2006-07-09 06:54:29 · 10 answers · asked by winterwillow2000 3 in Health ➔ Diet & Fitness
Diet Soda - Monday, March 22, 2004
This is a partial transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," March 19, 2004 that has been edited for clarity.
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BILL O'REILLY, HOST: In the "Back of the Book" Segment tonight, Americans drink billions of gallons of diet soda a year. It's incredible how much we consume. And some believe millions of Americans are addicted to the stuff. They have to have it.
With us now is Dr. Shari Lieberman, a certified nutrition specialist here in New York City.
All right. So it's -- 10 billion cases of soda sold every year in the USA, and 30 percent of that, approximately, is diet soda, and I know people who walk around all day long drinking diet soda. What is that all about?
SHARI LIEBERMAN, PH.D., CERTIFIED NUTRITION SPECIALIST: It's unbelievable. It is such an addicting substance. You have both the aspartame, the NutraSweet, combined with the caffeine. You're basically getting a rush all day. It actually messes with your brain chemicals, Bill.
O'REILLY: Does it really?
LIEBERMAN: It really does. You know, aspartic acid actually makes what we call excitatory neurotransmitters. Imagine we have a balance of ones that calm us down and ones that hype us up.
So, if you're drinking something that's going to make the ones that are excitatory or making us hyper all day long, that's why there are so many side effects associated with NutraSweet, such as irritability and anxiety.
I mean people are basically getting a rush all day from drinking this.
O'REILLY: OK. So, if you're drinking diet soda all day long or, say, you're drinking, you know, 48 ounces, 50 ounces a day, which a lot of people do...
LIEBERMAN: They do.
O'REILLY: ... you are basically -- it's an upper.
LIEBERMAN: It's an upper. Exactly. And guess what happens when you run out of it? It's a crasher...
O'REILLY: Is that right?
LIEBERMAN: ... and then you need an upper.
O'REILLY: You feel bad after it.
Now is this physically addicting, do you believe, or is it psychological?
LIEBERMAN: I believe it's physically addicting. You know, we know that caffeine is. So you've got a ton of caffeine in the diet sodas. Then you actually have a substance that's affecting neurotransmitters. So they're really getting a double whammy, and, of course, we're talking about people that are drinking it all day long.
O'REILLY: Yes, and they think that, well, I can drink it all day long because there's no calories in it, I'm not going to get fat. Go ahead.
LIEBERMAN: I have to tell you something about that. If you look at the research, people that drink diet sodas are oftentimes eating more calories than people drinking regular sodas.
O'REILLY: But they're eating them.
LIEBERMAN: It actually increases...
O'REILLY: You know, that's -- they're eating.
LIEBERMAN: It seems to increase...
O'REILLY: You can't get fat drinking diet soda.
LIEBERMAN: It's not that you get fat, Bill. I think it's the...
O'REILLY: Bloated.
LIEBERMAN: ... taste of the sweet. It keeps you so addicted. They seem to eat more carbohydrates throughout the day when they're drinking diet soda. Go figure.
O'REILLY: What other physical things -- if you're consuming a lot of diet soda, what happens to your body?
LIEBERMAN: Well, you also can get a certain amount of methanol, which is the more toxic alcohol. That's a byproduct of NutraSweet and aspartame, if you're drinking a lot of it, and that's a wood alcohol that's actually rather toxic and can cause some problems as well. So you have a substance that, when you're taking in really large amounts, is going to affect your chemistry, your brain chemistry, your...
O'REILLY: Your body chemistry and...
LIEBERMAN: Exactly. Your body chemistry.
O'REILLY: OK. Now there are no warnings on any of the soda labels, and nobody says any of this. But, you know, I -- and I wanted to do the story because, anecdotally, I've seen people, you know, in the office here and all of that, drink diet soda after diet soda after diet soda.
LIEBERMAN: Well, who did my makeup today actually said to me she's drinking a ton of diet soda and is suffering from migraines. There are reports of migraines and fibromyalgia and certain illnesses disappearing when people go off diet sodas. So, I mean, there is a relationship between taking in a lot of this stuff -- we're not talking about the occasional user.
O'REILLY: No.
LIEBERMAN: But if -- you know, once again, you've got these excited neurons in your head, and it is related to migraines and fibromyalgia and a number of other illnesses that have been shown to go away.
O'REILLY: Right. And it doesn't do any -- your teeth any good either?
LIEBERMAN: It really -- it doesn't protect your teeth like Xylitol and some of the other sweeteners.
O'REILLY: All right, Doctor. I knew drinking 50 ounces of that stuff wasn't good.
LIEBERMAN: You were right, Bill.
O'REILLY: You know, one Dr. Pepper once in a while, fine, but, you know, leave the six-pack home.
2006-07-09 09:35:43 · answer #1 · answered by fuchi fuchi fea fea 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Diet soda is not bad for you. Most diet sodas have one or no calories per serving. You burn more than that walking to the refrigerator to get a diet soda.
Too much or anything is not good for you, but replacing regular soda with diet will help you lose weight.
You do not want to "diet" you want to be able to make changes in you life that positively effect your weight. Anyone can starve themselves for a short period and lose weight. The problem comes when you end the "diet" and the weight is regained. Switching to sugar free items is an easier thing to continue!
2006-07-09 07:02:00 · answer #2 · answered by fire4511 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Maybe. Maybe not.
Studies show that those who drink diet soda, makes up for those calories by eating more food. Plus, a study released last year showed that for every can of diet soda you drink daily, your chances of becoming overweight increased by 41 percent.
So, if you keep track of your daily calories and food intake, using replacing high calorie sodas with diet sodas may help your dieting efforts.
2006-07-09 08:09:39 · answer #3 · answered by Vanessa Selene 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Bullpoop.
Diet soda is a "free calorie" way of enjoying something sweet. (I wouldn't LIVE on the stuff, but one a day isn't going to kill ya!)
As for the sodium, read the label. There isn't enough in one serving to cause any problems. (I once was on a diet plan where they yelled at me if I used diet soda. It was ridiculous! "You'll retain water." Well, not with only 2% of daily intake!!!)
2006-07-09 06:58:29 · answer #4 · answered by Obama, 47 y/o political virgin 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes and no. The sweetness oddiet soda can make your body think its having sweet food, and when it dosen't, it craves it and you may end up eating more. Since most diet soda is calorie free, it isin't bad in that sense; however the sodium will keep you retaining water. Your best bet is sodium free club soda or water.
2006-07-09 06:58:06 · answer #5 · answered by amfm 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Any food that is made by or altered by man is bad for you. Your body does not process it very well. Stick with good ol' fresh fruits, veggies, etc. Stay away from items that have a really long list of ingredients that you can't pronounce. You will lose weight if you do this.
2006-07-09 07:04:18 · answer #6 · answered by 10 pts for me? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
because it still has all those empty calories that dont do anything to your body but add bulk. so if you want to REALLY lose weight throw away all that shlt.
2006-07-09 06:57:29 · answer #7 · answered by §gorda§ 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
its harder for your kidneys to process artificial stuff ...BAD for your body when it needs to process most of your weight loss thru your kidneys any way... you lose weight 2 ways..sweat or elimination..why make your body work harder than it has too?
2006-07-09 06:59:50 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
the sugar is replaced with worse stuff.
2006-07-09 07:05:18 · answer #9 · answered by JP 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it still has fats
2006-07-10 00:44:21 · answer #10 · answered by stickman romance.<3 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