Healthiest Soda ?
mr_eddy
Posts: 830
Ok so I am a active cyclist and swim 4 days a week plus free weights at the weekend, My food is mostly good stuff with the odd cake thrown in also I am a non-smoker and do not drink alcohol (severe allergy). So overall I would say I am pretty healthy however I do drink quite a bit of Pepsi Max/Pepsi Max Cherry/Tango.
I was just wondering which of the above is the least detrimental to my health ?
And before anyone pipes up about all the artificial stuff etc I am fully aware that all Soda's are worse for me than water / Milk / Herbal tea etc however the fact remains (in my opinion at least) that all these alternatives are crap - Water is basically liquid air and offers no reward when I want a nice drink, All herbal tea's taste like cough medicine unless you add 5 sugars and cordial is marginally better than water. Juice is full of sugar and Semi-Skimmed milk is high in fat and calories (skimmed milk is white water).
Given the above does anyone know about any serious major health concerns with drinking say 2-3 cans of Pepsi Max a day (each can is 330ml) - For those who do not know Pepsi Max has zero calories and zero sugar but does have artificial sweetners and caffeine (albeit about 1/3 the level of a cup of coffee)
Thoughts ?
I was just wondering which of the above is the least detrimental to my health ?
And before anyone pipes up about all the artificial stuff etc I am fully aware that all Soda's are worse for me than water / Milk / Herbal tea etc however the fact remains (in my opinion at least) that all these alternatives are crap - Water is basically liquid air and offers no reward when I want a nice drink, All herbal tea's taste like cough medicine unless you add 5 sugars and cordial is marginally better than water. Juice is full of sugar and Semi-Skimmed milk is high in fat and calories (skimmed milk is white water).
Given the above does anyone know about any serious major health concerns with drinking say 2-3 cans of Pepsi Max a day (each can is 330ml) - For those who do not know Pepsi Max has zero calories and zero sugar but does have artificial sweetners and caffeine (albeit about 1/3 the level of a cup of coffee)
Thoughts ?
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You are at an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and probably plenty of other things that you don't want. There has been plenty of research on this in the past few years with the general conclusion being diet drinks are worse than their full fat counterparts.
If you must drink them then moderation is the key, unfortunately for you the scientific world suggests your intake is very excessive.https://www.bikeauthority.cc/
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Also the no sugar/diet/zero options tend to have aspartame in, which has had a bad rep in the past.
This is worth a read:
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/the-truth-about-aspartame.aspxBikeRadar Communities Manager0 -
My thoughts are that you are trying to justify to yourself what you already know is a poor nutritional choice. Making dietary decisions based on caloric content alone is an extremely blinkered way looking at things, do you think buying a bag of sugar at the start of each week and eating a prescribed amount at each meal time would be a healthy choice?
The research around artificial sweeteners is somewhat inconclusive and I don't think statements by The Jackalcp are based on sound scientific reporting. For example, aspartame and its metabolites (such as phenylalanine) may present a number of acute side-effects in some individuals (e.g. headaches, memory impairment, lack of attentiveness) but it's very difficult to assign long-term health problems (e.g. diabetes, heart disease etc) to one particular source such as this. They might not be doing you any harm, but they're certainly not doing you any good.
Furthermore, you seem to be willfully disregarding the facts around alternatives because they don't fit your tastes. Skimmed milk has far more nutritional content than "white water", it is a rich source of protein, vitamins and minerals. Fruit juices may well be moderately high in sugar, but also have an abundance of other vitamins as well as fibre if you're looking at whole juices.
Making choices based on what is "least detrimental" rather than "most beneficial" is a pretty backwards way of looking at things. As always, if you consume these things in moderation as part of an otherwise healthy diet, then they're not going to do you any harm. However, this is a big "if"; most people's diets are not nearly as healthy as they think they are. If you actually keep an accurate food diary for a week or two and see how often you hit the nutritional guidelines, I think you'd be very disappointed. Most people aren't getting nearly enough vitamins and minerals from their diets, calorie intake is often vastly underestimated and macronutrient ratios are often vastly skewed. Consuming healthier alternatives to soda, would certainly help fill the gap that and make your diet more rounded and healthy.0 -
If you were drinking 3 cans of full fat fizzy drink I'd say you were getting an awful lot of sugar.
