Diet Soda and Obesity: Is There a Link?

I don't agree. In the few years I started drinking diet Pepsi and Diet Coke I've actually lost weight. Obesity is linked with poor lifestyle and eating habits. If you eat healthy foods and exercise it does not matter how much diet soda you drink. Period!

I have been a diabetic for almosy 2 years now and i am happy to say i am now used to Diet Pepsi, I always said i would never drink this stuff but it taste pretty good now.
I drank about two 2 liters a day of regular Pepsi with big time weight gain(About 35 Pounds) Diet Pepsi os a life saver because with out the taste od Pepsi at every meal, The food just dont tase good.
Oh...Also have only had 3 cavitys my entire life which means it cant be that bad for your teeth.

I'm really starting to think there is a link between diet soda and being fat. I work out 4xs a week for 1 hour plus. I do cardio for an hour and strength training for 20 minutes on these days. I also watch what I eat, eat lots of veges and love fruit! I eat salad for lunch w/ lowfat dressing and have a small breakfast w/ a fruit then for snacks I have another fruit and sometimes pretzels or lowcal baked chips (1-2 servings) then I eat a moderate dinner low in fat. I make sure to eat protein, count my calories daily but the catch is I only drink about 2-3 glasses of water a day. One at the gym and two later. I also drink 4 "Pepsi One"s a day! I am finding that my weight won't budge. It just stays the same. I have been on this routine for about 2 months now. Am I not giving my exercise and new healthy routine enough time or do you think that this diet soda consumption is the reason I am having a hard time losing the weight?!

When I was younger I had gotten down to about 104 lbs (from 140), and I drank diet soda all the time, usually I would walk every day to the gas station or store (if I wanted veggies as well) to get it.
Then something snapped and I started binge-eating (I think I was stressed and fed up with my parents on my back about being too skinny. I just didn't want to be overweight/obese, like the rest of my family, and a lot of my extended family), I gained about 18 pounds. But I still lost and kept off 18 pounds drinking diet soda. I think if I would have watched myself and gained weight in a healthier manner I would have better tone now, but that's not Diet Soda's fault.

If you're not eating enough calories, you might have difficulty losing weight. If you're eating too many calories/overestimating your calories burned, you may have trouble losing weight.
You may be gaining muscle mass, even though you're losing fat.
If you're already at a healthy weight you may have trouble getting the scale to move (my problem atm).

Just keep doing your thing, every now and then mix it up with something new, take up a new sport or something maybe. Lots of luck :)

i dont drink diet coke. I drink milk, water and fruit juice.

I am convinced that Diet Coke is causing the obesity epidemic.

I'm going to buy 2 mice, feed them similarly, but one gets nothing but Diet Coke and the other water. I am not well-funded but I think I can pull this off.

See you when I get the Nobel Prize for curing worldwide obesity by eliminating diet sodas.

This website is great, I have never really drank diet soda but now that im trying to lose weight I was going to start. But now that I know this I don't think I will. I also have heard that the artificial sweetener could cause cancer.

i usually get a weird feelin in my stomache from drinking diet soda. more of a hungry feeling, cause when i ate the feeling left maybe im not the only who this happenes to

I think this study's missing the obvious.....My roommate never drank diet soda, because he was skinny. The correlation is that fat people are more likely to drink diet soda to reduce weight!!! The only real way to make a direct correlation is to have a soda drinker who rarely drinks diet soda swtich to diet soda with no other changes in their diet and see what happens. I really think it's a myth that diet soda and help you gain weight. I don't even think the appetite stimulant theory is correct either. Lot me know if anyone is going to try switching to diet soda.

I don't know about any of the science behind it.. but I stoped drinking all soda about 2 1/2 weeks ago and have already lost an amazing 15 lbs... All I know is the few days of headaches was well worth it, and I will never go back to drinking it as much as I was if at all.

I stoped drinking pepsi and coke about a year ago and started drinking water and I lost about 40 pounds in 4 months. After I lost the weight I thought it was safe to drink diet soda, but now I've gained all the weight right back so I'm going back to drinking water.

"It may be that overweight people want a "short cut" with a nice no calorie drink. So being fat and taking the easy way out is the reason."

Gail, you are a douche.

I am truly addicted to this stuff, I drink at least 6 cans a day, have been for two years, before my addiction I was really really fat and lost 40 pounds and I been able to keep it off now for bout two years but I have not been able to lose anymore weight however...I want to stop drinking it, I tried in the past, I keep hearing how bad it is, but I am wondering if its this bad, then why is it allowed to be bought in the store? Why no warning label? I think if it had a warning, I would quit and be totally convinced it was truly bad for me. I keep hearing nothing bad news here, and it is bothering me now a bit more.

