Is diet soda costing you more than you bargained for?

[QuarterMillionMan]

I learned recently that diet soda causes heart palpitations. I used to drink diet Coke and noticed my heart fluttering but didn't know it at the time it was from the diet Coke. About 1 year ago I stopped buying diet Coke after learning it might cause cancer or some other medical problems so I buy regular Coke but I only drink 1 or 2 cans a week (not a day).

[crazyliblady]

I learned recently that diet soda causes heart palpitations. I used to drink diet Coke and noticed my heart fluttering but didn't know it at the time it was from the diet Coke. About 1 year ago I stopped buying diet Coke after learning it might cause cancer or some other medical problems so I buy regular Coke but I only drink 1 or 2 cans a week (not a day).

I have never had diet soda of any type. However, I was addicted to regular soda for about 25 years. After trying to quit cold turkey, I gave up quitting for awhile. Then, I decided to gradually decrease how much soda I was drinking by diluting it with water, a little bit at first and increasing the water later.

[Drake3287]

I also gave up diet soda's years ago after finding myself drinking too much of it. About the only type of diet drink I might buy now will be a sugar free Gatorade once in awhile, haven't had a regular soda in many years. Hard to believe some people still drink a 6 pack of regular soda everyday. Talk about bad for you.

[ua_guy]

Drinking diet soda (any soda) or anything, really, can become habitual or even cause psychological dependence, I think. I've had too much diet soda at different points in my life. Having worked in an office for a long time, nothing quite satisfies like cracking open a cool, fizzy and intensely sweet cola as I'm diving into my work. Or escaping work momentarily. Too much of that (drinking soda), and it becomes a bad habit. The studies around does diet soda causing cause cancer, weight gain, diabetes, etc are all very real and may have some bite. For a long time, I told myself, well, it's still better than smoking. Or drinking regular soda. Or an actual drug habit.

We used to buy it in flat packs from Costco. Or 3x12 for $10 at the grocery store, which has gone up, now. It's an expensive habit to have when you're drinking 2+ per day.

I've gone a year without the stuff after making a drastic effort to reduce my caffeine intake last year and discard things that just weren't productive, in general. No matter what I try, I can't get excited about water unless i'm actually thirsty, and I need more fluid than just when I'm thirsty. My success in dumping a soda habit is only successful from the standpoint of eliminating additional caffeine. I've transferred the habit to sparkling water with natural flavorings. No caffeine, sugars, sodium, or artificial sweeteners, at least. Waterloo is my go-to. I prefer it over La Croix. It's still expensive for what it is. I also supplement with unsweetened iced teas, either home-brewed or purchased. Every now and then I'll mix in a little (real) lemonade for a treat.

On a maybe-related note, I've also stopped using Omeprazole. I have a family history of GERD and have suffered it too. What I thought was hereditary, and some of it may be, appears to be mostly because of my eating habits. Eliminating much of the additional caffeine and diet soda in particular has greatly helped, along with cleaning up my diet and being particularly careful to not create conditions for reflux to occur at night. That's an additional expense that I've been able to cut...both Prilosec and generics are expensive.

[Fishindude77]

it's still better than smoking. Or drinking regular soda. Or an actual drug habit.

Like it or not soda is very popular and millions of gallons of it are consumed in America and worldwide.
So, if you are going to drink the stuff, diet is far better for you than regular soda.

In moderation, it's probably not going to send you to an early grave.

[disneysteve]

Like it or not soda is very popular and millions of gallons of it are consumed in America and worldwide.
So, if you are going to drink the stuff, diet is far better for you than regular soda.

In moderation, it's probably not going to send you to an early grave.

Here's the problem with soda, diet or regular, and it's the same problem in the US with food in general. PORTION SIZES.

When Coca-Cola was introduced, it came in ONE size, a 6 oz bottle. That's it. No 12 oz cans. No 20 oz bottles. No 2L bottles. No 64 oz Super Big Gulp. When you had a Coke, you had 6 oz of it. Today, you can go to a movie or restaurant and order a "small" Coke and it will be 24 oz or more. That's not one Coke; that's 4 Cokes.