Since it's the diet stuff I'm sure you'll be fine.
I don't believe there's any credible evidence, ie peer reviewed scientific studies / papers, that for an otherwise healthy individual any of the artificial sweeteners cause any adverse effects at the levels you're consuming.
"You are at an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes...." Seriously??? Care to provide any evidence for your bizarre statement? What possible mechanism could account for such an effect?0 -
Thanks for the replies and in answer to BuckMulligan regarding the nutritional content of skimmed milk my phrasing 'White Water' is based on taste - As in it has none it literally tastes like someone has added white food colouring into a glass of water.
I appreciate that its nutritionally beneficial but my post was not a request for people to state the obvious benefits of milk / juice etc more the negatives of diet soda and yet you chose instead to do the exact opposite. As I said I am aware of those benefits I wanted to know about the specific problems with diet Soda's rather than asking for someone to have a go at me for choosing to drink Diet Soda.
The jackalcp answered the question without the need to point out the lack of nutrition in soda - I specifically stated "I am fully aware that all Soda's are worse for me than water / Milk / Herbal tea etc".
If we were doing everything by the book then I would only ever drink water and only ever eat chicken / pulses and veg and I would probably end up suffering from depression as a result. I genuinely look forward to my Pepsi Max each day and whilst that is very sad its probably good for my mental health.
The point is that I enjoy drinking soda and I am willing to accept that doing makes me less healthy than someone who only drinks water and whilst this is a guilty pleasure I wanted to know if I how bad it really is given that everything else I do is healthy (again mentioned in the original post).
And yes I am disregarding skimmed milk because of taste that is because I am not a robot and I actually like to enjoy what I eat and drink.
I should add which I forgot to mention that my intake is 2-3 (more often 2 rather than 3) and only M-F when i am at work.0 -
Fizzy pop isn't going to kill you in those quantities - but let's not kid ourselves that the 'sugar free' alternatives are any better for you.0
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Last time I had Pepsi max I got a seriously bad migraine. That was a few years after I worked out Pepsi max is a major trigger for my migraines. It can set one off very much quickly on its own. I've tested it and it is a repeatable effect. Stopped drinking it was after 5 migraines. Several years later I gave it another try to and got a.migraine so I stopped. For me I believe artificial sweeteners are bad and avoid all diet drinks and as much as I can u avoid anything with artificial sweeteners like phenylalanine and aspartame.
I realise this is just my experience but if it causes this in people susceptible to this effect what could it do to everyone else with prolonged use?
Of course drinking this is you're choice and you might do very well drinking it in the amounts you do. I used to dilute full sugar cola 50:50 with water. For me that tasted better and AFAIK is more isotonic. Perhaps full sugar diluted might work for you. BTW my childhood.doctor used to tell my mum to give us flat bar cola if we're sick. Easy to be drink and if you're.throwing up it's still got something in it to keep you going.0 -
The Jackalcp answered your question with some wild, unfounded speculation so I'm not sure why you hold that answer in particularly high regard. The link posted by johnjevans gives you an objective, scientific assessment of the facts, not some baseless scaremongering (no offence The Jackalcp).
As I said before, "if you consume these things in moderation as part of an otherwise healthy diet, then they're not going to do you any harm". Whether you want to heed (or even bother to read) the broader aspects of this debate is up to you, but it sounds as though you've already made up your mind regardless.0 -
I've worked out I can trigger migraines using a combination of certain alcoholic drinks, MSG, stress and dehydration.
Now I've established the triggers I haven't had one for several years.
