diet drinks: myth or fact?

[Miranda]

I tried to type in "diet pop and fat" or to that affect in the search engine here, as I know this has been touched upon. The search results were really mixed up, so I'm posting...

Alright... what's the deal:mad:...

Does diet pop really make you fat, or what? :confused:

I have Googled some articles about it, thinking the sweetner itself was the culprit, but all this "he said, she said" jargon research came up. I starting getting a headache, so I decided to ask the wise women of TE;).

I was a diet pop junkie. Then I totally ditched the stuff (for 3 years). Actually, to even try to drink it made me SICK. But, over the holidays, I somehow :rolleyes: slide back to the diet Satan in a can. I refer to the skinny soda as Satan because I do know that for ME it causes major carb loaded (not good carbs) cravings.

Getting back on the band wagon, I'm detoxing from diet pop. Not a drop since the New Year. However, I'm sitting here drinking a Snapple "diet" green tea wondering if it will make me fat?

I hate green tea. I'm trying to drink it at the advice of a die hard green tea drinking GF who says it's so good for you, helps you lose weight, etc.

The Snapple bottle says it's sweetened with "Splenda"...

Is it the fake sugar that makes you crave the real stuff, or what?

Brain explosion clean up in aisle four:eek::o:p...

EDIT: great *grumbles*, my green tea to go Lipton packets you dump in bottle water has fake sugar in it too. Crud, maybe the receipt for return is still in my coat pocket.

[Mr. Bloom]

I can't speak for scientific fact or fiction...but I am convinced that the sweeteners MAKE ME voraciously crave sweet foods.

[Eden]

Personally I think fake sugars taste nasty.....

As far as green tea goes.... its not really meant to be served with sugar and IMHO doesn't need it at all as there are few bitter notes in a good green tea. I do generally prefer sugar with black teas. That said its difficult to find a mass produced iced green with no sugar added unless you have access to a natural food store or asian food store. If you like a sweeter tasting green tea try unsweetened jasmine green if you can find it. The jasmine flower brings a sweet note without needing sugar.

[Miranda]

I can't speak for scientific fact or fiction...but I am convinced that the sweeteners MAKE ME voraciously crave sweet foods.

I would agree with that. Pizza is a food example of mine. Even with ditching the pop, anytime I would have a massive white bread crust, greasy meat, pizza... I HAD TO HAVE DIET POP! Then, it's like the vicious cycle.

[Miranda]

Personally I think fake sugars taste nasty.....

As far as green tea goes.... its not really meant to be served with sugar and IMHO doesn't need it at all as there are few bitter notes in a good green tea. I do generally prefer sugar with black teas. That said its difficult to find a mass produced iced green with no sugar added unless you have access to a natural food store or asian food store. If you like a sweeter tasting green tea try unsweetened jasmine green if you can find it. The jasmine flower brings a sweet note without needing sugar.


:)Thanks for that tip, Eden. I really love black tea. I like the strong taste. I usually get it iced as a treat at my fav coffee house with lunch. It must be good leaves. When I tried to brew my own green tea at home, it was so nasty. Like a cross between yard grass clippings and green snot. However, we do have a pretty good health food all natural type market next town over from Mayberry. I might see what they have. The jasmine too is an option. I'm always looking for new stuff to try but just don't know what to pick.

[emily_in_nc]

Here ya go:

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/Story?id=4271246&page=1

[Blueberry]

:)Thanks for that tip, Eden. I really love black tea. I like the strong taste. I usually get it iced as a treat at my fav coffee house with lunch. It must be good leaves. When I tried to brew my own green tea at home, it was so nasty. Like a cross between yard grass clippings and green snot. However, we do have a pretty good health food all natural type market next town over from Mayberry. I might see what they have. The jasmine too is an option. I'm always looking for new stuff to try but just don't know what to pick.

