The debate over whether diet soda is a dieter's friend or a dieter's enemy seems to become more heated every day.
One side is saying it is a great beverage for people trying to lose weight and who want something more exciting to drink than water. The other side is saying it won't help you lose weight but can actually make you gain weight.
I wish I could give you a definitive answer and say either, "Yes, diet soda is fine to drink when you are trying to lose weight." Or "No, diet soda will not help you lose weight." But I cannot find enough clear cut evidence to wholeheartedly support either statement.
What I have gleaned from my research is this:
Setting aside the issue of whether or not diet soda will aid or impede your weight loss is the issue of the chemicals it contains and whether or not you want to be ingesting them on a daily basis in significant quantities.
There's also the issue of diet soda that contains caffeine. If you are mainlining Diet Coke, you have most likely formed a dependency to caffeine which will cause a period of headaches, when (or if) you decide to break that dependency. Large amounts of caffeine can also disrupt your sleep, can make you jittery, and can speed up your heart rate.
Some people complain of fluid retention when drinking diet soda and blame the sodium content in the it. Most diet soda/pop is very low in sodium. The culprit in fluid retention might be the artificial sweetener. Some recent research is showing that people react differently to artificial sweeteners, causing fluid retention in some people.
If you don't want to give up diet soda but it is making you retain fluid, try switching to a soda with a different artificial sweetener in it and see if that makes a difference. For example, if you are currently drinking one sweetened with Aspartame, try switching to one sweetened with Splenda or saccharine (NutraSweet). Also try drinking no diet soda for a least a week.
Drinking diet soda does seem to make some people think they can have that candy bar (ever had a Diet Coke and a king size snickers bar?) because they are saving calories with the diet soda/pop so the higher calorie food is okay. Likewise, some people will order a diet soda/pop after super-sizing their fast food meal. Drinking it lulls some people into thinking that switching out regular soda for diet means they can eat more food, but what usually happens instead is weight gain, which is then blamed on the diet soda/pop.
Personally, I get cravings for salty foods when I drink a lot of diet soda. My physician thinks it's the artificial sweetener that's causing those cravings. So instead of drinking a 12 pack of Diet Coke every day like I used to (yes, I'm being serious) I now try to have just one can of regular soda a day. I'm not always successful at doing that and sometimes drive to the store for an "emergency 12 pack of Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi, or Diet Mountain Dew, but eliminating most diet beverages from my day-to-day diet has calmed my cravings.
So you'll have to make the judgment call for yourself on whether or not to include diet soda/pop in your weight loss or weight management plan. Some people say it helps them with weight management; others say it's a weight gaining tool. The only way to know for sure what it is for you is to try it and see.
Article Source: http://www.article-outlet.com/
Showing posts with label liquid diet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label liquid diet. Show all posts
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Liquid Calories Count!
Think about this. Early man survived by eating one hundred percent of his calories and drinking plain water. No liquid calories! Today, the average American receives more than one fifth of their calories from soft drinks, fruit juices, milk, alcohol, and recently sports drinks, coffee and tea.
Since the 1970s, calorie intake from all of these liquids have increased dramatically, contributing somewhere in the neighborhood of 150-300 extra calories per day. Unless you increase your activity or eat less, that many calories adds up to an extra pound of body fat every 20 days or so. Milk is about the only source of liquid calories that has decreased in the last 30 years.
How has this impacted our health? According to Dr. Barry Popin of the University of North Carolina School of Public Health, studies have shown that people who shift from non calorie drinks to sweetened drinks gain weight, probably because they do not compensate by eating less. Popin says that drinking calories in liquid form does not register with our appetite controls.
To address this growing problem, a panel of leading nutrition experts calling themselves the Beverage Guidance Panel was organized by Dr. Popin. The Panel has issued the following recommendations for beverage intake:
Amount / day Beverage based upon a 2,200 calorie diet
0-8 oz Calorie-Sweetened Beverages like soda or juice 0-8 oz Fruit Juices 0 oz Whole milk sparingly: Sports drinks for non athletes 16 oz Sports drinks for endurance athletes 0-1 drink Alcohol for women 0-2 drinks Alcohol for men 0-32 oz Diet drinks 0-16 oz Low fat, skim, or soy milk 0-28 oz Unsweetened tea/coffee (can replace water) 20-50 oz Water
If you need to lose some weight and think liquid calories might be contributing to your problem, start by reading your labels carefully. Do not forget that total calories listed on product labels are expressed per serving size, and more often than not containers include 2 or even 3 servings. Since liquid calories are so easy to overlook, you may have to write down everything that you drink, making sure that the portion sizes are accurate.
How many soft drinks do you drink? A U.S. Department of Agriculture Survey found that the average American guzzles 53 gallons of carbonated soft drinks in a year. That is 18.6 ounces every day, 365 days a year. Males between the ages of 12-29 years average 28.5 ounces every day!
