Drinking water and drinking diet coke - same effect?

[Godsmack]

Is it?
I use Diet Coke/Pepsi instead of water. I drink 1.5g of it a day, it has water and caffeine in it.

I KNOW water is healthier and diet coke/pepsi do some enzyme work, but they don't give you calories either.

So, would drinking just plain water instead of diet drinks boost my fat loss progress a little in general?

 

[Turbolag]

I don't think its a big deal.

According to Dave Palumbo there is nothing in diet soda that your body can absorb.

He said at contest prep time he would drink up to two gallons a day of diet soda.

I'm drinking diet soda all the time on my current meal plan and I don't think its messing anything up.

I still drink water though. I have been alternating lately. I make a Crystal Lite drink, then have a diet soda, then repeat. And repeat until I go to bed.

I think you still need to drink water, but I don't think diet soda will hurt you. I don't think it will help in your fat loss either. I think its kinda like sugar free gum, you can have it or do without it. I don't think it will hurt anything.

Are there any studies that SHOW diet soda to be negative towards weight loss ? I am curious to know

 

[prime]

I thought there were studies out there that said drinking diet sodas actually tricked the body into putting more weight on that water alone.

Besides, seems like a crap load of unnecessary ingredients in diet soda.

 

[Mini Forklift Ⓥ]

Sodas are terrible and diet soda is even worse due to the artificial crap that goes into them instead of sugar. Plenty of studies out there that highlight the potential risks, including things like leaching calcium from bones and forming formaldehyde in the body (which is a known carcinogen).

Drink in moderation would be my 2c, and not really comparable to water.

 

[Mini Forklift Ⓥ]

I thought there were studies out there that said drinking diet sodas actually tricked the body into putting more weight on that water alone.

Besides, seems like a crap load of unnecessary ingredients in diet soda.

Yes you are right, there are studies out there.

From memory the weight gain is due to the artificial sweeteners they use in the soda.

 

[shortz]

Yes you are right, there are studies out there.

From memory the weight gain is due to the artificial sweeteners they use in the soda.

I think there are several reasons why. The two best that I can come up with from personal experiences and research, are

1. People who drink a lot of soda (diet or otherwise) most likely don't make good food choices either
2. Diet Soda can trigger hunger

From an actual dieting standpoint, it's still 0 calorie (unless it's one of those new 10 calorie ones). You might put on some water weight from the soda though, and I am sure your GI and urinary system won't like you much.

 

[Turbolag]

Diet Soda can trigger hunger

I've heard that too. But I've never noticed any hunger increase with it. To be honest, I think it kinda helps with my sweet cravings.

I'm not trying to argue or anything, that's just what I've noticed.

 

[eknight]

Lol at the formaldehyde comment. Your own body produces far more formaldehyde on its own- and adequately detoxifies it- than you'll ever get in diet soda. I don't know why anyone would want to drink two gallons a day of diet anything because it tastes awful, but its dangers are greatly exaggerated unless you have PKU. -3X

 

[Mini Forklift Ⓥ]

Lol at the formaldehyde comment. Your own body produces far more formaldehyde on its own- and adequately detoxifies it- than you'll ever get in diet soda.

Possibly, I'm just going by what I have been told at a few disease/cancer seminar. Came up at more than one of the lectures, and the speakers credentials far exceed mine so I wasn't in a position to refute their statements. One was a health researcher of some 20yrs and the other speaker was a well reverred doctor.

 

[Lizard King]

Weird thread, not sure if I could drink 1.5 Gallons of soda a day to begin with, I have maybe 2 a month. Now if we were talking coffee, that would be a different story.

 

[Mini Forklift Ⓥ]

Not sure if I could drink 1.5 gallons of coffee.

A gallon maybe...

 

[amore169]

I would never substitute water for soda, I drink plenty of soda but I make sure I drink at least a gallon of water a day. When I drink soda it never gets me full I always end up drinking water cause to soda makes me more thirsty.