# What is up with overweight people and Diet Coke? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** soda-softdrinks\ **Created:** [June 4, 2009, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-overweight-people-and-diet-coke/498738 "2009-06-04T19:32:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2009, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-overweight-people-and-diet-coke/498738/41 "2009-06-04T22:33:56Z")
When offered a beverage, other than coffee or tea, I’ll take #1 - water, with ice and a slice of lemon, or 2) unsweetened ice tea, and if none, will take #3, Diet Coke. It just seems kind of bizarre to drink anything else, like ginger ale or Nehi Grape or Orange Crush . (Like on that episode of Mary Tyler Moore where they were all in a bar drinking Scotch except Ted, who got a cocktail with a paper umbrella in it!) Not one woman I ever worked with ordered anything else except Diet Coke! None of them wanted the sugar, or rather, corn syrup, whether they weighed 98 lbs. or 298 lbs. Diet Pepsi? off the table! Cheap. flat. sweet. Bleechhh! I wonder if they still sell Tab anywhere. THAT was FOUL, but curiously addicting. And I agree about the jab at fatties comment - “HAW HAW, liikit the fatso ordering food and diet soda, haw-haw!” STFU! ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2009, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-overweight-people-and-diet-coke/498738/42 "2009-06-04T22:36:56Z")
> [@Dripping](#): > > The reason I have’t gained 26 pounds a year and therefore are not fat, is because I choose diet soda over the full-sugar stuff. What is so hard about understanding that? I guess, for me, the fact that you’re not required to drink any soda at all. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2009, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-overweight-people-and-diet-coke/498738/43 "2009-06-04T22:43:06Z")
> [@phreesh](#): > > Assuming I’m correct, I have two theories: You are correct: you have two theories. Unfortunately, both are stupid. Here are some better theories: 1. Overweight people know that sugar soda has a lot of calories in it, so they don’t drink it. 2. Overweight people don’t like the bland non-flavor of water, or the heavily fluoridated stuff you get at the average McD’s. 3. Overweight people have an easier time cutting out calories in what they drink than in what they eat. 400 calories in a Big Gulp don’t make me feel “full” but a big bowl of stir-fry vegetables does (and both are mostly water). 4. Non-overweight people who laughingly drink sugared soda will quickly become overweight people. Your theory #1 is predicated on the assumption that the overweight person is _gaining weight._ I am overweight but I am _losing weight._ Therefore, your #1 is incomplete. I do not **overindulge** in other areas; I do not overindulge at all. I simply choose not to take in calories from beverages, because I feel more full when I take in calories in the form of solid foods. Diet Coke is a tool to help cut calories, and like all tools, it can be misused. Your theory #2 predicated on the assumption that the person is _not watching what they eat_, when clearly he is: he is drinking Diet Coke, so obviously in some ways he has cut calories. It is self-contradictory to say somebody who drinks Diet Coke has no regard for calories at all. So the reason you think there’s “something up with fat people” is because you have a perception problem. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2009, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-overweight-people-and-diet-coke/498738/44 "2009-06-04T22:50:47Z")
> [@phreesh](#): > > I’ve heard the “I hate water” thing before as well. It’s odd to think, but apparently, there’s a lot of people out there who almost never drink water. It’s all soda or milk or whatever. It boggles the mind to never drink water. I seldom drink water - or rather, if I’m drinking water nine times out of ten I’m forcing myself to drink it. It DOES have taste - at least most of the water around here does. (And, at certain times of year in the city of St. Paul, can taste and smell distinctly fishy - we pump it from our lake system). If I’m going to drink it, it should be ice cold. It also picks up flavor quickly - and at a fast food place always tastes like fast food cup. (Once in a while I’ll crave water, but its the exception). But I’m not a well hydrated person - I generally don’t drink diet pop. Will drink sugared pop only occasionally. I do drink milk, fruit juice, wine, lemonade, sweetened iced tea or spiced non-sweeted ice tea, coffee and tea. ETA: I need to lose ten pounds - but only because my size six pants are starting to get tight and I don’t want to move into eights. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2009, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-overweight-people-and-diet-coke/498738/45 "2009-06-04T22:54:51Z")
My Wife, a Triathlete and Iron Man finisher loves it. I can’t stand any kind of diet drink. I would go thirsty first. Any kind of replacement sugar substitute is undrinkable for me. Give me water. Diet drinks taste like a chemistry set left out in the sun and rain (IMHO). The only thing I can suggest is there is something in my tastebuds that repulses it, or something in my Wifes that does not. OTOH, I only drink Water, IceTea or beer. With the rare gin and tonic or glass of wine. Oh, and I’ll have a cup or two of coffee a month. My wife can’t stand the stuff but loves the smell. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2009, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-overweight-people-and-diet-coke/498738/46 "2009-06-04T23:51:31Z")