I read somewhere that the artificial sweeteners drop the metabolism by almost 70%, and that could be a problem for some people. My mom switched from full Pepsi to diet, and never lost a pound. Didn't gain, but didn't lose. I went from 2 ltr a day to watered down iced tea and then to straight water (I have 1 can reg Pepsi a week) and have (along with eating better) lost almost 60 lbs so far.I figured if I had to learn to like something, it might as well be water.
I don't think the fake sweeteners are good for you at all. What's horrible about the reg sodas is how quickly it can rot your teeth if you aren't vigilant about tooth care!
Now that I don't drink soda all the time, my food tastes better too, and sweet are sweet again.:)

I am a physician. I am a strong believer in moderation of all intake. I eat and drink everything that is available on the market today. Yes, that includes water, coffee, tea, diet soda with aspartame, diet soda with sucralose, regular soda, fruit juices, beer, liquor, fruits, vegetables, starches, meats, breads, cereals, fatty foods). I come from a very obese family and I'm the only one who is of normal weight (5'10" 140 lbs). I don't count calories. I just watch my portions and exercise regularly. I don't ever overeat. I don't ever skip exercise. That's all there is to it, for me.

I think it doesnt chemically make you obese, but I believe people make THEMSELVES obese by overcompensating calories that they no longer consume through soft drinks. People need to realize that taking out the calories in the sugared pop is the reason we switch to diet, and that subtraction of those calories will (hopefully) help you lose weight. But then people go ahead and have those king sized fries because "I can because I drink diet now."

i heard that diet soda had more sugar than the other sodas i think diet soda is not good because it can make u fatter than what you are know

I have been drink soda just like you since I was a tennager. Even before that but not sure when. Well, I made a deal with myself when I hit 210. It got to stop and I did. It only been 9 days and I have lost a lot onmy but, legs all over my pants are falling off me. Try for 12 days drinking anything else. Just 12 days and see how you feel. All I did was stop drinking soda. I went from an 17 to a 15 size pants. I can see my shoes. The funny part I can see myself going to a size 6-8 by Dec.

I drink a lot of water but staying away from diet pop has it easy to keep 8% body fat than the other ten years I drank pop.

Emily said:
Now I am sooo confused I thought that diet pop was good for you? I am addicted to pop especially coke , and pepsi, I don't like any other pop , it has to be a cola , and I thought that if I stopped drinking the regular that I would be able to lose weight while on a low carb diet and no sweets like chocolate , and now I am reading in these posts tha[...]

I am not overweight but would like to lose a few pounds...i don't drink diet coke regularly but i find that instead of snacking diet coke fills me up...so if i replace snacking with it, i find i don't need to snack. Now this only means i have one can a day max...surely this isn't a bad thing?

These studies are only valid if everything else is held equal. Let's see some studies of two groups - one with a healthy, reduced calorie diet with exercise with no diet soda versus a healthy, reduced calorie diet with exercise and no diet soda. If the reduced calorie, exercise group with diet soda is still obese, then maybe there is something to it. Otherwise, I'm inclined to believe that this is behavioral as this study only checked for ethnicity, age, and gender, but not eating habits and exercise patterns, which is essential for weight loss/maintenance. Obese people are ordering double whoppers with cheese, large fries, a diet coke, and no exercise. The example of eating a donut after a diet drink is not due to the body "craving" a donut after drinking a diet soda; it's the person thinking they had a diet soda with no calories who justifies it's now ok to eat the donut! The person who says the diet soda stimulates the appetite and now craves the donut is trying to justify it - "It's the diet soda's fault, not mine". Right now, I am craving KFC chicken with mashed potatoes for lunch, but instead I will go to Subway and get a turkey sandwich. After I eat the turkey sandwich, I will be full, my KFC craving will be a distant memory, and I won't be beating myself up about how I should have gone to Subway instead.

I know from personal experience that cutting soda out of my diet was responsible for losing 10 pounds. Why? Because at the time I wasn't doing anything different except cutting sugary soda out of my diet. Counting up the calories, this made sense because I was now cutting out 200 calories per day that were unnecessary. This was the cause of my weight loss because everything else was held equal. I adopted the rule of zero calories from liquids and I lost weight. Then I started (low intensity) exercising, reduced calories, and lost even more weight, faster. Then I started increasing intensity, and lost even more weight.