Artificial sweeteners don't seem to do anything to me, but I'm not keen on the taste. If I fancy a Coke / Pepsi I'll have the full fat version. That's pretty rare though; I have a 10 a day tea habit to support...0 -
Lucky you keef. I've been 30 years trying to find my triggers. I've a load that I've cut down on but there must be a lot more because I keep getting them. Dehydration was one for my sister but for me irregular food consumption is a killer trigger almost as bad as artificial sweeteners. We're off different afterall.
Off topic but to anyone who's never had a full on classic migraine you don't know what you're missing v it's a full on bad trip that you can't do anything about but ride it through. Aspartame/phenylalanine is seriously bad for me because of this. Msg is a lesser trigger but one that joins with other triggers occasionally to give me a migraine.
Basically I try to go back to raw ingredients whenever possible. I feel it all works out better for me the more natural food is. But that's not the answer the OP wants. To the OP I say Keep drinking it if you want. It's not guaranteed you'll get ill off it or that you'll do well on it. Kind of you'll probably be alright but don't sue me if you're not. That's kind of where things are I think. And who's to say how good it makes you feel isn't counteracting the negatives of it.0 -
I'm a firm believer in all things in moderation.
Apart from crystal meth. Probably best not trying that at all; I gather it's quite addictive.
And at this time of year, Quality Street.
And I never got the hang of smoking, fortunately.
So maybe most things in moderation...0 -
Oh, and I'm with the OP on skimmed milk as a drink. It's rubbish in tea too. Now we're no longer demonising dairy fat I'm back on the blue top stuff.0
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Ok I've not tasted it but iPro claims to be a no or low sugar sport drink without any artifical colours or sweetners. Can't find the ingredents anywhere on line but I think they sell it in my gym.
Personally I'm a water man but if you want something with flavours might be worth a go.[Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]0 -
Prefer semi skimmed milk myself. Red top is white water (like to kayak whitewater not drink it). Full fat is too much for me I feel a bit sick drinking it. I do have it when I run out of green top semi skimmed and too lazy to go to the shops. My boy drinks it so we always have it in. Bearable in coffee but not neat. I drink a fair bit of milk since I think it's a great recovery drink helping with dehydration but providing good nutrition like calcium and protein.
Cola is really just good for mixing with alcoholic spirits IMHO. For that I don't suppose Pepsi max in 2 to 3 cans a day will hurt but you'd probably be over healthy guidelines if you mixed it in the right proportions with say rum.0 -
Ok I've not tasted it but iPro claims to be a no or low sugar sport drink without any artifical colours or sweetners. Can't find the ingredents anywhere on line but I think they sell it in my gym.
Water is a "no or low sugar sports drink without artificial colours or sweeteners" and so are many zero calorie electrolyte tablets, that statement doesn't really mean a whole lot.
The same thing could be said of many drinks and foodstuffs that contain additives like maltodextrin, because bizarrely a lot of them are not classified as sugars by the regulatory bodies. Taking maltodextrin as an example, on a molecular level it's just a load of glucose molecules in a long chain; almost as soon as it hits your stomach it'll be broken down to its individual glucose molecules and then rapidly absorbed as it passes into your small intestine. The glycemic index is through the roof, as you'd expect seeing as it's essentially just a glucose solution, yet bizarrely it's not classified as a sugar.
Manufactured products are great in certain circumstances; maltodextrin-based sports drinks are fantastic for intense or prolonged exercise where you might need rapidly absorbed energy with a minimal burden on your gastroinstestinal system. However if you're routinely consuming lots of artificial drinks and processed foods, it's only sensible to find out what's in them and what effect that might have on your body. For example, many breakfast cereals are packed with maltodextrin and will give you a huge blood-sugar pike first thing in the morning without necessarily realising that you're consuming a lot of sugar.
The food industry is expert at skirting around the advertising and labelling guidelines to their benefit; lots of catchy advertising lines that mean little or nothing in the way of substance. The onus is on the consumer to educate themselves and find out what is in their food in order to make responsible choices, not rely on the marketing departments to do that for you; their job is to sell it you.0 -
The Jackalcp answered your question with some wild, unfounded speculation so I'm not sure why you hold that answer in particularly high regard. The link posted by johnjevans gives you an objective, scientific assessment of the facts, not some baseless scaremongering (no offence The Jackalcp)..
