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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to assume that it is common knowledge that 'diet' drinks are awful for you

107 replies

sazham · 14/05/2014 19:39

Got off to the wrong foot on the other thread.

I see lots of people buying diet drinks as the nutritional information says they are virtually the same as water.

Do most people still think these drinks are healthy?

OP posts:
JerseySpud · 15/05/2014 23:01

Gordy I feel for your dd. my teeth are fluoride stained and I'm 29 now and getting to the point that if one more person asks me why my teeth are so dirty I might lose the plot. They've been this way 19 years :(

squoosh · 15/05/2014 23:56

Haven't there been studies done that show the brain can't distinguish between full sugar drinks and no sugar drinks?

Personally I hate the strange, artificial taste of all sugar free products. Sparkling water is my thirst quencher of choice.

Rainbunny · 16/05/2014 02:06

Diet drinks (or any soda) that contain phosphoric acid are not good as they leach calcium out of your bones. They are also now finding that older adults who have drunk diet sodas throughout their adult life have significantly decreased kidney function compared to non diet fizzy drinks.

MrsMook · 16/05/2014 05:20

The thumping headaches I get before I finish a drink containing sweetners (and sadly, it's the majority, not just diet) is plenty to convince me that sweetners are as foul as their after taste. I don't see the point of drinking something that generates an insatiable thirst.

DuckworthLewis · 16/05/2014 05:53

I think the problem is that people assume that the alternative to diet drinks (i.e. full fay versions) are somehow 'better' because they contain fewer sweeteners etc, but ignore the fact that they contribute far more to weight gain than do their diet counterparts. Therefore, when weighing up which to have, fail to take this into account.

Obesity is a huge health problem, and frankly, anything which addresses this in any way has to be a Good Thing, additives or no.

Once a person has their weight under control, then is the time to think about the 'dangers' of chemicals and additives.

I'm not denying that additives are bad for you, but IME obesity is worse*. If you are really morbidly obese, sadly, I don't think you have the luxury of worrying about food additives.

  • I have just watched an obese (BMI 30ish) relative die from issues linked directly to their obesity. When I say directly linked, I mean that the surgery they had that would have been life-saving failed in the main due to the amount of adipose tissue they had on their body. Furthermore, the doctors were unable to give an accurate dose of drugs, again, because the drugs interacted with (dissolved into) their fat and were released in an unpredictable way.

The people trying to argue that because they can fun for the bus, they are perfectly ok being obese are just kidding themselves.

TheRealAmandaClarke · 16/05/2014 06:49

I'm surprised anew each day by the frenzied anxiety about artificial sweetener and "diet" drinks.
There appear to be some questions about some sweeteners' effect on health. And ppl looking into this do advise that their use is limited, particularly aspartame. But "really bad". That's not been shown to be the case. So YAbu to assume its common knowledge, because it's not even uncommon knowledge.
The idea (widely peddled on MN) that sugar is better for you than sweeteners is erroneous and quite worrying.
At present, the evidence shows us that the worst thing about diet drinks is that they maintain the "sweet tooth" craving and in the long term seem to support ppl's over spconsumption of sugar.
Also, all fizzy drinks whilst utterly delicious can affect the teeth because of the acidity from the carbon dioxide.
Apart from smoking, sugar consumption is widely considered to be the most significant single contributor to poor health in the west.

TheRealAmandaClarke · 16/05/2014 06:51

My understanding of current scientific knowledge is that the phones most of use to MN on and, worse, that our dcs use pose more of a heal risk than fanta light.

TheRealAmandaClarke · 16/05/2014 06:53

spconsumption? Blush

TheRealAmandaClarke · 16/05/2014 06:55

Oh yes. Good point about the bone density thing rainbunny

frumpet · 16/05/2014 07:28

duckworth are you sure the relatives BMI was only 30 , mine is 36 and i am a size 18 . I imagine that having a higher BMI can cause some issues with regards surgery but if you need life saving surgery , you are generally very poorly in the first place ?

VivaLeBeaver · 16/05/2014 07:43

I love diet coke. I'm sure it is bad for me but you no what you're a long time dead. I only drink about the equivalent of 2 cans a day now, used to be about 5.

