Like, people who drink diet soda might be drinking it because they are overweight in the first place. I presume they compared women of similar bmi in both groups. I don't see the source study though.

This study doesn't appear to prove much of anything except that people who drink real fruit juice rather than sodas of any kind are probably healthier. Not much of a surprise there.

When I was a diet soda drinker, it was because I was also a candy and pizza eater, and thought that the diet soda would somehow make up for my crappy diet.

The jury is still out, it would appear.

If the jury is still out why do the post these articles. It's like the boy that cried wolf. Pretty soon people are just going to ignore everything and just shrug: You're damned if you don't, damned if you do!

"The authors urge further trials to prove a causal link."

Irresponsible journalism!

consumption is associated with weight gain and this led to further studies which found that artificial sweetners trigger an unhealthy response from the human digestive system. They seem to break the link between consumption of real sweets (sucrose, fructose, etc) and a triggering of satiation.

The theory there is that the body "learns" (incorrectly) that things which taste very sweet actually have no burnable calories.

Another analysis from the Harvard Nurse study data found that consumption of artificial sweetners (diet soda) can provoke a strong craving for real sweets and this in combination with the effect above is behind the mystery weight gain.

http://cjasn.asnjournals.org/content/6/1/160.full

Maybe they should let the Doctors conduct the next study.

Oh boy, I need quite a few "sarcasm" smileys for that comment!

did, I admittedly craved sweets more and used the fact I was drinking no calorie soda as an excuse to take in sugar (and refined carbohydrates) elsewhere and in probably higher amounts. Even if they tried to control for confounding factors (e.g., other sugar or high risk dietary intake, obesity and other pre-existing risks for diabetes, etc.) that differentially impacted the diet soda group, it can be difficult in even the largest and best conducted studies...

That said, I think there are lots of problems we are just starting to understand with diet soda.

Where the heck do you find those? Everything that my local grocer carries seems to be sweetened by high fructose corn syrup.

I believe they still use sugar there.

I believe there is a version of Mountain Dew made with sugar, instead of HFCS.

Dr. Pepper drinker here for the most part. I think I might try the Mexi Coke or the Pepsi Throwback if I see it though.

Last edited Fri Feb 8, 2013, 02:01 AM - Edit history (1)

At least one website claims to have it.

I have a can of it in front of me now.

Some places also sell "Mexi-Coke" and "Mexi-Pepsi." That is pop that is bottled in Mexico. They usually come in the classic bottles that you need a bottle opener to pop the top, but they're made with real sugar instead of the high fruitcose crap. The Mexi versions are pretty commonly found in any grocery store here in the Seattle metro area, not sure about other areas though. I recommend at least giving them a try, they're great! (Baring that, see also the post about the "throwback" lines, which also have real sugar).

Welcome to DU!

More and more groceries, including Costco are carrying Mexican Coke these days. They're made with cane sugar and sold in glass bottles like God intended.

After drinking them for a few days, regular sodas - fountain drinks especially - will taste absolutely horrible. You'll wonder how you could've possibly drunk that muck all those years.

Yup, and considering I work at Costco's home office I can second Ron's statement to check at a local Costco for the stuff (I almost said so in my original post, but I didn't want to put in a shameless plug for my work...haha!)

I'm more than happy to plug Costco on your behalf, as I have no ties to the company other than being a member of the original Kirkland store nearly since it opened.

Excellent company that treats its workers well. It shows.

Trader Joe's and Whole Food's sodas. Reed's Ginger Beer and Izze. There's at least one brand of mainstream ginger ale, too. I thought Cheerwine used sugar? Maybe not. I don't drink any, except for Izze and the occasional Reed's.

are the only, besides Mexican Coca Cola, all use only sugar

or more sweets, carbs, etc. (plus almost ALL diet pop just does not taste very good to me--DIet Dr. Pepper is at least palatable.)

diet pop doesn't satisfy the craving for me, it increases the craving.

i know i shouldn't drink pop at all, but when i do drink it i now drink the "throwback" Mt. Dew or Pepsi, or the Coke made with real sugar. they at least satisfy the craving without increasing it.

(and I was really out of control with sweets and other simple carb intake--which fueled cravings constantly)..

The interesting thing is it has been more than threeyears since I kicked it, sticking instead with unsweetened teas, coffee and water, yet if I were to drink a can of diet coke today, i'd be back craving it again for at least a few days afterwards...

That plus the calcium leaching effects of soda in general, underscore how important it was for me to ditch the soda.

The artificial sweeteners fails to throw the switch in your body -- "I just had something to eat." So, you keep eating.

I am guessing that, assuming the article in the OP is correct, it is related to just that.