Brew green tea with 175 degree water for 2 minutes. It gets really bitter with a longer steep or hotter water. Hopefully that will help:)

CA

[Eden]

Brew green tea with 175 degree water for 2 minutes. It gets really bitter with a longer steep or hotter water. Hopefully that will help:)

CA

Very true! Interestingly enough I've found the better the tea, the more carefully you must treat it.... an inexpensive green tea will be more forgiving than a very good one. Some brands can just be icky... I had one Chinese tea that no matter how you brewed it tasted salty and grassy. I don't think I've ever had a Japanese tea I didn't like (and have had plenty of good Chinese teas too).

I also really like Japanese Genmaicha, which is green tea with roasted rice and sometimes pop corn in it. It's very hearty.

[Miranda]

Here ya go:

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/Story?id=4271246&page=1


Thx for that link. There were so many different articles that came up when I googled. I think it means "the sweet" just makes you crave more "sweets" in general. I wonder in the study of people if it's a sense of false hope?

Meaning, "well, even though I'm at McDonald's drive thru getting a BigMac meal with french fries, I'm drinking a diet pop, so that's a calorie saver".

That reminds me of a life changing diet book I read. It was bought originally for DH's high cholesterol. "The South Beach Diet". That doc's book made the most sense to me of anything I have ever read.

At the time, I was on the "fat free diet" approach. The SBD doc says all they did was strip out the fat, and load the product up with sugary bad carbs that just make your blood sugar skyrocket and crash. Which leads to craving more sugar/carbs to balance yourself out.

I'm going to dig my book back out and see if he mentions the fake sugars.

[Miranda]

Brew green tea with 175 degree water for 2 minutes. It gets really bitter with a longer steep or hotter water. Hopefully that will help:)

CA

That I did not do. But I will now. Thx! My lame tea prep was a cup of H2O in the microwave with a baggie dipped in it:o.

[Eden]

Interesting article. It sounded like they don't really know why the artificial sweetener rats overeat, if its physiological or psychological, but the researcher seemed to be leaning toward physiological. If that's the case then does it go for all non-sugar type sweeteners or only truly artificial ones? So say aspertame or saccharine would be bad, but stevia or sucralose OK?

[Zen]

I like splenda, hate diet soda and make my own green tea blend (cut the grassiness with a bag of Earl Grey).

So there ya go.

[Kalidurga]

If you like drinking bottled tea for convenience or whatever, Honest Tea's Honey Green (http://www.honesttea.com/products/plastic/flavor.php?t=3) and Just Green (http://www.honesttea.com/products/tea/just_green/) are both good, as are their black teas. On the whole, the company uses very little sugar (http://www.honesttea.com/mission/philosophy/lesssugar/) in their products, if any.

Though my preference is always for a good robust black tea with a lotta raw sugar. White sugar just doesn't seem to have as much flavor as raw, and all of the artificial sweeteners taste funky to me.

[Jolt]

Looks like somebody already mentioned the study on this topic that I had heard about and was going to bring up. As for diet soda etc. and anything with fake sugar, I just don't think they're good for you regardless. Too many funky chemicals with unknown long-term effects (besides, they just taste icky IMHO). Try putting a little bit of honey in the green tea and see if you like it better that way. You can also add lemon juice.

[Blueberry]

I also really like Japanese Genmaicha, which is green tea with roasted rice and sometimes pop corn in it. It's very hearty.

Just goes to show we're all different - Genmaicha is the one tea I've found that I absolutely do not like:)

CA

[shootingstar]

Very true! Interestingly enough I've found the better the tea, the more carefully you must treat it.... an inexpensive green tea will be more forgiving than a very good one. Some brands can just be icky... I had one Chinese tea that no matter how you brewed it tasted salty and grassy. I don't think I've ever had a Japanese tea I didn't like (and have had plenty of good Chinese teas too).

I also really like Japanese Genmaicha, which is green tea with roasted rice and sometimes pop corn in it. It's very hearty.

I enjoy Genmaicha -it has a pleasant natural green tea with slight toast undernotes.

My palate does distinguish between strong black teas and green teas...in that I dislike straight black tea. I must have a black tea with abit of milk, but no sugar. I never take any sugar nor honey in any tea I drink --black or green.

Sweetened green tea is unnatural to me so I never buy boxed/bottled sweetened teas (greeen or black) at all.