No offense taken. I will happily provide some basis for my wild unfounded speculation when I get chance. I think you will find that the OP appreciated my response not for the opinion but because I answered his question, rightly or wrongly, rather than just provide an answer to a question that wasn't asked.https://www.bikeauthority.cc/
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Innocent do cans of fruit juice and sparkling spring water which are really nice.Insta: ATEnduranceCoaching
ABCC Cycling Coach0 -
Bicarbonate of?0
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Ok I've not tasted it but iPro claims to be a no or low sugar sport drink without any artifical colours or sweetners. Can't find the ingredents anywhere on line but I think they sell it in my gym.
Water is a "no or low sugar sports drink without artificial colours or sweeteners" and so are many zero calorie electrolyte tablets, that statement doesn't really mean a whole lot.
The same thing could be said of many drinks and foodstuffs that contain additives like maltodextrin, because bizarrely a lot of them are not classified as sugars by the regulatory bodies. Taking maltodextrin as an example, on a molecular level it's just a load of glucose molecules in a long chain; almost as soon as it hits your stomach it'll be broken down to its individual glucose molecules and then rapidly absorbed as it passes into your small intestine. The glycemic index is through the roof, as you'd expect seeing as it's essentially just a glucose solution, yet bizarrely it's not classified as a sugar.
.........................................................................The food industry is expert at skirting around the advertising and labelling guidelines to their benefit; lots of catchy advertising lines that mean little or nothing in the way of substance. The onus is on the consumer to educate themselves and find out what is in their food in order to make responsible choices, not rely on the marketing departments to do that for you; their job is to sell it you.
Yes I stick to water myself, as I said I can't verify what is in the stuff as the ingredients weren't readily apparent so I'm not recommending it just commenting on its existence.[Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]0 -
The Jackalcp answered your question with some wild, unfounded speculation so I'm not sure why you hold that answer in particularly high regard. The link posted by johnjevans gives you an objective, scientific assessment of the facts, not some baseless scaremongering (no offence The Jackalcp)..
No offense taken. I will happily provide some basis for my wild unfounded speculation when I get chance. I think you will find that the OP appreciated my response not for the opinion but because I answered his question, rightly or wrongly, rather than just provide an answer to a question that wasn't asked.
I provided an answer to his question in my first post, he just seemingly didn't read it.
Furthermore, he finished his post with "Thoughts?" so I included my thoughts on the matter.0 -
I used to be a fat b@stard. Almost twenty years of my adult life I was overweight. It got to a point where I couldn't run up a flight of stairs without being out of breath at the end of it. I have never smoked, and never really drank excessively. A percentage of my weight was due to lack of exercise (I used to play football, but never ran, never cycled etc) and having a sedentary occupation, another percentage was due to poor diet choices (lots of fast food, crisps and other sh1te) but an even larger percentage was solely due to soft drinks (I used to neck Coke like it was going out of fashion - regularly going through three cans a day).
When I finally decided to do something about my fitness, cutting out Coke was by far the hardest thing I had to do. I'm not kidding when I say I had withdrawal symptoms. Even now, when I drink a can, I'm reminded of just how good it tastes - it fires my taste buds like almost nothing else, so I can understand how difficult it is for someone to 'come off' it.
However, the benefits of doing it are absolutely immense. I'm convinced that a huge amount of my weight loss was due to cutting out the 20 teaspoons of sugar PER DAY that I was going through.
I can't drink diet pop because I find the taste of Aspartame and other artificial sweeteners absolutely objectionable. Oddly enough, I've managed to get used to diet squash (which has a load of other artificial sh1te in it, but at least doesn't cause my weight to balloon)Fat chopper. Some racing. Some testing. Some crashing.
Specialising in Git Daaahns and Cafs. Norvern Munkey/Transplanted Laaandoner.0 -
Soda <titter>0
