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Why diet drinks migh slow down weight loss

Interesting read Fraddycat....I dont like pepsi max much but I guess it would probably have the same effect with other low cal drinks....Guess I need to start drinking more water :(
 
Well based on another thread where borofergie and wiflib tried to undermine my desire to drink pints of diet coke :lol: I got my T1 son to do an experiment for me the other day by confirming his insulin pump output did not rise by one jot after drinking a pint of diet coke.

As to the drop in ketones. That maybe true but I would be interested to see if a similar result would occur if the subject simply drank the equivalent amount of water as they did pepsi max. Perhaps it could simply be that taking on liquid reduces ketone concentration? So to me the experiment is flawed as it has no control to measure the pepsi max against. Who knows perhaps drinking pepsi max reduces ketones less than drinking water but at the moment you can't tell as the experiment doesn't give you that info.
 
Just because insulin is not released when you drink diet drinks doesn't mean something else isn't happening to stop weight loss (or increase weight GAIN if you aren't dieting).

I treat it like this - for stuff like diet drinks, where there is evidence that it MAY (MAY!) cause any complications in diabetes, i ristrick it, but don't REMOVE it.

Trying to find an excuse to keep doing something that you enjoy doing even when it MAY casue harm is foolish.

But, hey, it's up to you.

[EDIT: Diet Coke IS something that I get cravings for regularly. And I DO buckle to them and buy a 2L bottle which will usually only last me Friday night and most of Saturday. The fact that I guzzle it is enough to ensure that I DON't Have a constant supply of the stuff in the house!]
 
Good point Patch, I try to restrict myself to one or two cans a week or small bottles. But when I get a glass in the pub I find I down it very quickly and end up having 2 or 3 in quick succession. Anything that makes me behave compulsively like that I am a bit suspicious of, I don't drink water like that ...
 
Fraddycat said:
Good point Patch, I try to restrict myself to one or two cans a week or small bottles. But when I get a glass in the pub I find I down it very quickly and end up having 2 or 3 in quick succession. Anything that makes me behave compulsively like that I am a bit suspicious of, I don't drink water like that ...
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"compulsively" brilliant observation Fraddy, I'm exactly the same I can't have one can, I used to end up having probably four, I've weaned myself down to that from 2 x 2l a day which I drank when I first gave up alcohol and I can now go a couple of days without any at all but when I feel a bit wobbly I have one or two cans as a treat also I've changed it to the no caff type

Gilly x
 
Patch said:
Just because insulin is not released when you drink diet drinks doesn't mean something else isn't happening to stop weight loss (or increase weight GAIN if you aren't dieting).

I treat it like this - for stuff like diet drinks, where there is evidence that it MAY (MAY!) cause any complications in diabetes, i ristrick it, but don't REMOVE it.

Trying to find an excuse to keep doing something that you enjoy doing even when it MAY casue harm is foolish.

But, hey, it's up to you.

[EDIT: Diet Coke IS something that I get cravings for regularly. And I DO buckle to them and buy a 2L bottle which will usually only last me Friday night and most of Saturday. The fact that I guzzle it is enough to ensure that I DON't Have a constant supply of the stuff in the house!]
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Trouble is Patch if you went through life restricting everything that MAY cause a problem then pretty soon they'd be hardly anything left. Anyhow I don't disagree that a thing that may well have stuff in it that makes you want to drink more of it may not be a good thing but that's a bit different to saying it causes you actual harm if you do drink it. Some people get similarly addicted to drinking water for example.

I was slightly disappointed with the dietdoctor site for actually publishing such a bad experiment. I normally and wholeheartedly recommend that site to loads of people. The way the experiment and page is presented makes everyone who reads it immediately think diet pepsi is bad because look! it lowers ketones! Like I say all they had to do was include another line which showed the effect of drinking a similar amount of plain water. If they did that and it came out that diet pepsi did significantly lower ketones more than drinking the same amount of water then I would seriously question continuing to drink diet coke in any quantity!
 
I was capable of drinking litres of Pepsi Max if I gave in and boy, I could glug that stuff down!
Water I have always struggled with. I simply physically can't drink much in one go and I never feel as though I'm hydrating myself. If I put a wee drop of a sugar-free squash in it, I can neck a glass in seconds.
But that's been the same for food. Compulsion to eat and drink beyond my stomachs capability, simply because I'm enjoying the addictive taste and texture.

BlindDog, I can't get away from the fact that after staying at the same weight for nearly a year, I stop my Pepsi habit and half a stone disappears, just like that.

wiflib
 
wiflib said:
BlindDog, I can't get away from the fact that after staying at the same weight for nearly a year, I stop my Pepsi habit and half a stone disappears, just like that.
wiflib
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Not denying it could be a cause of reduced weightloss especially if its pepsi and not coke :)

It's just really do I personally mind that extra potential half a stone? Diet Coke is the only way I find I can drink anything like enough liquid in a day. I hate drinking water and simply know when push came to shove I'd just drink nothing rather than drink litres of water which in my mind is probably more harmful than any theoretical risk diet coke is producing.

So if it has worked for you libby then great and everyone should do what works for them when trying to defeat the evil disease.

Like I said to Patch if the experiment on dietdoctor (or another suitably setup and controlled experiment) was to show that drinking coke or pepsi was interfering with ketone levels far more than other beverages I would consider making changes.
 