[channlluv]

I love Honest Tea, but I found I can save a lot of money if I brew my own. I go for easy, too. I use Culligan water in a 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup, plus four tea bags, in the microwave for five minutes, then I let it steep while I finish making breakfast. (Go ahead and cringe all you tea pros. I know that's not the best way, but it take so long for the water to boil on the stove, and then steep, too...I can't be late for work.)

I use various green teas. Lipton's green tea is pretty good. I like organic jasmine green tea, too, though. And I rarely use sweetener, but I guess I've gotten used to the bitter notes.

I pour my four cups into portable water bottles and drink it through lunch.

People keep asking me what my secret is for beautiful skin. I tell them green tea. Me and Gwyneth Paltrow. I read it in a magazine. Ha!

Also, I read in another magazine - or maybe it was here - that if you take those brewed green tea bags and let them cool, then rub them on your bare skin and let the green tea dry, your skin soaks up lots of antioxidants.

I don't know if that's true or not, but my skin actually has improved quite a bit since I started doing that. It helps my rosacea a lot.

How do you all transport your drinking water every day? I know you're supposed to drink half your body weight in ounces of water. For me, that's 125 ounces of water every day. That's just shy of 16 cups of water. A full gallon of water. Ai-chi-wah-wah.

I don't drink soda at all, but I do get two or three pieces of fruit every day. I think that helps, but I never get the full amount of water.

How do you all do it?

Roxy

[Miranda]

...but I never get the full amount of water.

How do you all do it?



Thx for the tea tips. As far as water goes, I'm really bad about that. I hate drinking just plain water and am working on that one. For spin class say, I'll make sure I drink one water bottle. That's three 8oz glasses. Now, I've been refilling it before I leave the gym and make sure I drink it before the days over. That makes six 8oz glasses total. I have always just went by the 6-8 glasses (8oz each) a day thing. The other things I drink have caffeine in them (coffee, tea) so I don't count them.

[Miranda]

I like splenda, hate diet soda and make my own green tea blend (cut the grassiness with a bag of Earl Grey).

So there ya go.

That's good to know because I like Earl Grey. I typically use a decaf form for the evenings. A Brittish lady friend of mine instroduced it to me a few years ago. She's since moved away, or I'd have her brewing my tea the "proper way".

[Miranda]

Thanks, those are great tea tips for one thing!:) I think the jury is still out on the fake sugars. I think I'm going to ditch any drinks with the fake sweetner. I know this sounds crazy, but giving up diet pop again was hard:o:(. If it's the fake sweetner that causes me the trouble, I don't want to be drinking it again in anything else. I think on my health food store trip I'll ask them about the alternatives mentioned here for supplies.

[channlluv]

My favorite natural sweeters are Stevia (you can buy it in packets, like Splenda, et. al., but it's natural, not chemical) and Agave nectar, which is a little pricy, but similar to honey in consistency and delivery (in a sqeeze bottle).

Roxy

[Biciclista]

I also really like Japanese Genmaicha. Never use sugar, and i drink it 360 days out of the year. I even take it with me on trips.

Earl Grey i like but i can't really drink it without sugar. weird, huh.

We eschew anything with artificial sweeteners in them.

[lph]

i don't drink diet stuff, but i dislike the taste of most artificial sweeteners and i find most sodas way way too sweet anyway, like drinking syrup. i love fruit juice though, and smoothies, and edible sweets, so go figure. (literally, i guess :p)

daily i drink black coffee, green tea w/lemon with a small teaspoon of raw sugar and extra lemon juice, white tea with berry flavour unsweetened and peppermint tea or similar in the evening, maybe a tsp of sugar. eat a cookie or two with it. i find my sweet tooth gets accustomed to sugar over the xmas holidays, for instance, and takes a while to get down again. have tried cutting out those final tsps of sugar, but i don't find it worth it.

[badger]

I was going to mention stevia as well, though I don't know how good they taste as one kind I tried was absolutely disgusting. I had to throw my coffee out.

I do think microwaving tea is blasphemous, but whatever works!