A 12 ounce can of soda contains 10 teaspoons of sugar at 15 calories per teaspoon. The average American that drinks 18.6 ounces of soda per day is getting around 232 calories. That is the energy equivalent of 2 extra pounds of fat every month, or 24 extra pounds in a year.
According to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, people eating 1,600 calories a day should not take in more than 6 teaspoons of refined sugar a day- from any source! If you eat 2,200 calories a day you should limit sugar to 12 teaspoons. That is 5-8% of your total daily calories. The Food and Drug Administration is slightly more lenient, recommending no more than 10% of your daily intake of calories from sugar.
Besides the extra calories, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) blames soft drinks in the American diet on a number of other health risks. Osteoporosis, tooth decay, heart disease, and kidney stones are all associated with excessive soft drink consumption, not to mention potential problems caused by caffeine and other additives.
To be fair, not everyone agrees. The Sugar Association accurately points out that sugar is pure carbohydrate and low in calories when compared to fat. The FDA confirms that sugar has never been identified as an independent risk factor for heart disease. In terms of dental health, the Sugar Association says the frequency of exposure to carbohydrate foods is more important than the amount. Sticky foods are more of a problem than soft drinks because contact with tooth enamel is prolonged.
So some sugar is OK, especially if you are an athlete in need of extra calories. It improves the taste of food and drink and is not nearly as calorie dense as fat, but common sense should tell you that too much is not a good idea.
The FDA recommendation of limiting your sugar intake to 10% of your total calories is a good one. That is 200 calories if you eat 2,000 calories per day. Eighteen ounces of soft drinks takes you to that limit, if you eat or drink no other sugar from any other source.
Since the 1970s, calorie intake from all of these liquids have increased dramatically, contributing somewhere in the neighborhood of 150-300 extra calories per day. Unless you increase your activity or eat less, that many calories adds up to an extra pound of body fat every 20 days or so. Milk is about the only source of liquid calories that has decreased in the last 30 years.
How has this impacted our health? According to Dr. Barry Popin of the University of North Carolina School of Public Health, studies have shown that people who shift from non calorie drinks to sweetened drinks gain weight, probably because they do not compensate by eating less. Popin says that drinking calories in liquid form does not register with our appetite controls.
To address this growing problem, a panel of leading nutrition experts calling themselves the Beverage Guidance Panel was organized by Dr. Popin. The Panel has issued the following recommendations for beverage intake:
Amount / day Beverage based upon a 2,200 calorie diet
0-8 oz Calorie-Sweetened Beverages like soda or juice 0-8 oz Fruit Juices 0 oz Whole milk sparingly: Sports drinks for non athletes 16 oz Sports drinks for endurance athletes 0-1 drink Alcohol for women 0-2 drinks Alcohol for men 0-32 oz Diet drinks 0-16 oz Low fat, skim, or soy milk 0-28 oz Unsweetened tea/coffee (can replace water) 20-50 oz Water
If you need to lose some weight and think liquid calories might be contributing to your problem, start by reading your labels carefully. Do not forget that total calories listed on product labels are expressed per serving size, and more often than not containers include 2 or even 3 servings. Since liquid calories are so easy to overlook, you may have to write down everything that you drink, making sure that the portion sizes are accurate.
How many soft drinks do you drink? A U.S. Department of Agriculture Survey found that the average American guzzles 53 gallons of carbonated soft drinks in a year. That is 18.6 ounces every day, 365 days a year. Males between the ages of 12-29 years average 28.5 ounces every day!
A 12 ounce can of soda contains 10 teaspoons of sugar at 15 calories per teaspoon. The average American that drinks 18.6 ounces of soda per day is getting around 232 calories. That is the energy equivalent of 2 extra pounds of fat every month, or 24 extra pounds in a year.
According to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, people eating 1,600 calories a day should not take in more than 6 teaspoons of refined sugar a day- from any source! If you eat 2,200 calories a day you should limit sugar to 12 teaspoons. That is 5-8% of your total daily calories. The Food and Drug Administration is slightly more lenient, recommending no more than 10% of your daily intake of calories from sugar.
Besides the extra calories, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) blames soft drinks in the American diet on a number of other health risks. Osteoporosis, tooth decay, heart disease, and kidney stones are all associated with excessive soft drink consumption, not to mention potential problems caused by caffeine and other additives.
To be fair, not everyone agrees. The Sugar Association accurately points out that sugar is pure carbohydrate and low in calories when compared to fat. The FDA confirms that sugar has never been identified as an independent risk factor for heart disease. In terms of dental health, the Sugar Association says the frequency of exposure to carbohydrate foods is more important than the amount. Sticky foods are more of a problem than soft drinks because contact with tooth enamel is prolonged.
So some sugar is OK, especially if you are an athlete in need of extra calories. It improves the taste of food and drink and is not nearly as calorie dense as fat, but common sense should tell you that too much is not a good idea.
The FDA recommendation of limiting your sugar intake to 10% of your total calories is a good one. That is 200 calories if you eat 2,000 calories per day. Eighteen ounces of soft drinks takes you to that limit, if you eat or drink no other sugar from any other source.
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