The Let's Help Each other Get Healthier Thread!!!

[neonflux]

Diet Soda a No No?

Am assuming that most folks saw this story somewhere about the newly documented hazards of drinking too much diet soda? I don't drink them often, but when I'm going through a heavy work period as I am now, I will drink a diet coke or two in the afternoon for the caffeine. Guess I need to go to iced coffee (tea does nothing for me when I need to wake up)... I have noticed that the weight seems to come on more and I am more likely to crave sweets when I drink one. *sigh* Neon

 

[graceanne]

My mom says she has more trouble with craving sweets when she drinks pop. And she always drinks diet pop. *shrugs*

As for calorie dense foods, do you mean like mcdonalds stuff or something? Cause that stuff has some CALORIES. I eat one meal at mcdonalds and I'm at my caloric intake for the day.

Also, I forgot that I finished off my son's piece of pizza while I was grocery shopping today. It was just cheese pizza, but that, AND the slimfast I just drank and and I am at 1288 calories for today!

 

[neonflux]

My mom says she has more trouble with craving sweets when she drinks pop. And she always drinks diet pop. *shrugs*

As for calorie dense foods, do you mean like mcdonalds stuff or something? Cause that stuff has some CALORIES. I eat one meal at mcdonalds and I'm at my caloric intake for the day.

Also, I forgot that I finished off my son's piece of pizza while I was grocery shopping today. It was just cheese pizza, but that, AND the slimfast I just drank and and I am at 1288 calories for today!

Congratulations on the 1288 calories! Re: dense foods, no, wasn't thinking McDonalds. Rather garlic mashed potatoes made with olive oil, avocados on a sandwich, olives and olive oil in pasta, whole eggs, etc... Basically, adding good fats versus bad fats.

 

[graceanne]

Congratulations on the 1288 calories! Re: dense foods, no, wasn't thinking McDonalds. Rather garlic mashed potatoes made with olive oil, avocados on a sandwich, olives and olive oil in pasta, whole eggs, etc... Basically, adding good fats versus bad fats.

Ah.

Well, eggs are one of my hard limits. My mom used to make me eat eggs everymorning, but she always overcooked theoutside and undercooked the inside. The smell of eggs makes me green. Well, unless I'm really sick. It always weirds K out, cause I go from wanting nothing to do with eggs to eating them for every meal.

But I LOVE mashed potatoes and avacado's and stuff like that.

 

[Sir_Winston54]

6 days straight

Interesting... just clicking on Lit in my favorites menu to come here triggers my memory to take my morning meds, whether I'm still groggy or not. This has been a big help!

 

[brioche]

6 days straight

Interesting... just clicking on Lit in my favorites menu to come here triggers my memory to take my morning meds, whether I'm still groggy or not. This has been a big help!

Good for you!

 

[brioche]

Am assuming that most folks saw this story somewhere about the newly documented hazards of drinking too much diet soda? I don't drink them often, but when I'm going through a heavy work period as I am now, I will drink a diet coke or two in the afternoon for the caffeine. Guess I need to go to iced coffee (tea does nothing for me when I need to wake up)... I have noticed that the weight seems to come on more and I am more likely to crave sweets when I drink one. *sigh* Neon

Shit.

"Another theory holds that the substance that gives soda its caramel color promotes resistance to insulin, which is needed to process calories. The coloring has also been associated with inflammation in animal experiments."

The last thing I need is more inflammation. I'm inflamed everywhere, basically. Even though I only drink diet caffeine free, occasionally, this is an issue. I really enjoy it once in a while. Do I have to cut this off too? I just opened one!

 

[Kierae]

Graceanne,

Can you do soy? I know you don't do dairy but soy is a great form of protein and opens up other options for you. You can get it in milk form, yogurt, ice cream, and cheese (on top of tofu/seitan/tempeh and "hot dogs/hamburgers/chicken strips"). Soy has a fair amount of calories in it but healthy for you.

Calorie dense is typically foods like cheese, nuts, potatoes, rice, pasta, avocados, adding dried skim milk to your regular milk, using olive oil to cook with, bananas, fruit juices. In your case you need to go with the enriched versions of breads and pastas (versus the normal recommendation of whole wheat/grain sources) but if you find a plain bagel and add cream cheese - instant 300 calories right there. Making banana zucchini bread and having a slice of that as a snack will help.