Personally I love exceptionally strong black tea, and I'm on the hunt at the moment to find the perfect tea for me. My neighbourhood tea merchant is happily sending me home with one sample after another.

As for green tea, the better the quality, the lighter in colour. A lot of bagged tea (black or green) are basically dregs of the whole leaf variety and usually not the best. So, if you brew green tea and it's brown, it's pretty low quality (I might be wrong on this, as I know a lot of Chinese green tea are supposed to come out light brown).

I also find that really good quality Japanese green tea like sencha make me pee like crazy. Detox? Caffeine? whatever it is, I never drink it past 3pm.

I'm also drinking a lot of rooibos and honeybush. Non-caffeinated and substitutes quite well as black tea if I want something heartier at night. Rooibos chai is nice with the spices.

I don't drink very much water at all. I figure if I'm drinking good quality organic teas (both caf and non-caf), it's probably better than just drinking straight water.

Btw, about the decaffeinated tea, make sure it's not done so chemically. You're better off drinking the caffeine than the chemicals they use.

[PamNY]

I used to drink tons of diet soda, then gave it up. I don't know if there's a connection with weight.

Green tea can be awful or wonderful. I purchase green teas from Upton:

http://www.uptontea.com

As mentioned earlier, don't let it steep too long. Upton sells sample-size teas which are fun to try. They have a variety of single-cup brewing devices so you can avoid tea bags.

If I have to drink bottled tea, I prefer Tea's Tea. They have several unsweetened teas. I love their Jasmine Green.

http://www.itoen.com/tea/index.cfm

Pam

Pam

[ny biker]

FWIW, I drink about 32 oz. of Diet Coke every day. I lost 10 lbs. last year. My ribs are visible.

[GLC1968]

Diet sodas won't 'make you fat' in an of themselves. I have always prefered diet soda to regular just because they are less sweet to me. That said, I don't like most diet sodas (just diet Coke)! ;)

Artificial sweetners do not trigger the desire for more sweets for me. My triggers are chemical, not taste related (except with raw onions...but that's a whole different topic!!), so things like sugar, honey and white flour (simple carbs) trigger the need for more carbs and in my case, that usually comes in the form of a sugar craving. Drinking a diet Coke while I'm actively trying to lose weight is like a mini 'safe' treat and I go ahead and occasionally indulge.

I do know of plenty of people who find that any sweetner (even no calorie but natural stevia) will trigger cravings for more. It's very individual so it's best to know your own reaction to things (studies be damned!).

That said, any artifical sweetner is clearly 'fake' and makes me worry that the chemicals are not good for you, particularly long term.

[shootingstar]

I do eat desserts but have never been thrilled nor interested in any soda/pop drink, regardless whether it was diet or non-diet. And not as a child, but then there was no choice for our family. Any pop was given to us only during special occasional meals (if that) or going out to restaurants.

At most I will drink some Mountain Dew if I had no other type of drink/juice to drink. I actually find a whole can of Coke or Pepsi too strong for my taste. Only a few baby sips. That's it. And better to keep it this way for me.

It is difficult for me to fathom people who have a pop drink for breakfast/early morning. Just a foreign concept unless you're out in the desert.

I've had some incredible jasmine (green) teas. There is 1 brand served by one of the Chinese restaurants in Vancouver that has a powerful floral jasmine smell when tea steeps a few seconds. It is incredible.. The experience is truly fragrant and all-natural. Most definitely higher grade green teas (and not in tea bags, but loose inside clay teapot) must drunk .naked...all natural. Nothing else and it..must be sipped hot within 30 seconds after it has steeped.

These are not expensive experiences at all if you know where to go.

[OakLeaf]

It is difficult for me to fathom people who have a pop drink for breakfast/early morning. Just a foreign concept unless you're out in the desert.

I thought that myself, and I'm very sensitive to cold foods and drinks, but it does sometimes get hot and humid enough in the summer that I've resorted to drinking iced tea at breakfast. (Home brewed of course.)

Actually, in true desert, it gets cold overnight, so a hot beverage at breakfast would probably still be refreshing. It's in the very humid climates that the temperature will drop only 5 or 10 degrees overnight, and it's then, when I wake up sweaty after sweating all night with nothing but the corner of a sheet over my heinie, that's when I just can't bear to brew hot tea.