> [@Dripping](#): > > As for me, I’m normal weight and I enjoy soda. I probably drink about 12 cans of diet coke per week. If they were full-sugar, at 150 calories per can that would be 93,600 (empty) calories per year I’d be consuming, which would result in me gaining 26 pounds in a single year. The reason I have’t gained 26 pounds a year and therefore are not fat, is because I choose diet soda over the full-sugar stuff. What is so hard about understanding that? I don’t think it’s quite that simple. I’m now 35, and have very gradually been gaining weight since college. At the end of college I was basically thin. Now I’m basically 20 or 30 pounds or so overweight. So I’ve been gaining maybe 2 or 3 pounds a year. I drink around 3 sodas a day, and 2 or 3 years ago switched from coke to coke zero, with no other real change in my eating habits. (And if anything, I’ve been exercising more). By your logic that should be a 30+ pound swing, but it’s made no appreciable difference. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2009, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-overweight-people-and-diet-coke/498738/47 "2009-06-04T23:55:58Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > I guess, for me, the fact that you’re not required to drink any soda at all. Yeah–the thought of people just drinking it for no reason or because it’s there is very foreign to me. Did people always do that? Really, for me, 9/10 at a restaurant I get plain water. Sometimes booze. But rarely soda. I have a couple of ginger ale cans in the fridge which should last either to the weekend or possibly next week. I don’t know, I just don’t think of soda as an every day thing. Then again, I eat chocolate like all the time so I shouldn’t talk. ---
**Author:** ![Dripping](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d2c977/32.png) [@Dripping](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dripping)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-overweight-people-and-diet-coke/498738/48 "2009-06-05T00:17:41Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Yeah–the thought of people just drinking it for no reason or because it’s there is very foreign to me :rolleyes: I don’t drink it for “no reason”, of because “it’s there”. I drink it because I like it. It’s a sweet treat. I like the fizz, the caffeine, the icy coldness and the flavor. Quit acting like people who drink different stuff than you do are robotic morons. ---
**Author:** ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-overweight-people-and-diet-coke/498738/49 "2009-06-05T00:19:28Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Yeah–the thought of people just drinking it for no reason or because it’s there is very foreign to me. Is soda (diet or not) different from any other beverage in this way? I don’t drink soda, water, beer, orange juice, milk, or any other particular substance because I must have _that drink_. I do so because (a) I desire to drink _something_ with my meal, and (b) I have chosen it from among the practically available options, taking into account what I’m eating, the time of day, cost, and my whims among other factors. Someone else might choose a different drink given identical circumstances - and that’s fine. When Diet Coke is available when I’m having a burger, there’s a high probability that I’ll choose it. I like the stuff… ::shrug:: ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-overweight-people-and-diet-coke/498738/50 "2009-06-05T00:21:45Z")
Addiction is addiction is addiction. If an consistantly overweight person switched to diet soft drinks, they’re likely overcompensating somewhere else to get the same satisfaction. They may be drinking diet soda, but the fact that you got it with a #3 value meal means nothing. They’re still getting their calories from somewhere else. If an alcoholic quits, but picks up smoking, the addict is still and addict, the addiction just moved somewhere else. ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-overweight-people-and-diet-coke/498738/51 "2009-06-05T00:29:46Z")
> [@ParentalAdvisory](#): > > Addiction is addiction is addiction. > > If an consistantly overweight person switched to diet soft drinks, they’re likely overcompensating somewhere else to get the same satisfaction. They may be drinking diet soda, but the fact that you got it with a #3 value meal means nothing. They’re still getting their calories from somewhere else. If an alcoholic quits, but picks up smoking, the addict is still and addict, the addiction just moved somewhere else. I know plenty of overweight people who are not addicts of any kind. What the hell are you talking about? ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-overweight-people-and-diet-coke/498738/52 "2009-06-05T00:31:53Z")
> [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](#): > > I know plenty of overweight people who are not addicts of any kind. What the hell are you talking about? Talking about the ones, who are looking themselves in the mirror today saying, “I need to lose weight, I will stop with sugary sodas and switch to diet sodas only”. That is fine, but if they don’t stop taking in calories from somewhere else, switching to diet soda does nothing. Oh and… are you saying that eating sugary foods cannot have an addiction quality to it? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-overweight-people-and-diet-coke/498738/53 "2009-06-05T00:31:55Z")
> [@brad\_d](#): > > Is soda (diet or not) different from any other beverage in this way? > > I don’t drink soda, water, beer, orange juice, milk, or any other particular substance because I must have _that drink_. I do so because (a) I desire to drink _something_ with my meal, and (b) I have chosen it from among the practically available options, taking into account what I’m eating, the time of day, cost, and my whims among other factors. Well, for me, the default is always just water unless I make an effort to get something else. I guess for me it’s the equivalent of getting bored and eating a candy bar. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-overweight-people-and-diet-coke/498738/54 "2009-06-05T00:58:27Z")
> [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](#): > > I know plenty of overweight people who are not addicts of any kind. What the hell are you talking about? Addiction, IIRC from the courses I’ve taken on it and books I’ve read about it over the years, is when you continue a behavior despite negative consequences. If overeating is making you overweight (and let’s face it, this is why the vast majority of overweighht people are overweight), you’re damaging your health. If you continue to overeat at that point, you’re addicted. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-overweight-people-and-diet-coke/498738/55 "2009-06-05T01:42:10Z")