We drink Coke Zero in our house. We buy 12 oz cans and almost never drink an entire can in one sitting. We have caps that snap onto the top to keep it fresh until someone else finishes it at another time. So maybe I drink 6-8 oz when I have a Coke at home, as it should be. Diet or regular, I don't think 8 oz is going to have a major impact on my health.

[ua_guy]

Like it or not soda is very popular and millions of gallons of it are consumed in America and worldwide.
So, if you are going to drink the stuff, diet is far better for you than regular soda.

In moderation, it's probably not going to send you to an early grave.

I'm not actually sure diet is better than regular from a health standpoint, I can't answer that. I know it has fewer calories, and I'd consider that a benefit at face value. There is research I find interesting about how artificial sweeteners can also spike insulin and cause you to eat more. Also, the effect that drinking diet sodas has on gut bacteria. There's all kinds of junk science on gut bacteria, but studies of substance indicate that soda can alter your but biome, which also affects satiety and eating habits.

I'm not on any kind of crusade against soda, just trying to drink less of it, personally.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Those 2 ingredients in Coke Zero are questionable to me. I would not drink it.

[myrdale]

Personally I'll knock out a 20 oz ($2.50) Diet Pepsi in the morning. At noon, depending on where I eat, I'll have a 64 oz (~$3.50?) Diet Coke / Diet Pepsi / Mellow Yellow Zero Cherry with my meal and refill the cut 64 oz (free) before going back to work. In the evenings after working out I might swing by the grocery store for a 52 oz ($2.50?) Gold Peak Diet Tea.

200 oz, $9 through out the day. That's not everyday, but it's not untypical.

Would water be cheaper and healthier? Almost certainly.

Our toxic diet goes beyond what we drink. I love salmon, how much microplastics is in that. And that's in bottled water also. How about your drinking water. We grew up on well water. After taking up caving as a hobby and understanding a little more about how water moves underground, even that isn't a guarantee for clean water. Even rain isn't a guarantee for clean water.

I suspect a lot of the nonsense we hear about today goes back to hormones in the food the mothers of these people ate when they were pregnant 25 to 40 years ago.

I don't agree with the climate extremist, but I do think we have changed our environment in a permeate way that is only getting worse with time. And even if we solve our issues here in the US, you still have China and India and the rest of the developing world.

[disneysteve]

To follow up on my portion size post above, when the 3 of us are in Disney World, we usually drink water but will occasionally get a Coke. One regular size Coke that the 3 of us share with our meal. That’s 7-8 oz for each of us which is plenty.

A number of years ago we were in Canada at a tourist attraction cafeteria. I ordered one Coke figuring we’d share it like always. Except it wasn’t the US. A Coke was an 8 oz cup so I had to go back and get 2 more.

And that’s why obesity is rampant here and not so much in other countries.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Water is my thing. Everyday I have one of these freezing half full in preparation for the next day. I drink a full jug of water daily and more.

[disneysteve]

Water is my thing. Everyday I have one of these freezing half full in preparation for the next day. I drink a full jug of water daily and more

We also have a big sport bottle that we keep partly filled and frozen and fill any time we’re going out. In the house we have a 5-gallon water cooler in the kitchen (like you see in offices) and we drink from that all day.

[QuarterMillionMan]

As soon as one is empty I'll fill it up. One lasts maybe 3 or 4 days for me alone. I also use for cooking stews, soups, to make coffee, etc. Los Angeles has very hard water and I fill it up at those commercial dispensing machines outside grocery stores. I've thought about installing a filtration system but I rent so didn't want to waste money should I move. Hawaii has the best water which I used to drink straight out of the tap.

[disneysteve]

I've thought about installing a filtration system but I rent so didn't want to waste money should I move.

What about a filter that screws onto the faucet or a filter pitcher in the fridge? Either is fairly inexpensive and you can take them with you if you move.

[QuarterMillionMan]

The way I go through water those things are like toys. I would need something like this.

NU Aqua 100GPD Under Sink Reverse Osmosis Water Filter System - 120 Day Trial | eBay