My personal yardstick for whether food is worrisome or not is "can I live without it?" If just thinking about not having the food/drink causes even a hint of anxiety, I suspect it.

I used to know someone who I would class as a first class Pepsi Max addict - she was overweight PLUS just talking about not drinking the stuff caused a full-blown anxiety attack. I truly think we humans can become addicted to anything we are over-exposed to.
 
xyzzy said:
I'd just drink nothing rather than drink litres of water which in my mind is probably more harmful than any theoretical risk diet coke is producing.
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:***:
 
Patch said:
xyzzy said:
I'd just drink nothing rather than drink litres of water which in my mind is probably more harmful than any theoretical risk diet coke is producing.
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:***:
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You put the wrong bit in bold Patch. Here's how I intended it.

xyzzy said:
I'd just drink nothing rather than drink litres of water which in my mind is probably more harmful than any theoretical risk diet coke is producing.
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As in drinking diet coke is probably better than drinking nothing but agree drinking water would likely be best. But what if the water out of the tap is full of nitrates or full of female hormones should I buy bottled water? If I did that how could I be sure that the source of the bottled water was safe and didn't contain other chemicals either because those chemicals are in the water naturally or had been added by the manufacturing company. Questions, questions ... Perhaps it safer to stick to Diet Coke after all
 
Hi everyone. Diet drinks hmmm :?: I have done some personal research on these things and not just drinks diabetic products. Conclusion: Whilst some diet drinks can help you to maintain weight loss the one thing I always question is as to what artificial sugars are in them e.g. A lot of diet drinks contain aspartame now this substance has been linked to causing more problems with mental health and also with some diabetics has made their BG level to climb and in rare case to go completely out of control. I love my fizzy drinks but I have cut out those containing aspartame and do feel a little better for it. All Coca Cola and Pepsi products in this country have aspartam used in them diet or normal and most diet drinks do aspartame is a cheap effective sweetner but not enough research has been done on any long term effects of regularly consuming this sweetner. I know diabetes can make you strict on what you consume and sometime finding the right one can be difficult. Personally in fizzy drinks I try to find ones that have sucralose or fructalose much better tasting and derived from natural occuring substances.

What I am informing that this is my personal choice of what I think is good for me and what maybe not. The choice is yours.

Thanks for reading

Simon aka Cobra3164
 
I often wonder why people seem to need to drink these drinks. Personally, I think they are horribly over sweetened. (and Pepsi Max is the worst)
Sometimes on a hot day I'll forget how sweet they are and order one only to leave most of it.
If you think they might be causing problems (from the additives or insulin release or what ever) , you could try to stop drinking them.
I think that it might be like cutting out sweetener in tea and coffee. To start with you miss it but after a time you detect and shudder at even a grain in the drink . I know I'm not the only one that has happened to.
Possibly if you went without drinking them for only a short time; perhaps drinking plain water or water with a squeeze of lemon or lime then you would also go off the artificially sweetened drinks ; problem, if there is one, solved .
 
Here's the thing: NO-ONE LIKES water.

To start off with.

I used to hate it. I don't think I EVER drank water without squash until my twenties! :lol:

Now, I love it. There are tines when I can FEEL it hydrating me as I'm downing it.

It's a GREAT habit to get into - ESPECIALLY for diabetics.
 
Patch said:
Here's the thing: NO-ONE LIKES water.

To start off with.

I used to hate it. I don't think I EVER drank water without squash until my twenties! :lol:

Now, I love it. There are tines when I can FEEL it hydrating me as I'm downing it.

It's a GREAT habit to get into - ESPECIALLY for diabetics.
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We can't live without it that's for sure :D
 
All right, all right I give in :lol:

First never had a sweet tooth and don't put any sweetner in tea or coffee so the sweetness has nothing to do with it. I just like the taste. I appreciate others may not like the taste. I like the taste of G&T far better than Diet Coke ...

I agree Diet Pepsi is horribly sweet and foul but I drink good honest Caffeine Free Diet Coke that has to be ice cold and preferably with ice. (mmmmmm as he takes a nice refreshing sip.)

I don't like drinking water. MW has tried to get me to drink water for years before I was diagnosed as she drinks buckets of the stuff each day.

I don't deny that drinking water may well be better for me but that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying drinking Caffeine Free Diet Coke that has to be ice cold and preferably with ice is better than drinking nothing.

I still think my comments regarding the comparative risks of drinking water (from what ever source) and drinking Caffeine Free Diet Coke that has to be ice cold and preferably with ice have some merit.

Likewise and going back to the topic of the thread I still think the diet doctor experiment was badly formed and just needed to show a second control line on the graph to show the effect of drinking a similar amount of water. Like I said as it stands you can't even prove that Diet Pepsi isn't reducing ketone levels LESS than water would. So I'll throw the question back. If the experiment was done and it showed plain water reduced ketone levels by twice the amount that Diet Pepsi does would you consider swapping to drinking it?
 
I think Xyzzy, your numbers speak for themselves, obviously diet coke (caffeine free, ice cold and preferrably with ice) works for you. I too drink diet coke and enjoy it but I try to limit it because I think it activates my sweet tooth.

I agree on reflection that the experiment was poor, as well as there being no control fluid i.e. water, there is no factoring for the caffeine in the Pepsi Max, which could affect ketones.
 
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