> [@ParentalAdvisory](#): > > Talking about the ones, who are looking themselves in the mirror today saying, “I need to lose weight, I will stop with sugary sodas and switch to diet sodas only”. > > That is fine, but if they don’t stop taking in calories from somewhere else, switching to diet soda does nothing. That’s completely false. Replacing calories from sugary beverages with calorie free liquids like water and diet soda in itself can easily be enough to help people steadily lose weight. It’s likely there’s room for other positive improvements in their diet but whatever point you’re making is totally wrong. Calories are calories. If you drink 1500 calories a day in pepsi and remove it from your diet , that’s 1500 a day less. It might be necessary to cut more to lose weight or it might not. In either case the 1500 savings is exactly the same as if you ate less or better foods. Switching to diet doesn’t “do nothing”. It does the opposite of nothing, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-overweight-people-and-diet-coke/498738/56 "2009-06-05T01:45:17Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Addiction, IIRC from the courses I’ve taken on it and books I’ve read about it over the years, is when you continue a behavior despite negative consequences. If overeating is making you overweight (and let’s face it, this is why the vast majority of overweighht people are overweight), you’re damaging your health. If you continue to overeat at that point, you’re addicted. Addicted . . . to food? Well, maybe I’ll just quit food cold turkey then! :rolleyes: Here’s a hint: Not every unhealthy behavior involves addiction, not even the ones that involve fooling yourself. I am slowly but slowly on the way back to being thin. Even before I started, though, I always drank diet cola, because I thought it tasted better, and because the extra sugar in regular soft drinks has always put me to sleep for as long as I could remember, even when I was in shape. I couldn’t work, I couldn’t study, and I couldn’t exercise. Swap sugar for Aspartame, or whatever they put into the cola now, and that problem disappears. I swear, everyone on the SDMB is a therapist nowadays. Do I get my license to practice when I hit 10,000 posts, or do you have to be a charter member? ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-overweight-people-and-diet-coke/498738/57 "2009-06-05T01:55:37Z")
Just because you’re not addicted, doesn’t mean that people cannot be addicted to food. **Fuzzy Dunlop** , what I meant to say was that if you’ve just switched to diet soda with the explicit reason to lower calories, the calories that are saved there are compensated with an extra slice of pizza for example in an addict. What I was saying originally in post 50, was that addicts typically don’t quit their addiction, but make up for it somewhere else. I see that you’re responding to post 52, which was still coming off my original point in 50. If that’s too confusing, sorry. Point being, just because people here know people that “aren’t” \_\_\_\_\_\_\_, doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. People have switched to diet sodas with the intention of lower calories, but also add another twinkie in the mix, essentially nullifying the purpose of diet soda in their goals to lose weight. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-overweight-people-and-diet-coke/498738/58 "2009-06-05T02:15:23Z")
> [@Linty\_Fresh](#): > > Addicted . . . to food? Well, maybe I’ll just quit food cold turkey then! :rolleyes: > > Here’s a hint: Not every unhealthy behavior involves addiction, not even the ones that involve fooling yourself. > > I am slowly but slowly on the way back to being thin. Even before I started, though, I always drank diet cola, because I thought it tasted better, and because the extra sugar in regular soft drinks has always put me to sleep for as long as I could remember, even when I was in shape. I couldn’t work, I couldn’t study, and I couldn’t exercise. Swap sugar for Aspartame, or whatever they put into the cola now, and that problem disappears. > I swear, everyone on the SDMB is a therapist nowadays. Do I get my license to practice when I hit 10,000 posts, or do you have to be a charter member? Gee whiz, that’s funny, coulda swore I said overeating. Here you’re basing your whole argument on me claiming people should stop eating altogether, though. I don’t remember saying that at all. So odd. ---
**Author:** ![Dripping](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d2c977/32.png) [@Dripping](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dripping)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-overweight-people-and-diet-coke/498738/59 "2009-06-05T03:11:45Z")
> [@ParentalAdvisory](#): > > Addiction is addiction is addiction. > > If an consistantly overweight person switched to diet soft drinks, they’re likely overcompensating somewhere else to get the same satisfaction. They may be drinking diet soda, but the fact that you got it with a #3 value meal means nothing. They’re still getting their calories from somewhere else. How can you tell from looking at an obese stranger that they are “consistently overweight”? Maybe the guy lost 100 pounds over the last 2 years and is still steadily losing. You can’t tell just by spying on what some fat stranger is eating the minute you meet them. :rolleyes: Maybe the cheeseburger and (OMG lets laugh at the fatty) _ **diet coke** _ is a well-earned reward for meeting a certain weight loss goal. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2009, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-overweight-people-and-diet-coke/498738/60 "2009-06-05T03:30:17Z")
> [@Dripping](#): > > How can you tell from looking at an obese stranger that they are “consistently overweight”? Everything you said is true, I cannot tell from looking at an obese stranger what they’ve accomplished, or not accomplished. What makes you think I could? Or, is it not possible for me to actually know obese people with these troubles? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-overweight-people-and-diet-coke/498738.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-overweight-people-and-diet-coke/498738.md?page=4)