I drink diet soda in moderation, but I drink mostly water and tea. I don't justify the donut because I cut out 200 calories from soda. I account for every calorie. If I eat a sweet treat like a brownie as I do occasionally, I eat half of the brownie I'm given (because a 2x2inch square is too large), then I need to spend extra time on the stair machine and consume fewer calories. I eat a decadent desert treat like a brownie maybe once a month. I eat fruit for a sweet treat on a daily basis. Diet soda helps me get that cola 'fix' without adding calories to my daily total.

BTW, in Asia the kids drink full leaded cola, but they are half the size of the coke cans here, and they drink it as a treat maybe once a month or less. Many of the girls I saw were sharing these 6 oz (ours are typically 12oz) small size coke cans between two of them. They hate the taste of diet soda, and it doesn't sell well there. Asia has the lowest incidences of obesity in the world. We simply drink too much of it!

Whoops this was supposed to be:

Let's see some studies of two groups - one with a healthy, reduced calorie diet with exercise with no diet soda versus a healthy, reduced calorie diet with exercise and diet soda.

During my undergraduate work I took quite a few neuropsychopharmacology courses. My Professor specialized in rat research and had actually "worked" in the field before entering the halls of acadamia. One of his big suggestions to us was that we not drink diet soda because there had been research conducted that linked obesity in lab rats to consumption of the diet soda. This study was performed by one of the major cola companies and was shut down when the results came out. The Professor informed us that the cause of this reaction was that the body releases insulin in anticipation to receiving its much loved glucose and when the insulin has nothing to bond with it is stored away as, you guessed it, fat! Hope this is helpful or that someone else knows the study I'm referring to.

neuro said:
neuro[...]

It's been very interesting reading what people think about this issue. And there is only a small amount of skinny people in this country that can wave their hand and say they don't care when it comes to diet drinks and foods and hopes to keep the weight down. I have studied anatomy at school and O like to imagine the body as one large chemical factory, that constantly changes and adjusts for what it has to deal with each day. Now let's say the whole theory of your body starting to produce insulin as soon as the taste buds sense sweetness is true. The tongue does not differentiate between sugar sweet and aspartame sweet. It is not it's function. It only lets the brain know, there is something sweet entering the body. The brain lets the rest of the body know to be prepared for it and part of the deal is for your pancreas to start producing insulin and release it into the blood stream to be ready for it.
When it comes to the human body, logics is the word. That is how it operates. One chemical reaction after another, but it has been developing for millions of years for a reason. It has learned to anticipate as well.The concept of artificial sweeteners is very new on the ladder of evolution, so no wonder that our bodies are confused by it. The point I'm trying to get to is that if you consume a can of diet pop, which tasted very sweet, your body assumes there will be alot of sugar coming in and starts to prepare for it. It means well, you need insulin in your blood stream to use the energy from all that sugar and there is no time to waste. The problem starts when the insulin doesn't have the sugar to work with. It becomes loose insulin in your blood. Which pretty much equals an overdose of insulin for people that have to inject it into their body. Have you ever seen that situation? It is not enjoyable for them. They need to get some food into their body fast at that point. It is draining and exhausting, very stressful for your body.
What happens next? Let's use our logic. What would you do at work if you over-prepared for a situation? You would feel confident about managing the emergency next time and slack off. It only makes sense for your body to assume that the last time around it got ready for a lot of sugar and there was none, there was wasted energy spent on creating insulin that never got used and will decide to not produce as much this time around. So in effect with each diet pop you drink, you are training your body to produce less and less insulin when the tongue calls for it. Can you figure out what you just did to your system? You created a pseudo-diabetes. After the next meal when actual sugar does come in, your body does not respond as it should. Now there is sugar floating around in your bloodstream, but your body doesn't deal with it as it needs to. Do you know the harm free sugar in your blood can cause? I have seen it in my poor Grandma. She went blind, lost her toe, than her foot and then her life. Diabetes kills slowly and painfully. And in my eyes, so does diet pop.

Why are you guys so stuck to diet soda? It ain't natural and it ain't healthy? just a bit filling , so there are plenty of other ways to do that. Get out of it.

Can anyone point to a real study (not a popular web page) that gives some evidence that artifical sweeteners can increase insulin production? I always learned that it was triggered by digesting carbohydrates, and not because your sweet taste buds were excited.

I've found a lot of people saying artificial sweeteners trigger insulin production, but so far I can't distinguish it from an urban legend.

