I go through a 2 liter of diet pepsi everyday. Lots of people say “oh that is bad for you”.
Now if it were a regular soda with sugar I would agree, but diet soda is basicaly brown water with caffeine. I understand the knee jerk reaction that it is “bad for you” but I just don’t buy it.
The acid in sodas is destructive to your teeth, caffiene is a diuretic (which can lead to calcium loss and thinner bones) and there is some evidence that phosphoric acid leeches calcium from your bones too.
A lot of people drink that amount every day. It is a little less than a 6 pack of canned drinks. You are getting a fair does of caffeine but less than heavy coffee drinkers. The only real problem I know of is an increased tendency for kidney stones and they can be quite painful.
I used to drink at least 2 liters of diet soda a day. My preferred delivery method was a 64 ounce mug from the gas station, filled at least twice daily with Diet Coke. I stopped about six months ago, and I cannot tell you now much better I feel.
There are a couple of things going on with diet colas:
YMMV, but I’m really glad I quit diet soda. I actually lost about 10 pounds in the two months after quitting.
I’m sorry; I just realized that my drinking exceeded yours by a factor of at least two. YMM definitely V.
It knocks your PH out of whack, gives you good shot of sodium, a blast of phenylalanine in the aspartame, and the aforementioned caffeine. Other than that whole addiction factor, it’s just another beverage.
The acid is definitely not helping you. Your body will maintain its pH pretty much regardless of what you stick into it. If you keep feeding it acid, then it will steal from bones and muscle in order to maintain a higher pH. You could balance this out by eating low starch vegetables like spinach at the same time that you drink the soda. If you want to have a lean body, drinking sodas that cause you to lose lean body mass is not a good strategy.
FWIW, chronic acidity of the blood leads to growth retardation, kidney stones, bone disease, and progressive renal failure.
I used to drink a 2 liter diet Pepsi a day and I know from experience how difficult it can be to kick the habit. But there are real health reasons for you to do it. The bottom line is that both the acid and the caffeine do not promote health.
My dentist recommended that I cut down on the amount of (diet) soda I drink. Even though it’s not as bad as regular, it can still damage your teeth if you drink too much.
is coffee better than soda since it does not have the acid and aspartame?
I suggest using a lot of ice in your diet soda. And, switching to a caffiene-free version after dark.
Diet soda is a pretty damn safe vice, caffiene included. The caffiene is in small dosages (compared to a double expresso), and the acid is* probably* OK. The sweetener is also probably safe. Sure there’s a tiny risk, but let’s compare:
Sugar soda- all the above disads and loads of sugar- which is OK in small amounts, sure, but we’re not talking small amounts. Worse.
Coffee- MUCH more caffiene, stains your teeth, acids. It also can contain so much caffiene that it doesn’t hydrate. Worse
Fruit juice- even more acid in some, loads of sugar, and a few extra vitamins you likely don’t need. Now, if you drank rather expensive while juice, with it’s fiber still in it (pulp for OJ), then maybe. *Worse *(but OK to have a nice glass of fresh OJ one a day for breakfast, sure)
Water? Sure, but depends on the water. Besides if you don’t like the taste, you won’t stay hydrated, and that’s** BAD.
** Probably better for most dudes. I assume you don’t like the taste, so that’s out.
Beer? OK in small doses, but hardly a way to stay hydrated unless you’re living in a frat. Way too many calories. Worse.
Wine- a bit better, but all those calories and that alcohol aren’t good. Stains your teeth, makes you drive badly. Does have anti-oxidants. More than a glass a day is not good. Worse.
Tea- anti-oxidants, caffiene, stains your teeth, often sweetened with artifical sweetners. Ok, here we may hvae a winner. Iced tea has one less bad thing (acids) and one more good thing (anti-oxidants). Caffiene is about the same, depending on which tea, which diet soda. Does stain the teeth a bit.
Do you find Iced tea acceptable? If so, then when possible drink iced tea (with whatever little packet you like 
). Add plenty of ice. Cut back on caffiene closer to bedtime. Drink diet soda when you can’t get iced tea, or when you want to- use more ice, cut back on caffiene late in the day. Enjoy.
So, dudes- lighten up. Really, unless you drink plenty of distilled water, then whatever you’re drinking is likely worse. Diet soda is OK.
Nothing besides water is really good to drink in those amounts. Learning the drink water is probably one of the better gifts on can give to oneself.
But not the sugar-packed fast food iced tea, I’d suggest.
Milk? (It does a body good?)
You remember the study that came out a few months ago linking excessive intake of aspartame to cancer in rats? 2000 rodents were studied in Italy, they had high levels of leukemia, tumours, etc… Granted rats get cancer at the drop of a hat, but there was a statistically significant increase in the rats being fed drastically high levels of aspartame.
You, my soda-drinking friend, are imbibing proportionally more aspartame than those rats.
Can we please have a little more science in GQ?
This isn’t helpful to answering the General Question.
This is helpful.
The study was feeding the rats a dose of 20mg per kg of body weight.
Diet soda has about 225mg of aspartame per 12 fluid ounces. Let’s take a light person like me - I weigh about 58 kg. That means I can have 1160 mg per day before I reach the carcinogenic levels the rats had. Or about 5.1 cans of soda. So Barbarian has noted some interesting information here. The questions are to what extent the study was accurate, and to what extent aspartame metabolism in rats is similar to that in humans.
And also Aspartame is one of several sweeteners used in diet sodas. And, so far there’s been no link to cancer in humans, and we have been drinking this stuff for a couple of decades. :dubious:
Staggerlee, right, which is why I added “(with whatever little packet you like )”
Ok, it’s now pretty certain that Aspartame does not cause cancer in humans: "Study: No Aspartame-Cancer Link
(CBS/AP)
Fast Fact
(WebMD) Diet soda lovers may be able to sip a little easier, thanks to a new study that shows that the artificial sweetener aspartame does not raise the risk of cancer.
But the new study — conducted in people, not rats — found no such link. Nor did the popular sugar substitute raise the risk of brain cancer, says researcher Unhee Lim, Ph.D., of the National Cancer Institute.
The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research here. "
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/04/05/health/webmd/main1473654.shtml
Actually DrDeth, we know nothing of the sort. That study based on self-reporting shows that two cans of soda a day are probably pretty safe over five years. It says nothing about drinking 3-4 times that amount, which is what the OPer does. Could be that 1 Liter/day of diet soda is a LD50 after 10 years. Unlikely, but possible. We should thank him for doing the human trial for us though
What about sparkling flavored water?
Is Crystal Light® okay?