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Study: Diet soda doesn't help you lose weight

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Re: Study: Diet soda doesn't help you lose weight

#31

Post by speeder »

kalleboo wrote: post #27
redwood wrote: post #10

I think what's misleading is not the guidance of this article: but rather the idea that calories are calories. We've been told calories are calories are calories so many times. BUT Calories are clearly not treated the same way by different people: two people can eat the same thing, and live the same lifestyle, and one will be overweight. Should we really assume that the same notion can't apply to an individual who tr…

> What's the elephant in the room? Metabolism!! The stuff I've seen says that metabolism can only account for about 300 kcal/day difference, until you get into extreme cases like "starvation mode" where the body starts to shutdown (women's periods stop, etc). In the end there's no way around the first law of thermodynamics. Most anecdotes about "but he eats the same stuff I do!" are just the extremely common cases of…

300kcal a day is a lot...

For example my mom only managed to lose weight (and very slowly) after having a very strict diet of 1500kcal

This 300kcal for her would be 20% more than she needs.

Mind you, my mom already exercised regularly when she adopted that diet.

Re: Study: Diet soda doesn't help you lose weight

#32

Post by DanBC »

redwood wrote: post #10

I think what's misleading is not the guidance of this article: but rather the idea that calories are calories. We've been told calories are calories are calories so many times. BUT Calories are clearly not treated the same way by different people: two people can eat the same thing, and live the same lifestyle, and one will be overweight. Should we really assume that the same notion can't apply to an individual who tr…

Bob eats more calories than Bob burns. Bob gains weight.

Ann eats more calories than Ann burns. Ann gains weight.

You can make a rough comparison between Ann and Bob - they eat extra calories, they gain weight.

There are some bugs that help people gain weight; there are some bugs that help people not gain weight. People do different amounts of exercise. People are lousy at recalling what they actually eat everyday. But, really, calories are calories.

> And thus it's entirely possible that a calorie-free substance, which has impacts on metabolism and how your body decides what to store, can impact weight gain.

I disagree, and I'd like some credible references. Unless you're talking about amphetamine sulphate.

Re: Study: Diet soda doesn't help you lose weight

#33

Post by speeder »

loginalready wrote: post #11

As far as I know, the US is the only country where sugar-free soda is referred to as "diet". The notion that it would help lose weight is totally new to me, I'm presuming that is because most countries outside the US would never allow it to be marketed that way.

Here in Brazil soda is called "diet" too, yes, in english even (correct porgueuse would be "Dietético", wrong portuguese would be "Dieta")

Re: Study: Diet soda doesn't help you lose weight

#34

Post by DanBC »

eric970 wrote: post #6

Er, this whole topic can be a little misleading. I haven't found a single reputable study that claims diet soda itself causes weight gain. Rather, just as the reasoning in this article suggests, the only scientific fact they present is that the consumption of diet soda itself does not encourage weight loss. Side note: Do any brands really advertise drinking their diet soda as a method of (actual) weight loss? I can't…

> Do any brands really advertise drinking their diet soda as a method of (actual) weight loss? I can't think of any that actually present it this way.

Diet brands are pretty old. I guess when they were introduced the advertising regulations were less strict.

Here's a horrible ad-infested 23 page collection of diet coke ads for the past 30 years.

(http://www.tressugar.com/Diet-Coke-Commercials-From-80s-2434...)

Re: Study: Diet soda doesn't help you lose weight

#35

Post by dllthomas »

kalleboo wrote: post #27
redwood wrote: post #10

I think what's misleading is not the guidance of this article: but rather the idea that calories are calories. We've been told calories are calories are calories so many times. BUT Calories are clearly not treated the same way by different people: two people can eat the same thing, and live the same lifestyle, and one will be overweight. Should we really assume that the same notion can't apply to an individual who tr…

> What's the elephant in the room? Metabolism!! The stuff I've seen says that metabolism can only account for about 300 kcal/day difference, until you get into extreme cases like "starvation mode" where the body starts to shutdown (women's periods stop, etc). In the end there's no way around the first law of thermodynamics. Most anecdotes about "but he eats the same stuff I do!" are just the extremely common cases of…

"In the end there's no way around the first law of thermodynamics."

The first law of thermodynamics only applies to a closed system, and doesn't automatically have much of anything to do with whether something as complex as a body stores fat or not.