Quito!
I wouldn't be surprised if just thinking about diet or non-diet food triggers insulin release. I think in the big picture, the body adapts, within reason, to dietary variables.

meshuganut said:
if you consume a can of diet pop, which tasted very sweet, your body assumes there will be alot of sugar coming in and starts to prepare for it. It means well, you need insulin in your blood stream to use the energy from all that sugar and there is no time to waste. The problem starts when the insulin doesn't have the sugar to work with. It becomes loose insulin in your blood. Which pretty much equals an overdose of insulin for people that have to inject it into their body. Have you ever seen that situation? It is not enjoyable for them. They need to get some food into their body fast at that point. It is draining and exhausting, very stressful for your body. What happens next? [...]

So according to your theory, every time I drink a can of diet soda and don't eat immediately afterwards, I'm putting myself into insulin shock? My cousin has Type 1 diabetes and I've seen her accidentally get too much insulin. And I can definitely say that that is NOT what happens when I drink a diet soda. Sorry to burst your bubble. Type 2 diabetes doesn't really have much to do with actual insulin production so much as it has to do with insulin resistance in your body's cells. I drink diet soda and use artificial sweeteners...my blood sugar profile's always been really good.

I'm beginning to think that diet pops are keeping me from losing weight.

First of all, I'm definitely addicted to soda, and later it became diet soda.
There was absolutely NO weight loss when I switched. For years I have had 1-5
diet sodas every day, no exceptions. I know, that's awful, it's an addiction.
I'd have one after the other.

So, I noticed if I had one in the morning on an empty stomach it would me feel
SUPER hungry. My stomach would almost ache for something to eat. And vice versa, after
lunch I'd have a diet soda and I'd feel really full because of it.

So, every summer for the last 7 years I'd try to diet to lose weight from the previous
winter. And I'd lose very little weight despite both training for a marathon, running 20-30
miles a week, and dieting, cutting calories down to 1600-2000. I'd lose 3 pounds the first week,
then my weight loss would stop for the next 3 weeks and I'd stay the same despite running about 6 hours a week.
And I'd give up dieting.

All the while I was having 2-5 diet Coke's a day. And I've even tried drinking
50-100 ounces a water a day (in addition to the diet). So I'm beginning to wonder if the diet
sodas are sabotaging my very very hard efforts to lose weight?

There's no doubt they make me more hungry, but are they also stopping weight loss as well?

I'm going to stop drinking any soda for 2 weeks, diet, excercise and see if my weight drops...

Timothy said:
I'm going to stop drinking any soda for 2 weeks, diet, excercise and see if my weight drops...

Good plan, but try 6 weeks instead. Two weeks isn't typically long enough to make much a difference. Your body will be still gearing up into fat burning mode.

I test my insulin levels, and diet soda has never caused a spike.

I also drink iced tea with lemon and equal, as well as Crystal Light.

I think this research is not clear in its model, and the reason for the observations are not clear, so the authors had to quess at a reason.

My weight levels seem to depend more on my thyroid function.

i drink around 4 regular soda a day. haven't lost or gained a pound in years. its not the soda that makes you gain weight, or lose weight.

Many people say, "I do A, therefore, I conclude B, therefore B applies to everyone. Soda is Good or Bad.
I say, everyone is different. Their habits, bodies, chemistry, and genetics.

Therefore, you should experiment and see what is best for you. If you are having trouble losing weight, try
cutting out all regular and diet soda for a set period of time and see if that's it. This MUST be coupled with
calorie counting and excercise.

For me, something is seriously wrong in my weight loss attempts and I'm very close to seeing a nutritionist.
I've spent the last several summers cutting daily calories down to 1500-1800, working out extensively (jogging/mtn biking/hiking 6 hours a week) for the summer months, and I would lose only 5-10 pounds in 24 weeks? And yes, I'm overweight. I'm male, 5'11,
currently 207 lbs. All tables say I should be about 170ish.

I know I have potential to lose weight at a rate of 3.1 pounds per week. About 5 years ago I did the Weight Watchers program for 13 weeks. I was very serious about it. I recorded everything, excercised, drank 80 ounces water a day, stayed within points and lost an average of 3.1 per week. Every single week I lost a chunk of weight, never any plateaus, exactly what I would expect. I had my weight down from 216 to 174 - roughly. (Later I gained the weight back I ate bad and wasn't worrying about it (my fault entirely)).

I haven't been below 200 since.

However, since that time, I have tried the same exact program and many others that were similar and my weight loss completely quit.
I have the cycle figured out. I would gain weight over the winter, summer would come and I would run extensively, and my weight loss would do this during any period of diet and excercise. (always maintaining 5+ diet sodas a day thinking the 0 calories was doing no harm)

Week 1. Lose 3.4 pounds.
Week 2. Lose .2 pounds.
Week 3. Gain .2 pounds.
Week 4. Stay the same.
Week 5. Get sick of cutting calories and quit.