Don't smoke, don't drink, don't eat red meat and I exercise.

Could be worse.

frumpet · 16/05/2014 07:44

My husbands BMI was 44 last time he had surgery , he has lost a large amount of weight since then though .

frumpet · 16/05/2014 07:46

Used to be addicted to diet coke / pepsi max , would have three or four cans a day , now limit it to two a week . Just drink way too much caffeine now , with skimmed milk and no sugar or sweetners

honeybeeridiculous · 16/05/2014 08:02

Can you answer me this please....whats worse,drinking coffee or coke (diet or full fat) all day??

Birdsgottafly · 16/05/2014 08:27

""Can you answer me this please....whats worse,drinking coffee or coke (diet or full fat) all day??""

It depends on what us your concern.

You cannot undo the bone damage that can be done (thinning etc), by carbonated/fizzy drinks. It is to late once bone thinning is detected to give then up.

Having seen many women, as early as in their 40's living with the effects of thinning bones and related conditions, I do what I can to protect my bone health.

It isn't what is going to kill me what bothers me, it's what I might have to live with for 30 years, or more.

I worked in Adult Care, so have seen many preventable conditions. Having my mobility cut down, or living in pain doesn't appeal to me, at an age when I should be enjoying my freedom, because my children are becoming independant. Or when I should be enjoying my GC.

TheRealAmandaClarke · 16/05/2014 08:29

It's all bad honey
Too much caffeine is badder us.
Adding sugar increases the negative health implications and as someone has already pointed out, there a issues with carbonated drinks per se

Birdsgottafly · 16/05/2014 08:29

Also, Honey, I found that I had to give up caffeine when I entered the Peri Menopause, as far as I know, you can recover from drinking caffeine.

Whereas some diet choices stay with you.

Dropdeadfred2 · 16/05/2014 08:32

I drink at least 6 cans of diet coke a day ..Blush and have done for well over 10 years..in fact before i drank diet coke i drank full fat coke for about 15 years

KateSpade · 16/05/2014 08:53

Those who have given fizzy pop up successfully, please share your tips, i desperately have to give it up!

Sallystyle · 16/05/2014 08:56

It is not common knowledge.

It should be common knowledge that aspartame has not been proven to be dangerous whatsoever and all people can find on google is a lot of unproven fear mongering crap.

I drink loads of pepsi max, I have researched the hell out of it. I have yet to find one single article that aspartame is bad for you that is backed up with actual scientific research. Even Cancer UK says there is no proven link between it and cancer and the whole bone thing may be a case of people who drink a lot of diet drink are less likely to drink things with milk in it and get less calcium. Either way, that risk hasn't been fully proven yet either from what I have read.

Obviously water is better for me but I don't drink, I don't smoke and I am a healthy weight. I don't think my pepsi max addiction will kill me.

Dropdeadfred2 · 16/05/2014 09:05

U2TheEdge...i have done the same . And regardless of whether pure water is better for you - i do think that a HUGE proportion of my diet coke (and your pepsi max) is water...the fact that it is carbonated and mixd with sweeteners doesn't change that fact

littlewhitebag · 16/05/2014 09:59

I am sure most people are aware that any fizzy drinks - diet or not- are not really very healthy. However, people are free to make the choice to drink them or not in the same way people choose to drink alcohol or eat chocolate/sweets/cakes etc.

I am sure i have never seen a label on a diet drink that says "the ingredients in this are virtually the same as water" . I have a can of diet coke in front of me. I can't actually see that wording anywhere.

Bambambini · 16/05/2014 10:15

5 or 6 cand of fizzy drink a day - that's a huge amount. Why not just change it for some diluting juice is the fizz causes issues. Think squash is more refreshing anyway.

With the kids I've always tried to avoid aspartame etc. I honestly don't know which is the better of two evils - low calorie with sweeteners or full sugar but the tooth decay and sugar I take.

honeybeeridiculous · 16/05/2014 10:15

Thanks for your info, I wasn't actually thinking about myself, I drink tea all day Grin I can't actually finish a can of coke etc as I find it too fizzy
My DF used to drink black coffee all day, but since having radiotherapy he can't stand coffee and so now drinks diet coke etc so was just wondering about what was worse iykwim