2, 2019

Cary Elwes Disney Plus GIF by Disney+


On Topic: I'm a believer in that if you want something, drink the real thing. Diet soda is like non-alcoholic beer to me. But to each their own.
 
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eddie4

Genuinely Generous
all diet products taste like shit. if I ever drink a soda, it's usually with real sugar, i don't need any of that high fructose corn syrup, etc.
 
I limit soda pretty well compared to my youth. I get the occasional McDonalds coke or Dr Pepper 10. My real weakness are the sugar free Monster drinks. I pretty much have to have one per work day.
 

8bitpill

Gold Member
I've always looked at soda as a treat, not a daily intake of liquid when your body is actually asking to be hydrated with water. I maybe have a soda once every couple of months. I know people that will drink multiple cans a day.

Soda is just carbonated liquid garbage, making a diet choice is just watered down garbage.
LkH4.gif
 

Hatemachine

Banned
The idea that diet soda is as unhealthy as full-sugar soda is anti-science bullshit. Other people have covered studies into aspartame so I won't go into it.

However, it's still not healthy. Many diet sodas have acids that are hell on your teeth, and many diet soda fiends have horrifically bad dental hygiene.

For me, I started drinking about 1 to 1.5 litres of soda a day when I was 12. I knew it wasn't "great" for me, but I had no concept of calories, or TDEE. The boarding school I went to literally provided 1.5L bottles of coke to kids who wanted them, and I got addicted. And I was a healthy young lad who played sport every day, so how much harm could it be? Could never understand why I was always heavier than everyone else in my class despite being so active. I would diet, but never cut out soda - simply didn't understand that it was part of the equation.

Well, eventually I learned about CICO, that 3500 excess calories = 1 stored pound of fat. This was when I was about 25. I was 6'2, 230 lbs then, despite working out a fair bit - in the gym three/four times a week. I immediately looked at the calories in soda and switched to diet ones in total shock at what I had been doing to myself. My weight immediately started to decline, settling at 175 lbs - with no other changes to diet or lifestyle. In fact, I exercised far less as I no longer needed to do so just to have some control over my weight. I ended up quitting the gym within 6 months of giving up full-fat soda. Didn't need it.

All that was 12 years ago. My weight has been relatively stable since. (175-185 lbs). Not fit, but healthy.

The math of what I was doing:
1 can coke - 140 calories
3 cans a day - 420 cals
7 days a week - 2,940 cals
Excess fat in pounds a week purely as a result of soda - 0.84 lbs
Weight gained in a year - 43.7 lbs

I was basically having to exercise or diet off almost 43.7 lbs a year to stand still, lol. And I had much more than 3 cans a day on the weekend. Christ I'm glad those days are gone. I don't play sport any more now in my late 30s. Had I never switched to diet sodas I'd be 300+ lbs instead of 175.

I wonder if the OP, after reading this, would still say "Just drink a normal one if you're going to drink diet! There's no health difference!" I won't take a shot at him, though, since my ignorance of these issues was my problem for a long time so I know it's easy to be uninformed.
Possibly the worst thing about diet soda is what it does to your teeth. Far worse than regular soda. Rots those things bad.
 

Kreen101

Member
It’s really not any healthier for you than regular soda and it certainly doesn’t taste better. If you’re that desperate to lose weight or not put on weight than don’t drink soda or lose weight like a normal person, by, you know, exercising now and again. If you like the taste of soda then just drinking a fucking soda. Drinking diet soda is like eating a double whopper, but asking them to hold the Mayo to cut out a few extra calories. And the diet soda thing might be worse, because whatever small amount you gain in the sugar department, you’ll get hit with extra carcinogens.
Diet soda has no calories, versus like 200 calories for regular soda.
 

Azurro

Banned
What's the deal with getting sick? What's the deal with cancer?

And I'm legit stunned how many people like the taste straight up of diet soda over regular. I can't tolerate artificial sweeteners. Even the ones that don't have an initial bad taste have that aftertaste that makes your tongue feel like you got a shot of novocaine. It's that really weird feeling and aftertaste it makes me gag.

Coke Zero is great, and I get to enjoy a nice tasting and cold drink with my meals with zero calories rather than flavorless water.

Switching to water wouldn't do anything for me, and drinking regular coke would explode my belly with all the extra calories.

The gyms are back, I'm losing the Covid weight, leave my coke Zero alone. :)
 
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