STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Ritz · Dooney & Bourke

how bad is diet pop?

Drew · Gucci

Soda is really bad for you, and not just because of the calories or artificial sweetners. Sodas have citric acid which eats away at your teeth. Daily consumption can and often does lead to premature tooth decay and other teeth problems. The carbonation makes the citric acid that much worse on your teeth.

You would be doing yourself a big favor to switch to green tea. I love Teas Tea and Honest Tea. Of course, water is best.

JoceyBaby23 · Gucci

You may lose a small amount of water weight if you stop drinking soda all together. I have a friend that "quit" soda and she lost 4 lbs the first week. But after that.. she leveled off and didn't lose anything.

My trainer says Diet soda is better for you than regular but NO soda really would be best.

I honestly dont think 1 can a day is going to do anything harmful. I know they say it hurts your teeth but I take great care of my teeth and used to drink a LOT of soda (for years) and never noticed a difference at all in my health.

I drink about 1-2 cans of Diet a day, as well as 2-3 glasses of tea and several glasses of water. I just cant/wont give up soda altogether. I need some variety in my life!

member · Hermes

I would just cut soda all together if I were you. Diet soda is bad for you because it contains aspartame (artifical sweetner). Aspartame can cause serveral horrible side effects. Not everyone believes this, but I don't personally think it's worth the risk.

Here's a couple articles on the dangers of aspartame:

http://www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-side-effects.html

http://www.oshmanlaw.com/pharmaceutical_litigation/Aspartame.html?OVRAW=aspartame%20side%20effects&OVKEY=aspartame%20side%20effects&OVMTC=standard

I agree w/Drew - I'd stick to teas, water, etc.

Sorry to be Debbie Downer for all you diet soda drinkers.

Drew · Gucci

Debbie Downer...

member · Hermes

Drew wrote:

Debbie Downer...

I'm sorry

I just don't want any of my ST girls to end up w/tumors or blind from drinking diet soda.

Drew · Gucci

shopchicago, I was just laughing at the name. And don't feel bad, I am always on my soap box telling people about the "horrors" of foods, especially those with artificial ingredients. People think I'm a little nutty about that stuff.

member · Hermes

Drew wrote:

shopchicago, I was just laughing at the name. And don't feel bad, I am always on my soap box telling people about the "horrors" of foods, especially those with artificial ingredients. People think I'm a little nutty about that stuff.

Oh Drew, I totally know you were just laughing at the name Debbie Downer!! It's sad, but it seems like there's dangers to practically everything we consume. I never bought into the aspartame thing until my friends mom had some of the syptoms I posted and went to the doctor and he asked her if she drank diet soda - yikes!

Ritz · Dooney & Bourke

ok.. to clarify, i really only drink diet coke with splenda, b/c i hate the taste of aspartame.. so i figure that is at least better than regular!:)

looks like I need to try to cut down regardles... wish me luck!

jen · Kate Spade

Nobody has mentioned this but it also prevents calcium from helping bone growth. This is something vital for women to have so it is really bad for you. Sorry!

Deuce · Dooney & Bourke

I was going to mention the calcium thing, but Jen beat me to it, so I second that.

I also know many people who have switched and not seen a difference at all, until they stopped soda all together then they lost some weight.

I too am a soda lover. I cannot drink diet, I would rather have water, which is just as well.

It is definitely much better for our bodies to quit, even though it is so yummy. Oh and when I stop drinking soda I can see a huge difference in my skin, huge!

lilyann · Dooney & Bourke

These threads have definately made me think. I am a diet cola- caffeine addicted individual. But, more than anything I drink liquids all day- water, soda, coffee. Whatever these ill- effects are- the damage is well done! I have cut back on my coffee- but, not the diet soda. Maybe all of what you have said will set in and I will change this, probably not.

blink · Coach

Truly, unless you are a diabetic who refuses to give up sodas, it is better to just drink something other than soda than to switch to diet soda even if your goal is to lose weight.

Cola drinks are known as one of the top worst foods that we consume (that list includes margarine, marshmallows, french fries...), and it's NOT just because of the sugar, obviously. Besides all the theories about the yet unproved dangers artificial sweeteners (which I tend to believe anyway), it has also been said that artificial sweeteners actually make you feel hungrier because they taste sweeter than sugar, so they don't help you lose weight at all. White sugar in general is actually something that is bad for us and is addictive, not going to get in to that here, but because I believe this to be true, the goal should be instead to wean oneself off of the addiction to sweets, rather than to replace it with something artificial.

Also, drink your eight glasses of water a day if you don't already.

80schick · Nine West

Soda is really bad, I think everyone's mentioned all the health evils above so I won't digress but here's a good alternative that I got my husband on.

Seltzer Water.

Essentially, it's the same as soda but without all the stuff. Can't stand the taste of it plain? Find a 100% juice to mix it with. My husband loves his cranberry & seltzer,... pineapple, grapfruit & seltzer and pommegrante juice & seltzer. Good luck! Giving up favorite foods/treats we grew up on is always hard but if we want to look good & stay fit, it's a must!