No offense meant though to you Buzz
Its just a more detailed study to resolve the issue would be welcome and maybe one day someone will undertake such a study.

is that when I drink a diet pop a couple of hours after a meal, I suddenly become famished and I can feel my blood sugar drop preciptously and I start getting the 'shakes and HAVE to eat RIGHT NOW. I've really cut down on diet pop recently (down from 3-4 cans/day to 1 a week) and boy, drinking water definitely does not have the same effect, even if it's 4 hours after a meal.

like real sugar instead of sweet and low type crap, real butter instead of margarine, and so forth.

I don't eat either one anymore though.....
whole food vegetarian diet is the best way to live, if you can.

He was whoring for Rummy's anthrax medicine.

They make us sick and make money off that.

why were high level D's targeted, but not R's, so many questions so many lies.

Although I that stuff is considered CT.

I always ask myself, what would a Mob with no honor code do? That's what the GOP would do/does.

The mob looks like angels compared to that bunch.

and, I do NOT drink sugared drinks either...what a waste of my hard earned monies.

Water and/or tea (hot or cold, unsweetened...black or green) and/or fresh juice (that I squeeze, not all that HIGH concentrated sugar stuff).

These soda companies have done a great job, spreading their poisons around the world. Gee, I don't why they and the cigarette companies, just don't merge and call themselves Death Inc.

This article is not even a surprise and is nothing different than I've thought for years.

sugar or corn syrup or whatever, why not your body?

Just observation...I've never drunk either, but noticed that many of those who drink diet soda, also have a lot of other crap around the house and are often over weight. Seems they somehow think that drinking diet soda will accommodate the sugar intake from other foods.

I did a paper on brain tumours in rats given aspartame. I couldn't believe that it was allowed onto the market with all the concerning research.

I had Fibro pain go through the roof when I chewed gum with aspartame. I'm glad I realized the link.

The stuff is problematic, on so many levels.

Absolutely zero proof of cause and effect. I'm guessing this one was bankrolled by the HFCS industry.

It bases its conclusions on the fact that more women who drink diet sodas are diabetic, while ignoring the fact that diabetic women generally don't use any products with real sugar in them BECAUSE THEY ARE DIABETIC. Artificial sweeteners were initially made for diabetics, not the diet industry.

If consumption of diet sodas is correlated with high sugar foods that could explain it right there. Such as having diet Pepsi with a doughnut to "save calories."

Last night I bought a 12 pack of diet Mountain Dew so my grandson could get $5 off a rides armband at the state fair tomorrow - just have to bring an empty can of that exact type.
Drank one can. Couldn't stop drinking that crap, drank 4 cans.
Woke up in the middle of the night with really bad foot cramps.
A little research seems to indicate the aspartame is likely the culprit.
Won't drink that crap again.

And yes, to whoever said it up thread - Stevia - without any other crap mixed in with it - is the way to go.
Also gotta say I never met anyone who excused eating a doughnut because they drank diet soda. Personally, soda with sugar or that corn shit (which is what they really should call it) makes my mouth feel gummy and sticky and I hate the sweetness.
That commercial that implies HFCS is just some adorable sweetener that oozes gently from fields of rustling natural corn (snerk) is disgusting. Yeah, your body can tell the difference. The only thing that HFCS has in common with sugar is that it has no nutrition.

So at my house - either soda with sugar or anything else without sugar or with Stevia. I'll take the safest route.

It tastes good occasionally.

and of course I am fine testing wise when I drink diet soda, but not fine when I drink soda with sugar. Since I can't eat more sweets or carbs anyway its either diet soda or no soda for me. Craving sweets is not the same as actually consuming them in any event.

is probably a hell of a lot better than a lot of the fake crap. I don't really drink any soda, but when I do, it isn't diet.

I am not diabetic, but I drink a ton of diet ginger ale. Do I now have to quit my last vice?

I take these studies with a huge grain of salt. If I listened to them all and stopped doing what they tell me to stop doing, I might as well be dead.

Yes, I'm feeling rather cynical this morning.

You have to take studies like this with a grain of salt. They are not about the diet soda but more about human behavior and people who think because they drink diet soda they can consume more fat overall in everything else. I don't believe the study indicated that the diet soda itself was a heightened cause of diabetes, just that people's behavior while drinking it increased the risk.

As long as you are not overall eating badly I wouldn't worry about it- drink all you want.

Who might have funded/co funded a study such as this.

I'd also like to see the complete methodology.

I feel like I can't function until I have Diet Dr. Pepper.

If I can't drink it or the Dr. Pepper, what should I do? People tell me green tea. I hate green tea.