Diet Coke Versus Regular Coke (Coca Cola)

[Judge]

l love Fresca. l spent most of my mom days making everything from scratch. Now l buy ready made which is horrible in general. But l have thrown in diet coke to certain other drinks knowing it's a chemical bath.

My family used to use Fresca mostly to make wine coolers...goes great with Italian Lambrusco wines and Sangria as well.

 

[Mono]

I'm a diet coke junkie. I'm well aware it's bad for me, but I'm not ready to give it up at this time in my life.

 

[Tom]

Definately a Regular Coke guy. My favorite drink after tea/coffee.

Haddon Sundblom, one of the main artists of the Coke Santas

The most successful Russian general in WW2, was Georgy Zhukov. Ike got him hooked on Coca Cola, and supplied him with cases of a clear version in unmarked bottles so as not to anger Stalin who did not approve of American products.

 

[Rocco]

I like coke / Coca Cola. It has medicinal uses for upset stomach and also nausea.
Tastes good too.
I do not like Diet Coke and have read some studies about it, yikes.

 

[AspieChris]

Coke is great for an upset stomach also, because it’s the exact same ph level as healthy stomach acid. And the carbonation helps neutralize excess acid. Regular Coke and Saltine crackers for an upset stomach works every time.

 

[MildredHubble]

I absolutely love soda! I drink a lot of Coke Zero. I did a lot of research on Aspartame and last time I checked it was classified as "possibly carcinogenic" in the EU. That sounds scary, but what it means is that some studies using crazy amounts of aspartame on rats showed that some of the test subjects developed abnormal cells that could potentially become tumours.

The thing you have to keep in mind is that they exposed the rats to doses that would be ridiculous for a human being. It would be like consuming several coffee jars full throughout the day, every day. But at the levels it's present in soft drinks etc is many orders of magnitude smaller than "unsafe" levels. So basically it has to be classified as "possibly carcinogenic" because if people are exposed to crazy amounts it could be dangerous. Say if in a factory it was constantly in the air in large amounts or it was mishandled and huge amounts ended up being ingested.

So if you enjoy drinks with artificial sweeteners don't panic. You'd have to drink an impossible amount to potentially increase the risk. If you hate the taste then stick to natural flavourings. Coke used to sell a version of coke flavoured by fruit sugars but they didn't take off sadly. But there will be equivalents out there that could help reduce your sugar intake if you like soda and help avoid aspartame too.

 

[SPEED RACER]

Just drink smart water lol

 

[paloftoon]

As I am a total foodie, I can drink either coke or coke zero. However, I stopped anything diet because I feel that the long term health benefits are worse overall. I've slowed down drinking sodas because I feel like I'm not gaining more personally by having the same thing over and over. I'm not crazy about water, but it is unfortunately THE best option for quenching thirst and not have bad stuff I might not entirely know about.

I am currently struggling with weight despite this but I do like a bunch of other bad stuff too.

I personally like Essentia water the most if I want fancy water- because the first time I ever drank it, I did feel a slight boost of energy that felt good.

 

[Jonn]

Which is the worst, from a scientific perspective? I have read mixed information, ranging from "Diet Coke is bad/the worst because of artificial sweeteners and that it can change the gut microbiome in a negative way" and that "Coca Cola regular is bad because of its high sugar level and the body's response to control that?"

What would your choice be out of the two in an effort to minimize the health risks associated with either of these drinks?

Both aren't great, but for a diabetic like me, Diet Pepsi is the least of the two evils.

 

[Mono]

Which is the worst, from a scientific perspective? I have read mixed information, ranging from "Diet Coke is bad/the worst because of artificial sweeteners and that it can change the gut microbiome in a negative way" and that "Coca Cola regular is bad because of its high sugar level and the body's response to control that?"

What would your choice be out of the two in an effort to minimize the health risks associated with either of these drinks?

I guess it depends. For me, my weight is important. I can drink all the diet Coke I want and never gain any weight. I've drank it long enough to know. But that might not be the same for everyone. Plus I really like the taste, especially Pepsi. Those are the reasons I drink diet. I'd never drink regular out of fear of gaining weight.

 

[Jonn]

I guess it depends. For me, my weight is important. I can drink all the diet Coke I want and never gain any weight. I've drank it long enough to know. But that might not be the same for everyone. Plus I really like the taste, especially Pepsi. Those are the reasons I drink diet. I'd never drink regular out of fear of gaining weight.

The aspartame does cause internal issues, diarrhea, being one of them, but that actually helps with maintaining/losing weight to some degree.

I have heard aspartame can accelerate the development of dementia, but I don't think that is definitive.
But then, so does diabetes.
They say type III diabetes is dementia. <shrug>
Oh, what a wonderful world. <sigh>

Better to drink water, but we are only human. <shrug some more>

 

[blitzkrieg]

The aspartame does cause internal issues, diarrhea, being one of them, but that actually helps with maintaining/losing weight to some degree.