Just a couple ideas. Glad everyone is working hard - we are all worth it!


~kierae

 

[Sir_Winston54]

Brioche, the copy-pasted article below is, I think, just a little bit more complete than the original article linked earlier. Note the red portions and the bolded and bold-underlined sections. Note also that the original linked article said that the coloring had been associated with inflammation in animal experiments, but very carefully does NOT say that there has been any research of any type showing such an association with humans.

I also wonder who paid for the study conducted by Dr. Ramachandran. A survey of that magnitude - even if it's just questionnaires handed out, filled out and results collated - is expensive. Call me a skeptic, but I wouldn't be surprised to find that the study was underwritten by some corporation that would gain by any loss in soda/diet soda sales.

From USATODAY.com, which needs to fire a headline writer:

Study: Diet soda linked to heart risks

BOSTON (AP) — People who drank more than one diet soda each day developed the same risks for heart disease as those who downed sugary regular soda, a large but inconclusive study found.

The results surprised the researchers who expected to see a difference between regular and diet soda drinkers. It could be, they suggest, that even no-calorie sweet drinks increase the craving for more sweets, and that people who indulge in sodas probably have less healthy diets overall.

The study's senior author, Dr. Vasan Ramachandran, emphasized the findings don't show diet sodas are a cause of increased heart disease risks. But he said they show a surprising link that must be studied.

"It's intriguing and it begs an explanation by people who are qualified to do studies to understand this better," said Vasan, of Boston University School of Medicine.

However, a nutrition expert dismissed the study's findings on diet soda drinkers.

"There's too much contradictory evidence that shows that diet beverages are healthier for you in terms of losing weight that I would not put any credence to the result on the diet (drinks)," said Barry Popkin, of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, who has called for cigarette-style surgeon general warnings about the negative health effects of soda.

Susan Neely, president of the American Beverage Association, said the notion that diet drinks are associated with bulging waistlines defies common sense.

"How can something with zero calories that's 99% water with a little flavoring in it ... cause weight gain?" she said.

The research comes from a massive, multi-generational heart study following residents of Framingham, Mass., a town about 25 miles west of Boston. The new study of 9,000 observations of middle-aged men and women was published Monday online in the journal Circulation.

The researchers found those who drank more than one soda per day — diet or regular — had an increased risk of metabolic syndrome, compared to those who drank less than one soda. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of symptoms that increase the risk for heart disease including large waistlines and higher levels of blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol and blood fats called triglycerides.

At the start of the study, those who reported drinking more than one soft drink a day had a 48% increased prevalence of metabolic syndrome compared to those who drank less soda.

Of participants who initially showed no signs of metabolic syndrome, those who drank more than one soda per day were at 44% higher risk of developing it four years later, they reported.

Researchers expected the results to differ when regular soda and diet soda drinkers were compared, and were surprised when they did not, Vasan said.

But Popkin said that result isn't that surprising. He said much of the market for diet sodas are people who have unhealthy lifestyles and know they need to lose weight — with the other portion being thin people who want to stay that way. That means many people drinking diet sodas have unhealthy habits that could lead to increased heart disease risks, whether they drink diet soda or not.

In studies in which some users were randomly given diet sodas and others were given regular soda, diet soda drinkers lost weight and regular soda drinkers gained weight, Popkin said.

In a statement, the American Heart Association said it supports dietary patterns that include low-calorie beverages.

"Diet soda can be a good option to replace caloric beverages that do not contain important vitamins and minerals," the association said, adding further study is needed before any association between diet soda and heart risk factors would lead to public recommendations.

Vasan also said poor overall health habits may be one reason diet soda drinkers did not show lower heart disease risks in the Framingham study, but there hasn't been enough research to say for sure.

Another possible reason is a controversial theory called "dietary compensation," which holds that if someone drinks a large amount of liquids at a meal, they aren't satisfied and will tend to eat more at the next meal, Vasan said.

Other theories, Vasan said, are that people who drink a large amount of sweetened drinks are prone to develop a taste for sweeter foods, or that the substance that gives soda its caramel color promotes resistance to insulin, which is needed to process calories.