So this year, I've been training for a marathon for the last 5 months, running about 25 miles a week. I started at 215, and I've lost about 8 pounds. But that's terrible for 20 weeks. Roughly .4 pounds per week? (drinking roughly 5 diet sodas a day).

So, yesterday I decided to continue to train for my marathon on Labor day, but this time cut out all soda. If I see my weight drop steadily I will be convinced it was the cause of my problems because I've tried everything. Not sure what else it could be if I diet and excercise?
By the way, I've already seen results, but I'll keep them to myself because it is too early to tell.
I'm currently eating 1800 calories a day, training for a marathon, and drinking 80-100 ounces of water a day, and no soda whatsoever. I use Calorie King software to count calories. I weigh myself in the mornings - no clothes - for consistency/accuracy sake. That's it.

I'll report back in the weeks to come.
(if anyone cares)

Timothy--just curious, you're training for a marathon and only doing 20-30 miles a week? I'm doing one in September and I usually run 60 miles a week.

And I'm not trying to lose weight now or anything, but when I was actively trying to lose, diet sodas didn't stop me from losing. But that's just me....it could be different for you. Hope your plan works out for you.

Timothy said:
Many people say, "I do A, therefore, I conclude B, therefore B applies to everyone. Soda is Good or Bad.
I say, everyone is different. Their habits, bodies, chemistry, and genetics. [...]

Hey Timothy!

Thanks so much for your input. I especially like your opening sentiments - how very true! I just want to wish you all the best with your training and ABSOLUTELY keep us posted on your progress!

Are you guys familiar with the study of first time marathon runners and whether or not they finish the marathon. It's conclusion was that the drop out rate for the marathon and for those unsuccessful at weight loss attempts was exactly the same! Timothy, Spectra's correct. Pick up the weekly distance, and you will have a better chance of succeeding on both counts. Good Luck!

Hello again. Since someone mentioned it. I've finished the Chicago and the Milwaukee marathon. I was 192 for Chicago, and 200 for Milwaukee. The Milwaukee I was very disappointed in my lack of weight loss. I trained about 4 months and lost about 9 pounds. Not acceptable.

Btw, I was a college athlete that put on major pounds after college. Roughly 50 pounds.

Currently, I'm training for the Tupelo, MS marathon on 9/2/2007 about 5 weeks away. It's sort of a joint venture. I run to lose weight and I want to lose weight to run.

As for my running mileage, I do roughly 25-30 miles a week (AVERAGE) - only training to finish (not speed - speed = no fun and more injury) - and my Sunday long runs are getting longer. (See Jeff Galloway training program i.e. Long and slow.) I do a couple long runs of 15-22 miles before a marathon. I do plenty of walking in between.

On my rest days I mountain bike around the neighborhood. I workout about 6 hours a week (average).

My frustration is that I workout a lot, and at times I diet, and I lose very very little.

I did notice recently also, that I drink slim fast for breakfast fairly often. Not as a way to lose weight really, just a quick breakfast that I don't have to make before work.

I looked at the back of the can and it says, "contains nutritive and non-nutritive sweeteners". So I'm stopping that also.

I would like to report that I've been stuck at about 206 pounds for about 8 weeks. Sometimes I would get up to 209, sometimes, down to 205. My current weight this morning was 201.4. I have seen a big downturn over the last couple days. However, I cannot say, "it was the diet pop guzzling that did it." Because I fear I'm on my way to another 8 week plateau.

If I continue to lose weight consistently over the next several weeks, I'll be firmly convinced it was the diet pop, or actually, likely, artificial sweeter that's in it.

My net calorie intake is about 1700 after figuring in running and eating. I use Calorie King software for this. It's as accurate as I can get.

Hope this helps.

As for soda withdrawals and headaches, I'm on day 3 of my "no soda" test, and I haven't experienced anything strange, no headaches or cravings.
I suspect that headaches that people report are caused from caffeine withdrawals.

The only other downside is that if I replace soda with milk or juice I have to add the calories in.

Don't get me wrong,
I would still like to grab a soda every now and then, cause I get tired of water. I'm not a big lover of water. I force myself to drink 80+ ounces a day, but it's not fun...I bought a huge 24 ounce water bottle I carry around.

I upped my coffee intake also. I'm having 1 large Mcdonalds black coffees a day now instead. Nothing added - black.
By the way, don't get the Mcdonalds iced coffee. It has a bunch of calories. I ordered an iced coffee once and I told the lady, "don't put anything in it". In other words I expected black coffee on the rocks. I watched her put some kind of white powder in it. I went on the internet and I saw that their iced coffees have a bunch of calories...
Careful.