Why is Diet Soda bad for you?

[JEY100]

This question is often Hotly Debated here. A new post on Authority Nutrition is an excellent summary of all the latest research and reasons why a dieter may want to avoid artificially sweetened beverages.

http://authoritynutrition.com/why-is-diet-soda-bad-for-you/

[Nancy LC]

This is more of the same argument that's used for asserting a number of things: Vegetarians live longer, red meat causes cancer, whole grains are healthy, etc, etc.

Once again using data that links X with Y doesn't establish proof that X causes Y.

Focus in on the word "link". Generally if you see news articles stating that something is "linked" to something it means it is a study that is prone so many confounders, like the "Healthy user bias", that you could never prove causality.

[Firefly428]

I just hate the chemicals.

I am getting so much farther away from chemicals in my food.

occasional diet soda for me. sure. live on that junk, nope. and that occasional diet soda will eventually be gone. just a bit more time :)

[madeyna]

My husbands cardio surgen said they think it raises colesteral around the heart. He said its the type as well as the amount of sweetener thats in in and the amounts we consume. Its not unsual to have someone in his office that has three to four diet colas per pay.

[rwwff]

People compare diet sodas with water, as if the person drinking the diet soda is replacing water with diet soda. And they are not. They are replacing thousansd of kcal of sugar with diet soda.

They aren't even in the same league of "bad for you".

[JEY100]

Although I have health reasons to avoid all AS, its use is a personal decision and certainly better than sugar. Having all these studies in one place should be of help for anyone who deciding to include them or not.
But to add to the controversy, Dr Eenfeldt just posted a new info graphic on his blog about sugar sweetened and diet sodas..more studies here, but in color, with maps!
http://www.mapsofworld.com/poll/soda-fizz-killing-us-facts-infographic.html

[Seejay]

I think what's hotly contested is, can you drink them and lose weight. Does anyone seriously still think diet soda is anything but bad for you?

< crank on>

please excuse the vent! sorry but I just saw one terrible info graphic too many. why did I even click on it!

Oh how I hate that style of infographics, does anyone else? absolutely random or poor association of the graphic content and text and number content. junk graphics. like in that one part with black balloons for numbers, the balloons are all the same size, but the numbers vary widely. arg! Tufte there is so much work to be done!

< crank off >

[Fickle327]

My viewpoint is simple. I love soda. I can either drink regular soda that tastes like carbonated syrup or I can drink diet soda with no sugar and not go into a diabetic coma.

That being said..... I'm really limiting myself to no more than 2 day and try to drink more water and tea instead. I love soda, but I know soda is BAD for me no matter if it has sugar or not. All those chemical can't be good despite how awesome they taste.

Hopefully one day I'll be able to kick the habit completely!

But I think the ones full of sugar are way worse than the diet ones any day of the week no matter what studies say.

[rwwff]

I think what's hotly contested is, can you drink them and lose weight.

I lost 70 pounds.
I drank a bajigaton of diet soda in the process.