Without a more definitive explanation, Vasan offers only this advice to diet soda drinkers: "Consume in moderation and stayed tuned for more research."​

 

[graceanne]

Graceanne,

Can you do soy? I know you don't do dairy but soy is a great form of protein and opens up other options for you. You can get it in milk form, yogurt, ice cream, and cheese (on top of tofu/seitan/tempeh and "hot dogs/hamburgers/chicken strips"). Soy has a fair amount of calories in it but healthy for you.

Calorie dense is typically foods like cheese, nuts, potatoes, rice, pasta, avocados, adding dried skim milk to your regular milk, using olive oil to cook with, bananas, fruit juices. In your case you need to go with the enriched versions of breads and pastas (versus the normal recommendation of whole wheat/grain sources) but if you find a plain bagel and add cream cheese - instant 300 calories right there. Making banana zucchini bread and having a slice of that as a snack will help.

Just a couple ideas. Glad everyone is working hard - we are all worth it!


~kierae

I can do soy, but won't by itself - yick. I love those gardenburgers, though. I don't know what they do to make the soy taste good in those, but YUM. I'll eat soy IN things. Nuts are a no no (too fiberous), and I don't like fruit juice. Bagels and cream cheese? Do I have to eat a whole one, or just half a one? Wait, I'll eat half in themorning with my slimfast, and the other half with lunch.Yummy. I love bagels and cream cheese. And I always use olive oil in my cooking - it makes the food taste better and has all those good fats and vitamins and stuff like that.

As for the diet cola - I don't drink pop (except when I have a sore throat) cause it's got corn syrup in it, and I can't have corn products. And I don't drink diet ANYTHING cause aspertame gives me HEARTBURN. You know, the kind where you're in the ER thinking you're having a heart attack?

 

[Netzach]

Aspartame is a few atoms off from wood alcohol, if that many.

Yeah, I drink diet, but maybe once or twice a week.

 

[HottieMama]

6 days straight

Interesting... just clicking on Lit in my favorites menu to come here triggers my memory to take my morning meds, whether I'm still groggy or not. This has been a big help!

WOOT!!!!! i am so happy this thread has helped you in that way, Sir W.


i pity the person that tries to get between me and my Diet Pepsi. i love it, and freely admit to drinking a ton of it.

 

[brioche]

Brioche, the copy-pasted article below is, I think, just a little bit more complete than the original article linked earlier. Note the red portions and the bolded and bold-underlined sections. Note also that the original linked article said that the coloring had been associated with inflammation in animal experiments, but very carefully does NOT say that there has been any research of any type showing such an association with humans.

I also wonder who paid for the study conducted by Dr. Ramachandran. A survey of that magnitude - even if it's just questionnaires handed out, filled out and results collated - is expensive. Call me a skeptic, but I wouldn't be surprised to find that the study was underwritten by some corporation that would gain by any loss in soda/diet soda sales.

From USATODAY.com, which needs to fire a headline writer:

Study: Diet soda linked to heart risks

BOSTON (AP) — People who drank more than one diet soda each day developed the same risks for heart disease as those who downed sugary regular soda, a large but inconclusive study found.

The results surprised the researchers who expected to see a difference between regular and diet soda drinkers. It could be, they suggest, that even no-calorie sweet drinks increase the craving for more sweets, and that people who indulge in sodas probably have less healthy diets overall.

The study's senior author, Dr. Vasan Ramachandran, emphasized the findings don't show diet sodas are a cause of increased heart disease risks. But he said they show a surprising link that must be studied.

"It's intriguing and it begs an explanation by people who are qualified to do studies to understand this better," said Vasan, of Boston University School of Medicine.

However, a nutrition expert dismissed the study's findings on diet soda drinkers.

"There's too much contradictory evidence that shows that diet beverages are healthier for you in terms of losing weight that I would not put any credence to the result on the diet (drinks)," said Barry Popkin, of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, who has called for cigarette-style surgeon general warnings about the negative health effects of soda.

Susan Neely, president of the American Beverage Association, said the notion that diet drinks are associated with bulging waistlines defies common sense.