Re: Study: Diet soda doesn't help you lose weight

#36

Post by DanBC »

v1tyaz wrote: post #7
eric970 wrote: post #6

Er, this whole topic can be a little misleading. I haven't found a single reputable study that claims diet soda itself causes weight gain. Rather, just as the reasoning in this article suggests, the only scientific fact they present is that the consumption of diet soda itself does not encourage weight loss. Side note: Do any brands really advertise drinking their diet soda as a method of (actual) weight loss? I can't…

Very misleading. In fact, the author of this study is a behavioral neurologist, hence studying human behavior relating to diet drinks rather than diet drinks themselves. Drink as much diet soda as you like, if the rest of your diet is healthy then you're fine. This article is just typical fear-mongering against artificial sweeteners, I'm surprised it got up voted here.

> I'm surprised it got up voted here

A disturbing number of HN readers have batshit insane viewpoints on food.

Re: Study: Diet soda doesn't help you lose weight

#37

Post by joevandyk »

kalleboo wrote: post #27
redwood wrote: post #10

I think what's misleading is not the guidance of this article: but rather the idea that calories are calories. We've been told calories are calories are calories so many times. BUT Calories are clearly not treated the same way by different people: two people can eat the same thing, and live the same lifestyle, and one will be overweight. Should we really assume that the same notion can't apply to an individual who tr…

> What's the elephant in the room? Metabolism!! The stuff I've seen says that metabolism can only account for about 300 kcal/day difference, until you get into extreme cases like "starvation mode" where the body starts to shutdown (women's periods stop, etc). In the end there's no way around the first law of thermodynamics. Most anecdotes about "but he eats the same stuff I do!" are just the extremely common cases of…

If I were to eat 300 extra calories a day and all that surplus was stored as fat, I'd gain 31 pounds every year.

Re: Study: Diet soda doesn't help you lose weight

#38

Post by notahacker »

grannyg00se wrote: post #13

Study: Sunblock doesn't help reverse skin cancer.

The best line from the article was the opening one: "Diet soda, it turns out, may not be the panacea for weight loss that we all thought — and many of us hoped — it was."

It would make a very nice lead in to an Onion article.

Re: Study: Diet soda doesn't help you lose weight

#39

Post by dllthomas »

DanBC wrote: post #32
redwood wrote: post #10

I think what's misleading is not the guidance of this article: but rather the idea that calories are calories. We've been told calories are calories are calories so many times. BUT Calories are clearly not treated the same way by different people: two people can eat the same thing, and live the same lifestyle, and one will be overweight. Should we really assume that the same notion can't apply to an individual who tr…

Bob eats more calories than Bob burns. Bob gains weight. Ann eats more calories than Ann burns. Ann gains weight. You can make a rough comparison between Ann and Bob - they eat extra calories, they gain weight. There are some bugs that help people gain weight; there are some bugs that help people not gain weight. People do different amounts of exercise. People are lousy at recalling what they actually eat everyday. B…

> > And thus it's entirely possible that a calorie-free substance, which has impacts on metabolism and how your body decides what to store, can impact weight gain.

> I disagree, and I'd like some credible referenceys. Unless you're talking about amphetamine sulphate.

This seems self-defeating. Surely, for a claim that a particular substance has a particular effect, I would like to see evidence. But obviously the notion that a substance could have such an effect is well supported by the existence of amphetamine sulphate - and unless you believe amphetamine sulphate is imbued with some magical uniqueness, other substances may very well have greater or lesser effects in the same domain (though greater effects we'd probably have noticed and tested and have conclusive evidence for by this point).

Re: Study: Diet soda doesn't help you lose weight

#40

Post by wavesounds »

alok-g wrote: post #25
mzarate06 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Research has shown metabolism doesn't have the affect on weight loss as many believe it to have. Case in point, weight loss can be achieved eating 1 big meal a day vs. 6 smaller meals a day (where the latter is often hyped b/c it "revs" your metabolism). Your body adjusts. The true formula for weight loss is simple and well understood: consume less calories than your body requires. When you create a caloric deficit,…

Newbie question: I find zero-fat food that is very high in protein and reasonable in sugar. Such food also is high on calories. Is food with 230 calories (zero from fat) the same as 230 calories (120 from fat, zero grams protein) in terms of weight loss? I am avoiding the latter, do I need to avoid the former too?

Your body does not digest fat and turn you into fat, just like it does not digest broccoli and turn you into broccoli. Whats actually important is carbs vs protein. You wan't to eat things that are high in protein and low in carbs, theres many schools of thought that say fat doesn't matter at all anymore. You can learn more by searching for Paleo and Ketosis on Google or Reddit. Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor or dietitian just sharing whats worked for me.
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