Oh please. You can spout a bunch of bullshit about artificial sweeteners not being food, but someone who responds with a quip about HFCS is suddenly being immature?
That’s the funniest thing I’ve read all day.
I agree with many of the angry posters that, yes, it is absolutely possible that somebody who is overweight and drinking Diet Coke is on their way to being a skinny person. I can’t possibly know if they are losing weight or gaining weight at any particular moment.
Understand that this was an observation. I did not conduct a scientific study. Knowing that my observations were (Possibe? Likely?) skewed by the disconnect between overweight person/low cal drink I inquired whether others had noticed this. I’m allowed to do this. If you are offended by the very question, you really don’t have to reply.
After 80 posts or so, it seems like some people have noticed this and some haven’t. My anecdotal evidence has been matched by personal anecdotes for both sides.
Also, just to be clear, this is specific to Diet Coke. Not water, not Diet Pepsi, not unsweetened iced tea, not Vitamin Water, not juice - Diet Coke.
So, after all this discussion, what do I now believe is the deal with overweight people and Diet Coke?
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A lot of people drink Diet Coke. Some are fat, some are skinny.
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If a fat person is drinking it, it’s probably because they’re trying to drink something more sensible and don’t like the other low calorie alternatives.
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The controversial conclusion - Because it’s a very visible and popular low-calorie product, a greater percentage of people who are overweight drink Diet Coke than people at a healthier weight. These are people who are generally trying to make good decisions. People who are at a healthy weight may drink Diet Coke, but they have more perceived options and don’t necessarily gravitate towards Diet Coke. I believe my observation would be born out by study.
All that said, I have to say that Diet Coke sucks. I don’t have very sensitive taste buds and I can clearly taste a chemical taste to whatever sugar substitute they use. Coke Zero is better, but that aftertaste is still there.
Cisco, I have already pointed out that the OP’s theories were far from rational. They were loaded with perception errors, assumptions, logical inconsistencies, and confirmation bias. The rational way to discuss the subject would be … well, it wouldn’t have begun as badly as the OP did. Want to discuss this rationally? I’d like to see it, but so far this thread hasn’t gotten off to a good start.
Your own arguments are no better. Look at this:
I would wager that the majority of overweight people have a stable weight. That is, they fluctuate between six and ten pounds on either side, over a long period of time. They are neither eating too much, nor too little, but the right amount for their weight. You and I can agree that it is impossible to tell by looking at someone whether they are gaining, losing, or stable. Therefore, when you see someone eating a double cheeseburger and a Diet Coke, it is what statisticians call a limited sample size. If you see a thousand fatsos eating double cheeseburgers and Diet Cokes? It is still a limited sample size per person. If you want to declare somebody is overeating — continuously increasing their calorie intake, because that’s what chronic overeating is, a feedback loop — you can’t judge that based on observing one meal. That’s rational discussion.
From an evolutionary standpoint, hunger is a necessary feeling; without something that triggers the organism to eat, it may starve. “Feeling full” and “knowing when one has reached one’s ideal calorie intake” carries no similar life-or-death urgency, so it is rational to assume that detection of fullness is not as high an evolutionary priority, nor is it likely to be implemented evenly among all individuals. This is not about metabolism, but about biofeedback. Most people, I wager to say, can’t directly sense when they have had “enough food today.” Evolution designed us to store fuel reserves in time of need — it’s a feature, not a bug — but it hasn’t caught up with our relatively overnight shift to a society where there is less physical labor and greater food availability.
Would I call that a “food addiction?” No, because there are no specific food-addiction withdrawal symptoms separate from hunger. I might call it a broken biofeedback mechanism, an enhanced sense of hunger, or something. Addiction … no. But that’s a matter of labeling and semantics and doesn’t get at the heart of what’s wrong.
Do we need to drink soda at all? No. You’re right there. There is no dietary advantage to Diet Coke over, say, flavored water; the carbonic acid may contribute to osteoporosis for all I know, and other ailments too. Since few restaurants carry flavored water, you see it less and Diet Coke more. It’s more a matter of exclusive marketing contracts, availability, and corporate image than about personal preference.
Modify 3) to say “because it’s a visible and popular low-calorie product, a great percentage of everybody drinks Diet Coke.” Unless you’re somehow saying that Diet Coke is popular because a small number of fatties drink it. Do the math: 75% of 10% of the population (fat) vs 25% of 90% (not fat). Which is a greater number of people?
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You perceive this association with Diet Coke because you live in the U.S., where Coke outsells Pepsi by 5:1.