"How can something with zero calories that's 99% water with a little flavoring in it ... cause weight gain?" she said.

The research comes from a massive, multi-generational heart study following residents of Framingham, Mass., a town about 25 miles west of Boston. The new study of 9,000 observations of middle-aged men and women was published Monday online in the journal Circulation.

The researchers found those who drank more than one soda per day — diet or regular — had an increased risk of metabolic syndrome, compared to those who drank less than one soda. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of symptoms that increase the risk for heart disease including large waistlines and higher levels of blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol and blood fats called triglycerides.

At the start of the study, those who reported drinking more than one soft drink a day had a 48% increased prevalence of metabolic syndrome compared to those who drank less soda.

Of participants who initially showed no signs of metabolic syndrome, those who drank more than one soda per day were at 44% higher risk of developing it four years later, they reported.

Researchers expected the results to differ when regular soda and diet soda drinkers were compared, and were surprised when they did not, Vasan said.

But Popkin said that result isn't that surprising. He said much of the market for diet sodas are people who have unhealthy lifestyles and know they need to lose weight — with the other portion being thin people who want to stay that way. That means many people drinking diet sodas have unhealthy habits that could lead to increased heart disease risks, whether they drink diet soda or not.

In studies in which some users were randomly given diet sodas and others were given regular soda, diet soda drinkers lost weight and regular soda drinkers gained weight, Popkin said.

In a statement, the American Heart Association said it supports dietary patterns that include low-calorie beverages.

"Diet soda can be a good option to replace caloric beverages that do not contain important vitamins and minerals," the association said, adding further study is needed before any association between diet soda and heart risk factors would lead to public recommendations.

Vasan also said poor overall health habits may be one reason diet soda drinkers did not show lower heart disease risks in the Framingham study, but there hasn't been enough research to say for sure.

Another possible reason is a controversial theory called "dietary compensation," which holds that if someone drinks a large amount of liquids at a meal, they aren't satisfied and will tend to eat more at the next meal, Vasan said.

Other theories, Vasan said, are that people who drink a large amount of sweetened drinks are prone to develop a taste for sweeter foods, or that the substance that gives soda its caramel color promotes resistance to insulin, which is needed to process calories.

Without a more definitive explanation, Vasan offers only this advice to diet soda drinkers: "Consume in moderation and stayed tuned for more research."​

Thanks, Sir Winston. That does put it into better perspective.
Gracie, have you ever thought of planning out what you'll eat in a day ahead of time? That might help you get the stuff in without having to overfeed at night.

 

[graceanne]

Thanks, Sir Winston. That does put it into better perspective.
Gracie, have you ever thought of planning out what you'll eat in a day ahead of time? That might help you get the stuff in without having to overfeed at night.

No, I haven't considered that. Frankly I have trouble deciding what to eat at the moment. It's weird trying to decide what to eat when you're not hungry.

But, I ate a salad with mozerella cheese on it and a few tsp of salad dressing and I'm already 525 calories. Mozerella cheese is VERY calorie dense. I probably only put a couple oz, and thats almost TWO HUNDRED CALORIES!

 

[Kierae]

Mozarella is a good one - I keep mozarella string cheese on hand. It is a good protein type snack. I hate plain soy milk but the vanilla (or chocolate) is okay. I actually use almond milk for my coffee. I do love "fried" tofu (just press the slices of tofu between cutting boards for like 30 minutes or longer, then dust it with flour/seasonings and fry it up. Tofu will basically take on the taste of anything and by pressing it between the boards, you squeeze out the excess water in it - makes it chewier. you can also freeze it at that point and it will make it chewier.

Sounds like the bagel and cream cheese will help alot - doing it half at a time is a good plan.

~kierae

 

[graceanne]

HOORAY for mozzarella cheese. I love it, so munched on it twice today, and it, just by itself, was 451 calories (for maybe 5 oz)! I'm going to have to buy some more of that. Plus I'm gonna get some bagels at the store tonight. Either way, today I'm already at 1118 calories, and I am NOT sick.

When I was in highschool I used to broil mozzarella cheese on a piece of bread - it was SO yummy. One of those, and my calories will be SO high.

I'm feeling so much less discouraged today. All I gotta do is eat cream cheese or mozarella cheese and I'll be able to keep my caloric intake up. And I LOVE both.