I was introduced to Gyokuro this summer and I'm totally spoiled for cheap tea now. Oh, I still drink the cheap stuff, I can't justify spending that much on tea all the time, but now I know what I'm missing. :rolleyes:

[OakLeaf]

I have always prefered diet soda to regular just because they are less sweet to me. That said, I don't like most diet sodas (just diet Coke)! ;)

that's weird, because diet Coke is so much sweeter than diet Pepsi! I don't drink any of that any more, but when I did, it was real Coke or diet Pepsi, because those are the less sweet versions.

[badger]

there are so many different types of green tea I'd say if you were sit and taste each one, you'll be sitting for months!

I cringe whenever I'm out for breakfast and someone's ordering ice water. I can't ingest anything cold in the morning (no juice, cereal, nothing), it really throws my system off.

I can't really drink soda comfortably either, too fizzy. And since I'm not a burper, the bubbly comes out in another way :eek:

[shootingstar]

Ever since I was a tiny child, my father (and sometimes mom) drank a large bowl of boiled hot water on hot, humid summer days...100% humidity and temperatures over 85-90 degrees F. For ages, I never understood this practice --until I started cycling again in humid climates and found myself occasinonally drinking hot coffee during rides.

He still does this. I suspect it's a long old practice for them, from China. He actually does not drink much of any type of tea (but of course, will drink green tea served to him as a guest or in restaurants).

He finds it cooling, but I suspect that is was also the only way to have healthy water back in the old days (and even now) by boiling water first.

[Eden]

I was going to mention stevia as well, though I don't know how good they taste as one kind I tried was absolutely disgusting. I had to throw my coffee out.

It's not just you... I think stevia is disgusting, natural or not.... One of the local clubs has a stevia sweetened sports drink sponsor blech :-P it tastes like baby aspirin. I've had something else sweetened with it too and found it to be pretty foul, so I'm guessing its stevia in general and not just one brand.

I've come to rather enjoy honey in my Earl Grey. I think it needs some sweetener to bring out the bergamot.

[solobiker]

I used to drink 1-2 diet sodas a day and just a little while ago my stomach started bothering me shortly after I drank them. I stopped drinking them and now I feel much better. I tried a little sip of one the other day and I did not like the taste at all. I have not had one in about 1 month. I have also noticed that I am sleeping much better. I used to wake up several times during the night and I always had a hard time falling asleep. I am not sure if no longer drinking the sodas has helped with my sleeping but it sure is nice to sleep through the night.

[sfa]

Interesting thread, especially the research about diet drinks not helping and possibly harming efforts to lose weight. It kind of bugs me, though, that a food (or food-type product--I'm not sure that diet drinks can count as food!) can take the blame for weight gain or lack of weight loss. Regardless of whether the food increases cravings, one of the challenges of dieting is to have cravings and not give in to them. The problem isn't the food, but the willpower of the person eating the food.

And here's where I begin my rant about weight loss--all of the promises in magazines and diet books about losing weight without being hungry, or having the pounds melt off easily are just setting people up for failure. Why not acknowledge that losing weight is hard to do? It's work, and it's no fun, and it's going to take longer than you want it to, and yes, you're going to have cravings and it's best if you don't give in to them, but not the end of the world if you do. There's no one food that will destroy your efforts to lose weight and no one food or vitamin or supplement of any sort that will be the magic bullet to ensure your success. Sure, there are things that help and things that harm, but ultimately it's about the willpower and stubborness of the person trying to lose weight.

End of rant.

For the record, when I drink soda at all, I choose diet versions because they taste better to me (less syrupy). I think most tea tastes like boiled weeds (last year I gave up coffee for Lent and replaced it with tea. That was the hardest thing I've ever done for Lent! Giving up caffeine was way easier. Turns out I'm addicted to coffee itself more than I'm addicted to caffeine). Agave nectar is a pretty good sweetner (especially if you like sweet but not cloying/syrupy). I've never tried stevia that I know of. And hot drinks in the morning, no matter what the weather, is the only way to get my system going. And I drink my coffee with real sugar.