I have heard aspartame can accelerate the development of dementia, but I don't think that is definitive.
But then, so does diabetes.
They say type III diabetes is dementia. <shrug>
Oh, what a wonderful world. <sigh>

Better to drink water, but we are only human. <shrug some more>

Where did you hear that aspartame can accelerate the development of dementia?

I have heard that obesity is a risk factor for dementia, that is pretty much mainstream knowledge - and sugar drives obesity, though evidence seems conflicting for whether 'diet' drinks have a positive effect on obesity. In some articles I have read, aspartame can supposedly make obesity more likely via unknown mechanisms?

Drinking water as a healthier alternative is sound advice.

 

[Mono]

The aspartame does cause internal issues, diarrhea, being one of them, but that actually helps with maintaining/losing weight to some degree.

I have heard aspartame can accelerate the development of dementia, but I don't think that is definitive.
But then, so does diabetes.
They say type III diabetes is dementia. <shrug>
Oh, what a wonderful world. <sigh>

Better to drink water, but we are only human. <shrug some more>

Guess I'm immune for 'that' internal issue by now

 

[blitzkrieg]

A couple of links so people can easily see what I mean with regards to the obesity and dementia link:

Obesity as a Risk Factor for Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease: The Role of Leptin - PubMed

Obesity and dementia risk

 

[Jonn]

A couple of links so people can easily see what I mean with regards to the obesity and dementia link:

Obesity as a Risk Factor for Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease: The Role of Leptin - PubMed

Obesity and dementia risk

Spoiler

What a wonderful world...

 

[Trophonius]

I drink a lot of diet coke, I don't like regular.

 

[honeytoast]

I just saw the topic and thought that this was just going to be a debate on which was better lol.

Personally, I am a Diet Coke lover but I stay away from sodas in general these days. I drink more sparkling water or pro-biotic sodas.

Honestly, they're probably not the best for me either.

 

[Jonn]

Where did you hear that aspartame can accelerate the development of dementia?

Its like the elephant who had diarrhea.
Its all around town.

Results​

After adjustments for age, sex, education (for analysis of dementia), caloric intake, diet quality, physical activity and smoking, higher recent and higher cumulative intake of artificially-sweetened soft drinks were associated with an increased risk of ischemic stroke, all-cause dementia, and AD dementia. When comparing daily cumulative intake to <1 per week (reference), the hazard ratios were 2.96 (95% CI, 1.26–6.97) for ischemic stroke and 2.89 (95% CI, 1.18–7.07) for AD. Sugar-sweetened beverages were not associated with stroke or dementia.

Conclusions​

Artificially-sweetened soft drink consumption was associated with a higher risk of stroke and dementia.

Sugar- and artificially-sweetened beverages and the risks of incident stroke and dementia: A prospective cohort study - PMC

I have heard that obesity is a risk factor for dementia, that is pretty much mainstream knowledge - and sugar drives obesity, though evidence seems conflicting for whether 'diet' drinks have a positive effect on obesity. In some articles I have read, aspartame can supposedly make obesity more likely via unknown mechanisms?

I have read that sugar substitutes can cause cravings because the body is expecting a sugar hit but is denied.
D'oh!
Stupid body.

 

[blitzkrieg]

From my research, both artificial sweeteners and sugar seem to be a risk for dementia.

Results​

At baseline, a total of 1865 (63%) subjects consumed no sugar in beverage, whereas 525 (18%) subjects consumed it in 1–7 servings/week and 593 (29%) in over 7 servings/week. Over an average follow-up of 19 years in 1384 participants, there were 275 dementia events of which 73 were AD dementia. And 103 of 1831 participants occurred stroke during the follow-up nearly 16 years. After multivariate adjustments, individuals with the highest intakes of sugar in beverage had a higher risk of all dementia, AD dementia and stroke relative to individuals with no intakes, with HRs of 2.80(95%CI 2.24–3.50) for all dementia, 2.55(95%CI 1.55–4.18) for AD dementia, and 2.11(95%CI 1.48–3.00) for stroke. And the same results were shown in the subgroup for individuals with median intakes of sugar in beverage.

Conclusions​

Higher consumption of sugar in beverage was associated with an increased risk of all dementia, AD dementia and stroke.

Sugar in Beverage and the Risk of Incident Dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and Stroke: A Prospective Cohort Study - The Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease

This is just one of the study results that I have found. Obviously there are many studies - some of them conflicting.

I think the safest thing would probably to be avoid both (sugar in sugary beverages in particular), although I probably won't follow my own safety advice.

 

[Magna]

The debate doesn't address the ingestion of plastics from drinking from either plastic bottles or cans. I try to keep that at a bare minimum.