 

[neonflux]

Congratulations, graceanne, on getting your calories up.

Funny, I'm trying to get mine down temporarily.

Walking: 1 hour
Food: primarily romaine as a vegetable today... usually eat much more. but kept to my diet, despite being under extreme pressure. am sort of proud of myself - bought a small box of chocolate truffles (teeny ones). Didn't eat a one!

Neon

 

[Sir_Winston54]

HOORAY for mozzarella cheese. I love it, so munched on it twice today, and it, just by itself, was 451 calories (for maybe 5 oz)! I'm going to have to buy some more of that. Plus I'm gonna get some bagels at the store tonight. Either way, today I'm already at 1118 calories, and I am NOT sick.

When I was in highschool I used to broil mozzarella cheese on a piece of bread - it was SO yummy. One of those, and my calories will be SO high.

I'm feeling so much less discouraged today. All I gotta do is eat cream cheese or mozarella cheese and I'll be able to keep my caloric intake up. And I LOVE both.

Way to go, gracie! It sounds like the "cheese diet" will do a lot to help you get your metabolism back up and kickin'!

 

[neonflux]

Aspartame is a few atoms off from wood alcohol, if that many.

For some reason, this line had me busting up.

 

[Sir_Winston54]

For some reason, this line had me busting up.

I knew there was a reason I like you - you're warped!

 

[graceanne]

Total Calories for the day: 1498

 

[Bandit58]

I joined the gym almost a year ago. I wasn't really overweight (5'8, 168lbs/76.2kg) but I wanted to get fit and tone up my tummy. I do cardio and weights, and have been doing a weekly Pilates class until recently - will get back into it as soon as time allows.

I am now around 160lbs (73kg) and my tummy is flatter I can do an hour of personal training without losing my breath too badly - although I have had the flu and have missed gym time for about a month My arms, legs and butt are much more toned (Master Gil keeps perving and groping....)

However I had a blood test 3 months ago and my cholesterol is on the high side....a couple of years ago I had it checked and it was fine - go figure I wasn't even exercising then I love eggs and red meat (mainly steak and lamb chops ) so won't be giving them up, but have started taking fish oil capsules twice a day. I eat tinned sardines about twice a week too.

I have never dieted in my life and hate the thought of ever starting....I don't eat cakes or sweet biscuits, fast food is limited to chicken and chips or subway once a week, I do drink alcohol but only once or twice a week (more in summer when a cold beer goes down well lol). I have trouble eating breakfast but do have coffee and 2 or 3 cracker biscuits most mornings.

 

[@}-}rebecca----]

Am assuming that most folks saw this story somewhere about the newly documented hazards of drinking too much diet soda? I don't drink them often, but when I'm going through a heavy work period as I am now, I will drink a diet coke or two in the afternoon for the caffeine. Guess I need to go to iced coffee (tea does nothing for me when I need to wake up)... I have noticed that the weight seems to come on more and I am more likely to crave sweets when I drink one. *sigh* Neon

Iced coffee the great love of my life and every morning , even in Winter. Your post reminds me why I endeavour to drink less coffee and more water. Diet soda is a no no , guess I'll do my part in the thread pathos here and increase my water intake every day. I usually take a small bottle of water to bed with me at night. Hmmmn how many glasses a day.......I'll cut back on one coffee and add 2 glasses of water a day , that should take me to at least 5-6 on average.

Ohh baby hydrate me !!!

Thanks Ms Neon

To clarify ~ my version of iced coffee is predominantly caffeine in stupid amounts a little raw sugar and iced water. Not much more.

 

[Blushing Bottom]

LOL

...and it turns to formaldehyde or so I read somewhere.

I must be rather preserved by now. I drink far too much diet.

...but have no cholesterol or blood pressure problems which as most of us know can be hereditary as well as dietary.

Aspartame is a few atoms off from wood alcohol, if that many.

Yeah, I drink diet, but maybe once or twice a week.

 

[Sir_Winston54]

:click: IE,
:click: Favorites
:click: Links
:click: Lit
:click: daily pills container
:gulp: half of pills + water
:gulp: other half of pills + water.
7!