Thread: Can diet drinks make you fat?

Just found this link to a study that suggests diet drinks can cause weight to pile on. Maybe its just another one of 'those' scare stories, but interesting reading even so.

Diet drinks can make you fatter - AOL Lifestyle UK

Well, I know that diet drinks bloat your tummy out. Most diet drinks contain phosphoric acid which rots the enamel from your teeth (read "FastFood Nation" by Eric Schlosser for more info). The phosphoric acid would be pretty hard on your system.

The caffeine in diet coke would make me hyper and I became addicted to diet coke.

All the diet drinks have sweeteners in them. Technically, they have less calories in them than regular sugar but you're actually better off with regular sugar than sweeteners. Your body recognises sugar and eventually will feel full but it won't recognise the sweeteners so you crave more of it and will probably drink more of it. That's why I don't believe in low fat food products.

I cut out all diet drinks, now drink three litres of water, all my skin problems have cleared up which no cream/lotion/potion was able to do! I tried Clinique, Neutrogenia etc etc but they didn't really do anything for my breakouts. I didn't have really bad acne but I could never get it totally clear. Now, I use warm face cloth and warm water as cleanser, cold water as my toner, vitamin E cream as my moisturiser morning and night and thats it! Natural is def best.

I drink about 7 glasses of water per day. I am not really a fan of diet drinks. LIke what DietGirl said, they also contain sugar that will make us crave for more. Nothing is better than water therapy,

Saw the article in the Express newspaper about diet drinks. Do not agree. In hot weather it is nice to have a cold zero coke. I have been drinking such drinks for over 30 years and never had a problem. I do drink lots of water too and always have done.

Anyway, have just blown £5 on 16 cans!!! They will last long time though.

I've been on propoints for 2 1/2 weeks now, and can honestly say that I've noticed bloating as a result of diet drinks. I've been trying to drink more water instead, but like Beverley8603 says, it is quite lovely to have a coke zero in the heat. Delicious. Bloaty

I have to say I regularly drink diet lemonade, as I much prefer cold drinks to hot. I tend to drink one coffee first thing in the morning, perhaps another in the afternoon, then flavoured water during the day at work and diet lemonade in the evening at home. I have previously cut out the lemonade for periods of time on the recommendation of varioius diet plans, but haven't noticed any significant change to my body or weightloss by doing so. On the other hand if I drank the same amount of diet coke I definitely notice some bloating, so maybe it's just the lemonade, or maybe it's the fact that I am so used to it? Either way I won't be swapping it for the full sugar version as I would hugely increase my calorie intake and I would rather eat my calories than drink them!

Lol. I'm a diet coke addict. I put away around 4 cans a day, and sometimes on odd day up to 6. Never had a problem with bloating, never had a problem with my teeth, and because it's one of the only things I like about myself - my skin is flawless. So perhaps coke is different for everyone ? I love tea, drink a few large cuppas a day, as well as making sure I get my 2500ml of real water a day. I think I just love to drink things....

PS being a scientist myself, I never trust an article which doesn't publish it's sources for it's facts. Furthermore, the journal said results are published in is also telling. This "study" is not a peer reviewed experiment, as far as I can see it's not been published in a proper science journal and therefore has been undertaken by the professor as a topic of interest but not scientifically explored. The article also mentions that coke is "associated" with greater waistlines, "associated" is the word we use when we plot a regressive relationship from an independent variable and dependent variable. Regression can only suggest a relationship but can not prove causation. Therefore we use the word "associate", but as my old professor loved to point out - regression is a fickle friend. He always showed us a regression plot with number of computer chips produced and number of pollen produced by a local plant, the anaylsis suggested they were "associated". ... lol. So in conclusion - STUDY is not the same as proven experiment. Enjoy that Coke Zero - I know I will.

Yay raspberry red for flying the science flag!

Peer reviewed data are definitely the only data you can take seriously (although I just got my peer review back saying something like: "the authors make no attempt to analyse the data", oops! )

Unscientifically though, maybe the bubbles bloat you...i definitely feel quite bloaty and burpy (sorry if TMI) after fizzy drinks.

I've heard this many times, I don't drink diet drinks they give me really bad headaches. I googled them to see if others had this and they are linked to lots of things including weight issues. Water is much better!

Well, I think everything is ok in moderation as long as you include real water. Trust me diet coke has saved me from drinking MANY calorific beers.

You can try this:

1 Serving Acai Pulp or Powder
5-6 Ice Cubes
1/2c Low fat organic yogurt
1 Scoop whey protein powder
1/4c Frozen blueberries
5 Whole frozen strawberries
12oz Water

Put all of these ingredients into a blender and mix until smooth.

I used to be a Coca Cola addict and that is the first thing that I had to give up. I think most of my calories must have been the drinks because I only had one small meal a day. Suffice to say that has changed now, but I don't think I could give up fizzy drinks altogether. I don't really enjoy hot drinks unless it was a cup of hot chocolate on a cold day so diet drinks was the 'compromise'. I drink a lot of basics diet lemonade, it doesn't have much flavour really but it has enough to keep me hooked and I drink diet cola and sugar free squash. I keep meaning to try and drink more water, but gah it is hard to kill old habits. Especially when you are changing the whole way you look at food as well.

I agree with the bloating. My office have started supplying diet fanta, diet coke and diet cherry coke for free and I just can't resist! Since i have been dieting I've been having upto 3 cans each day!! I wonder if I could set myself a challenge and not have them for a few days and see how I feel after....

I keep small bottles of sparkling water in the fridge so it's always ice cold and I rarely have diet coke anymore (down from 4/5 cans a day) maybe 1 a month. Let's be honest you don't really notice the taste it's that ice cold, bubbly fizz, rush that hits the back of your throat when you're parched!
That can tipped up as you guzzle back that coke then lower it and let out that "ahhhhh that's so good!" sigh!
A couple of days on ice cold sparkling water you won't notice the change! (once you've got over the withdrawal symptoms of the coke first lol)

Diet drinks usually have Aspartame in them which was shown in a documentary on TV to have had falsified "scientific" studies done. Also Benzoate which is a preservative is a very toxic substance and can cause bloating.
I never touch them at all. I would rather have a drink of water any day...