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Coca-Cola has more exclusive contracts with fast-food restaurants than Pepsi-Cola does, which is where you’re more likely to overhear someone’s drink selection. You don’t know what overweight people drink at home.
No, I didn’t say that. You are the one who seemed to imply that consistently overweight implies addiction.
You’re saying artificial sweeteners are food? We can digest them?
I honestly have no idea what you are talking about here. “Eating the right amount for your weight” is overeating if you’re overweight.
No, I’m suggesting that your response to Stan was nothing short of hypocritical.
Most people eat things on a daily basis that they are unable to digest, not including diet soda.
ETA: I am suggesting that we can digest aspartame, the most commonly consumed artificial sweetener in the US.
I want to make sure I understand your point here–are you saying that only 10% of the population if fat? I will need to look up the statistics, but I swear that it was something like 2/3 of adults in this country are considered overweight by BMI. Or are you using a different measure of fat then BMI?
I understand your points here, and really have nothing to add to this discussion as I am not fat, nor do I drink Diet Coke, however I do on rare occasions drink that Coke Zero only because as I have gotten older, the regular coke is too sweet to me, but the times I have a soda in a year I can count on my hands.
No, it is not. Overeating is eating more calories than you burn.
Yeah, things like roughage that provide other benefits.
So you’re saying a 700lb man who maintains a consistent weight is not overeating?
Of course not. A great many people are technically “overweight” by the insanely constrictive BMI measurement (which says I should weigh 140 pounds, a truly skeletal physique).
I’m merely using those numbers as illustration, because 10% is a reasonable figure for “people so fat you’re likely to notice when they grab a Diet Coke.” There’s no convenient way to eyeball an adjective like “fat” without getting into a Paradox Of The Heap: that is to say, when precisely does one cross over between “normal” and “fat” and how accurately can you judge that with the naked eye?
No, he is not.
Would you say a man who eats 8,000 calories a day is overeating? No — not if he is doing 8,000 calories of hard labor per day.
You can’t look at calorie intake in isolation from calorie use.
Nope. Things like black pepper that are only added for flavor. You know, kinda like sucralose.
You’re wrong about the digestibility of aspartame anyway.
:rolleyes: Seriously, what are you talking about? I realize Michael Phelps eats 10,000 calories a day. You’re not saying you think I think he’s overweight? This is starting to get like trying to argue with the townspeople from a Monty Python bit.
I was going to say the same thing, but probably for a different reason.
Wait, I think I just realized what you meant by “No, he is not.” Are you saying a 700lb man who maintains a consistent weight is not overeating? Please confirm or deny, because if that’s what you mean, I’m walking away. You’re being ridiculous.
Well that’s a pretty poor argument (especially since I don’t eat black pepper, and I was talking about myself), and fairly unrelated to what I originally said, which was
I’m being attacked for eating sensibly and exercising. Christ.
Cisco, it would benefit you greatly to learn a little bit about nutrition. You’re displaying remarkable ignorance here.
A 700 pound man who maintains a consistent weight is not at the present time overeating. Undoubtedly he reached this weight by overeating in the past or under-exercising but that’s not the same thing.
He’s probably eating too much for his age, gender, height and frame — there, I agree with you. I wouldn’t call that “overeating.” I would call it “maintaining an unhealthy weight.” You cannot say “700 pounds” as if there’s some magical way to detect, from that figure alone, how much he’s supposed to eat.
Tell me… how many calories should a 700 pound man eat?
No, you’re being attacked for saying stupid things. You are claiming that artificial sweeteners are not digestible. That is incorrect for the vast majority of artificial sweeteners consumed.
You are saying that someone’s comment on HFCS is immature when it was used in exactly the same way as your initial stupid statement. That was hypocritical.
If you honestly think you are being attacked for exercising and eating sensibly then you do not have the reading comprehension skills required to participate in any kind of written exchange.
Wow, you are reeeeally reaching. And yeah, the high school and college classes I’ve taken, the books I’ve read, and the fact that I’ve maintained a near ideal weight and a well above average level of fitness while most of my peers and family have not, all say I don’t know shit about nutrition :rolleyes:. You’re just trying to win an argument here through semantics and you sound ridiculous for your efforts.
If you recall what I said: Addiction is continuing to engage in a behavior despite knowing the negative consequences (which is pretty close to Webster: persistent compulsive use of a substance known by the user to be harmful, so I think you’ll find that acceptable) Continuing to overeat when you’re overweight, which includes maintaining an overweight body is an addiction.
What’s your problem here, besides wanting to look “right” by backflipping through some semantic hoops about “overeating” vs. “maintaining”, which I just showed is irrelevant?