Sarah

[katluvr]

Sarah, you are right.
I am hungry now. I have given up wine (OMG:eek:) and cut back on my eating and I AM hungry. I am sticking to my training plan. And I am MAD. I am mad that I still have to fight to lose weight even though I am very active. I am MAD that I can train and run a half marathon but still have to "diet". It is really all about food and calories in and calories out. I, too, look for not the "quick fix" but what can possibly speed this up or help. But as a nurse and "athelete" I know it is about food choics, calories in and not rewarding myself for the calories I expend. That for me weight will always be an issue.

So I do enjoy my diet soda or 2. Are there better beverage choices--like water, yes. But the reason I am "fat" is I like to eat and drink (wine). And probably my body type. So I will be hungry off and on today. I will go for a run. And I will skip my nightly glass of wine--because to loose I have to create a deficit and nto just "burn as much as I consume"!

Thanks for setting up me for my "rant"!

[GLC1968]

that's weird, because diet Coke is so much sweeter than diet Pepsi! I don't drink any of that any more, but when I did, it was real Coke or diet Pepsi, because those are the less sweet versions.


That is odd...because I can't drink diet Pepsi because it's too sweet for me! And I'll take regular Pepsi over regular Coke because regular Coke is too sweet to my taste buds. :confused: I guess it's all what you are used to?

[divingbiker]

It's not just you... I think stevia is disgusting, natural or not.... One of the local clubs has a stevia sweetened sports drink sponsor blech :-P it tastes like baby aspirin. I've had something else sweetened with it too and found it to be pretty foul, so I'm guessing its stevia in general and not just one brand.

I used to hate stevia, too, until I tried the Truvia brand that's sold at Whole Foods. It tastes pretty good, without the disgusting after taste.

[ny biker]

I prefer tea with breakfast but I'll drink Diet Coke if no tea is available. When I was in college, I drank regular Coke 24/7. I also used to have frosted cherry pop tarts for breakfast every day back then. And yet I've never understood how anyone can eat cold pizza for breakfast. To each his own, I guess.

As for drinking the recommended amount of water each day, I saw an episode of Food Detectives the other day where Ted and his food techs determined that we get about 30% of the water we need each day from the food we eat. For the rest, I've heard from several sources that you can include beverages like coffee, tea, and soda even though they have caffeine when you're figuring out how much fluid you've had to drink each day. And of course juice counts too.

I drink lots of water on most days. I keep a water bottle with me at work and in the car, and I drink from it all day. At home I keep a glass of something nearby while I'm watching TV or sitting at the computer and I refill it as soon as it's empty. I find that just having it handy is the important thing, because you take regular sips, and it all adds up.

[Aint Doody]

I don't drink tons of diet sodas, but sometimes I just want something cold and fizzy. And I think that they taste different depending on the part of the country you're in--maybe due to the water being a little different tasting everywhere. And right now my diet drink of choice is Peach Fresca. Yummy!

[Miranda]

And here's where I begin my rant about weight loss--

Sarah


Sarah, I would agree. I hate those stupid ads that you can just lose weight with doing *nothing*. Maintaining is even HARDER.

I lost about 40#s I carried for years after having kids. People always want to know the magic secret. I tell them, it's simple: less in, more out. No one has ever thanked me for that advice. Because they don't want that answer. But, it's true.

Now, there are some medical conditions that can cause women big problems. Thyroid is one. Hormone changes are it too. But, that's what a trip to the doctor is for. Then, you just have to be realistic and make the most of what you have to deal with.

[Miranda]

Well I never even knew there were so many kinds of teas and things you can do to brew them! This has been very educational. I might not need the diet pop ever again;).

The post about carrying the water bottle with you... that is great. I did this yesterday running errands after I left the gym. I filled my bike bottle back up after the one I drank in spin class, and viola. When I was checking out at a store with the Satan diet pop cooler case right there I though "nope... I have my water bottle waiting in the car for me (stays cold in the winter too)".